Advertise On The Web

* Keep It Simple!

1. Decide how you want customers to respond: Come In, Call On Phone, Email, Fax or Mail

2. What is your greatest strength? Write down your "Claim To Fame" in one sentence and build your ad around that theme.

3. Make them an offer they can't refuse. Write down one offer that is irresistible.

Be sure that you keep the response simple too. Make it as easy as possible for the prospect to respond.

* Maintain Your Focus

Remember what you're trying to accomplish with your ad and whom you're trying to target. Multiple objectives will confuse more than sell. One ad is unlikely to appeal to everyone, so consider where the ad will appear, who is the likely reader, and then develop your ad with that in mind.

Once you have developed a profile of your most likely reader, you can then think about what their "hot buttons" might be and pitch your ad accordingly.

If your business offers a multitude of products and services, you might need to focus on only one or two at a time and create several different ads, each covering a different portion of your offerings.

* Make It Believable

When you make unrealistic claims or use words that are considered by many professionals to be "hype," then you lose credibility and decrease your response rate. The most critical starting place is your headline. Some words that have proven themselves to be effective attention grabbers:

"Free" "You" "Discover" "New"

* Solve Their Problem

Your prospect is human and therefore basically selfish. He is only interested in what's in it for him: What problems can you solve for him? In what ways can you make his life easier? How can you save him time or money?

"Ultimately, people only want two things: (1) to gain pleasure, or (2) to avoid pain." (Frey, David)

Except for what might be necessary to establish your credibility or expertise, leave out all the "me" copy and sell only the benefits. An ad should not contain a laundry list of product features or company bragging.

* Offer Something of Value

One of the best ways to make your offer irresistible is to add so much value that the prospect will feel he'd lose by NOT taking you up on your offer. This can be done by simply adding additional products to the main one being sold. Think of it as a reward for responding.

Consider these ways to add value to your offer:

o Offer a free evaluation.
o Offer free shipping.
o Throw in a free product.
o Offer a free video, tape, report, or information booklet.
o Offer a free newsletter or magazine subscription.

One caveat: if you make your offer too good be true, you could actually lose credibility. Give your prospect a reason why you're making your great offer--you're liquidating, you're passing on a good deal, you're moving returned merchandise--so your prospect will be assured that you're not just pulling a fast one on him.

* Call for Action

You'll need to lead your prospect to the action you want him to take: calling you, e-mailing you, visiting your store, visiting your Website, using an autoresponder, etc.. You should give him some choices, because some people are more comfortable doing one rather than another.

* Repetition, Repetition, Repetition…

Unfortunately, running an ad one or two times simply does not accomplish the desired results or even give you a good return on your investment. Research on recall numbers after repeated ads clearly shows that the recall rate increases steadily (with slight fluctuations) from three to fifty repeats of your ad. There is also evidence that large ads do not necessarily pull any better than small ads unless you are publicizing a specific, time-sensitive event or offer.

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Cherie Ang is the owner and webmaster of www.sgprofitsite.com, the site for Simple Work From Home Opportunity and an experienced Internet Marketer. If you found this article is helpful to you, claim your Free Internet Business Training course on how to make some extra money using other resources, available at => newsletter.sgprofitsite.com