HOW TO WRITE PROFITABLE CLASSIFIED ADS

 Everybody wants to make more money... In fact, most people would  like to hit upon something that makes them fabulously rich! And  seemingly, one of the easiest roads to the fulfillment of these  dreams of wealth is mail order or within the professional circles  of the business, direct mail selling...

 The only thing is, hardly anyone gives much real thought to the  basic ingredient of selling by mail - the writing of profitable  classified ads. If your mail order business is to succeed, then  you must acquire the expertise of writing classified ads that  sell your product or services!

 So what makes a classified ad good or bad? First of all, it must  appeal to the 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 words in order to keep your operating costs  within your budget. And thirdly, it has to produce the desired  results whether inquiries or sales.

 Grabbing the reader's attention is your first objective. You must  assume the reader is "scanning" the page on which your ad appears  in the company of two or three hundred classified ads. Therefore,  there has to be something 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 importance and deserve your careful  consideration. Most surveys show that words or phrases that  quickly involve the reader, tend to be the best attention-  grabbers. Such words as: FREE... WIN... MAKE BIG MONEY...

 Whatever words you use as attention-grabbers, to start your ads,  you should bear in mind that they'll be competing with similar  attention-grabbers of the 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 the reader. In other words,  your ad might read something like this: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy &  Simple. We show you how!

 In the language of professional copywriters, you've grabbed the  attention of 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 of the 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 ad doesn't pull according to the  expectations of the advertiser.

 Think about it - you've got your reader's attention; you've told  him it's easy and simple; and you're about to ask him to do  something. Unless you take the time to further "want your offer,"  your ad is going to only half turn him on. He'll compare your ad  with the others that have grabbed his attention and finally  decide upon the one that interests him the most.

 What I'm saying is that here is the place for you to insert that  magic word "guaranteed" or some other such word or phrase. So  now, we've got an ad that reads: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple.  Guaranteed!

 Now the reader is turned on, and in his mind, he can't lose.  You're ready to ask for his money. This is the "demand for  action" part of your ad. This is the part where you want to use  such words as: Limited offer - Act now! Write today! Only and/or  just...

 Putting it all together, then your ad might read something like  this: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple. Guaranteed! Limited offer.  Send $l to:

 These are the ingredients of any good classified ad - Attention -  Interest - Desire - Action... Without these four ingredients  skillfully integrated into your ad, chances are your ad will just  "lie there" and not do anything but 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 would pull a good  response, it's known as a "blind ad" and would pull inquiries and  responses from a whole spectrum of people reading the publication  in which it appeared. In other words, from as many "time-wasters"  as from bona fide buyers.

 So let's try to give you an example of the kind of classified ad  you might want to use, say to sell a report such as this one...  Using all the rules of basic advertising copywriting, and stating  exactly what our product is, our ad reads thusly:  MONEY-MAKER'S SECRETS! How To Write winning classified ads.  Simple & easy to learn -should double or triple your responses.  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's attention... 2) You've got to "interest him" with  something that appeals to him... 3) You've got to "further  stimulate" him with something (catch-phrase) that makes him  "desire" the product or service... 4) Demand that he act  immediately...

 There's no point in being tricky or clever. Just adhere to the  basics and your profits will increase accordingly. One of the  best ways of learning to write good classified ads is to study  the classifieds - try to figure out exactly what they're  attempting to sell - and then practice rewriting them according  to the rules we've just given you. Whenever you sit down to write  a classified, always write it all out - write down everything you  want to say - and then go back over it, crossing out words, and  refining your phraseology.

 The final ingredient of your classified ad is of course, your  name, address to which the reader is to respond - where he's to  send his money or write for further information.  Generally speaking, readers respond more often to ads that  include a name than to those showing just initials or an address  only. However, because advertising costs are based upon the  number of words, or the amount of space your ad uses, the use of  some names in classified ads could become quite expensive. If we  were to ask our ad respondents to write to or send their money to  The Research Writers & Publishers Association, or to Book  Business Mart, or even to Money Maker's Opportunity Digest, our  advertising costs would be prohibitive. Thus we shorten our name  Researchers or Money-Makers. The point here is to think relative  to the placement costs of your ad, and to shorten excessively  long names.

 The same holds true when listing your post office box number.  Shorten it to just plain Box 40, or in the case of a rural  delivery, shorten it to just RRl.

 The important thing is to know the rules of profitable classified  ad writing, and to follow them. Hold your costs in line.  Now you know the basics... the rest is up to you.
 
 

***   DISCLAIMER: We are not responsible for the creation, accuracy or application of the material presented herein (Reports and other related offers/products). The reader is advised to seek legal counsel before starting any business or implementing any ideas contained in these documents which are provided free of charge.  ***