4 Steps to Unbeatable Advertising And Still Keep Money in Your pocket
by: Allyn Cutts
Advertising doesn't have to wipe out your bank account to be effective. When you learn to negotiate, know when smaller ads are as effective as large ads, ask for discounts, and create an irresistible offer, you're on your way to skyrocketing profit margins!
1. Negotiate
Have you noticed that some people seem to always get the best deals? Yeah, you pay full price and think you did OK until they show up with the same thing, only they paid several hundred dollars less. It really get your goat! How do they do it? They're not afraid to ask for an extra discount.
Yep, don't sell yourself short because you didn't ASK the next time your advertising rep makes an appearance! Even if you're already getting a discount, ask for a bigger one. You have not...because you ask not.
2. Trim
Bigger is always better...or is it? When it comes to advertising, don't be surprised if some of your short ads meet with more success than larger more expensive ads. Trimming down on the size and cost of advertising doesn't mean you'll be trimming the results!
3. Exploit the Freebies
What's the difference between advertising and publicity? ...who's doing the talking. Yeah, when you sell yourself, it's advertising. When someone else is selling you, it's publicity...and it generates credibility and interest that you don't want to miss out on.
Think about the different ways you can get your business in the spotlight. Do you have some news… write a press release? Write some “how to” articles with a short byline at the end and release them to ezines, magazines, newspapers, and other publishers. Why not promote the product of a non-competitor in return for them promoting yours...think of the totally different market they affect!
Yep, there are a lot of ways out there to get free advertisement that will benefit your business. Of course you won't be able to rely solely on the freebies, but hey, you can get a little extra for nothing!
4. Improve Your Offer
Is your deal too good to pass up? If not, you need to improve it. Hey, I'm not talking about cutting prices even more...you've still got to make a profit. You can make the deal sweeter just by increasing the readers knowledge of the value of the product, or adding bonuses that are perceived as valuable, but cost you little.
Motivate buyers with expirations. Yeah, an open ended offer encourages procrastination...which leads ...yep, nowhere. When the customer knows he has until Saturday to purchase an item he'll pay more for on Sunday, he'll make it a priority to head for your shop.
Advertising doesn't have to wipe out your bank account to be effective. When you learn to negotiate, know when smaller ads are as effective as large ads, ask for discounts, and create an irresistible offer, you're on your way to skyrocketing profit margins!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Who is Allyn Cutts, and why should you care?
Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers. Allyn is a marketing and sales fanatic, providing measurable marketing solutions that drive huge results for small-to mid-size business clients. Allyn works personally with clients to design and deliver off-line and on-line direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at www.AllynCutts.com and you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays.
10 Effective Advertising Tips!
by BB Lee (c)2002
(500 words)
Writing a classified ad to sell your product isn't as hard as you might think, if you spend time researching effective copy writing strategies.
Here are a few to try NOW!
1. Never try to sell expensive items from a small classified ad.Use the two step method. Request the reader visit your site for free information or email an auto responder address for more details where you will respond with longer
ad copy to effectively sell your product.
2. Study how other marketers write their sales copy. This is a no brainer. Simply study the ads in newsletters you are subscribed to.Or surf to a few of the free classified ad sites and study the ads placed there. Don't copy their ads word for word but use them as an effective design to write your own adverts.
3. Advertise in the right Newsletter. That's right. This is basic stuff. Don't place your ad for cooking lessons in a Sports Trivia Newsletter. Or High Tech Ebooks on Java-Scripting in a Romance
Writers Newsletter.
4. Target several appropriate publications. Subscribe to the
publications and study their classified ads for several editions
before placing your ads. Practice writing adverts following their
basic ad writing guidelines.
5. Advertise in more than one publication at a time. Why?You want to pull in as many interested readers as possible in order to make sales.
6. Change your ad copy if it's not working. If people read the same old ad copy in the publication every month they will get bored and probably ignore your copy. It's human nature to do this.Freshen up your copy with new headlines, different lengths, new wording, power words, appropriate humor, details, interesting facts,
testimonials.
7. Key your ads to find out which one's are working. Or simply have several email addresses or auto responders and calculate which email address receives the most response to your ads.
8. Keep records of every one who responds to your ads. Follow up with appropriate messages about your product. Of course give them the option to opt out of receiving further correspondence.
9. Free Classified Ad Sites are a great way to test your ad writing skills before placing paid ads in publications online.Study how other marketers at these sites write their ads.Respond to their ads to see how they further market their product. Don't forget to set up a free email account especially to handle your request.
10. Study offline publications. And, advertisements you receive by snail-mail to see how they put it all together. This will help to build your ad writing skills and confidence in your copy writing abilities.
10 Effective Advertising Tips!
by BB Lee (c)2002
(500 words)
Writing a classified ad to sell your product isn't as hard as you might think, if you spend time researching effective copy writing strategies.
Here are a few to try NOW!
1. Never try to sell expensive items from a small classified ad.Use the two step method. Request the reader visit your site for free information or email an auto responder address for more details where you will respond with longer
ad copy to effectively sell your product.
2. Study how other marketers write their sales copy. This is a no brainer. Simply study the ads in newsletters you are subscribed to.Or surf to a few of the free classified ad sites and study the ads placed there. Don't copy their ads word for word but use them as an effective design to write your own adverts.
3. Advertise in the right Newsletter. That's right. This is basic stuff. Don't place your ad for cooking lessons in a Sports Trivia Newsletter. Or High Tech Ebooks on Java-Scripting in a Romance
Writers Newsletter.
4. Target several appropriate publications. Subscribe to the
publications and study their classified ads for several editions
before placing your ads. Practice writing adverts following their
basic ad writing guidelines.
5. Advertise in more than one publication at a time. Why?You want to pull in as many interested readers as possible in order to make sales.
6. Change your ad copy if it's not working. If people read the same old ad copy in the publication every month they will get bored and probably ignore your copy. It's human nature to do this.Freshen up your copy with new headlines, different lengths, new wording, power words, appropriate humor, details, interesting facts,
testimonials.
7. Key your ads to find out which one's are working. Or simply have several email addresses or auto responders and calculate which email address receives the most response to your ads.
8. Keep records of every one who responds to your ads. Follow up with appropriate messages about your product. Of course give them the option to opt out of receiving further correspondence.
9. Free Classified Ad Sites are a great way to test your ad writing skills before placing paid ads in publications online.Study how other marketers at these sites write their ads.Respond to their ads to see how they further market their product. Don't forget to set up a free email account especially to handle your request.
10. Study offline publications. And, advertisements you receive by snail-mail to see how they put it all together. This will help to build your ad writing skills and confidence in your copy writing abilities.
How to Write Ad Copy that Sells
by: Dina Giolitto
When I write copy for my advertising clients, I always check to make sure the three key elements are in place. 1. psychology, 2. logic, and 3. creativity. These are three very different aspects of ad writing, which, when combined, produce a highly effective message. Master the technique of each, and create ads that really sell!
It doesn’t matter which part you address when. You can write out a first draft and then go back and insert the missing aspects, or you can craft your copy piece by piece and then put it all together at the end. For the most part, I tend to piece together my message, but you can work however you’d like.
Advertising wouldn’t be advertising without psychology. How else would you persuade or convince people that your product is outstanding in its category? What other way is there to go about creating a need for what you sell? Persuasion relies on emotional appeal, and emotions are driven by our psychological make-up. A long time ago, someone thought up the AIDA method, which is good enough to serve my purpose in explaining the psychology of advertising. It’s really very simple. A.I.D.A. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.
Attention: Capture your audience’s attention right away, with a riveting photo and headline. Exceptional ads showcase headlines and images that work together. (Read more about this in the paragraph about creativity.)
Interest: If you wrote a good headline, likely they’ll be intrigued and continue reading. Your ad copy is where you can isolate a fear, problem, concern or need of theirs. Then go right into:
Desire. Make them want what you have. Pose your product as the solution to the aforementioned problem. Build your case with examples, or even testimonials.
Action. Finally, tell your audience what to do. Buy Now! Cick here and save! It’s amazing what just a quick directive will do.
The next key feature of your message should be logic. By logic, I’m referring to how you order the words and sentences in your message to make your point. A good writer knows to craft his message in an outline form- with the first paragraph driven by a main idea, and supporting sentences following that premise. Each paragraph should reinforce what’s been said in the main paragraph. This is basic English, and it’s the key to crafting a solid argument. You should be able to convert your sentences to bullet points if you had to- with each bullet logically supporting a main concept. In fact, you may even want to use bullets, as they’re a quick way to sum up the benefits of what you sell with no extra words to dilute the impact of what you say.
Finally, creativity is what will give your ad presentation that POW, and your copy that extra sparkle that makes it interesting to read. Earlier, I mentioned headlines and images that work together conceptually. What I mean by this is a play on words that’s reinforced by an image. This is the stuff of amazing advertising, the kind that brings home a Cleo or an Addy award! Think of those incredibly powerful Nike ads: Just Do It. Tell you customer something they won’t forget, and use a dramatic photo to cement your message into their brains. Map out your long-term campaign, if you plan on having one, following the same creative concept in each ad. This is brand-building at its finest!
Infuse creativity into your written message. Write in a clever and/or amusing way, and make your ad stand out from the crowd. Use a tone that’s appropriate to your audience. Choose words that belong to that particular genre.
At any point during the conception of your written material, you can brainstorm words or phrases that your audience uses and will likely respond to. I call this “learning their language.” What this is, essentially, is imitation. Remember when you were a little kid playing make-believe? (okay, maybe you don’t--but I do!) Play make-believe now. To warm up, read some existing material that relates to your target group. Next, sit in a quiet spot and pretend you ARE your key customer. Write out a list of their expressions. I wrote web copy for a high-end caterer last month. To get my thoughts flowing, I made a list of words. “Sophistication, delectable, tasteful, elegant” so on and so forth. When I was done thinking of as many different words as possible, I was ready to inject them into my copy. Replace lackluster words with more zippy ones. But use your adjectives and adverbs sparingly! There’s such a thing as copy overkill, and it will make you look like an amateur.
No matter how you approach the creation process, the most powerful ads require that each of these key elements are in place. Again: you can implement them in any order. When you’re ready to bring it all together, take a good, hard look at your finished draft. Go through it with a fine-tooth comb. Get a couple of outside opinions. Step away, for a little while, and then go back to it when you’ve cleared your mind. Make your changes, then give it a final once-over. Your final presentation should be error-free and perfect in every way!
To those that think advertising is an easy or slap-dash process: not true at all! The greatest ads are a perfect fusion of three very different modes of thought, expertly combined and presented in a powerfully compelling and persuasive package. Realize this, and you’re on the way to creating magical ad copy; the kind that sells!
Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.
About the author:
Dina Giolitto is a New-Jersey based Copywriting Consultant with nine
Why didn't I think of that? Jaw Dropping Ad Copy Secrets
by: Daryl Campbell
Congratulations, you've finally finished your ad copy. You've gotten feedback and it all looks good. Now do something to make your copy even better. For instance? Well...
1. Use a hand written letter on your ad copy instead of text. Write the ad on a piece of paper, scan it and publish the ad on your web page. Adding a personal touch will always increase your sales.
2. Publish a list of famous and respected customers who have bought from you on your a copy. People will think that if these people bought from you, they should also trust your business and purchase your products. Make sure to get their permission first.
3. Show before and after photos for your products on your web page copy. Show the problem picture and then beside it, show the picture of the resolution to the problem when they use your product.
4. Include an article or review that has been written about you or your business with your ad copy. This will show people that your business is respected and will increase your credibility.
5. When you offer free bonuses in your ad copy, also list the dollar value beside each bonus. People will feel they're getting a good deal and it will increase the value of your product.
6. Hire a famous person to endorse your product or service. Make sure the person is well known to your target audience. Include their picture and statements on your ad copy.
7. Include your own picture on your ad copy. This will show people that you're not hiding behind your ad copy and will increase their trust. Also, include your contact information below the picture and a brief statement or quote.
8. Tell your potential customers on your ad copy that you will donate a percentage of their purchase price to specific charity. This will show them you really care about the people. They may just buy your product to donate to the charity.
9. Ask your potential customers plenty of yes and no questions in your ad copy. The questions should remind them of their problem and make them think about what will happen if they don't purchase your product.
10. Tell your potential customers they will receive a free prize if they find the five words in your ad copy that are misspelled or spelled backwards. The longer you can keep someone reading your copy the greater
chance of them purchasing.
No there's no substitute for good ad copy. But remember you can always use your imagination to add to your ad copy. Bad pun intended.
About the author:
Daryl Campbell is a writer and home business owner. Now put more power into your hands. Everything you need to build your Online Empire and earn the income you desire! Pro Autoresponders, Pro Ad Tracking, Leads, Training & Step by Step Tutorials, Digital Products with Resale Rights, Member's Forum and MORE! Yeah its cheap.
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