How to Write Money-Pulling Copy

Thirty years or so ago the first super bowl tickets sold for ten dollars each and ads for TV coverage went for a song. Marketing experts built the hype to what it is today with game tickets at $400 each and TV ads costing more per second than I can write here without gasping.

Twenty years ago Bill Gates put his money and effort into marketing. Steve Jobs didn't. What's the moral?

All sales begin with an ad. More sales are made with more of the right kinds of ads.

You may use the professional ads written for you by the programs you've joined, but the drawback is that the same ad is run by everyone else in that program. If you're serious about marketing anything on or off line, you need to write your own money-pulling ads: sig files, classified, display, sales letters. Each ad should lead the viewer of that ad to ORDER WHAT YOU'RE SELLING.

You've heard of Verdi's opera, Aida, I'm sure. You'd recognize the Triumphal March on the first few notes. Apply the AIDA formula to your ads and you'll do your own triumphal march. It?s time to review it again:

A = Attention Your headline captures the reader's attention because it involves something he/she deeply cares about.

I = Interest The body of your ad where you paint the picture of the benefits. Starbucks doesn't sell coffee; it sells fast-paced, new economy lifestyle/ambience and caffeine-inspired ideas. McDonalds doesn't sell hamburgers and fries, it sells "Happy Meals", fun for the whole family.

D = Desire The facts that justify the purchase: testimonials, guarantees, 100% pure ---- i.e. McDonald's prices are so low the whole family can afford to eat out. Starbucks coffee is so rich it gets you going on the road to success every morning

A = Action Ask the reader to buy NOW. There aren't many ways to do this successfully because you must be direct, must be clear, must offer choices on ways to pay, must show reliable contact information.

Knowing the AIDA formula for writing effective ads and actually writing them may be as far apart as Fiji and Finland. You're pressed for time, your email program crashes, you have to hand submit to the free classifieds, changing the format on each ad every submission, and you keep getting your ad keys mixed up. Even the most sophisticated ad placement software takes time and concentration away from ad writing.

"So," you may whine, "what can Aida do for me?"

Aida can stimulate your right brain when you're doing other things like walking outdoors or taking a shower. (You do both, I hope.) It establishes the requisite thought pattern for creating effective ads. It's like learning how to drive with a stick shift. Once you learn, you don't think about it, you just do it automatically.

Aida forces your subconscious mind to come up with copy that shouts: YOU GET BENEFIT NOW.

Get away from your computer. Go outdoors. Stand in the rain. Start out with the A in Aida. Sing it, dance it. Get ATTENTION.

That's your headline. The headline, or subject line in email, is the most important part of your ad. It's your promise or warning to the world?implied promise for security, power, prestige or implied warning of failure, loss, embarrassment.

Headlines written as questions attract attention, especially those that challenge the reader and can't be answered with a simple yes or no. For example, "Do you know what your friends will do when you quadruple your income?"

Negative headlines attract attention. "Don't Touch That Mouse! It's programmed to Produce Money Too Fast!" or "Keep Off this Fast Track! It May Take You Beyond Your Dreams!"

As for the I for Interest. I'm assuming that you know the audience for your advertising campaign and what it wants. You wouldn't do the bump and grind for a Barry Manilow audience nor the Foxtrot for Emminem.

Since you know what your audience wants and you've done the right dance to get their attention, all you need to hold their interest is to imagine being one of them and ask yourself what you would enjoy most about having what you are selling. If it's a way to make a lot of money, it's not the money itself, but the process involved in making it and the prestige, power, comfort, security, excitement, etc. that money can buy. Then mention these benefits in this portion of the ad.

When you have aroused part of his desire to buy you must next help him justify the purchase, engage his left brain too, to fully desire what you have dangled before his eyes. Here is where you give him that justification: present facts, guarantees, testimonials. Anything to build credibility.

"In a classified ad?" you ask. "There's no room."

One or two words can do enough to send the reader to the longer ad at your website. Examples: proven, tested, endorsed, guaranteed, free trial, refundable, recommended by_______.

Finally, the second A in the formula: ACTION. Demand it. Too many classified ads leave out this crucial step. Because it takes a paragraph or two to describe the rewards the reader will get if he buys NOW or to warn him that the price will be higher if he doesn't buy NOW, the action a classified must demand is that click to a website where a longer version of AIDA can clinch the sale. You can include words such as, "Sale ends July 20" or "Price Jumps at Midnight ET 3/15"

See how easy it is? Just keep humming that Triumphal March from Aida, keep dancing your headlines, keep arousing and reassuring your audience, then demand action.

Here are suggested assignments:

For headline writing: Buy the National Enquirer and copy the ARTICLE headlines BY HAND of each article. When you do it you'll know why I ask you to.

For classifieds ads: Scan the online classifieds or mail order ads. Cut and paste 10 that you think are pretty good. Rate them on a scale of one to ten. Make a habit of rating every ad you read. Next cut and paste the ten worst ads. Write comments beside each as to what's wrong or missing, then re-write each one.

In no time you'll be whipping out money-pulling ads and placing them all over the 'Net. ======================================================= Evy Cole Turrill is a Central California copy writer and the editor of SELLING SAVVY . . . ONLINE Read the latest marketing news and bizopps from a warped point of view. Subscribe to SELLING SAVVY... ONLINE while it's still free. mailto:evycole@earthlink.net?subject=Subscribe

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