What Is The Single Worst Mistake Most People Make

What Is The Single Worst Mistake Most People Make When Writing Classified Ads?

by: Kim Thomas

All sales begin with some form of advertising whether it’s word of mouth or printed media or even electronic. To build sales, this advertising must be seen or heard by potential buyers. It must cause them to also react to the advertising in a positive some way. Your success or failure reverts back to the ad itself. Generally, you want your classified ad to do one of the following:

Persuade the person reading your classified ad to immediately go to your website or store with the intention of buying your product or service.

Persuade the person reading your classified ad to write or send for more information about your product or service thus leaning to a future sale.

However, the bottom line in any ad is quite simple:

Do not try to sell anything when you write a classified ad.

Do not try to sell anything when you write a classified ad.

Do not try to sell anything when you write a classified ad.

Why? In the 3 or 4 little lines classified ads allowed you to write, you don’t have enough time or space to actually sell your products or services sufficiently.

What you need is to write a cliff hanger or encripted messages to entice your prospects to call or to click on so they can be sent to somewhere else where you will do the proper selling later on.

Usually an offer of free report works best.

Any ad that causes the reader to only pause in their thinking, and does not persuade the reader to act immediately, is not a highly successful ad.

The กad writerก must know exactly what he/she wants the reader to do, and if the ad does not elicit an immediate action, it is an absolute waste of time and money.

Respond to the readers subconsious mind by using strong emotional words in your headlines such as;

Discover Secret Private Sex Money Love Breakthrough Home New Free Power Revealed Magic Fear

Research reveals that these types of words in a headline instantly attract the attention because they are strongly connected to our emotions. I have tested many of those above with astounding success. A personกs unconscious mind can *SEE* and *RESPOND* to these keywords passing by fast on a screen or in a newsletter.

The secret is to target your classified ad to the audience interested in your product or service. You will be wasting your time and money if you don’t know who your target audience is.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of classified ad sites and ezine directories which are categorized by subjects and/or interests. Define your target audience and then submit your classified ad.

How fast do you scan a list of links? Watch closely and youกll see the same thing happening within yourself. Our minds somehow magically see what we are most interested in and weกll back up and say ก I thought I saw that ก and we proceed to click on that link! Our inner minds are tuned to instantly spot what we desire most at the time.

Using emotional words along with targeted keywords will make your headlines and ads pull the maximum response possible!.

Here are some more of the emotional trigger phrases for you to use in your classified ads

STOP Act now!

Send your name

All sent free to introduce

Amazing literature

FREE

Ask for free folder

Bargain lists sent free

Be first to qualify

Booklet free!

Catalog included free

Complete details free

Current list free

Dealers write for prices

Description sent free

Details free!

Extra for promptness

Act now! Don’t hesitate to discover how you too can make your sales skyrocket by exposing yourself to our high quality free or low cost advertising resources on the Internet and at the same time get your hands on this amazing formula for writing classified ads by going to http://www.salaciads.com.

About The Author

Kim Thomas is the site owner and webmaster for http://www.advertisingexposure.com. Here youกll find free or low cost advertising resources.

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 21, 2003

by Kim Thomas

Quick and Instant Marketing Soup

Quick and Instant Marketing Soup

by: A.L Haines

Everything happens Quickly and Instantly on the Internet. In the blink of an eye your easily transported around a whole planet. Itกs a smorgasbord !! The web site you just visited could be in Singapore, the email your reading now could have come from Alaska. The Internet is just one big Soup Bowl of Information just waiting for you to come and gobble it up.

We live in a world of "Everything Quick". Quick Food, Quick Money, Quick credit, Quick Advertising, Quicker Cars and the faster we get Quicker, the better!!

Not only is it possible, but itกs not that complicated to achieve. Most experts agree that advertising in ezines is THE quickest way to effectively generate more traffic to your website and increase your sales.

Ezine Classified Advertising is incredibly popular which means most ezines are being filled with classified ads. Some people use their lunch time to glance over their emails while chowing down. The average ezine reader sees hundreds of headlines and classifieds every day, taking a quick peek to if it might be worthwhile. So, How does your Classified Ad Look ?!

The 3 things

Every ad needs 3 basic things. A HEADLINE that stands out, Quick and easy to understand CONTENT, and an ADDRESS on how to get there.

Your HEADLINE should say everything in 57 words or less. It should for all intensive purposes "make the sale" Some ads look fantastic using all capital letters and then switching to lowercase for the content, but on the flip side, remember it can end up looking tacky as well.

Your CONTENT should always be very specific. It has to or it becomes cybertrash very quickly. A favorite Internet saying iกve heard is to " KISS IT " or, in itกs original form, * Keep It Simple Stupid !! * Big words can be overwhelmingly impressive but i have found that shorter words easily read and just work better. ….. (ironic eh)

Part 1 The Headline is your menu

How do you make eye grabbing HEADLINE? Iกll bet you didn’t know itกs always been right in front of you the whole time, and your going to wonder why you never thought of it. Ready??….. Your email box.. Itกs a treasure trove of headlines just waiting to be found. Now, iกm not saying that you steal someone elseกs headlines. That wouldn’t be nice at all, now would it!!

That doesn’t mean you can’t get ideaกs from them though. Hereกs a simple way to find a few "catchy headlines" (You need to do this fast OK. Really Fast!!) Every time you open your email box, Quickly scan the contents. Which one do you remember the most?

It doesn’t really matter which one it was, just be honest with yourself. Begin a list of catchy phrases and write it down somewhere. If you have more than one email box use it too. (Buildกs your list quicker)

The next step is the Fun Part. Sit down and start butchering these Headlines!! Go for it!! Grab a word here, a phrase there, change a couple words around in a sentence. Replace words that would better identify your opportunity or service your promoting.

Soon you will have a nice selection of Headlines you created yourself. No one has a monopoly on words, so iกm certain the Internet cops won’t bother you for this apparent "theft" of words…..ya think??

Part 2 The Content is your appetizer

Most classified ads usually contain around 2550 words each. You only have so much space, and you have to say everything in a little teeny tiny spot. I can’t emphazise how very important it is that the content "grabs" the readers attention. This is the meat of the ad.

Create an irresistible offer. Tantalize your readers, entice them into wanting to take a bite. Make an offer that is so overwhelmingly attractive, that they would have to be insane to pass it up. Give them a tidbit by adding something free. Anything, just make it free.

Whatกs that?

You say your not so good at writing classified ads like that? Iกll wager a bet you are!

There is a way to write great ads quickly. Yup you guessed it!! Read a few of the emails and save the ones that caught your eye. Get out the knife and cut up those ads using the same technique you used for Headlines.

Once you have 68 contents ads written, simply get the Most Excellent Headlines YOU created and start slicing and dicing. Mix them up, change them around until your happy with them. You might end up with over 20 different ads to chose from… (bummer huh)

CHOPCHOP time again!! You don’t want those 20+ ads… do you? Some of these ads aren’t quite as as good as the others. Thatกs OK, itกs time to trim the fat anyway. Select the 5 choicest ads and remove the remaining ones

Part 3 The Address is the dinner bell

Email address or Website address. The person reading your classified ad has 2 options. Read the next ad or click your link. They have either eaten enough of your ad, or their ready to gobble up the main course.

Your ADDRESS is a way to get more information about the opportunity you are promoting and is achieved by putting either your Web site ADDRESS to take the visitor there or an Email ADDRESS to contact you directly.

You can spice up your address by giving your webpages catchy names, but a draw back is the length it may create. problem is, People don’t like 86 character website addresses. Their either too hard to remember, or mistakes are made when entering it into their browser. You just lost a prospective sale right there. (another bummer huh)

Another option is using a redirected address. There are several companies that offer this service FREE, which allows you create nice short, easily remembered website addresses. Two places that give you 3 different addresses are rename.com and iBoost.com Thats 8 different addresses leading to the same page

***Caution; Itกs not wise to submit these redirect addresses to the search engines because, they don’t like being tricked. Duplicate sites usually get "UNindexed" …..rather quickly and forever too!

Dinner is served! Pass the Gravy!!?

You have a visitor!! Hopefully your ad was tasty enough to bring you the Gravy too!! You got them there so give them your main course. Make sure you get a counter or some kind of tracking system set up to follow your ads progress to see which ones worked the best…… (iกll save that for another article)

About The Author

A.L Haines is the editor for several leading Internet Marketing publications supporting free Internet marketing opportunities and resources.

http://alhims.tripod.com

http://articlesarchives.netfirms.com

This article was posted on January 20, 2002

by A.L Haines

The SKINNY on Newspaper Advertising

The SKINNY on Newspaper Advertising

by: BIG Mike McDaniel

Using the paper is considered gospel by many people in business. Use it wisely and it can be a good tool.

Remember, newspapers are passive, non intrusive media. They tend to reach only buyers who are looking for the product. They are poor at reaching prospects before the need arises.

Think about it, there are few times you have been driven to go to a store to buy a product you never heard of because you saw an ad in the paper. You had to have an earlier impression about the product for the newspaper ad to point you to the location to buy it.

There are 4 ways to use the newspaper for advertising.

1) Display advertising from one column wide by 2 inches high to a full two pages, display ads can be so numerous the news stories have to be cut so both can live on the page.

There is usually no protection. Competiting store ads can be next to each other (next time you see the paper look for tire store ads on the same page).

When designing your ad, remember itกs all about them. Use a catchy headline and tell them what you will do for the. Forget about your picture or your กNumber One in the District Awardก. Good advertising กfeels their painก.

2) Classified advertising The effectiveness of classified ads varies by paper and by who wrote the ad and by what the ad is selling. Many classified sections have turned into giant car dealer pages and huge homes for sale sections complete with four color pictures.

The small, private, กgotta sell my BowFlexก ads can be lost in a giant classified section. Many shoppers and Nickle Savers have smaller, and cheaper, classified sections.

Some small business operators find success with a series of small classified ads. Small blurps tend to build ‘top of mind awarenessก. A cheap way to keep your name out there.

3) Tabs and special sections Tabs, the cash cow for newspapers, are manufactured events designed to sell ads. Progress Editon. Easter Shopping Special. Dollar Days. You name it, there is a tab every idea.

Typically a tab is the regular paper page turned sideways (landscape) and folded in half.

Tabs get adon advertising dollars from existing clients and offer one time only exposure to those who don’t normally use the paper (i.e. the giant corporate ads in every Progress Edition). Most papers have so many tabs, they print an advertising calendar.

Understand them for what they are, vehicles to get extra bucks from you. If you want to be in one, rearrange your budget, don’t ad to it.

4) Inserts and stuffers Some Sunday papers weight 4 to 5 pounds each, mostly for the weight of stuffers and inserts. Usually reserved for national advertisers and big box stores. They print them and deliver them to the paper and pay a per piece fee to have them stuffed and delivered. For smaller businesses they become cost prohibitive. Better to stick with display ads.

Sunday papers have the biggest circulation, and ad rates are more expensive. Regional and national papers can be expensive, too. Local papers and shoppers are less expensive, but nonetheless can be a major part of a small business ad budget.

Newspaper advertising is sold by the column inch. Different categories of ads and section placement determine the rate and rates vary throughout the paper. Rates also vary with advertisers, depending on how many column inches they have agreed to buy in a one year period. The more the cheaper.

Plan your advertising well in advance and stick to your budget. Sell to needs, not ego and newspaper can be your buddy.

For more about advertising, get my article กWhat Does your telephone say about you?ก

MailTo:[email protected]

About The Author

© 2005 BIG Mike McDaniel, All Rights Reserved

[email protected]

BIG Mike is a Small Business Consultant, Professional Speaker and former Major Market TV News Anchor.

http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

Subscribe to กBIG Mikeกs BIG Ideasก Newsletter

MailTo:[email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 18

by BIG Mike McDaniel

Don’t be Anonymous Anymore: 7 Ways to use Orange S

Don’t be Anonymous Anymore: 7 Ways to use Orange Snowflakes to Increase Traffic and Internet Profits

by: Johannes Garrido

Out of the over 1 billion web pages on the net, exactly HOW do you plan to get your site noticed?
The Answer Orange Snowflakes.
Out of the myriad of marketing techniques and approaches, do you KNOW whatกs the #1 source for internet profits today?
The Answer Again, itกs Orange Snowflakes.
And just what are Orange Snowflakes? Orange Snowflakes are classified ads that compel your prospect to stand up and take notice to your unique offer. Whether itกs ezine advertising, email advertising, direct mail, ebooks, discussion groups, affiliate programs, or even search engines…
…classified ad copy either makes people respond to your offers…
…or, it doesn’t.
Your ability to create Orange Snowflakes will, to a great extent, determine your success on the internet. Here are 7 ways to create Orange Snowflakes that gets more qualified prospects to take notice to your offer, visit your site, and purchase your product.

DO YOUR HOME WORK

Start by gathering all the relevant and important information regarding your topic. Analyze your market, your marketกs deepest desires, and the benefits you can offer to this market. Then, isolate your most impressive and unique competitive advantage. In other words, single out your MAIN BENEFIT. Try and encapsulate this main benefit into your headline and classified ad.
CREATE A "Must Get More Information" HEADLINE.

If your prospects are anything like the average web surfer, then youกll have just a few seconds to capture their attention to get them to read on. Your headline MUST draw the reader in to want more. Amazingly, bi polar headlines (headlines that start off negative but ends positive) work best. Example: Don’t Waste Another Dollar Discover How to Increase Your Sales by 1700% with Killer Classified Ads. This headline will draw anyone who is struggling to make sales with classified ads to want to read on. Itกs a negative headline that promises a positive result…
CREATE OVER 50 HEADLINES

This may seem redundant, but itกs vitally important step. Your first headline probably won’t be your best work. But as you continue writing, youกll discover better ways to express your thoughts in a more compelling and provocative fashion. Experiment with several different styles of expression from questions to combinationstyle headlines. Don’t worry about perfect spelling or presentation just let your ideas flow. After youกve created about 50 possible headlines, choose your top 3 to 5 headlines and test to see which gets the best results.
PAY STRICT ATTENTION TO THE LITTLE THINGS

You might find it hard to believe, but one capitalized letter in your ad may mean the difference between 50 people responding or 100. Stay away from using CAPS or BOLD CAPS… if possible. Instead Capitalize the action or key words in your sentence. Also, use bold to emphasize and underlined to really emphasize your points.
IMITATE FOR PROFITS

Save all the good classified ads and sales letters you come across and throw away those don’t capture your attention. A good place to start are the ones that got YOU to purchase a product. Take notice of the elements that got you to bite on their offer. Next, copy the structure of the ad and change the wording to reflect your offer. Get in the habit of doing this and eventually… youกll have some great copy! Remember, don’t copy word for word… you might get into legal problems with copyright infringement. Just imitate the structure and format.
THINK "Connect the Dots"

Write your copy so that each point flows smoothly to the next. This is very important otherwise youกll lose your reader. You want your first sentence, usually your headline, to flow smoothly to the next sentence. Think of it this way. The purpose of the first sentence is to get your prospect to read the second sentence. The purpose of the second is the get them to read the third… and so on until they read your final offer and click to your order page. A good test after you write each sentence, ask yourself "Does this make me want to read the next sentence?"
TEST EVERYTHING

When I first started out on the net, I placed a number of ads, submitted to search engines, wrote articles, posted to classifieds, etc.. And as a result of all my hard work, I made a few sales. BUT, and this a big BUT, I had absolutely no idea where the sales originated from. Without knowing which advertising methods were working and which weren’t, I continued down this path: working hard and making a few sales. It was only when I decided to test and track my hits and sales ratio that my sales กGREATLYก improved. Moral of the story understand where your hits and sales are coming from. Drop the advertising that produces little to no results and cultivate the ones that create the most sales for you.

I can’t stress it enough Your ability to create "Orange Snowflakes" will make or break your career on the net. Learning how to create killer classified ads is a fundamental practice that you have to master in order to truly succeed on the net. So, take the seven recommendations listed above and start implementing them into your own classified ad copy. The impact it can make on your business can dramtic and immediately profitable.

About The Author

Johannes Garrido is creator of the กKiller Classified Ads Magic Systemก http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R351_Article1. "STOP Wasting Your Precious Time and Money Discover How to Increase Your Sales by 1700% with Killer Classified Ads. 100% Guaranteed." http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R351_Article1

This article was posted on January 16, 2002

by Johannes Garrido

Building a better BrickandMortar with the Billio

Building a better BrickandMortar with the Billiondollar Web

by: Donald Lee

More than $117 billion passed hands from Internet shoppers to Internet vendors in 2004, according to the statistical research firm comScore. Thatกs billion, with a B. Compared to the year before, the figure represents a whopping 24 percent increase in sales. Compared to the early 1990s, when the Web was a questionable commercial venture, todayกs $117 billion is proofpositive that the Web is the fullfledged moneymaking machine. It seems to be a big enough pie that any merchant with a Web site can cut out his heaping slice.

Not so fast. As any merchant whoกs tried to take a bite out of the Internet will tell you, turning a profit online is not as simple as throwing a few pages together. Professional Web sites cost big bucks for design, consultation, and upkeep. Either you have to hire a fulltime editor or technician to manage your Web store, or you need to pay threedigit hourly rates to contract Web professionals. Then you have to face fees for Web hosting, broadband access, and IT maintenance.

Even after you expend all of this capital and launch your Web site, you’re still not guaranteed anything. Your site will only be one among millions, if not billions. Yes, thatกs billions with a B again. The Internet, after all, is like a clear sky on a dark night. How can you expect a customer to pick your star out from among all of the others that shimmer for their attention?

On the Web youกll quickly learn that attracting your clienteleand building your Internetbased businessis just as tough as it was when you first started your brickandmortar shop. It takes smart investing, creative marketing, a little luck, and a lot more knowhow.

Whatกs great about the business side of the Web, however, is that your oldfashioned knowhow translates quite well on the Web. A great example is the timeless merchant adage: กLocation, location, location.ก This saying holds true on the Web, too. You can place your storeกs site in a spot on the Web where no one will discover you, or you could position it on a กbusy cornerก on the Internet.

One such spot are online classified sites. These sites provide similar services as you would get from a newspaper classified. Sellers can place ads online that describe a particular product for sale. Buyers browse these ads and contact sellers when they’re interested. Online classifieds, though, are far more dynamic. They allow a merchant to display dozens, if not hundreds, of their goods with pictures and descriptions. And believe it or not, some online classified sites allow you to do this for free. Yes, thatกs free with an F.

The benefits don’t stop there. As a merchant on a classified site, you can enjoy:

A store that never closes. Your goods are for sale 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The Internet never turns off.

A mall of online shoppers. Think of a classified site as a virtual shopping mall, with your grouping of ads under your own virtual storefront. By having a storefront, this allows you to have your own web page and listings, under the umbrella of the classified site.

A chain reaction of shopping. ‘realก shoppers go to a mall to visit one store, but often they end up browsing through all of the stores in the mall. The same is true of virtual shoppers. Even when they visit a classified site looking for one particular thing, they’re likely to กspill overก to your storefront out of curiosity. At the very least, it leads to advertising for your store; at best, business.

An advantage over pure Web merchants. Your classified site will pit you against wily online vendors who only sell their wares on the Web. This is where your brickandmortar business comes in handy. Itกs proven that shoppers seem to trust online merchants that have a real address and a real store somewhere.

A solution to the intricacies of the Internet. Many classified sites can help with setting up your ads and with designing your storefront, providing you with instant IT IQ. For your buyers, the sites offer the security that Web shoppers demand to protect them from identify theft and fraud.

As mentioned before, many classified sites charge absolutely nothing for all of these benefits. The listings, the shopping traffic, the sense of business community, the advertisingyou receive all of these perks for free. Oh, and don’t forget your piece of the $117 billion dollar pie.

About The Author

Donald Lee is the public relationship manager for Buysellcommunity.com. Buysellcommunity provides free classified listing services for individuals and businesses to market their products and services online. For global and localized classifieds, please visit http://www.buysellcommunity.com Free Buy & Sell Classifieds

This article was posted on February 05

by Donald Lee

How To Capture Leads For Your Business with Classi

How To Capture Leads For Your Business with Classified Ad

by: Heri Rosyadi

There are many free online/offline classified ad out there. Some people thinks that it doesnt really work to get the prospect with that service. The fact is that many new marketers using it, posting their offer over and over again. Why? because its easy and FREE.

Iกll show you the right way to advertise with it. You must use a two step ad. this is the working example:

Ordinary people are making EXTRAORDINARY money WORKING FROM HOME on the Internet! Get FREE info by email. Send your request to: mailto:[email protected]

You can see that the Ad is short eye catching, but the reason why it calls a two steps Ad is because it doesกnt lead your prospect directly to your promoted website. It works two steps: step 1 asking the prospect to send email to the autoresponder address. step 2 the autoresponder capture the email and then send an offering email with your website link in it. You can send blank email to the above address to see how it work from inside.

Most of the time this is the most effective way with Classified Ad, where you can only put a very short Ad in it. So the job of your ad only to grab the attention and drive them to send an email for complete information, make them curious about your product!

In order to execute this type of promotion you need to have your own autoresponder, there are some free autoresponders out there. The autoresponder will capture the email and send the offering email automatically so your job only placing your ad to many free classified ads out there. You need to set up the offering letter first in your autoresponder before placing the ad.

I have used this strategy with local yellowpages and I put my ad only once a week and I got new leads/subscribers everyday with the little effort Iกve done.

Happy List Building!

About The Author

Heri Rosyadi publishes Home Business Tips, a fresh and informative newsletter dedicated to supporting people like YOU! If you`re looking for the *best rated* home business opportunities, the latest time saving tools and helpful support from an honest friend in the business, come by and grab a FREE subscription today at: http://www.pathtosuccessonline.biz

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 16, 2004

by Heri Rosyadi

Online Classifieds

Online Classifieds

by: Michael Medeiros

Choosing a Classified Website and creating your advertisements.
The internet has opened a vast number of doors for people to market their products and services. Becoming selfemployed and obtaining a national or global audience has never been easier. Many of these quality Classified Websites will provide Entrepreneurs with their own storefront. In addition, their is no or little programming knowledge required for a Website, as the administrator of the Classifieds Website will ensure modern and enhanced features, for consumers to find and purchase products or services. However, there are a few elements to familiarize yourself with, prior to deciding where you want to advertise.
Free Classified Ads
If you scout the Internet, you will find a variety of Websites that are promoting, กFree Classified Adsก. Many advertisers will rush in and take advantage of these offers, without investigation. However, you should use caution when dealing with these types of Websites. If they do not provide a Privacy Policy, avoid them all together.
Always remember, maintaining a Website has a price. If they are not selling their advertisement space, another method is being used to generate income.
A common practice is the sale of Email addresses. In an online report by Tim Williams (Technical Services Specialist University of Arizonaกs Steward Observatory [http://www.u.arizona.edu/~trw/spam/]), describing how spammers obtain Email addresses, he found, กMany sites, when the dotbomb implosion hit, realized a list of email address was an asset to be sold. The people buying didn’t care if you only opted in one site they had your address used it and probably sold it off againก. There is a big market for Email addresses. The value of an Email address rose significantly with the new legislation that enforced the, กCanSpam Actก. By opting in to a Website, and providing your Email address, you are opening the doors for Email Advertisers to safely market your address.
There are some Free Classified Websites that are legitimate. Some sites may advertise, กFree Classifieds,ก but charge for extended timeframes of the advertisements run. For example, an advertisement that will run for one week is free. In contrast, an advertisement that runs for one month has a fee. In addition, some free classified Websites may charge a fee for additional features. This may include Featured Advertisements, Bold Text, Placing your advertisement above all others within a category.
In any case, look for a Privacy Policy. Ensure that Website clearly states they will not sell, trade, or share your registration information.
Features to look for in a Classified Website
When choosing a Classified Website to utilize, take a look at some of the features they offer. A good advertising venue should focus on consumer friendliness. Navigation should be clear and simple for the consumer. They should offer features that help consumers shop and compare. This is what will make consumers comeback to the resource for their shopping needs.
Here are some basic features to look for:
Classified Search Engine: While some people enjoy shopping through the variety of Classified Ads, others want a Search Engine that will filter out the ads that are not of interest to them. The site should offer a search engine, and an advanced search engine that allows consumers to sort ads by item specific information. For example, a consumer should be able to shop for cars by the Manufacture, model, location, price range, Mileage, and other details related to the car they want.
Classified Watch Listกs: Watch Lists are a newer feature that will automatically notify a consumer when an item is advertised on the Website. This feature ensures that advertisements are targeted to consumers that are interested in the offering you have. In addition, it informs the consumer without the need to continually browse the internet.
Simple Navigation: The consumer side of the Website should have clear and central navigation. If a consumer needs to pass through several pages before seeing items for sale, avoid the site. Consumers will not enjoy having to click on a variety of links to find offerings. Classification of the items listed on the Website should be easy and direct.
Target Audience: The Website you are advertising has a Target Audience. If you are advertising something in England, it would not be practical to place the advertisement on a Classified Website for the United States. This will hold true for other countries that speak similar languages.
Other Content: In addition to a Classified Marketplace, Websites need to offer additional content to ensure that users enjoy the Website. Content is what keeps people coming back, or draws people to a Website.
Writing your Classified Ad
What many may consider the most important part of advertising is writing an effective ad. The information that you provide in your classified ad may be the deciding factor if it is successful or a, กbombก.
Create a variety of advertisements that utilize various approaches. Be prepared to revise your content on occasion. This ensures that you are demonstrating different aspects of your offering. In addition, you can promote your offering from different angles, to see what will achieve the best results.
Choosing the angle of your advertising may vary, depending on what you are offering. Writing a Classified Ad is not much different than writing an essay, with the exception of a literary work. There are three general angles that you should consider using to promote your offering. These are Expressive ads, Persuasive ads, and Informative Ads. However, you should always implement a call to action regardless of the angle you choose. Additionally, it may not be a good idea to mix any of the three angles. This is because advertisements need to have focus and be concise.
Here are definitions and examples for the different types of advertising:
Writing an Expressive Classified Ad
An expressive advertisement is very personal. Expressive ads may be a good idea for a small scale business, wanting to utilize a personal approach. When taking an expressive approach, think of writing an excerpt of the day in a journal. As the writer of the advertisement, you want to express your personal feelings, thoughts, or opinions related to the offerings. For example, a Business Opportunity may be advertised as, กI made over $100,000.00 in one year. I cannot believe how easy it wasก. This eliminates the need to use examples or testimonials, as the author becomes the example.
Writing a Persuasive Classified Ad
A persuasive advertisement is used to convince the reader or change their opinion. To be successful with a persuasive classified ad, the writer needs to have a firm, direct, and clear point. The goal is to evoke a reaction that causes the reader to have the same pointofview as the Author. A very common form of advertising, that uses a Persuasive approach, is the Governments, ‘register to Vote,ก Campaigns. They are generally direct and to the point. They provide a concise reason why you should register to vote, กMake your voice heardก. By pointing out a simple benefit, they are achieving the task of the persuasive advertisement, getting unregistered citizens to register.
Writing an Informative Classified Ad
Informative advertising provides information to the readers and generally explains what is being offered. When constructing such an advertisement, the author should demonstrate observations, ideas, facts, statistics, or research data. This is becoming very common on the internet, as more people are becoming information hungry. Consumers want to know what they are buying. In addition, this is a wise choice, if consumers cannot physically see the item you are selling. An example of Informative Advertising is an Auto Manufactures advertisement for their vehicles (Not Dealerships). They generally print large advertisements that inform readers of the Vehicles Engine Horsepower, Torque, Maintenance Schedule, Improvements from prior models, available colors, Wheelbase, seating, trunk size, etc… All the information is based on facts and research. It allows consumers to compare their vehicles to similar Auto Models, without taking a test drive.
Headlines and Body of your Classified Advertisements
Headlines are often referred to as titles, and are very important in catching the readers’ eye. Headlines should always be typed in capital letters. In addition, use simple name recognition techniques. For example, if you are advertising a Car for Sale, input the Make and Model for the headline. In contrast, if you are selling Real Estate, you should use the street and Town the property is located.
Business advertisements should always use the name of the company. The more the name is seen, the better your Public Relations becomes.
Don’t overextend the headline. An example of an overextended headline is adding, ขCar for Sale,ข when placing an advertisement under a, ขCars for Sale,ข category. This text is simply not needed, as the consumer is already aware that they are looking at, ขCars for Saleข.
Consider what you see from professional journalists that writes columns in a newspaper. Simple and Straight forward, inform the readers what the Classified Ad is promoting. They never mention the words that already are in the columns’ header (Entertainment, Movies, Lifestyle, etc..).
The context or body of your classified is very important. First, the body of your advertisement needs to have proper grammar. Having a Classified advertisement with, ‘typoกs,ก gives a bad impression. Next, make sure the body is easy to read. This can be accomplished by using paragraphs with short sentences and avoiding all capital letters. Keep in mind, the body is not a headline; you already grabbed the consumers’ attention, as they are reading your advertisement.
The goal should be to make it pleasant at this point. Finally, end the advertisement with a call to action. How does a consumer proceed to accept your offer? What is the next step they need to take? Use power phrases similar to, กCall Now for Further Detailsก.
Consider the season of your target audience (Dependent on the Offering). In the winter, people may have different motives than in the hot summer. In addition, take into consideration upandcoming Holidays. Simply wishing a, กMerry Christmas,ก will evoke warm emotions when people are reading your advertisements. This may help take away the Hardsell frame of mind the consumer has, while reading your advertisements.

About The Author

Michael Medeiros is an Entrepreneur with a background in Business and Advertising. He works as a PartTime Real Estate Agent for Century 21 Hearst Realty, in Turnersville NJ . Michael Medeiros is also the founder of Mjmls online classifieds www.mjmls.com

This article was posted on July 15, 2004

by Michael Medeiros

3 Elements to a DealSealing Classified Ad

3 Elements to a DealSealing Classified Ad

by: Donald Lee

Have you ever wondered why your perfectly fine classified ad fails to attract the attention you desire? There should be dozensno, hundredsof perspective buyers swamping your email inbox with offers. After all, you are offering a mint baseball card, a vintage coat, pristine used car, those wholesalepriced sporting goods, and whatever other attractive items are in your inventory. Instead, you only have a slow trickle of questions, a handful of sales. What gives? More than likely, your sales are slow because you have not mastered the three techniques of writing a classic classified ad.

Of course, give yourself credit for recognizing one important facet of todayกs selling world. You decided to sell your stuff at an online classified site. As anybody in the business knows, online classified ads get you more privacy, a broader selection of buyers, and a wealth of tools to help you keep tabs on your transactions. When compared to a newspaper, cyberspace is also a wee bit more spacious. There are billions of pages on the Web, and only a few dozen in your typical neighborhood rag. For you, that means a lot more space for your ad to say the least.

With that space, however, comes great responsibilityand great potential. The extra room gives you the freedom to include as much product description and sale copy as you want. You can’t just slap together a whole bunch of information, though. You need to use the three special ad writing techniques that will attract buyers and seal the deal: attention, interest, and action.

Attention. Make sure the buyer stops at your ad instead of the thousands upon thousands of others out there in cyberspace. Your adกs title is the first lure to grab his or her attention, and the first component of a catchy title is the itemกs best feature, whether itกs the price, the itemกs rarity, or its popularity. Next, be sure the title includes keywords or other synonyms for your item that a buyer might use in a search. For instance, a buyer could search for กautomobileก instead of กcar,ก กpulloverก instead of กsweater.ก

Interest. Once you have the buyerกs attention, hook them with details. There is a direct relationship between the amount of information you provide and the number of sales youกll make. So describe the item as completely as possiblesize, color, material, designer, modeland provide a clear, digital photo to finish the job where your words leave off. Even offer your prospective customer the itemกs history if possible.

Also, try to list as many possible benefits that your sales item could offer the buyer. Come up with some that the buyer probably wouldn’t think of on his or her own. And zone in on specific benefits. Use what you already know about your target. For instance, if you were selling a car, you know that whoever is looking at your ad is in need of a vehicle. If your car is compact, perhaps the buyer is in search of great gas mileage. Or perhaps itกs power he or she wants if your car is a sports model.

Action. Finish your ad strongly. Don’t just suggest to the buyer that you offer a great deal. Tell them itกs a fantastic offer that they can’t pass up. Use phrases like กCall me now before someone else doesก or กBuy now, this opportunity won’t last long.ก Be cordial while you’re pressing the issue, of course. Thank them for reading your ad and make sure they know you appreciate their business.

Most importantly, your customers will also value your honesty throughout the whole ad. So whether itกs the attention, interest, or action you’re shooting for, never lie or exaggerate. Go so far to include any defects if your product is not in mint shape. Your honesty will build trust, and trust above all else makes an ad work. Whatกs more, it makes for repeat customers.

Remember, if you use all three of these elementsor four if you include honesty. When you’re finished with it, it should read something like the two examples below.

Example 1:

Discover the beauty of a Forest Hill Home

2500 sq. ft. home, 4 bedroom, 3 baths, double garage, upgraded kitchen, 12 ft. ceilings

This open concept house is situated in a historical landmark district of Rhode Island. Itกs a wonderful neighborhood to raise your family, with nearby schools and amenities.

(Insert your image or photo here.)

Call for an onsite appointment. Thanks for looking!

Example 2:

Looking for an inexpensive used car that drives well? only $4,950.

2003 Honda Civic, Limited Edition, 65,000 miles, manual transmission, CD, AM/FM radio, power steering, low maintenance. Great on gas this car will save you $$$ on high gasoline prices.

(Insert your image or photo here.)

Send me a message now. Thanks for looking!

About The Author

Donald Lee is the public relations manager for Buysellcommunity.com. Buysellcommunity provides free classified listing services for individuals and businesses to market their products and services online. For global and localized classifieds, please visit http://www.buysellcommunity.com Free Buy and Sell Classifieds.

This article was posted on February 11

by Donald Lee

Insane Offer! $2 For Your Classified Articles Wi

Insane Offer! $2 For Your Classified Articles With Unlimited Features

by: Glenn Prialde

Advertising through articles has been proven to be very effective. Many marketers at present would rather submit articles on article sites like iSnare to hit two birds in one stone.

1) To get more targetted traffic through search engine inclusion via the article site.

2) Increase SEO by taking advantage of a oneway link system.

But wouldn’t it be great to hit 3 birds in one stone? I mean most article sites would probably accept and publish your articles if they were just informative or useful and not just merely advertising your products.

Have you thought that it would be better to combine product classified ads marketing with article marketing? It is very possible with iSnare Classified Article posting. Your $2 will give you instant approval to your Classified Article Submission. Just register for free and submit a classified article and pay then we will right away approve and publish it together with the endorsement placement at the front page.

Your classified articles will ofcourse be treated as a normal article. It will be crawled by search engines and will have no limits with word counts, unlike most classified sites where your ads have some certain limits as to the number of words it may contain. And most importantly it will be stored for more than just 6 months and also be included in iSnareกs article search as it will be treated as a normal article.

www.isnare.com

About The Author

Glenn Prialde is the owner and maker of iSnare Articles Directory. He is also leading the iSnare Outsourcing Services Team. Here is a list all iSnare sites: http://www.isnare.com, http://shop.isnare.com, http://hosting.isnare.com, http://outsourcing.isnare.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 16, 2004

by Glenn Prialde

The Art Of Writing Profitable Classified Ads

The Art Of Writing Profitable Classified Ads

by: Emma Okafor

The art of writing profitable classified ads

Everybody wants to make money. In fact most people would like to hit upon something that makes them instantly rich! And seemingly, one of the easiest to the fulfillment of these dreams of wealth is mail order or within the profession of the business, direct mail selling.

Hardly anyone gives much real though to the basic guide for selling by mailthe writing of profitable classified ads.

So what makes a classified ad good or bad? First of all, it must appeal to the reader, and as much, it must say exactly what you want it to say secondly, it has what it says in the least possible number of words in order to keep you operating within your budget. And thirdly, it has to produce the desired results.

Grabbing the reader’s attention is your first objective. There has to be something about your ad that gets a reader’s attention out of many other ads. So, the first two or three words of your ad are of the most importance and it deserves your careful consideration. Most surveys show that words or phrases that quickly involve the reader tend to be the best attentiongrabbers. Some words as: FREE… WIN… MAKE BIG MONEY…

Now after grabbing the reader’s attention you still need to go further. You have to interest him with some thing that even him can do. A word like easy & simple “guaranteed” or some other such word or phrase that can do the magic. So now, we’ve got an ad that reads MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & simple. Guaranteed! By now he is hooked up.

The next stage of this game is to get the results. Results need action from the reader. This is the part where you need words like Limited offer Act now! Write today. Putting it all together, then your ad might read something like this:

MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & simple. Guaranteed! Limited offer. Send $1 to:

The final ingredient of your classified ad is of course, your name, address the reader is to respond where he is to send his money or write for further information.

Generally speaking, readers, respond more often to ads that include a name than those showing just initial or an address only. However, because advertising costs based upon the number of words, or space your ad takes, the use of some names in classified ads could be quite expensive. For example a company name like Money Maker’s opportunity forum can be shorten to Moneymakers. The point is to think relative to the placement costs of your ad. Shorten excessively long names. The same applies to your post office box number. Shorten it to plain Box 50, or in the case of rural delivery, shorten it to just RRL.

Just adhere to the basics and profits will increase according. There is no point in being tricking or clever. One of the best ways of learning to write good ads is to study the classifiedtry to figure out exactly what they’re attempting and then practice rewriting according to the rules I have given you. When you sit down to write a classified ad, always write it all outwrite down everything and then go back over it, crossing out words and refining your phraseology.

In summary of all what I have written, good written classified ads should

“Grab” the readers attention …

“Interest the readers” with something, that appeals to him/her…

“Further stimulate” him/her with something (catch phrase) that makes him/her “desire” the product or service …

Demand that he/she act immediately …

Now you know the basics, the rest is up to you.

About The Author

Am Emma Okafor,an online market researcher and writer.

http://bizacumen.8k.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 22, 2002

by Emma Okafor

Park Your Garage Sales On The Internet

Park Your Garage Sales On The Internet

by: Donald Lee

You have been planning your garage sale for weeks now. Your garage, as well as you whole home, is stuffed with old records, books, clothing, vacuum sweepers, and other odds and ends that you have no use for anymore. Instead of just tossing your clutter into the neighborhood landfill, you’ve decided to hold one of the most timehonored traditions in civilization—the garage (or yard) sale. It can be a thankless task, becoming a pawnbroker for a day, but there’s definitely good money in it—if you know how and, more importantly, where to organize your garage sale.

First, of course, you need to get your sales items together. Garage sales are a great way to recycle stuff that you no longer have room for. You’d be surprised what doodads and miscellany your neighbors will want—musty books, old silver wear, framed photos of longlost third cousins, and other unmentionables that you’ve had no use for since who knows when. Even more surprising, your neighbors are willing to shell out cold hard cash for these items. That makes your garage sale a winwin proposition for you.

Come to think of it, though, a garage sale at your home can be a real chore. It takes a Herculean effort to collect and organize every last little thing you want to sell. Then you have to tag each item and keep track of it in a hardcopy log. To ensure that your neighbors show up with cash in hand, you must create, print up, and pay for flyers, which need to be distributed on telephone poles and supermarket message boards across the region. The work can seem endless and your chances of making a profit slim.

Don’t get me wrong. Your garage sale was a great idea, but as you can see, there are many limitations to holding one at your house the oldfashioned way. Get with the times. The garage sale has evolved thanks to the multitude of Web sites that allow you to sell your goods online. People are selling more stuff than ever on the Internet because of the convenience of Web classified sites.

The Internet holds several crucial advantages over selling your stuff the outdated way. When you compare these benefits to the problems with homebased garage sales, you’ll see the difference:

ONLINE: Your items are available for purchase for an unlimited time, until they sell.

AT HOME: Your items are available until you call it quits for the night.

ONLINE: Rain, sleet, or snow, your sales aren’t affected in the least.

AT HOME: Better have a rain date or a very big umbrella.

ONLINE: No need to constantly watch over your goods or interact with uninterested customers. Just wait until a customer contacts you by email when they are ready to purchase.

AT HOME: Be prepared for countless hours of staring down the street for customers to appear. When they do arrive, be prepared for too many questions but too few purchases.

ONLINE: Advertise for free to your friends and neighbors over email.

AT HOME: Shell out money for flyers, after which you can get to know all of the telephone poles in your neighborhood.

ONLINE: Spend your weekends the way they were meant to be: relaxing and enjoying your time with friends and family.

AT HOME: Spend your weekend waking up early, buying and distributing flyers, lugging boxes, and waiting for customers.

As you can see, it’s not an even match. An online garage sale wins hands down.

Now that you’re actually excited to get started with your garage sale, you should know that there is one caveat. As easy as it may seem, your online garage sale will be even easier if you choose the right classified site.

Your best bet is to do your research and find classified sites with the most features and benefits, such as (1) No signup, registration, or transaction fees. (2) Free ad listing with text description and pictures. (3) Longterm ad posting and free renewals. (4) Easy, accurate, electronic, and automatic record keeping.

The best classified sites have these incredible features and then some. Not only will you be able to clean out your home’s clutter with the help of these classified sites. Your garage sale will also park a profit in your pocket.

Copyright 2004 Donald Lee

About The Author

Donald Lee is the public relationship manager for Buysellcommunity.com. Buysellcommunity provides free classified listing services for individuals and businesses to market their products and services online. For global and localized classifieds, visit http://www.buysellcommunity.com.

This article was posted on December 11, 2004

by Donald Lee

How to Succeed as a StayAtHome Mom

How to Succeed as a StayAtHome Mom

by: Donald Lee

Stayathome moms are no longer just the costars from Leave It To Beaver, the Brady Bunch, and other television shows from a bygone era. Taking care of the kids has become the cool thing to do again for women in their 20s and 30s. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are at least 5.4 million stayathome parents in the United States alone. These are a dynamic bunch of women, and men, who see opportunities in their domestic role, especially the opportunities presented by the Internet.

Sure, many of these parents gave up exciting careers and important roles in their community to take up the timehonored tradition of rearing their children. You yourself may have put goals and dreams on the back burner when you accepted the commitment and responsibility of raising your little ones. You understand the importance of a parent being there for those firsts: the first crawl, the first step, the first ขmommaข and ขdadda.ข

At the same time, though, you may feel like you have taken on too much. Not only do you have the pressures of bringing up a smart, wellbehaved child. You worry about being able to make ends meet to provide everything your child needs.

If this sounds all too familiar, take a deep breath, turn off the television, and log online. No, don’t think you’re going to surf the Web to just pass the time. The Internet is your portal to transforming your stayathome life. In between the diaper changes and feedings, bedtimes and burpings, you can reach beyond the walls of your home and access the outside world as never before. The benefits are as close to limitless as the millions of sites on the Web, including:

Esupport system. Whether you’re searching for other stayathome moms to lean on, folks with the same health ailment as yourself, or even just other Oprah fanatics, the Internet is like one big community center where you can find them.

Friends and fun. Through email, chat rooms, and instant messaging, the Internet is one of the easiest ways to keep in touch with old friends and family members, as well as to meet new acquaintances.

Cyber community. Look for your neighborhood’s Web site for information on shopping, festivals, town hall meetings, and other local interests. If you can’t find your town’s home on the Internet, take a leadership role in creating it with the help of your neighbors.

Cap and gown. Many community colleges and universities offer ecourses. You never need to step foot on the campus to earn degrees in finance, English, accounting, or whatever else suit your fancy.

Steals and deals. If you’re looking for some of the biggest discounts and best selection for anything from electronics to groceries, books to automobiles, the Web is your marketplace.

Cash flow. The Internet can work for you, as well, if you are on the other end of the cash register. The Web provides an unparalleled avenue to sell goods. It can link you to interested buyers if you’re only looking to unload a few knickknacks to unclutter your home. If you have enough stuff to open a garage sale, you can do that, too, without time or space constraints. Or try your hand at a fulltime online business if you get bit by the entrepreneurial bug.

The Internet can open up the outside world to you for all of these benefits, but you need the right set of keys to open the door. Your first ขkeyข is the type of Internet access you use. You’ll need to weigh your budget versus how fast you want to navigate on the Web. Cable and DSL hook ups provide zippy access but can cut into your profit margins. Dial up, on the other, can be cheap or even free, but can slow down your productivity.

Once you have your hook up established, you’ll need to get your feet wet before you do heavy surfing. Find trusted sites for your activities. Look for certified schools to take courses at and secure shopping zones to purchase at. When selling or starting your own business, do your research to find the most trusted and thrifty auction and classified sites. The right classified sites can be like your neighborhood paper, except they reach millions of people around the globe. In many cases, the best classified sites will also charge no start up or transaction fees and offer safe ways to communicate and do business with clients.

Settle these basics, and you can be virtually ensured to become the a true M.O.M, a master of multitasking. In the time it takes your child to take a nap or watch an episode of Blues Clues, you will be able to earn 4 more credits to your finance degree, buy a new mp3 player, and sell a closet’s worth of stuff.

Copyright 2004 Donald Lee

About The Author

Donald Lee is the public relationship manager for Buysellcommunity.com.

Buysellcommunity provides free classified listing services for individuals and businesses to market their products and services online.

For global and localized classifieds, visit http://www.buysellcommunity.com

This article was posted on December 22, 2004

by Donald Lee