There's a rule I always follow when writing a YouTube hook:

If in doubt, keep it simple 👇

(Bookmark this article - my simple, 3-step hook formula.)

But, if we look closely, it's easy to spot the little extra sauce the biggest YouTubers use to keep us hooked.

So this week, I studied Ryan Trahan.

And I discovered the cheeky psychological trick you can steal that'll hook viewers for longer (in 6 simple steps).

For this demo, we'll break down the hook of I Stayed in Every Hotel at Disney World...

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1/ Context

"Disney World claims to be the most magical place on Earth."

• Provides brief context on the setting.
• We know we’re going to Disney World.

Other examples of “context” sentences:

• “So everyone wants to get more productive…”
• “The new iPad just sent Twitter crazy…”
• “How powerful is a slingshot?”

Simply introduce the audience to the topic.

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2/ Proof

[B-Roll from Ryan's visit.] "Not only are the theme parks unbelievable but there are dozens of hotels at Disney that seem like fairy tales..."

• Instantly proves he’s doing what we clicked for.
• Low-res cameraphone footage proves he went.
• This shot also cuts in dramatically after just 3 seconds. The earlier you can offer your "proof", the better.

Other examples of “proof”:

• [B-Roll timelapse.] “So I spent 37 hours researching the best productivity hacks...”
• [B-Roll of new iPad in creator’s hands.] So I bought it...
• [B-Roll of slingshot being fired in slow motion] “I wanted to find out whether it could…”

Your “proof” can be entirely visual. Get a good shot that proves you did the thing.

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3/ Structure

"This week I'm going to every single Disney World hotel to investigate."

• Orients the viewer within the video right away.
• We know he’s going to stay in 8 locations, each crazier than the last.
• Remember - structure is SO important. Make it obvious what the flow of the video is going to be.

Other examples of “structure”:

• “We’re gonna talk about the 10 best hacks that I found.
• “I’m gonna test the iPad in [XYZ] different ways.”
• “I’m gonna build a slingshot, compare it to my other one, and then…”

This is closely related to step 5, but we need to complete step 4 first.

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4/ Motivation

"And guess who I'm bringing? A girl. A girl that says we don't have enough photos together."

• Explains why he’s making the video. Ryan’s wife is revealed to be going with him.
• After the first 3 speedy segments, you’ll notice this part slows down.
• When introducing an important character (and the motivation for the entire video), it’s ok to go slower.

Other examples of “motivation”:

• “Most of us struggle to get through our to-do lists…”
• “I’m desperate to find a lightweight solution to travelling with my tech…”
• “Last time I built a slingshot, I got humiliated…”

Give your video emotional weight, either for the involved characters (entertainment), or for the viewer (educational).

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5/ Plan

"So my plan is simple. I take her to the most magical place on Earth - Orlando Florida, home of Disney World. And, every day, capture a magical moment that we bring home to frame."

• Now we understand the ‘why’, he explains the ‘how’.
• Think of this step like ‘upgrading’ your structure, now with added emotional weight.

Other examples of “plan”:

• “I’m testing which technique boosts my productivity most over the next month.”
• “I’m swapping out my Mac for an iPad all week.”
• “To build a better slingshot, I’ll need to [ABC]…”

It's ok to add more detail to the concept once the audience understands your "why".

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6/ Payoff

"And Haley doesn't know this, but I'm really trying to book the room inside of the Magic Kingdom Castle, which is nearly impossible by the way."

• Sets up the Grand Payoff - the ultimate curiosity of the video.
• While the structure creates inherent curiosity (”I wonder how nice/crazy/expensive each place is.”)…
• ...Ryan sets up a secret goal re. the final location which even his wife doesn't know about.
• This Grand Payoff creates a bunch of curiosity for us:
  • Will he be able to book the actual Disney Castle?
  • What’s it like in there?
  • How will she react?

Other examples of setting up the “payoff”:

• “I’ll reveal the biggest timesaver…”
• “I’m going to find out if this iPad iscould actually replace my Mac.”
• “Can my new slingshot destroy a ballistic dummy?”

Think - what's going to get your audience really curious?

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On your next script...

1. Write out these 6 steps.
2. Force yourself to write a sentence for each.
3. Craft a hook using these components.

Remember - you don't have to stick to the same order as Ryan. Simply try to include all 6 elements.

Oh, one last thing...

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What traits do successful YouTubers share?

Ever wondered what multi-million sub YouTubers are actually like in person?

Are they driven? Introverted? Strategically lazy?!

Having worked with a tonne of huge YouTubers for the last 2 years, Gwilym, Jamie and I discussed the traits we've spotted time and time again 👇

​Watch Now

That's all for this week. Any questions, just let me know :)

Speak soon,
George 👋

Scriptwriters constantly ask me how to find clients.

So let’s talk about it.

The Problem.

You’ve probably heard of ytjobs.co, Fiverr and Upwork.

That's where most writers/editors/creators think they should start.

But unless you have a portfolio (of even just one video), you have no social proof.

Therefore, you have just one goal - to get that first client + testimonial.

Everything else will follow.

But how?

Foundation.

Like anything, you can’t just "do a skill" without practising it.

I learned more about scriptwriting in 6 months reviewing people’s retention graphs than after a year writing scripts for Ali Abdaal.

So throw yourself in.

• Break down transcripts of successful videos to figure out what they’re doing.
• Create your own scriptwriting frameworks / hypotheses / systems.
• Experiment on your own channel.

Then…

Share your thoughts, breakdowns and hot takes.

Twitter, LinkedIn, Newsletter... it doesn't matter.

And, if you’ve already written a couple of paid scripts…

What did you learn?! Talk about it publicly!

Almost every lead I’ve ever had has been inbound. Why?

Because I’m constantly sharing my thoughts on scriptwriting.

Eventually, people start to notice.

But, let’s assume you’re trying to find a client right now.

Here are your options:

1/ Don't look for clients. Look for writers.

Scour the YTjobs scriptwriter page.

Then, reach out to them on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Or, find them directly on Twitter - search “YouTube scriptwriter” and you’ll find a bunch of people advertising themselves.

Finding other writers is invaluable because:

• They might have past clients they could recommend you to.
• They might just have turned away a client because they were too busy.
• They might have their own tips about how to find clients!

When I first went freelance, my friend (and now podcast co-host!) Gwilym and I pooled our potential leads.

If I was busy, I recommended him. And vice versa.

Meeting other scriptwriters is an industry hack.

2/ Approach YouTubers you want to write for.

There are two methods here:

1/ On Twitter, search phrases like “YouTube scriptwriter”, “hiring scriptwriter”, “need scriptwriter”.

You’ll find creators who are looking for writers right now.

2/ Reach out to creators you already watch.

It’s usually best to aim for creators in the 10-100k subscriber range.

At this level, they’re making money + excited to keep scaling.

DM or email them with something like this:

“Hey [name], I just re-wrote the hook of your most recent video. I believe something like this could perform better because [include rationale].If you like, I’ll happily look over any scripts you’re working on for free to see if I can make any helpful suggestions. No strings attached, and no expectation that you’d hire me afterwards - candidly, I’m building up my experience as a scriptwriter and just looking to add value and learn.”

If you do a great job, you won’t find many creators who wouldn’t pay to keep you on.

3/ Approach businesses.

Generalising here, but…

Businesses suck at YouTube.

But they also have a lot of money to throw at the problem.

I'm talking anything from real estate agents to SaaS companies, or even local businesses that have high-ticket products/services.

Often, YouTube is an afterthought for businesses like these...

But they know at the back of their mind they ought to spend more time (or money) on it.

The ideal client is someone who’s already making content (i.e. they’re sold on the value of doing so), but their videos are bad.

Waltz into their DMs or drop them an email with an improved version of their most recent script, and ask whether they’d be interested in a paid trial to write another one.

Unlike when you’re approaching creators on Twitter, I encourage you not to work for businesses for free.

You’re likely to add significant value to their scripts + channel right away, and you’ll learn less about YouTube than when working for traditional “creators”.

Ergo, you deserve to be paid for your time.

4/ Job application!

I got my start with Ali Abdaal through a simple job application.

Creators regularly drop these in their video descriptions, so keep an eye out.

Easy peasy, (kinda).

And once you've landed your first client...

Shout about it!

The instant I wanted new clients, I tweeted this:

Yes, having Ali as my first client was a ridiculously unfair advantage.

But no matter how big the channels you've worked with, testimonials + results show you're trustworthy.

So don't be afraid to shout about your achievements!

New episode just dropped 💥

Now, I wish I could list a fifth method to get clients - "join my scriptwriting agency!"

However, as you may know, I absolutely hated running it and shut it down after 3 months 😂

But was this the right decision?

Well... feel free to check out the latest episode of Making It where Jamie and Gwilym quizzed me about exactly that 👇

I Closed my $15k /month YouTube Agency. Here’s Why.

That's all for this week. Any questions, just let me know!

Speak soon,

George 👋

Since 2021, the videos I’ve written have gained 25,000,000+ views.

And, as you’ve probably heard over and over again…

The idea is the most important part of any video.

That’s why I’m excited to show you how I’m using 1of10.com to grow the ideas bank for my own channel…

…and how this impacts the scripts themselves.

Thanks to 1of10 for partnering with me this week 🤝

You can get 20% off your subscription (recurring!) using the code "GEORGEBLACKMAN".

Get 1of10 Now!

​

I'm super excited about this partnership because I literally use 1of10 every single day.

So let’s talk about how you can use outlier videos to:

1. Generate killer video ideas.
2. Make important scriptwriting decisions.

Part 1 - Idea Generation

In 1of10’s search bar, I can search for the niche I wanted to get inspiration for:

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As you'll see below, 1of10 only shows videos that are outperforming their channel’s recent views average.

So, right away, I know that every video I’m seeing is doing something particularly well 👇

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But, for my channel, I need to be mindful of something...

YouTube advice can go stale fast, so I don't want to see any videos that were published years ago.

In fact, there were a few extra parameters I wanted to set.

So I filtered for videos that:

• Were 2x outliers or higher.
• Had 10k views or more.
• Were from the last 6 months.

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Once I applied these filters, I noticed a video called “How To Write A Killer YouTube Script (2024 Algorithm)”.

This is exactly the type of video I could see myself making a version of...

So I wanted to see similar content that could inspire me.

Aaaand 1of10 lets you do that by clicking “similar topic” 👇

​
Now I was only seeing videos similar to the one I liked 👇

​
​But a big problem my students have raised inside my community is knowing which outlier ideas to take forward...

To help with this, I consider these 3 factors:

• Subject - am I immediately enthusiastic about the topic presented in the title?
• Expertise - do I have the experience to create a better version of this video?
• Views - what’s the view ceiling? We already filtered for videos with 10k+, but the higher the potential, the better.

Based on those factors, I used 1of10’s “bookmark” feature to save a bunch of these videos into a visualisation space 👇

Now I've got a bank of super relevant, high-performing content from which to take inspiration.

Part 2 - Scripting

But how does this influence the script itself?

This is where a little analysis comes in.

By having these high-performing outliers in the same place, it’s much easier to compare how they approach their scripts.

Pay attention to their...

1. Tone
2. Format
3. Style

Here’s a super distilled version of what that might look like for three of the videos in my “bookmarks”.

How To Write A Killer YouTube Script (2024 Algorithm):

Tone: Chilled.

Format: 5-step system.

Style: Fairly basic talking head A-Roll.

How To Write ADDICTIVE YouTube Scripts:

Tone: “Conspiracy.”

Format: Superfast hook, straight into point #1.

Style: Rapid editing changes, not to my taste. Appears to be deliberately overwhelming.

how to make a killer youtube intro (for the 2024 algorithm):

Tone: “Traditional” explainer.

Format: Another system (4 steps)

Style: Inspiring (”most creators got their big break from one video”)

As James Hoffman says, it's way easier to figure out which type of coffee you like by directly comparing two different cups.

So, by analysing and comparing these outlier videos, it’s easier to figure out what you want your scripts to look like.

My takeaways:

• Tone: While it's clearly working for their target audiences, none of these tones felt like me. I prefer energetic and humourous.
• Format: "Systems" made videos easier to follow. Superfast hook was effective.
• Style: Avoid the conspiracy-style, retention-edited approach of Money Maxing. Lean into the authoritative, inspiring style of Aprilynne.

Recap

1. Identify outlier videos (initially in your niche, then branch outwards).
2. Determine which videos fulfil the “Topic, Expertise, Views” criteria.
3. Review each video and identify what you resonate with.

​1of10.com makes this process so much faster and ensures you’re only ever modelling videos that you know are outperforming others.

Remember, you can use “GEORGEBLACKMAN” at the checkout to get a recurring 20% off your subscription.

Get 1of10 Now!

If you have any questions about how I use 1of10 (or anything else!), feel free to drop me a message!

Speak soon,
George 👋

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