Writing an ad is just like anything else you do: you have to do a little prep work before you sit down and start chucking wood. And for the most part, the more prep work you do, the better your ad will be. Kind of like the lumberjack with the sharpest ax is always going to cut the most.
Make sense?
Okay, let’s take a look at the three legs your ad MUST stand on, before you can even think about doing any real “writing.”
1. To begin with, you need to find out what kind of offer you will make to your client. In other words, what are you proposing that they trade for what you have to offer. I mean, “What’s in it for him?”
Your ad should say “if you do this, you’ll get that,” and the “get that” part should be fairly compelling and placed in front of the right market to get a response. .
2. Second, you want your statement or value proposition you presented in #1 to be unique. If all you do is offer exactly the same as every other Tom, Dick and Harry… then why would anyone feel compelled to respond?
You are right, they are not.
So make sure you have some sort of spread, and we’ve talked about this a lot in the past.
3. Lastly, your claim (the profit part of your offer) has to actually be something that someone wants. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve criticized ads and what’s being offered isn’t what the prospect wants.
And the best indicator of what someone wants, contrary to popular belief, is…if someone is already selling something similar.
See, most people mistakenly think that they need to be the only ones doing something for a living. However, he is rarely, if ever… a “first to market” person with anything. However, however, most people think that they are going to be the next iPod.
And it’s silly to think like that, that it costs you a lot of time, energy and money.
Let’s put it this way, I prefer a tried and tested good or service any day to something new. Remember, for 99.9% of us, the money is in your marketing, NOT your product.
Unfortunately “zero” is an answer, so be aware of these 3 legs.
Now go sell something, Craig Garber