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HOW TO AVOID COMMON ADVERTISING MISTAKES
Advertising isn't hard to do. You prepare an advertisement or write
a classified ad to sell your product or generate interest to send
people more information. But the way most people make mistakes is
either by their inability to write effective ad copy and by sending
it to be published in the wrong publication. Here are some pointers
to follow:
Writing Effective Copy Never try to sell anything costing more than
$5 in a small display ad or a classified ad. First of all, you don't
have enough room to tell people everything they need to know to
entice them to order.
Instead, you need to employ the "Two-Step" method of advertising.
Request the reader to send you $1 or 4 first-class postage stamps
for more information. When they respond, you will send them a
brochure, flyer, order form and cover letter so they can place an
order for the real product.
Now that pricing is out of the way lets talk about writing your ad
copy. The best way to learn how is to read the ads other people have
written. Don't copy them word-for-word, but use them as a guide to
write your own ads. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be writing
effective ad copy just as well as the pros.
Advertising in the Right Publication. Although this may sound a
little silly and you think it is only common sense to know this _
people will often overlook this fact when choosing the publication
they will be advertising in. Instead, they will look for the lowest
price for the amount of circulation they receive. Unfortunately,
this does not work out. Even though you need to look for good deals
that make it easy on your pocketbook, you will be throwing money
away if you don't pre-qualify the publication you choose.
One way of pre-qualifying the publication is to send for a sample
copy. Most publishers will send them to you free of charge for the
asking. If you don't know of any mail order publications, just write
to Glenn Bridgeman, PO Box 10150, Terra Bella CA 93270 or William
Lee, Rt 1, Box 10790, Madisonville TN 37354 and ask them to send you
some. (Be sure to enclose $1 or 4 first-class postage stamps in with
your request to offset postage costs.) If you tell them you are new
to mail order and are interested in publications to advertise in,
you certainly will find the $1 you spent is well worth the effort
because both of these publishers are very reputable, honest and
helpful.
Study the publication to see what other people are advertising and
how they are advertising it. Contact some of the people who sell
items similar to your own with the hope of networking with them. You
would be surprised how much free publicity you can get just from
corresponding, calling and networking with others.
Once you locate a publication you want to advertise in, give it a
try for 3 months. If you don't get any response or only a few
orders, try another publication. There are millions of them and
eventually you will hit the right target market that will be
interested in what you have to sell.
Don't Stop With One Publication. Just because you locate the target
market of people who are interested in purchasing your product there
is no reason you can't advertise in more than one publication. In
fact _ if you don't, your ad will become stale. If the same people
continue to see your ad every month they will probably get tired of
lookin
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