Writing Ads That Sell

by John Olsen

The first thing you need is a Good Subject line. Something to grab the readers attention. You must make the reader want to know more. Spark their curiosity.

One way you can do this is to ask a Question:

"Did you know that…?"

"Have you seen…?"

"What is this?"

"What happened to me?"

These are just some examples, you can think of your own.

Negative Subject lines work well too:

"Stop Failing - Start Winning"

"You Lost Money Again"

"Stop being a Fool"

Again, these are just examples so you get the idea.

Why do negative Headlines work?

Think about it, we are all conditioned to them. Look at the News on any given day and read all the negative headlines.

Another thing you can try is to go really off the Wall. Write something completely unexpected and catch people off guard:

"Monsters are coming…"

"Internet Vampires Sucking you dry"

"Did You Win the Race?

"Don't You do what I did"

"The Kitchen is On Fire"

Now, I don't want to see these headlines repeated over and over and over again everywhere. Then they won't be worth a darn. Use your imagination and come up with your own.

But stay away from Big Money Claims. That's Hype and people see through it.

Whatever you use for a Subject line, follow through with the thought as you write the main copy of the ad.

For example, if you use a Subject line about "Internet Vampires," then you want to start off with that in your ad:

"Internet Vampires are everywhere, sucking the life out of you and your Wallet. Crawl out of the coffin and into the light with…."

Tie in whatever your Subject line is with the main body of your ad. If your Subject line asks a question, the main ad copy should answer it.

Here are some general rules for writing ad copy.

Keep the sentences and paragraphs as short as you can. It will make it easier to read and to follow.

Avoid Hype, respect the people who read your ad.

Again, stay away from making Big Money Claims. Lead with the Product or Service you are offering. People should join because of the Product or Service, not just because of the money.

ERROR Free writing. Spelling mistakes and poor grammar will only tell people you don't know what you are doing.

Don't get caught up in the Features, list the Benefits, keep the, "What's in it For Me" in mind as you write.

DO NOT WRITE everything in CAPS, it's bad form, and slows the reader down. Plus a lot of E-zine Publishers will not run an ad in all CAPS.

Here are some words to generally avoid when you write:

buy, contract, bad, death, loss, hard, worry, taxes, wrong, difficult, sell, fail, decision.

Now, here are some words to use:

free, love, amazing, safe, new, benefit, gain, money, happy, glad, proven, guarantee, fast, results, discover, how you, how to, your, yours, you'll, healthy, natural, magic, secret, comfortable, proud, secure, solution.

Notice the words, "You, Your and Yours" are in there. Try to use these words instead of the words, "I, we, our and us." Always personalize the ad by referring to the person who is reading it. "You will benefit… You will be proud… You'll be happy you joined… Your future is waiting… You're going to love our proven secret solution…"

The main reason for the ad, the only reason for the ad, is to get people interested enough to want to, need to find out more… Never give them all the answers. Give them a taste of what the program is all about. Tell them why they need it, and what it will do for them.

Make them want to learn more.

Ads run their course in a short while and you will need to write new ones. For example, in sending ads to Safelists or E-zines, you should use the same ad at least 10 times. But after about 20 runs in the same E-zine or Safelist, it's time for a change. If you can track your ads, you will know how they are doing, and will see when they are no longer working.

Someone needs to see the same ad 5 to 7 times before they act on it, and read it. So, use the same ad several times before you write a new one.

Bottom line, keep your Subject line interesting and make them want to stop and read the rest. Keep your ad copy short, but with enough, "What's in it For Me" to make the reader want to know more.

After you have written your ad, put it aside for a day, and when you come back to it, reread it with an eye to improve. Can you be clearer, offer more Value, improve the benefits, offer support or make a stronger call to action?

That last one, "A Call to Action" is where you tell the reader what to do, "Click Here… Find out for yourself, Now… Do it Now… Start Today…" and so on.

After you have written your copy, tell the reader what you want them to do, in sales it's called, "Asking for the Order."

When you write an ad for use in a Safelist, one trick is to indent the ad so it will stand out from the rest, you can also use symbols at the beginning of the Subject line, like ***, $$, ~~~, +$+$+ and so on. This will help get the Subject line noticed.

And now you have some of my thoughts and tips on writing Good Ads that Sell.

So, start writing…

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Written by John Olson Owner and Webmaster
http://shop-money-time.com
http://tgif-marketing.com
(c) Copyright, 2003
Reprint rights available with this Signature only
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