|
|
 |
|
|
|
register |
bbs |
search |
rss |
faq |
about
|
|
|
meet up |
add to del.icio.us |
digg it
|
|
|
|
How to write profitable classified ads
HOW TO WRITE PROFITABLE CLASSIFIED ADS
Everybody wants to make more money... In fact, most people would
like to hit upon something that makes them fabulously rich! And
seemingly, one of the easiest roads to the fulfillment of these
dreams of wealth is mail order or within the professional circles of
the business, direct mail selling...
The only thing is, hardly anyone gives much real thought to the
basic ingredient of selling by mail - the writing of profit-able
classified ads. If your mail order business is to succeed, then you
must acquire the expertise of writing classified ads that sell your
product or services!
So what makes a classified ad good or bad? First of all, it must
appeal to the reader, and as such, it must say exactly what you want
it to say. Secondly, it has to say what it says in the least
possible number of words in order to keep your operating costs
within your budget. And thirdly, it has to produce the desired
results whether inquiries or sales.
Grabbing the reader's attention is your first objective. You must
assume the reader is "scanning" the page on which your ad appears in
the company of two or three hundred classified ads. Therefore, there
has to be something about your ad that causes him to stop scanning
and look at yours! So, the first two or three words of your ad are
of the utmost importance and deserve your careful consideration.
Most surveys show that words or phrases that quickly involve the
reader, tend to be the best attention-grabbers. Such words as:
FREE... WIN... MAKE BIG MONEY...
Whatever words you use as attention-grabbers, to start your ads, you
should bear in mind that they'll be competing with similar
attention-grabbers of the other ads on the same page. Therefore, in
addition to your lead words, your ad must quickly go on to promise
or state further benefits to the reader. In other words, your ad
might read something like this: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple. We
show you how!
In the language of professional copywriters, you've grabbed the
attention of your prospect, and interested him with something that
even he can do.
The next rule of good classified copywriting has to do with the
arousal of the reader's desire to get in on your offer. In a great
many instances, this rule is by-passed, and it appears, this is the
real reason that an ad doesn't pull according to the expectations of
the advertiser.
Think about it - you've got your reader's attention; you've told him
it's easy and simple; and you're about to ask him to do something.
Unless you take the time to further "want your offer," your ad is
going to only half turn him on. He'll compare your ad with the
others that have grabbed his attention and finally decide upon the
one that interests him the most.
What I'm saying is that here is the place for you to insert that
magic word "guaranteed" or some other such word or phrase. So now,
we've got an ad that reads: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple.
Guaranteed!
Now the reader is turned on, and in his mind, he can't lose. You're
ready to ask for his money. This is the "demand for action" part of
your ad. This is the part where you want to use such words as:
Limited offer - Act now! Write today! Only and/or just...
Putting it all together, then your ad might read something like
this: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple. Guaranteed! Limited offer.
Send $1 to:
These are the ingredients of any good classified ad -Attention -
Interest - Desire - Action... Without these four ingredients
skillfully integrated into your ad, chances are your ad will just
"lie there" and not do anything but cost you money. What we've just
shown you is a basic classified ad. Although such an ad could be
placed in any leading publication and would pull a good response,
it's known as a "blind ad" and would pull inquiries and responses
from a whole spectrum of people reading the publication in which it
appeared. In other words, from as many "time-wasters" as from bona
fide buyers.
So let's try to give you an example of the kind of classified ad you
might want to use, say to sell a report such as this one... Using
all the rules of basic advertising copywriting, and stating exactly
what our product is, our ad reads thusly:
MONEY-MAKER'S SECRETS!
How To Write winning classified ads.
Simple & easy to learn -should double or triple your
responses. Rush $1 to BC Sales, 10 Main Anytown, TX 75001.
The point we're making is that: l) You've got to grab the reader's
attention... 2) You've got to "interest him" with something that
appeals to him... 3) You've got to "further stimulate" him with
something (catch-phrase) that makes him "desire" the product or
service... 4) Demand that he act immediately...
There's no point in being tricky or clever. Just adhere to the
basics and your profits will increase accordingly. One of the best
ways of learning to write good classified ads is to study the
classifieds - try to figure out exactly what they're attempting to
sell - and then practice rewriting them according to the rules we've
just given you. Whenever you sit down to write a classified, always
write it all out - write down everything you want to say - and then
go back over it, crossing out words, and refining your phraseology.
The final ingredient of your classified ad is of course, your name,
address to which the reader is to respond - where he's to send his
money or write for further information.
Generally speaking, readers respond more often to ads that include a
name than to those showing just initials or an address only.
However, because advertising costs are based upon the number of
words, or the amount of space your ad uses, the use of some names in
classified ads could become quite expensive. If we were to ask our
ad respondents to write to or send their money to The Research
Writers & Publishers Association, or to Book Business Mart, or even
to Money Maker's Opportunity Digest, our advertising costs would be
prohibitive. Thus we shorten our name Researchers or Money-Makers.
The point here is to think relative to the placement costs of your
ad, and to shorten excessively long names.
The same holds true when listing your post office box number.
Shorten it to just plain Box 40, or in the case of a rural delivery,
shorten it to just RR1.
The important thing is to know the rules of profitable classified ad
writing, and to follow them. Hold your costs in line.
Now you know the basics... the rest is up to you.
|
|
|
To the best of our knowledge, the text on this page may be freely reproduced and distributed.
If you have any questions about this, please check out our Copyright Policy.
totse.com certificate signatures
|
|
|
About | Advertise | Bad Ideas | Community | Contact Us | Copyright Policy | Drugs | Ego | Erotica
FAQ | Fringe | Link to totse.com | Search | Society | Submissions | Technology
|
|
|
|
|
|
