How to write ads that generate sales (part 1)

Ads are the basement, no business can exist without sales, and every sale begins with some form of advertising, and the advertising must be good enough to make potential buyers buy.

Does advertising allways succeed? NO! and the credit for the success, or the blame for the failure of almost all ads, reverts back to the ad itself.

What does an ad look for? Generally, the "ad writer" wants one of the following:

* That you visit the store to see and judge the product for yourself * That you immediately buy the merchandise being advertised * That you phone for an appointment to hear the full sales presentation * That you ask for further information (which amounts to the same thing).

The bottom line is always the same: To make the reader buy the product or service.

As an "ad writer" you must know exactly what you want that your customers do.

THE MASTER FORMULA FOR ADS * Attract the "attention" of your prospect * "Interest" your prospect in the product * Make your prospect "desire" the product * Demand "action" from the prospect

Basic rules of advertising copy writing:

* An ad must be read to stimulate sales * It must be seen, so it can be read * It must command or grab the attention of the reader

Your knowledge and practice of these basic rules, will determine the extent of your success as an advertising copywriter.

CLASSIFIED ADS:

Classified ads are small, relatively inexpensive, many times free in Internet, and give the beginner an opportunity to advertise his product or service without losing his shirt if things don't go how he expected.

Many people look classified ads when they wish to find a product or a service, that's why they are a great means of promotion for any Internet business, if you learn how to use them.

How do you put a free ad in The Web? just look for "classifieds" or "classified ads" in a search engine (i.e. www.hotbot.com) and then look for a link tha might say "announce" "place an ad" "free ads" etc. Sometimes you won't find the link in the home page and you will find it after you choose one of the categories (i.e. "business opportunities", "internet marketing", "jobs", etc)

What kind of results can you expect from a classified ad? A good ad will bring you people interested in your product or service, from these prospects (potential clients) you might get up to 1 sale for every 10 - 30 of them, if you follow up them properly in the next monts. (Follow up has some special rules, that will be explained in other web page)

It is important to be aware that classified ads is a promotion system that will not give you immediate results, but in the next months.

Classified ads are important because they let you reach a market nitch that you won't be able to find other way. That's why every prospect that you get through this menas is a great tresure.

The trick of classified ads is to put as many as you can. You can do that one by one in free places like my Free Classifieds Ads web page at: http://www.easy-home-business.com/freeclassifieds.html or with a good automation software like:

* My FreeClassifieds: Packs 30 main categories and hundreds of sub- categories into one small package to target any business or customer you desire. With their new technology your advertisements will be posted into 1,000+ classifieds systems worldwide under your specific category in under 15 seconds. Simplicity at it's best. No questioned asked. And you can find it here: http://www.creativesoftwaresystems.com/partners/rab/myfreeclassif ieds/

* The Classified Connection: This wizard is the only wizard in existence, and allows user of The Classified Connection to "add, update, and delete" thousands of classified sites from the database with the "click" of a button. The system arrives with hundreds of classified sites (templates) preloaded into the wizard to get you started. Also, this setup yields an impressive total of over 60,000+ posted and/or linked classifieds advertisements with just one advertising session. And you can find it here: http://www.creativesoftwaresystems.com/partners/rab/theclassified connection/

* Becanada: Reach millions of people for FREE, using the Top2000+ Free classifieds, in just a few minutes - compared to over 100s of hours of submissions by hand! You can find it here: http://www.becanada.com/$/?rbsoftwa@kagi.com

How many ads must you put? Do not expect good results with an ad placed at less than 200 sites. The ideal is to have 5 to 10 different ads and place them in different categories (business opportunities, home jobs, etc.) but the most important part is the quality of your ad. One good ad will give you much more customers than 10 bad.

If everyday you put your ad in 6 different places, in a month you will have 180 and in a couple of months your ads campaign will be really working. To put an ad will take you from 7 to 10 minutes each, for 6 ads you will need to work 1 hour per day. With an automation program like Becanada http://www.becanada.com/$/?rbsoftwa@kagi.com this will take you not more than a couple of hours a month.

THE HEADLINE:

The headline of a newspaper, it says the same that's said in the main article. A classified ad, is a condensed form of large ads.

The headline and/or the lead sentence of an ad is the most important part of the ad. When your ad is surrounded by hundreds of other ads, the only thing that will make anyone read your ad si that you can "grab" their attention and entice them to read.

If you don't capture the attention of your reader with your headline, anything beyond it is useless effort and wasted money.

What happens if you don't have a headline? In classified ads, your first three to five words serve as your headline.

What should you say in your headline?

* Ask a question. A question seem to attract the reader's attention, and one he sees the question, he just can't seem to keep himself from reading the rest of the ad to find out the answer. i.e.: "Do You Suffer From These Symptoms?"

* Appeal to the envy. "You'll be the envy of your friends" is a "reader appeal" that you can use whenever appropriate, because everyone wants to be well thought of, and will read into the body of your ad to find out how he can gain the respect he wants.

* Use colloquialisms wherever and whenever possible, use words that are not usually found in advertisements. The idea is to shock or shake the reader move him to take notice of your ad. For example: "Are You Developing A POT BELLY?"

* Use comparative price headlines: "Three For Only $3, Regularly $3 Each!"

* Offer a strong guarantee: "We give you an year to try, and your money back if you don't earn $50,000"

* Offer status and prestige this appeals to the necesity of belkonging to a special group, or recognition necesity

* You: Whenever, and as often as you can use the word "You" in your headline, and throughout your copy. Your ad should be directed to "one" person, and the person reading your ad likes to feel that ou're talking to him personally. Whenever you sit down to write advertising copy you should picture yourself in a one-on-one situation and "talk" to your reader just as if he where in front of you.

* Don't get cute: People care much less for the art of the ad than for the benefits they will get if they buy. So don't put in it a lot of unrelated graphics and artwork. All graphics or artwork you use should be relevant to your product, its use and/or the copy you've written about it. Graphics should not be used as artistic touches, or to create an atmosphere.

Written by Dr. Roberto A. Bonomi

About the author: Dr. Roberto Bonomi is a successful e-book writer that shares his home business experience at: http://www.easy-home-bus iness.com If you already have, or are looking for an Internet Home Business, you can't miss the free knowledge that you'll receive at his site.