When writing ad copy be sure that average reader can easily understand and relate to it. Put yourself in their place. Would you understand? Would you say, "That's me"? One way to help you write for your readers, is to write just as if you were saying it to their face. Address reader as "you" in your copy. Just like a one on one conversation. Sometime take a closer look at some of advertising around you. How many times do you see them using "you"?

Make your copy interesting to read, almost story-like, all time generating enthusiasm for your product or service. Find ways to place facts in your copy without sounding like an Army Service Manual. The trick is to convey hard dry facts and numbers, while making them interesting to read.

Don't talk about yourself. Readers don't care what you like, what you did or what you think. They want to know if they will like it and how it will benefit them.

2) Organize your Copy

When you write your copy you should always know what your primary message or selling point is as well as all secondary selling points. You might want to use your primary message as part of your headline and then dedicate a few lines or paragraph to expand on it. Then fit in your secondary selling points in lines or paragraphs after that. Whether they are a few lines or a paragraph would depend on size of your copy. How much space you can set aside for your selling points? Before you start writing your copy write down all your selling points. Sort them in order of importance. When writing your copy, move smoothly from point to point, one leading into next.

3) Short is Better

Everyone knows that short sentences are easier to read and comprehend than long sentences. One thing that all writers have in common is that they are taught to write short and to-the-point sentences. Read back through your copy. If you find a sentence that has more then 12 words, find a way to break it down. Break all long sentences into 2 sentences. If necessary, break them down again. You can also use hyphens to help separate long sentences. This is not to say that all your sentences should be same length. Copy can become boring when sentences are all same length. Vary their length. Just keep them under 12 words. Remember you are writing copy, not fiction. Sentence fragments, as long as they sound good to readers ear, are completely acceptable in copywriting.

4) Don't be a Dictionary

Use simple and easy words. That's what a reader understands. Consider mindset that you are communicating with. This reader is not trying to dissect and devour your copy. This is someone, who for one reason or another has been distracted from their primary goal to read what you have to say. It's only a short pause they're taking to quickly read your words. If you use complex words, you will either annoy or completely lose your reader. Keep It Simple Stupid! Ad Copy is Communication. Don't think that you are impressing them with words they probably couldn't spell and would never use themselves. Make it easy for reader to understand and keep up with copy.

5) Keep Clear of Tech-Terms with Wide Audiences

People work hard to develop graphics, write stories and articles, design web sites and build software, among other things. They are sometimes paid for their efforts, sometimes not. In any event, in United States (and in most of world) anything that you create or write is automatically protected by copyright.

You do not generally need to register your works with copyright office in order for them to be protected. Registration simply serves as added insurance - it gives you ability to prove that you wrote or created item on a specific date and formally establishes you as copyright owner.

The person or company (if you create work for a company it belongs to company) owns rights to publish material. These rights do not stop no matter how many times material is illegally copied or if copyright holder gives you a copy. He still owns copyright unless he signs it over to someone else.

The point is that taking someone's images, writings, songs (MP3's included), videos or anything else is violating law and person's rights. In fact, it is stealing and, if proven, violator can be held liable for damages.

So what do you do when you see that cool graphic or sound file on internet and you want a copy? Well, you can write to copyright owner and ask permission to use it or to make a copy (always get written permission - anything not in writing is difficult to prove in a court of law). Getting permission is not difficult and it is rewarding to create a web site or other work knowing that everything is totally legal.

I've found that most artists and writers on internet are completely willing to allow their work to be copied as long as they get credit and a link back to their site. Occasionally I've found an exception - an author or artist who does not want to allow casual copying. In this case best thing to do is to follow wishes of copyright owner - don't copy material.

A good rule of thumb about using materials gleaned from internet is: if you have any doubts about being able to make copies, don't use it. There are way too many good public domain sites for clipart, music and video for there to be any excuse for illegally using copyrighted material on your site.