AIDA for Hooks & Email
A simple, money-focused framework to turn your hooks & emails into pitch-ready material for sites like WIRED.com. Use it to grab attention, build interest, create desire, and trigger action — from both editors and readers.
Use this page like a worksheet: pick a topic → fill AIDA boxes → paste into your hook, intro, or pitch email.
How this AIDA framework works
AIDA means Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. You can use these four steps to design everything that happens in the first 20–30 seconds of contact with your idea: the hook of your article, the intro of your newsletter, or the pitch email you send to WIRED.com–style editors.
Treat this page like a live worksheet. For each new topic: (1) scroll to the AIDA grid, (2) fill one mini-box for each letter, (3) paste the final text into your article hook or email.
One-screen AIDA grid for hooks & email
Start here. Pick one story idea you want to pitch or write. Then fill one box for each AIDA step. Keep your answers short and sharp — that’s what makes strong hooks and emails.
1. Attention — What makes them look up?
Your first job is to interrupt autopilot. Use a sharp, concrete idea that feels slightly uncomfortable, surprising, or urgent.
- Reveal a hidden cost or risk behind familiar tech.
- Show a strange contrast (“cute gadget, brutal consequence”).
- Use numbers or vivid images instead of vague claims.
2. Interest — Why should they care now?
Now you add specifics. This is where WIRED-style readers start thinking, “Wait… how exactly does this work?”
- Drop one sharp fact, quote, or scene.
- Hint at conflict (users vs. companies, workers vs. algorithms).
- Suggest stakes: money, privacy, power, or status.
3. Desire — What change do they secretly want?
WIRED-level readers want to be early, informed, and a little bit ahead. Desire means: this story helps them feel smarter, safer, or more powerful.
- Show how the story gives them an edge or protects them.
- Connect it to their identity (“future-proof”, “early adopters”).
- Hint at practical takeaways without giving everything away.
4. Action — What do you want next?
Always finish with a clear action: click, reply, forward, or approve. Don’t make editors guess what you want.
- Ask to send a full draft or detailed outline.
- Suggest a section or column where it fits.
- Offer a simple next step (“If this fits, I can…”).
Use AIDA to write for WIRED-style sites & get paid
If you want to earn money writing for WIRED.com–type publications, AIDA is not just theory. It’s a practical flow you can use for:
- Step 1 · Topic selection Pick a story where tech collides with real people: workers, families, creators, small businesses, or entire cities.
- Step 2 · AIDA for hook Run the idea through the AIDA grid to design the headline + first paragraph that could sit on WIRED’s homepage.
- Step 3 · AIDA for pitch email Re-use the same AIDA answers to build your subject line, opening, and close when pitching an editor.
- Step 4 · AIDA for newsletter / social After acceptance, use AIDA again to craft a short teaser for your article in email, X, LinkedIn, or Instagram captions.
- Attention gives you strong subject lines and hook sentences.
- Interest makes your idea feel fresh, sourced, and reported.
- Desire shows the editor the exact reader benefit.
- Action turns vague pitches into a clear “yes/no” decision.
Editors love pitches that feel clean and low-effort to say yes to. AIDA makes your emails easy to skim and easy to green-light.
Quick plan: Use this framework to earn from a WIRED-style story
➊ Pick topic → ➋ Fill AIDA grid → ➌ Turn it into a hook & email → ➍ Pitch → ➎ If accepted, write & reuse AIDA in promos.
Below, you’ll see a full demo hook and a sample pitch email that you can copy, adapt, and replace with your own topic.
Demo: AIDA hook for a WIRED-style article
Imagine you want to pitch a story about how AI tools quietly rewrite people’s jobs without any official training. Here’s how you might run AIDA and turn it into a hook.
Topic
Workers are secretly training AI at work — without clear rules, credit, or extra pay.
-
Attention
Hook idea: “Your job description doesn’t mention it, but you’re already working as an unpaid AI trainer.” -
Interest
Detail: “From customer-support scripts to sales emails, workers are quietly feeding prompts and corrections into company AI tools — often without knowing who owns the data or how it will be used when layoffs arrive.” -
Desire
Reader benefit: WIRED’s audience learns how this shadow work really happens, which jobs are most exposed, and what questions they should ask before their expertise is turned into training data. -
Action
Next step for the editor: “If this fits your AI & work coverage, I can send a short outline + list of potential workers and experts to interview.”
Draft hook paragraph (ready for a WIRED-style piece)
Attention: “Your job description doesn’t mention it, but you’re already
working as an unpaid AI trainer.”
Interest: Across call centers, marketing teams, and HR departments,
workers are quietly feeding their best lines, toughest questions, and emotional labor
into AI tools that promise to “save time” — while quietly copying their work patterns
at scale.
Desire: For tech-savvy readers, this story explains how shadow AI
training really works, who profits from it, and what it means when the system learns
enough to replace the people who built it.
Action: A line at the end of the pitch asks the editor if they’d like
the full outline and source list.
Demo: AIDA pitch email to a WIRED-style editor
This is how you can reuse the same AIDA notes inside a short, clear pitch email. You can replace the topic, facts, and links with your own research.
Subject (Attention): Your staff are secretly training AI — without pay, credit, or clear rules
To: [editor@wired-style-site.com]
From: [yourname@email.com]
Hi [Editor Name],
[Attention:] In offices and Slack channels around the world, workers are doing a second, invisible job: training the AI tools that might one day replace them — usually without extra pay, credit, or clear consent.
[Interest:] I’ve spoken with support agents, marketers, and HR staff who now spend part of every shift correcting chatbot answers, rewriting AI-generated emails, and feeding “learning examples” into internal tools. Their companies call it “innovation”, but there are almost no rules around who owns that data, how it impacts performance reviews, or what happens when the AI becomes good enough to cut headcount.
[Desire:] For WIRED-style readers, this story maps the new layer of shadow labor sitting under corporate AI rollouts — and gives them concrete questions to ask before their expertise is quietly turned into training data. It would sit well in your coverage of AI, labor, and the future of work.
[Action:] If this angle fits your needs, I can send a tight outline and a list of potential workers, researchers, and labor lawyers to interview within the next 24–48 hours. I can also adapt the piece to your preferred word count and section.
Best,
[Your Name]
[Short 1-line bio: “Freelance writer covering AI, work, and digital culture.”]
You can reuse this structure for every pitch you send. Swap in a new topic, keep the AIDA skeleton, and your emails will stay clear, short, and easy for editors to scan.
Fill-in-the-blanks AIDA templates (hooks + emails)
Use these boxes as a quick framework whenever you want to pitch or write fast. Replace each [bracketed text] with your own words.
Template · Article Hook / Intro (AIDA in 4 lines)
Template · Pitch Email (short & skimmable)
Checklist: Does your AIDA framework support your income goal?
Use this quick checklist to keep your hooks and emails focused on what editors need: clarity, freshness, and a simple yes/no decision.
- Attention: My subject line / first sentence contains one sharp, specific tension or image (no vague buzzwords).
- Interest: I include at least one real detail (a short scene, data point, quote, or example).
- Desire: I clearly say what the reader gets out of this (insight, safety, power, status, or a better decision).
- Action: I ask for one very clear next step: outline, draft, word count, or meeting.
- Money link: This story fits a section that regularly publishes freelancers (e.g., WIRED’s ideas/AI/future-of-work coverage).
- Re-use: I can re-use the same AIDA skeleton later for a newsletter teaser or social caption to push traffic to the piece.
Every time you finish a pitch or hook, run through AIDA + this checklist. Over a few weeks, your default writing style will naturally lean toward high-impact openers and skimmable emails — exactly what paying editors want.