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Ugo Okonkwo

BusinessOMatic.com
 Home and Office Based Business Opportunity

Find out about a unique home-based business that I have been building since 2002 here

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THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF PROFITABLE MAIL ORDER ADS

Regardless of how you look at it, the most important aspect of any successful mail order business is its advertising.  Mail order success is wholly dependent upon good advertising.

First of all you’ve got to have a dynamic, spectacular ad that attracts the eye, and grabs the interest of the people you’re trying to sell to. Unless your ad really jumps out at the reader, your sales won’t live up to expectations, and your ad money will be wasted. 

The eye catching appeal of your ad must start with the headline. Use the headline to quickly create a picture in the mind’s eye of the reader - a vision of all their problems being solved, and attainment of the kind of happiness they seek.  If your headline fails to catch the attention of your prospect, you cannot hope to capture them with the remainder of the ad, because it will go unread! 

When writing your advertisement, put yourself in the place of your reader. You have their attention for just a short while, so you must quickly interest them in your offer, show them how they can get what they want, and then cause them to send immediately for your solution to their problems.  Your copy must exude enthusiasm, excitement, and a positive attitude.

Don’t be afraid to use a hard-sell approach. Say what you feel and believe about your offer.  And use common, ‘everyday’, but correct English. 

It is important to be honest.  Don’t exaggerate or make claims you can’t back up.  Never make promises you cannot, or do not, expect to keep. To do so could get you in trouble with the Trading Standards Department. 

Stress the benefits of your product or service.  Explain to your reader how owning a copy of your book (for instance), or receiving your services will make their life richer and happier.  Don’t get involved in detailing all the money you’ve spent developing the product or researching the information you’re selling, or your credentials for offering it. Stress the benefits of the product and the value of ownership.

It is important to involve the reader as often as possible through the use of the word ‘you’.  Write your copy just as if you were speaking to, and attempting to sell to, just one person. Don’t let your ad sound as if you are a speaker at a conference addressing a huge stadium filled with people, but more as if there were just one individual listening. 

Don’t try to be overly clever, brilliant or humorous in your advertising.  Keep your copy simple, to the point, and on target towards selling your prospect the product or service because of its benefits.  Keep it simple, clear; and take care not to confuse the reader.  Just tell them exactly what they’ll get for their money, the benefits they’ll receive, and how to order the product.  You don’t have to get too friendly (in fact, avoid becoming ‘folksy’) and don’t use slang expressions.

Copywriting, whether for a display ad, a classified ad, a sales letter or a brochure, is a learned skill.  It is one that anyone can master with a bit of study, practice, and perhaps some professional guidance.  Your first move then, is to study your competition, and recognise how they are selling their wares.  Practice rewriting their ads from a different point of view or from a different sales angle.  Keep a file of ads you’ve clipped from different publications in a file of ad writing ideas. But don’t copy anyone else’s work; just use the ad material of others to stimulate your own creativeness.

Some of the ‘known facts’ about advertising - and ad writing in particular - tell us that you cannot ask for more than £3 in a short classified type ad.  Generally speaking, a £5 item will take at least a one inch display ad.  If you’re trying to sell a £10 item, you’ll need at least a quarter page - perhaps even a half page of copy - and £15 to £20 items require a full page.  If you are selling something for more than that, you’ll need a four-page sales letter, a brochure, separate order coupon, and a return reply envelope.

If you’re making offers via direct mail, it’s best to get your letter into the post on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, to be sure it does not arrive on a Monday, the first and busiest day of the week. Unless you’re promoting an item with a large price tag, the quality or colour of your paper won’t have any great effect on the response you’ll get, but the quality of your printing definitely will, so bear this in mind when you place your printing order.

One final point to remember: the summer months, when people are away on holiday, are usually not good months for direct mail.  But they are good for opportunity advertisements in publications often found in holiday resorts, and in hotels. 

It cannot be stressed too much or too often that success in mail order depends on advertising, and as with anything else, quality pays off in the long run. Read this report again; study it; let it sink in. Then apply the principles outlined in it.  They have worked for others, and THEY CAN WORK FOR YOU!

Find out about a unique home-based business that I have been building since 2002 here