Welcome To The Ad Writing Instruction Section

There is no way I can possibly stress enough how important it is to write a good ad in order to sell your product or service. A bad ad means NO SALES no matter how good your product is. People will never know it's any good if the ad doesn't get the message across. In this section I am going to try to teach you HOW to write a good ad. Quite honestly, ad writing is an art and while it can be learned if you don't have the natural aptitude for communicating your ideas to people learning is going to be difficult at best. I can teach you some basic principals of structure and content but I can't put the words in your mouth. Every product and service is going to require its own delivery and there is no way I can possibly go over all possible ads that could be written. The section would be a thousand pages long and even then would not scratch the surface. But hopefully given the basics that I will present here you will be able to adapt them to suit the needs of your particular product or service.

Your typical ad consists of the following sections:

1. Subject or Heading
2. Intro Paragraph
3. Purpose of Ad
4. Your experiences before and after using the product or service and description of it.
5. How the product or service will help the customer
6. What not getting the product or service will mean to the customer
7. Closing paragraph

Looks like we're writing a very long letter doesn't it. Well, in essence we are. To effectively communicate your product or service to people and to get the customer EMOTIONALLY PREPARED TO BUY you can't do that in a few lines. The days of 3 line ads are over. People are so skeptical and jaded by most things, especially online, that they will really have to be convinced to get your product or service. So let's take each part of the ad and break it down and then I'll give you a couple of sample ads for 2 completely different businesses. But please understand one thing before we begin. The sections above are NOT written in stone. In some cases you may want to leave out a section or two. It all depends on the product or service and what market you're trying to reach.

1. Subject or Heading

Quite honestly your ad could be dead in the water right at this point. You can't imagine how important a good subject or heading to your ad is. If your subject or heading doesn't catch the customer's eye they are NOT going to read your ad. This is one of those times where like I said, I can teach you the basics but I can't make you a creative subject writer. You have to use your imagination. The best advice I can give you here is to not hold back. Don't be afraid of writing a subject that sounds outrageous. Sometimes the most outrageous subjects get read the most.

Here are some examples of subjects I have used that have brought results

"My Web Design Ain't Free, But It's Darn Cheap."
"Some Tips On Your Ad And Why It Belongs In The Trash."
"Martians Have Landed and They've Destroyed YOUR Business."
"Hey, when you're sick of making ZIP, read THIS!"

Get the idea? Don't be normal but don't be stupid either. You have to really stand out from the crowd to get people to read your ads today.

2. Intro Paragraph

This is the shortest paragraph in your ad. Here you simply introduce yourself, thank the person for reading this ad and tell them how they can contact you if they have any questions about your product or service. Nothing fancy here. Make it polite and friendly. It will make them want to read more. DON'T START OFF WITH A SALES PITCH RIGHT OFF THE BAT!!! This is one of the biggest mistakes people make. You MUST build trust and a relationship. This is where that relationship begins. Take it slow. You've got a whole 6 paragraphs to sell your product.

3. Purpose Of Ad

This is where you tell them WHY you are writing and how you are trying to help THEM. Explain briefly how you think what you have to share with them will help them and how. Don't describe the product or service yet. This is also a pretty short paragraph. Maybe just a little longer than the intro.

4. Your Experiences Before and After Using Product

This is what I like to call the "tell your story" section of the ad. This is where you get them to relate to you one on one. Tell them how bad things were for you before finding this product or service. If it's your own product tell them how you were so frustrated with the fact that nobody came out with something like this that met your needs that you got fed up enough that you created it yourself and then tell them how it has changed your life since. The same thing applies if it's somebody else's product. I can't stress this one point enough. STAY AWAY FROM HYPE! Be truthful about what the product has done for you. Don't make false promises. Just stick to the facts and back then up with any documentation if you have it. You can include this in the ad or offer to send it to them if they like. By this time your prospect is close to buying but not yet.

5. How The Product Or Service Will Help Customer

After you tell the customer what the product has done for you tell them what it will do for them. This is where you list all the benefits and functions of the product. Again, NO HYPE! Just give the facts and back them up if you can. This is where you sell your product or service.

6. What NOT getting the product will mean to the customer

This is optional. Why? Because it is negative and not many ad writers know how to write these kind of paragraphs without getting the prospect angry. You have to walk a very fine line here and I only recommend this for people who feel comfortable doing it. So why do I do it? Because done correctly it makes the prospect realize that if they DON'T get my product they are going to be sorry they didn't. I always use this paragraph and I make consistent sales with it. Sometimes I go a little overboard and I get some nasty replies. But I don't abandon it because it works. Use your own discretion on using this paragraph.

7. The Closing

This is basically where you wrap everything up. Highlight fine points, make them aware of any guarantees if applicable and remind them that they can call or email you if they have any questions. Always sign off with your name, email and phone. There are hard closes and soft closes. A hard close is where you drive the point home that if they don't get your product they are going to be sorry. A soft close is just that. You've already done your selling so just sign off with a thank you for your time and give your contact info. Just be professional which ever close you use.

Okay, so right now you're thinking, "How Do I Write An Ad?" I suppose NOW would be the time for a couple of sample ads. So let's go on to the next page.

SAMPLE ADS

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