Regardless Of How You Look At It, The Most Important Aspect Ofany Successful Mail Order Business Is Its Advertising. In Fact,mail Order Success Is Wholly Dependent, And Even Predicated Upongood Advertising.First Of All, You've Got To Have A Dynamic, Spectacular Ad Thatattracts The Eye And Grabs The Interest Of The People You'retrying To Sell To. Thus, Unless Your Ad Really "jumps Out" At Thereader, Your Sales Won't Live Up To Expectations, And Your Admoney Will Be Wasted.The Eye-catching Appeal Of Your Ad Must Start With The Headline.Use The Headline To Very Quickly Create A Picture In The Minds Ofthe Reader--a Vision Of All Their Problems Being Solved, Andattainment Of The Kind Of Happiness They Seek. If Your Headlinefails To Catch The Attention Of Your Prospect, You Cannot Hope Tocapture Him With The Remaining Of The Ad, Because It Will Gounread! So In Writing Your Advertisement For Just A Little While,so You Must Quickly Interest Him In Your Offer, Show Him How Hecan Get What He Wants, And Then Cause Him To Send Immediately Foryour "solution" To His Problems. Your Copy Must Exude Enthusiasm,excitement, And A Positive Attitude. Don't Be Afraid To Use Ahard-sell Approach! Say What You Feel And Believe About Youroffer. And Use Common, "everyday," But Correct English.Even So, You Can And Must Remember To Be Honest. Don't Exaggerateor Make Claims You Can't Back Up. Never Make Promises You Cannotor Don't Expect, To Keep. To Do So Could Get You In Trouble Withthe Federal Trade And Fair Practices People.Stress The Benefits Of Your Product Or Service. Explain To Yourreader How Owning A Copy Of Your Book (for Instance), Orreceiving Your Services Will Make His Life Richer, Happier, Andmore Abundant. Don't Get Involved In Detailing All The Moneyyou've Spent Developing The Product Or Researching Theinformation You're Selling, Or You're Selling, Or Yourcredentials For Offering It. Stress The "sizzle" And The Value Ofownership.It Is Important To Involve The Reader As Often As Possible Throughthe Use Of The Word "you." Write Your Copy Just As If You Werespeaking To And Attempting To Sell Just ONE Person. Don't Letyour Ad Sound As A Speaker At A Podium Addressing A Huge Stadiumfilled With People, But As If There Were Just One Individual"listening."And Don't Try To Be Overly Clever, Brilliant Or Humorous In Youradvertising. Keep Your Copy Simple, To The Point, And On Targettoward Selling Your Prospect The Product Or Service Because Ofits Benefits. In Other Words, Keep It Simple, But Clear; At Allcosts, You Don't Want To Confuse The Reader. Just Tell Himexactly What He'll Get For His Money; The Benefits He'll Receive;how To Go About Ordering It. You Don't Have To Get Too Friendly.In Fact, Becoming "folksy," And Don't Use Slang Expressions.In Writing An Ad, Think Of Yourself As A Door-to-doorsalesperson. You Have To Get The Attention Of The Prospectquickly, Interest Him In The Product You're Selling, Create Adesire To Enjoy Its Benefits, And You Can Then Close The Sale.Copywriting, Whether For A Display Ad, Classified Ad, Salesletter Or Brochure, Is A Learned Skill. It Is One Anyone Canmaster With A Bit Of Study, Practice, And Perhaps Someprofessional Guidance.Your First Move, Then, Is To Study Your Competition, Recognizehow They Are Selling Their Wares. Practice Rewriting Their Adsfrom A Different Point Of View Or From A Different Sales Angle.Keep A File Of Ads You've Clipped From Different Publications Ina File Of Ad Writing Ideas. But Don't Copy Anyone Else's Work;just Use The Ad Material Of Others To Stimulate Your Owncreativeness.Some Of The "unknown Facts" About Advertising--and Ad Writing Inparticular--tell Us That You Cannot Ask For More Than 3 In Ashort Classified Type Ad. Generally Speaking, A 5 Item Will Takeat Least A One-inch Display Ad. If You're Trying To Sell A 10item, You'll Need At Least A Quarter Page--perhaps Even A Halfpage Of Copy--and 15 To 20 Items Require A Full Page. If Youare Selling A Really Big Ticket Item (costing 50 Or More) You'llneed A Four-page Sales Letter, A Brochure, Separate Order Coupon,and Return Reply Envelope.If You're Making Offers Via Direct Mail, Best To Get Into Thepostal System With It On Sunday, Monday Or Tuesday, To Be Sure Itdoes Not Arrive On Monday, The First And Busiest Day Of The Week.And Again, Unless You're Promoting A Big Ticket Item, The Qualityor Color Of Your Paper Won't Have Any Great Effect On Theresponse You'll Get, But The Quality Of Your PRINTING Definitelywill, So Bear This In Mind When You Place Your Printing Order.One Final Point To Remember: The Summer Months When People Aremost Apt To Be Away On Vacation Are Usually Not Good Months Fordirect Mail. But They ARE Good For Opportunity And Advertisementsin Publications Often Found In Vacation Areas, And In Motels Andhotels.Again, It Cannot Be Stresses Too Much Or Often: Success In Mailorder Does, Indeed, Depend Upon Advertising, And As With Anythingelse, Quality Pays Off In The Long Run. Read This Report Again;study It; Let It Sink In. Then Apply The Principles Outlined Init. They Have Worked For Others, And THEY CAN WORK FOR YOU!
