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How
To Create A Profitable Little Ad
By
Bob Leduc
A
small ad can generate a greater return on your investment than
any other type of advertising. You can also use it in a variety
of media. For example, I often get profitable results from the
same small ad in all of the following:
- Internet
- posted as a classified ad at websites and in email
newsletters (ezines).
- Print
- run as a classified or display ad in magazines.
- Direct
Mail - printed on a postcard and sent to targeted mailing
lists.
- Email
- added as a "signature" to the bottom of my email
messages.
A
small classified or display ad doesn't provide enough space to
generate sales directly from the ad. Instead, use the ad to
generate inquiries from prospects seeking more information or to
generate visitors to your store or website. Apply your usual
selling procedure to close sales when you get the inquiry or
visitor.
A Simple Four Step Procedure
By
trial and error I developed the following four step procedure for
creating successful little classified or display ads. You can
follow this same simple procedure to successfully create your
own profitable little ads.
STEP 1: Promote One Product
To One Targeted Market
Select
one product or service to promote and tailor your ad to one
targeted market. You can develop ads for many different products
and target them to many different markets. But each ad will be
most effective when it promotes one product to one targeted
market.
STEP 2: Develop A Headline
With Your Strongest Benefit
The
headline is the most important part of your ad. It captures the
reader's attention and provides a compelling reason to read your
ad. The most effective headline clearly promotes your strongest
benefit to readers in your targeted market. For example,
"How To Build Your MLM Downline Fast" will immediately
attract the attention of most network marketers. It offers the
solution to their biggest problem... how to build their downline
sales organization.
STEP 3: Reinforce Your
Headline with Body Copy
Keep
your body copy brief. Include a few power words to reinforce the
benefit promoted in your headline. For example, "Quick!
Easy! Immediate results guaranteed!" could be used as body
copy to reinforce the sample headline in Step two.
End
your body copy by telling the reader exactly how to respond to
your ad. Keep it simple and make it easy. For example,
"Call 1-800-123-4567 for FREE information TODAY!"
STEP 4: Revise And Test –
Over And Over Again
Keep
trying to increase the number of responses from your ad. Test
different headlines, different body copy, different media. Test
even minor changes in your ad. I've seen ad responses jump
dramatically after simply enclosing the headline in quotation
marks. I've also seen ad responses to a different ad drop after
making the same change. The only way to know if something works
is to test it.
Test
only one change at a time or you won't know which change
produced the new result. Be sure to code each version of your ad
so you can track the results from it. Whenever a new
"test" version of your ad produces better results than
your standard version, make it your new standard version.
Continual
testing enables you to gradually increase the response rate and
profitability of your little ad. I once built the response to a
recruiting ad printed on a postcard from three percent to over 20
percent this way.
Use
this simple four-step procedure to create your own small ads. If
you already use small ads, apply this procedure to your existing
ads to increase their effectiveness and profitability. The
results will surprise you.
Copyright
1999 By Bob Leduc
Bob
Leduc retired from a 30 year career of recruiting sales
personnel and developing sales leads. He is now a Sales
Consultant. Bob recently wrote a manual for small business
owners titled "How to Build Your Small Business Fast With
Simple Postcards" and several other publications to help
small businesses grow and prosper. For more information...
Email:
BobLeduc
@aol.com
Subject:
"Postcards".
Phone:
(702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time)
Or write:
Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133
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