Everybody Wants To Make More Money. In Fact, Most People Would Like To Hitupon Something That Makes Them Fabulously Rich! And Seemingly, One Of Theeasiest Roads To The Fulfillment Of These Dreams Of Wealth Is Mail Order Orwithin The Professional Circles Of The Business, Direct Mail Selling.The Only Thing Is, Hardly Anyone Gives Much Real Thought To The Basicingredient Of Selling By Mail - The Writing Of Profitable Classified Ads.If Your Mail Order Business Is To Succeed, Then You Must Acquire Theexpertise Of Writing Classified Ads That Sell Your Product Or Services!Many Advertisers Think That Writing Classified Ads Is Completely Differentthan Writing Longer Print Ads, Which Contain A Headline, Body Text Andpossibly A Picture Or Two. However, To Write A Successful Classified Ad,all The Time-honored Elements Of Successful Advertising Must Be Present.Large Print Ads Include A Headline To Gather Attention, Introductory Bodycopy To Inform And Generate Added Interest, Additional Body Copy To Createenthusiasm And Desire To Make A Purchase And A Call To Action That Incitesthe Reader To Take The Steps Necessary To Start The Purchasing Process.In Advertising Circles, These Four Features Are Often Designated By Theacronym "A.I.D.A.," Which Stands For:Attention (headline)Interest (body Text)Desire (added Body Text)Action (call To Action).So What Makes A Classified Ad Good Or Bad? First Of All, It Must Appeal Tothe Reader, And As Such, It Must Say Exactly What You Want It To Say.Secondly, It Has To Say What It Says In The Least Possible Number Of Wordsin Order To Keep Your Operating Costs Within Your Budget. And Thirdly, Ithas To Produce The Desired Results Whether Inquiries Or Sales.Grabbing The Reader's Attention Is Your First Objective. You Must Assumethe Reader Is "scanning" The Page On Which Your Ad Appears In The Companyof Two Or Three Hundred Classified Ads. Therefore, There Has To Besomething About Your Ad That Causes Him To Stop Scanning And Look At Yours!So, The First Two Or Three Words Of Your Ad Are Of The Utmost Importanceand Deserve Your Careful Consideration. Most Surveys Show That Words Orphrases That Quickly Involve The Reader, Tend To Be The Bestattention-grabbers. Such Words As: FREE... WIN... MAKE BIG MONEY...Whatever Words You Use As Attention-grabbers, To Start Your Ads, You Shouldbear In Mind That They'll Be Competing With Similar Attention-grabbers Ofthe Other Ads On The Same Page. Therefore, In Addition To Your Lead Words,your Ad Must Quickly Go On To Promise Or State Further Benefits To Thereader. In Other Words, Your Ad Might Read Something Like This: MAKE BIGMONEY! Easy Simple. We Show You How!In The Language Of Professional Copywriters, You've Grabbed The Attentionof Your Prospect, And Interested Him With Something That Even He Can Do.The Next Rule Of Good Classified Copywriting Has To Do With The Arousal Ofthe Reader's Desire To Get In On Your Offer. In A Great Many Instances,this Rule Is By-passed, And It Appears, This Is The Real Reason That An Addoesn't Pull According To The Expectations Of The Advertiser.Think About It - You've Got Your Reader's Attention; You've Told Him It'seasy And Simple; And You're About To Ask Him To Do Something. Unless Youtake The Time To Further "want Your Offer," Your Ad Is Going To Only Halfturn Him On. He'll Compare Your Ad With The Others That Have Grabbed Hisattention And Finally Decide Upon The One That Interests Him The Most.What Is Being Said Is That Here Is The Place For You To Insert That Magicword "guaranteed" Or Some Other Such Word Or Phrase. So Now, We've Got Anad That Reads: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy Simple. Guaranteed!Now The Reader Is Turned On, And In His Mind, He Can't Lose. You're Readyto Ask For His Money. This Is The "demand For Action" Part Of Your Ad. Thisis The Part Where You Want To Use Such Words As: Limited Time Offer! Actnow! Call Today!Example: Make 1,000 A Week! Easy To Do! No Selling! Risk FREE! Limitedoffer. Call...ClassifiedsCrossing.comBuy, Sell, TradeAdvertise Your ProductsServicesMake FriendsLocally, Nationally Or Globally100 Free Classifieds AdvertisingEasy To Use, No Registration, No Passwords To Rememberhttp:www.ClassifiedsCrossing.comThese Are The Ingredients Of Any Good Classified Ad - Attention - Interest- Desire - Action... Without These Four Ingredients Skillfully Integratedinto Your Ad, Chances Are Your Ad Will Just "lie There" And Not Do Anythingbut Cost You Money. What We've Just Shown You Is A Basic Classified Ad.Although Such An Ad Could Be Placed In Any Leading Publication And Wouldpull A Good Response, It's Known As A "blind Ad" And Would Pull Inquiriesand Responses From A Whole Spectrum Of People Reading The Publication Inwhich It Appeared. In Other Words, From As Many "time-wasters" As From Bonafide Buyers.So Let's Try To Give You An Example Of The Kind Of Classified Ad You Mightwant To Use, Say To Sell A Report Such As This One... Using All The Rulesof Basic Advertising Copywriting, And Stating Exactly What Our Product Is,our Ad Reads Thusly:MONEY-MAKER'S SECRETS! How To Write Winning Classifiedads. Simple Easy To Learn -should Double Or Triple Yourresponses. Rush 1 To BC Sales, 10 Main Anytown, TX 75001.The Point We're Making Is That: L) You've Got To Grab The Reader'sattention... 2) You've Got To "interest Him" With Something That Appeals Tohim... 3) You've Got To "further Stimulate" Him With Something(catch-phrase) That Makes Him "desire" The Product Or Service. 4) Demandthat He Act Immediately...There's No Point In Being Tricky Or Clever. Just Adhere To The Basics Andyour Profits Will Increase Accordingly. One Of The Best Ways Of Learning Towrite Good Classified Ads Is To Study The Classifieds - Try To Figure Outexactly What They're Attempting To Sell - And Then Practice Rewriting Themaccording To The Rules We've Just Given You. Whenever You Sit Down To Writea Classified, Always Write It All Out - Write Down Everything You Want Tosay - And Then Go Back Over It, Crossing Out Words, And Refining Yourphraseology.The Final Ingredient Of Your Classified Ad Is Of Course, Your Name, Addressto Which The Reader Is To Respond - Where He's To Send His Money Or How Toget For Further Information.Generally Speaking, Readers Respond More Often To Ads That Include A Namethan To Those Showing Just Initials Or An Address Only. However, Becauseadvertising Costs Are Based Upon The Number Of Words, Or The Amount Ofspace Your Ad Uses, The Use Of Some Names In Classified Ads Could Becomequite Expensive. If We Were To Ask Our Ad Respondents To Write To Or Sendtheir Money To The Research Writers Publishers Association, Or To BookBusiness Mart, Or Even To Money Maker's Opportunity Digest, Our Advertisingcosts Would Be Prohibitive. Thus We Shorten Our Name Researchers OrMoney-Makers. The Point Here Is To Think Relative To The Placement Costs Ofyour Ad, And To Shorten Excessively Long Names.The Essentials Of A Successful Classified Ad Are No Different. Theshortness Of Most Classified Ads Simply Means That These Essentials Arebroken Down Into Basics.All Classified Ads Contain Either A Headline, Which May Be Separate Fromthe Actual Body Copy, Or A Bolded First Line Or Introductory Words. Thishas To Grab A Reader Immediately. Most Classified Ads, Whether Innewspapers, Magazines Or On Web Site Classified Sections, Are Bunched Inwith Dozens Of Other Classified Ads. The Readers Attention Will Be Caughtonly By A Word Or Phrase That Is Of Immediate, Powerful Interest.Because Of This, Experienced Ad Writers Suggest Using Proven Key Words Inyour Headlines That Attract The Interest Of Readers. These Key Words Andphrases Include Free, Easy, Simple, Guaranteed, Proven, New And Money.After Grabbing The Readers Attention, You Have To Create Interest Anddesire Through Copy That Informs, Stimulates, Excites And Shows How Theproduct Or Service Will Benefit The Reader. Sound Easy? Its Not.Especially When Writing Classified Ads That Are Often Limited To One Or Twolines. Veteran Ad Writers Often Claim That Writing A Successful Classifiedad Is A Tremendous Challenge. Words Have To Be Juggled. Sentences Have Tobe Pared Down, Then Pared Down Again, Then Pared Down Even More To Thebriefest Essence, While Still Informing And Arousing Interest. And, Ofcourse, The Final Aspect Of A.I.D.A., The Call To Action, Must Be Writtenbriefly Yet With Enough Force To Entice A Reader To Proceed.How To Achieve All This In Your Own Classified Ads? The Best Way Is Tofirst Study Other Successful Ads, In Light Of The A.I.D.A Formula Shownabove. When Studying Classified Ads To See How The Essentials Of A.I.D.A.have Been Accomplished, You Can Begin To See How The Experts Achievesuccess--and You Can Begin To Bring This Expertise Into Your Own Writing.How Can You Know When Someone Elses Ad Has Been Successful? When An Adappears Over And Over For Months Or Even Years, You Can Be Assured Thatits Working. No One Keeps Running An Unsuccessful Ad. Find The Successfulads That Advertise Products Or Services That Are Similar To Yours, Studythem And Then Begin Incorporating Them Into Your Own Classifiedadvertising.The Same Holds True When Listing Your Post Office Box Number. Shorten It Tojust Plain Box 40, Or In The Case Of A Rural Delivery, Shorten It To JustRRl.The Important Thing Is To Know The Rules Of Profitable Classified Adwriting, And To Follow Them. Hold Your Costs In Line.
