Hey there, solopreneur!

Hooking your audience and customers is NEVER just a matter of luck.

It's a science, backed by decades of research into the psychological triggers that drive human behavior.

And if you want to stand out in today's crowded digital landscape, you can't afford to leave that science to chance.

You need to study it, understand it, and wield it like a master craftsman.

Because here's the thing: Most solopreneurs are flying blind.

But when you understand the science of habit formation, you're playing a different game entirely.

You're not just throwing spaghetti at the wall and praying for a miracle.

You're strategically engineering experiences that tap into your audience's deepest desires and keep them coming back for more.

And that, my friend, is how you build a business that doesn't just survive, but thrives.

In today's newsletter, we're diving deep into the science of habit-forming products and content.

Specifically, we'll be exploring the "Hooked" model, a revolutionary framework created by Nir Eyal, author of the bestselling book "Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products."

You'll learn:

• The four key phases of the masterful "Hooked" model and how they work together to create addiction

• The “Hooked” Prompt that analyzes your business and gives you a step-by-step actionable plan for how to implement it in your product/content

• The science behind why some products and content become addictive, while others fade into obscurity

So get ready to take your audience engagement to a whole new level. Because once you understand the science of habit formation, there's no limit to how far you can go.

Let’s. Dive. In. 🤿

How I Gained 100K Followers in Under 3 Months

As someone who's built a thriving online business from scratch, I know firsthand how game-changing the right strategies can be.

After losing nearly everything in the FTX crypto collapse, I was determined to rebuild stronger than ever.

That's when I discovered the power of AI for content creation.

By leveraging AI tools and frameworks, I was able to:

• Create a week's worth of high-quality content in just 1 hour

• Skyrocket my audience growth to 100K followers in 65 days

• Generate content that authentically resonated with my ideal audience

The results were so transformative that I knew I had to share my strategies with fellow solopreneurs.

And so, The AI Audience Accelerator was born.

>>> Click here to learn how The AI Audience Accelerator can help you kickstart and grow a thriving online business.

The Science Behind Habit-Forming Products: Your Ultimate Guide to Audience & Customer Retention

What if there was a way to cut through all the digital noise and create products and content that your audience couldn't resist?

Experiences that they craved, that they sought out, that they made a part of their daily routine?

That's the power of habit-forming, “Hooked” products and content.

When you tap into the psychological triggers that drive habit formation, you're not just creating a one-time transaction or a fleeting moment of engagement.

You're forging a deep, lasting connection with your audience that keeps them coming back for more, again and again.

But creating habit-forming products and content isn't something that happens by accident.

It's a deliberate, scientific process that requires a deep understanding of the psychological principles that drive human behavior.

And that's where the "Hooked" model comes in.

Developed by Nir Eyal, author of the bestselling book "Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products," the "Hooked" model is a 4-phase process for creating products and content that tap into the psychological triggers that drive habit formation.

The 4 phases are:

1. Trigger

2. Action

3. Variable Reward

4. Investment

Each phase plays a specific role in the habit formation process, and when used together, they create a powerful cycle that keeps users coming back for more.

Here's a brief overview of each phase:

1. Trigger: This is the spark that initiates the habit. It can be external, like a notification or email, or internal, like a feeling of boredom or a need for social connection.

2. Action: This is the behavior that the user performs in response to the trigger. It should be as simple and frictionless as possible, making it easy for the user to take the desired action.

3. Variable Reward: This is the payoff that the user receives for taking the action. The key here is variability - the reward should be unpredictable and exciting, creating a sense of anticipation and desire.

4. Investment: This is the work that the user puts into the product or content, such as time, effort, or social capital. The more the user invests, the more likely they are to continue the habit.

By carefully designing each phase of the "Hooked" cycle, you can create products and content that become an essential part of your audience's daily routine.

But what does this look like in practice? Let's take a look at an example…

Instagram is a master of the "Hooked" model, using each phase of the cycle to keep users coming back to the app multiple times a day.

The trigger?

The notification that pops up on your phone when someone likes or comments on your post.

The action?

Opening the app to see the interaction.

The variable reward?

The rush of dopamine you get from seeing the likes and comments pile up.

The investment?

The time and effort you put into crafting the perfect post, engaging with other users, and building your follower count.

It's a simple but powerful cycle that has made Instagram one of the most addictive and habit-forming apps on the planet.

OK, yeah, it’s easy for Instagram to engineer and implement this system.

But how exactly can little you apply this framework to your own solopreneur business?

Don’t worry, my friend.

That's where the "Hooked" prompt comes in….

THE “HOOKED” PROMPT

To start building your own habit-forming product or content, simply fill in the blanks of this prompt with details about your business:

I need your help to make my business more addictive and habit forming for my audience and customers.

Here's context about my business:

[INSERT CONTEXT]

Based on the context provided, please create a step-by-step plan for how I can implement Nir Eyal's "Hooked" model to make my product/content more habit-forming and addictive for my audience.

Here's Eyal's Hooked Model:

1. Trigger

A trigger is the actuator of behavior — the spark plug in the engine. Triggers come in two types: external and internal. Habit-forming products start by alerting users with external triggers like an email, a website link, or the app icon on a phone.

For example, suppose Barbra, a young woman in Pennsylvania, happens to see a photo in her Facebook newsfeed taken by a family member from a rural part of the state. It’s a lovely picture and since she is planning a trip there with her brother Johnny, the external trigger’s call-to-action intrigues her and she clicks. By cycling through successive hooks, users begin to form associations with internal triggers, which attach to existing behaviors and emotions.

When users start to automatically cue their next behavior, the new habit becomes part of their everyday routine. Over time, Barbra associates Facebook with her need for social connection.

2. Action

Following the trigger comes the action: the behavior done in anticipation of a reward. The simple action of clicking on the interesting picture in her newsfeed takes Barbra to a website called Pinterest, a “pinboard-style photo-sharing” site.

This phase of the hook, as described in chapter three, draws upon the art and science of usability design to reveal how products drive specific user actions. Companies leverage two basic pulleys of human behavior to increase the likelihood of an action occurring: the ease of performing an action and the psychological motivation to do it.

Once Barbra completes the simple action of clicking on the photo, she is dazzled by what she sees next.

3. Variable Reward

What distinguishes the Hook Model from a plain vanilla feedback loop is the hook’s ability to create a craving. Feedback loops are all around us, but predictable ones don’t create desire. The unsurprising response of your fridge light turning on when you open the door doesn’t drive you to keep opening it again and again. However, add some variability to the mix — say a different treat magically appears in your fridge every time you open it — and voila, intrigue is created.

Variable rewards are one of the most powerful tools companies implement to hook users; chapter four explains them in further detail. Research shows that levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine surge when the brain is expecting a reward. Introducing variability multiplies the effect, creating a focused state, which suppresses the areas of the brain associated with judgment and reason while activating the parts associated with wanting and desire. Although classic examples include slot machines and lotteries, variable rewards are prevalent in many other habit-forming products.

When Barbra lands on Pinterest, not only does she see the image she intended to find, but she is also served a multitude of other glittering objects. The images are related to what she is generally interested in — namely things to see on her upcoming trip to rural Pennsylvania — but there are other things that catch her eye as well. The exciting juxtaposition of relevant and irrelevant, tantalizing and plain, beautiful and common, sets her brain’s dopamine system aflutter with the promise of reward. Now she’s spending more time on Pinterest, hunting for the next wonderful thing to find. Before she knows it, she’s spent 45 minutes scrolling.

4. Investment

The last phase of the Hook Model is where the user does a bit of work. The investment phase increases the odds that the user will make another pass through the hook cycle in the future. The investment occurs when the user puts something into the product or service such as time, data, effort, social capital, or money.

However, the investment phase isn’t about users opening up their wallets and moving on with their day. Rather, the investment implies an action that improves the service for the next go-around. Inviting friends, stating preferences , building virtual assets, and learning to use new features are all investments users make to improve their experience. These commitments can be leveraged to make the trigger more engaging, the action easier, and the reward more exciting with every pass through the hook cycle. …

As Barbra enjoys endlessly scrolling through the Pinterest cornucopia, she builds a desire to keep the things that delight her. By collecting items, she’ll be giving the site data about her preferences. Soon she will follow, pin, re-pin, and make other investments, which serve to increase her ties to the site and prime her for future loops through the hook.

For each of the four phases (Trigger, Action, Variable Reward, Investment), include:

A clear definition of the phase and its importance in the "Hooked" cycle
2-3 specific, actionable strategies for implementing that phase in my business, based on my unique context
An explanation of the psychological principles at play and why this phase is so effective in creating addiction

Provide your suggestions in a clear, numbered list format. Offer tangible, real-world examples wherever possible to illustrate the concepts.

The plan should be written in an engaging, conversational tone that speaks directly to me as a solopreneur looking to boost my audience retention and build my authority.

Use persuasive language and strong analogies to drive home the importance of each phase and inspire me to take action.

HOW TO USE THE “HOOKED” PROMPT:

1. Replace the [INSERT CONTEXT] placeholder with a detailed description of your business.

   • Example: “The AI Solopreneur helps content creators and entrepreneurs harness AI to streamline content creation and grow their online presence. My tech-savvy but time-strapped audience craves practical, actionable advice to integrate AI into their workflows. I offer an AI-powered content creation course, a weekly newsletter with AI tips and strategies, and plug-and-play AI prompts. The desired outcome is for my audience to create high-quality content faster, build engaged audiences, and grow their businesses. They value efficiency and a mix of high-level insights and step-by-step guidance.”

Once you've filled in your business details, simply sit back and let the AI work its magic.

Based on my AI Solopreneur business context, here’s the output this prompt gave me:

In a matter of seconds, you'll have a customized, step-by-step blueprint for transforming your product or content into a habit-forming machine.

No more guessing, no more hoping for the best.

Just a proven, psychologically-driven plan for keeping your audience hooked and hungry for more.

As you watch your engagement metrics soar and your audience become more and more addicted to your brand, remember:

This is the power of science, not chance.

You're not just another solopreneur throwing darts in the dark.

You're a master of the "Hooked" model, armed with the psychological triggers and tactics that turn casual observers into lifelong fans.

So go forth and hook your audience, one irresistible product or piece of content at a time.

Here's to building a business that's as addictive as scrolling through TikTok videos at 2 AM, promising yourself "just one more."

Keep building,

Ole