12- COPYWRITING TIPS TO MAKE YOUR ADVERTISING MORE PROFITABLE...Written by Thom Reece
© Copyright 2004 Thom Reece All Rights ReservedYear after year people make same mistakes in direct-response copy and advertising. You can avoid most common and costly blunders by following these proven tips... 1. WRITE IN DIRECT-RESPONSE LANGUAGE: - Use short paragraphs and short words. This article has 68% short words-five letters or less. Strive for at least 65%-75%. Never go under 50% unless you are writing to Ph.D's.
- Make your sentences and paragraphs flow like a breeze.
- Ignore good grammar when you have a good reason.
- Keep bucket brigade going: Start paragraphs with And, But, So you see, However...
- Use freshest concepts and most colorful language you can without disturbing flow.
- Use hot words: free, profit, new, now, secret, easy, save, guarantee, today... and hottest word of all: YOU!
- Use bullets... lots of them.
2. WRITE LOTS OF HEADLINES.Always think up dozens of alternative headlines. Put your strongest benefits in them and test your best alternatives. When writing headlines for web sites make sure they include key search words and phrases along with benefits. 3. DROP THE WARM-UPS... You'll destroy your entire letter/ad by starting off, "As a homeowner, you know how maintenace costs are climbing every day...". Take your first draft and try cutting out first two to three paragraphs... you'll usually find real "meat" starts to appear in your copy after you have started to "warm-up" to writing. 4. STAND OUT. Separate yourself from competition as clearly as you can. Discover, isolate, and dramatize all reasons for doing business wity you...today..., instead of your competitor. Build your entire package or ad around these reasons (benefits). 5. SELL BENEFITS, NOT FEATURES. Readers don't buy products or features of products. They buy benefits-of-use of product or features. Be humble enough to realize that a buyer will not give you one red cent for any product or feature until you convert features into benefits-of-use. 6. LEARN TO GIVE.
| | A lunchtime lesson on print advertisingWritten by Gary Watson, GW Copywriting Services
I promise you’ll be able to finish this article before you finish first half of your PBJ. Are you sitting down? Good. Because I have some startling news for you. Print ads are here to stay. That’s right. Those dusty, musty, fusty old relics of century past are still with us. And despite ubiquity of commercials on radio and TV; despite onslaught of banners, pop-ups and all manner of intrusive online ads; newspapers and magazines are, and always will be, a mainstay forum for mainstream advertising. There’s something about readiness, handiness, heft and feel of a magazine or a newspaper that appeals to nature of human beings. Yes, flat screens that glow with vivid colors are attractive. Especially when they’re displaying something we specifically asked to see. But as we page through a magazine or a newspaper while enjoying our lunch or riding a commuter train, we don’t mind at all if a surprising or intelligent or just plain appealing ad – even one in black and white – suddenly grabs our attention. We expect it. We secretly look for it. We even welcome it as a break from all dull gray type we’ve been slogging through. Why? Because – let’s face it – a really good ad is a delight to behold.
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