How to write an ad that SELLS!
Want to know how to write an ad that woks?
Get this book: Newspaper Ads that Make Sales Jump
Now – about our website:
First, here’s a list of what we don’t allow (Porn, etc) and the Federal Trade Commission has a set of Advertising Rules that you need to follow. And here’s an explanation of the various Ad Options that you have available to increase the response to your ad!
Setting up your ad
Get Your E-mail address right — We’ve gotten a lot of ads with bad e-mail addresses (believe it or not) your customers can’t mail you if your address is no good.
And don’t put your e-mail address in the body of the ad — Spammers will get it,
Title
Get Attention with your Title! Unless you do, people won’t read your ad. Use Strong Attention-Getting words In Your Ad Titles. Grab their attention by using strong emotional words in your Titles such as:
New Free Power Secret Romance Money Love Breakthru Revealed Magic Fear Win Prize Reward
look in the list of Most Popular Searches to see what people actually look for — and see if you can use these words in your ad title.
If you are looking to buy, put “WTB” in the title! If you’re looking for a missing person, for instance, put in his/her NAME in the title don’t just say Missing Person….
DON’T USE ALL CAPS! (like this) – it makes the Title harder to read.
If you have 5 items, do a separate ad for each item.
If you are selling a CAR, don’t say ‘Car For Sale’ – say ‘Clean 58 EDSEL classic!’.
If you are selling a service or program – put the Main Benefit in the Title.
We offer BIG RED TITLES for $15 and that may help your ad get noticed.
Picture: A picture is worth 1000 words!
Use a picture if you have one. This system will accept GIFs or JPG’s up to 40KB in size. If it isn’t immediately obvious how to upload the picture, then you’ll need to go get an up-to-date browser; the upload capability isn’t built in to some older browsers.
Inmost cities Kinko’s will scan photos for you for about $10. Tell them 72 DPI, GIF, no larger than 40KB.
You can use Graphics from your own website – because each ad is a Web page & HTML is ok in the ad. If you haven’t got any graphic art, get some free at C1jpArtc~stk.
Details:
DON’T USE ALL CAPS! (like this) – people will know that you don’t know what you are doing! We automatically reject all-caps ads.
Describe as completely as you can what you are offering – the Car , the Job, the Relationship – whatever it is, tell all you can. Tell the price and the terms. Use as many words as you need to – we don’t have a 25-word limit!! You can use UIML iii this part of the ad to really show off your wares!
Give your phone number. It’s even better if you have an 800 number. Tell what credit cards you accept. Put in a link to your website if you have one.
DON’T put your E-mail Address in the Ad – spammers collect them. Instead we automatically link the ad to your e-mail address to hide it from spammers.
Then
Tell the reader what they have to do – click on a link, call a phone number, – whatever it is, describe it simply and completely.
Tell them what it’s going to cost. For the item, for shipping and for anything else.
People have advertised with us with poor ad copy and received zero responses — even though their ad was seen by lots of people.
What is the problem?
Poor ad copy! Just placing an ad that says “come visit my *way* cool site,” or “buy Pool Cleaning supplies from me” doesn’t work!. What is it that makes your site cool, or your Pool Cleaning products special? Give the reader Reasons! Make them curious about what lurks around the corner.
Use the Chat Rooms. Set a time in your ad when you will be available to answer questions on-line in the chat room. Don’t put in your autoresponder as your e-mail address; we’ll cancel your ad and charge you $25 if you do. If you see an Error in your ad once you’ve submitted it – don’t worry. Just go to our ad-edit page and change the ad.
Testing
Try many different versions of your ad–with different titles and different ad copy. Testing is the only way you’ll be able to find out what works.
Style tips
Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive voice should never be used. Do not put statements in the negative form. Verbs have to agree with their subjects. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. A writer must not shift your point of view. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.) Don’t overuse exclamation marks!! Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing. Always pick on the correct idiom. The adverb always follows the verb. Last but not least, avoid clichés like the plague; seek viable alternatives. (Attributed to William Safire)
How to add Color to your Ad:
Colors: aqua, blue, fuchsia, gray, green, lime, maroon, navy, olive, purple, red, silver, teal, yellow to get your message to include a color,
- Put this bit of code at the front of the section where you want the color: <font color
- Type in the name of the color you’ve selected from the list above
- Put this code after the color>
- Put in the text that you want to have appear in color
- Put this code after the text in color: C/font>
All Cities
If your ad is for a missing person or a business or something you can sell anywhere, then the ALL Cities option may make sense. For only $29.95, (all prices are in US Dollars; Business ads are $39.95) we will put your ad in each of the 810+ North American Cities in our index, so buyers all over North America can see it, without you having to key it in 810 times. Ditto for World Cities at $14.95 – we have 210 major world cities, with more on the way soon!