You've read a lot of advice about first lines. So have your readers. They know the hook. They've seen the pattern — the provocative question, the counterintuitive claim, the one-sentence gut-punch designed to stop the scroll. Because they've seen it, the first line

There’s a specific kind of bad copy I see everywhere. It has a certain smell to it — words like solution, leverage, optimize, seamlessly, innovative. Phrases like “helping businesses achieve their goals” and “delivering results that matter.” This is corporate slime. Copy that says nothing, commits to nothing, risks nothing.

I care about words the way engineers care about code. Every one matters. Every one earns its place. And I will cut anything that does not pull its weight. This is where I write about the craft of persuasion. Not the "growth hacks" kind. Not the "5