by: BB Lee
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.
by: Ken Hill
1. Target your advertising.
The more targeted the e-zine is for your offer, the greater your response will be for your proven ad.
2. Track your ads.
Don't leave your ad campaigns to guesswork. Use ad tracking to show you exactly which e-zines and ads are most profitable.
3. Run your ad for multiple issues.
You'll get a better response, and possibly save money as many publishers offer special deals on bulk advertising.
4. Spend lots of time writing your headline.
An effective headline will successfully grab your reader's attention and target your audience.
Your winning headline will also get people to read the rest of your ad, leading to more traffic and sales.
If you're new to writing headlines, and need some help check out my "9 Power Packed Headline Formulas" at: http://www.scstats.com/r.cfm?i=5652
5. Don't try to sell your product from your ad.
Write your ads to create interest and get people to visit your site.
From here, your powerful sales page will do the selling for you, and you'll be able to get people to join your e-zine or mailing list for successful follow up.
6. Don't use all caps in your headline.
You'll appear like your yelling at your reader, and your ad will come off as amateurish.
7. Include a "call to action."
At the end of your e-zine ads, include a call to action that tells your reader what you want them to do next (i.e., visit your site or subscribe to your e-zine).
8. Don't be cute or funny with your ad.
You might put your reader in a good mood, but don't count on that translating into more visits to your site or more sales.
9. Offer something for free.
Provide an incentive for visiting your site such as a free ebook, sample chapter, or trial.
10. Subscribe to or view the archives of the
e-zines you would like to advertise in.
You'll be able to see the quality of the content provided, how many ads are published in each issue, and you'll get a good idea of the products those readers are interested in by the ads being run.
Copyright © 2005 Ken Hill
About Ken: Ken's articles have been published in numerous e-zines and web sites all over the net. Keep up to date on his latest articles, and get more new valuable tips by visiting him at: http://kenhill.blogspot.com
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.
by: Al Martinovic
There are several ways to advertise and get the word out about your business online and the best of them include f-ree search engines, pay per click search engines, writing articles, utilizing press releases, doing joint ventures/ad co-ops, and posting to message boards and forums related to your target market.
But one advertising method that's neglected by most online marketers is off-line advertising.
There are several low/no cost ways to advertise off-line and I want to share 3 of them with you.
1) Business Cards
If you are serious about your business you must have business cards. They are cheap and are a great way to attract potential prospects or customers. Simply hand them out to people who you feel may be interested in your business.
Also, whenever I visit a restaraunt, bar, or club, I'll leave my business cards in all of the bathroom stalls. (Just make sure nobody is in there of course... lol!)
And don't laugh at this! It really works. When I visit the bathroom an hour or two later, I'll find that all of my business cards are gone and I'll have a fresh new set of sales the very next day.
You can get f-ree professional looking business cards at VistaPrint.com, all you have to pay is shipping and handling:
http://www.vistaprint.com
2) Flyers
With today's technology, flyers are very easy to make. You can simply design a flyer online and just print it out and make copies. Then you can post them in area businesses where you feel your potential customers may hang out. (Just make sure you ask permission from the business owner.)
Or simply hand out your flyers to people you meet on the street. Many bars and clubs don't have a problem with posting flyers in their establishments either, especially if you are a patron.
And don't forget about supermarkets! Many have bulletin boards, at least here in New Jersey where I live, and you can post your flyer there. There are hundreds of people walking into supermarkets everyday and they are in a buying mentality. Take advantage of it and post your flyers often.
Here's a site that lets you create and print flyers or brochures online for f-ree:
http://www.mybrochuremaker.com/
3) Automobile Advertising
What... ? Yes you read that right! Your car is not only a driving vehicle but a great advertising vehicle as well. You can stick magnetic signs or plates on your car with your company name and/or domain name for all to see.
Your business can be exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of people everyday whether your car is parked, you are driving, or even when you are stuck in traffic. It's fairly inexpensive and a great way to "drive" home your message.
Here are a couple of sites to check out for this very sort of thing:
http://www.iditplates.net
http://www.magneticsigns.com
Those are just a few of the ways to advertise off-line. I'm sure you can come up with other clever ways as well.
You've got a brain... use it!
Al Martinovic runs a successful "niche" business at http://www.ineedsmokes.com and publishes a popular internet marketing newsletter at http://www.milleniummarketers.com