Classified Advertising Techniques

The absolute #1 key to advertising is consistency. ...and soon momentum carries it almost by itself. All you have to do is keep pushing.

Most important part of your advertising. Choose your headlines wisesly. Craft your ads carefully. A poor headline and / or ad will ruin your advertising, so take your time. Please don't rush into posting your ads. Take your time to develop strong headlines. Ask yourself, "Would I respond to that headline?" Just placing an ad does not guarantee you hits. You need a killer headline to grab the attention of the reader.

You have several options here of how you want to advertise on Classifieds.

(a) Change Your Headline. You can post the exact same ad with 10 different headlines. It's a proven fact that the headline makes all the difference in your advertising. A good headline turns glances into stares. Many of my clients use the same classified ad in all 10 of their posts, but simply change the headline.

This is especially good if you are tracking your ads. By also changing the URL or email address within your ad, you can determine which of the headlines produces the most hits. Since the ad itself would be the same, then the only difference would be the pull of your headline. (If you are a member of the Profits Vault Private Site, then refer to the section on "Testing and Tracking" for a detailed explanation of how to track your ads)

Please don't rush into posting your ads. Take your time to develop strong headlines. Ask yourself, "Would I respond to that headline?" Just placing an ad does not guarantee you hits.

You need a killer headline to grab the attention of the reader.

If your headline doesn't do that, then you are just wasting your time.

Here are 12 "fill-in-the-blanks" headlines that have been proven effective that you can use for your own advertising, along with some examples.


They Didn't Think I Could ___________, But I Did.

• They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano - But Now When I Started to Play!
• They Grinned When the Waiter Spoke to Me in French - But Their Laughter Changed to Amazement at My Reply!
  

Who Else Wants ___________ ?

• Who Else Wants a Movie-Star Body?
• Who Else Needs an Extra Hour Every Day?

How ___________ Made Me ___________.

• How a "Fool Stunt" Made Me a Star Salesman.
• How a Simple Idea Made Me "Plant Manager of the Year."
• How Relocating to Tennessee Saved Our Company One Million Dollars a Year.

Are You ___________ ?

• Are You Ashamed of the Smells in Your House?
• Are You Smarter Than Your Boss?
• Are You Prepared for the Japanese Invasion of Your Industry?

How I ___________.

• How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling.
• How I Retired at Age 40 - With a Guaranteed Income for Life.
• How I Turned a Troubled Company Into a Personal Fortune.

How to ___________.

• How to Collect From Social Security at any Age.
• How to Win Friends and Influence People.
• How to Improve Telemarketers' Productivity - For Just $19.95.

If You Are ___________, You Can ___________.

• If You Are a Nondrinker, You Can Save 20% on Life Insurance.
• If You Are a Football Expert, You Could Win $50,000 Next Weekend.
• If Your Firm Uses "Temporaries," You Might Qualify for $1,000 in Free Services.

Secrets of ___________.

• Secrets of a Madison Avenue Maverick - "Contrarian Advertising."
• Secrets of Four Champion Golfers.

Thousands (Hundreds, Millions) Now ___________ Even Though They ___________.

• Thousands Now Play Even Though They Have Clumsy Fingers.
• Two Million People Owe Their Health to This Idea Even Though They Laughed at it.
• 138,000 Members of Your Profession Receive a Check From Us Every Month Even Though They Once Threw This Letter Into The Wastebasket.

Warning: ___________.

• Warning: Two-thirds of the Middle Managers in Your Industry Will Lose Their Jobs in the Next 36 Months.
• Warning: Your "Corporate Shield" May Be Made of Tissue Paper - 9 Ways You Can Be Held Personally Liable for Your Business's Debts, Losses or Lawsuits.
  

Give Me ___________ And I'll ___________.

• Give Me 5 Days and I'll Give You A Magnetic Personality.
• Give Me Just 1 Hour a Day and I'll Have You Speaking French Like a "Pierre" in One Month.
• Give Me a Chance to Ask Seven Questions and I'll Prove You Are Wasting a Small Fortune on Your Advertising.
  

___________ Ways To ___________.

• 101 Ways to Increase New Patient Flow.
• 17 Ways to Slash Your Equipment Maintenance Costs.
  

Just simply fill-in-the-blanks and you've got a ready-made killer headline.

(b) Change Your Category. You can post the exact same ad in 10 different categories and subcategories. Another subtle change in posting habits that can produce a tremendous amount of exposure is to simply post the same ad in different categories and subcategories. By doing this you reach the viewing eyes of readers in 10 different topics of interest.

For example, if you are advertising a Web Marketing Course, then you can post your ad under "Business Opportunities," "Internet," "Advertising and Marketing," "Information Products," "Work at Home." and several other related subcategories.

Mr. Smith steer completely clear of "Business Opportunities" because he views them as scams. But, he IS interested in learning how to promote his internet business, so he heads off to "Advertising and Marketing." Bingo! He sees your ad.

By contrast, Mr. Jones isn't interested in "Advertising and Marketing" at all. In fact, he doesn't even have anything to advertise! But, he IS interested in finding a way to earn some extra money on the weekends. So, he visits Yahoo! Classifieds' "Work at Home" section. Bingo! He sees your ad, as well.

Different categories means different readers. Different readers means more eyeballs locked on your ads.

Do I really need to tell you what that means? $$$

(c) Change Your Content. You can post 10 different ads highlighting different benefits of your product or service.

The most important thing that a reader wants to know when reading ANY advertising is,
"What's in it for me?" They don't care that your gizmo is the fastest, cheapest, top-rated, best-selling on the market. They simply want to know, "What's in it for me?"

So, tell them for pete's sake!

Re-read this sentence from the paragraph above, because it's important. "They don't care that your gizmo is the fastest, most cost-effective, top-rated, best-selling on the market."

But, you're proud of that, aren't you? You're pleased that yours is the fastest, most cost-effective, top-rated, best-selling on the market, right? So, communicate it to the reader in THEIR language.

What is their language? "What's in it for me?"

• Don't tell them that your gizmo is the fastest on the market. Communicate in THEIR language. Tell them it will save them valuable time that they can use on the more important things in life.
• Don't try to convince the reader that your gizmo is the most cost-effective on the market. Communicate in THEIR language. Convince them it will save them valuable money that they can spend on something they would really like to buy.
• Never, never, never tell them your gizmo is the top-rated in the market. Communicate in THEIR language. Compel them try your product because they deserve the very best, something that is going to be benefical to them.
• They don't care that your product is establishing new sales records, so don't tell them. Communicate in THEIR language. Point out that thousands of hard-working folks just like them are seeing their lives improved because of your product.
  

To compel people to respond to your ads, you've got to speak their language. You've got to answer the one burning question that is on every single person's mind...

..."What's in it for me?"

So, stress different benefits. In one ad stress how it will save money. In other ad, how it will save time. In still another, how it will improve their lives. Stress benefit after benefit.

Again, there's a point to this. Mr. Smith may earn $250,000 a year and doesn't care a thing about saving money. But, he is interested in saving time. Mr. Jones may be a do-it-yourselfer who enjoys investing his time, but he doesn't have any money to waste.

Different benefits appeal to different people.

And you want them ALL to respond. So, change your benefits. Stress them all.
Another variation of this is to target different audiences completely. Instead of simply posting to different related categories, post to different unrelated categories...

...while stressing the benefits to each specific target audience.

This is something that we have found to be very effective. Let me explain.

Suppose you have some dandy new "Work at Home" course that reveals a simple formula that anyone can follow to earn extra cash from their home. You've been posting your ads to the "Work at Home," "Business Opportunities," and "Internet" categories. Let's say you've been using the headline...

Earn $2,000 a Month In Your Spare-Time.

Now, take that same classified ad and head over to the "Wrestling Fans" category and with one simple change to your headline...

Wrestling Fans, Earn $2,000 a Month in Your Spare-Time.

Voila! Like magic you have a headline that is all but guaranteed to get some hits from the wrestling fans who read the classifieds posted in that section. Sure, they came to the classified ad section looking for some cheap tickets to Wrestlemania or an autographed Sable poster. But, who can resist an opportunity for me, a wrestling fan, to earn $2,000 a month in my spare-time?

You're speaking their language.

Of course, the possibilities are endless here...

Homemakers, Earn $2,000 a Month in Your Spare-Time
Dallas Cowboy Fans, Earn $2,000 a Month in Your Spare-Time
VCR Owners, Earn $2,000 a Month in Your Spare-Time
Athletes, Earn $2,000 a Month in Your Spare-Time
Gardeners, Earn $2,000 a Month in Your Spare-Time

You get the idea. With a little creativity you can alter your headlines and ads just a bit and reach an entirely different target audience.

(d) Change Your Product. You can post 10 different ads for 10 different products and services.

Obviously, you can also choose to advertise 10 completely different products and services with your ads.

So, what should you do? Different headlines, same ad? Target your audience? Different products?

Actually, you can do them all. Let's find out how, shall we?

The key is to get started and then keep pushing.

Well, what are you waiting for?!

Where Are YOU Fishing?

John is very happy because he has just finished creating his first website. He's excited, anxious and has great anticipation that mobs of visitors will come to his site.

John begins to place his ads on free classified sites, submit his URL to search engines, link pages and he has joined a few banner exchange programs, but to John's surprise nothing happens. John commits to place his ads and submit his URL everyday, but 6 months later he receives very little results from his marketing efforts.

Sounds too familiar, right?

Why does it seem that when we try to do everything in our power to promote our online businesses, it appear that it still comes to nothing? In the end it seems that you have only wasted YOUR time and YOUR money?

There could be many reasons why marketing efforts fail: You could have a poor ad copy, promoting the wrong products or services, capital, etc...

Many of us are like John we just think if we put it out there, people have to come. But this attitude is totally wrong! If you continue to think this way you'll continue to waste more of your time and money!

I was once told that marketing is like fishing. If you only have one line in the water, you'll catch a fish here and there. But the more lines you throw out, the more fish you'll catch.

Which meant I should place more ads on classified sites, in more ezines, in more media, submit my URL to more search engines and link pages. This also meant that I should try to plaster my ads everywhere when given the opportunity; because the more people to view my ads, the more responses I will receive.

As marketers isn't this our attitude already? We want everyone in the world to see our ads and purchase our products or services; so why does this perspective also fail?

Although the internet is one of the greatest mediums that gives us all the advantage and the ability to market our products worldwide; let's face it, the world is not interested in your products. Let's say that one of your ads brought in 250,000 orders in one day. Will you be able to handle these orders? Most small businesses wont. Casting many fishing lines into the waters may sound good, but this can be your guaranteed road to failure.

Let's look at marketing as if we all were fishermen. We hear that big fish bite down at Prospects Lake. We all gather at Prospects Lake and throw out our 5, 10, 20 fishing lines everyday in hope of catching all these big fish. We figure the more lines we put out there, we are bound to catch all these fish. But what do you think will really happen?

With all those lines out there the fish will probably become confused. The lines will probably tangle. Most people will probably be using fake bait and this will discourage the fish from biting; because they wont be able to tell the fake bait from the real thing. So what should you do? How can you compete in such a vast market place?

The first thing you must do is start targeting your marketing efforts. You must totally change your "cast out many lines" attitude and concentrate on what really works. Yes, you may have some success fishing at Prospects Lake, but why only accept the crumbs when you can have the whole. Before we all flock down to Prospects Lake, we must first determine if fishing here will be to our benefit or not? You can start by asking:

* What type of fishermen are you?

* What type of fish do you want to catch?

* What type of fish are at Prospects Lake?

* Are these the type of fish you want to catch?

* What type of bait do they like?

* Can you catch enough fish to sustain you for years to come?

* Can you catch enough fish to support you for a life time?

* Does fishing at Prospects Lake, guarantee catch?

* Is Prospects Lake the only place to fish?

* Are there too many people fishing here?

Prospects Lake may appear to be a fishermen's dream, just as the internet may be to the marketer, but this may not be always true. The internet like Prospects Lake has too many fishermen. They're all attempting to reach the same prospects, offering similar products and services, using the same techniques and cliches etc... Prospects are bombarded with 100's of ads everyday; so they too become very confused and can not distinguish your ads from the next persons offer.

You also lack a USP (Unique Selling Position). You fail to show prospects the benefits that make your offer stand out from the rest of the crowd. Prospects only see your ad as just another ad. It is essential the you develop your USP. This will help you determine who and what your targeted market will consist of.

What if you were only interested in catching cat fish, but at Prospects Lake there were only salmon? You will be wasting your time and effort fishing there. On the other hand, what if there were 2 large ponds and another lake where you would be sure to catch cat fish? You would receive better results fishing in them.

Now let's say your online business was wholesale merchandising. Your targeted market may consist of other wholesalers, retailers, distributors. Instead of trying to market your products to the world, you now begin to target where and to who you market your products. You find classified sites, ezines, opt-in mailing lists, magazines etc... that relate to your targeted market.

To some this may seem that we are trying to cut down our targeted market or lessen our chances for better results. When first trying to only reach your targeted market, you may feel that you are not doing your job as a marketer or that you are lessening your chances of growing or expanding, but simple targeted marketing will increase your chances of growth.

There are many successful online businesses that only cater and service there local areas. They never try to promote and market their products to the whole world; they only concentrate on trying to reach this smaller market. To many of us they may seem "small time", but many are making 6 - 7 figure incomes. Trying to be "bigger" may not always be better. By reaching this smaller market they receive better results and can build better relationships. Plus targeted marketing saves you time and money.

So where will YOU be fishing next time? Will YOU be down at Prospects Lake, throwing out "many lines"? Or at the lake where YOU will be guaranteed to catch more fish?

*This article may be reprinted and used in its entirety in your newsletters or ezines. Only requirement is that you also include the resources box below.

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**Article written by John Ellis. John has written several articles, books and manuals on online marketing. Check his newest book, "Net Marketing Made Easy!" His desire is to assist other online businesses in achieving the success YOU deserve! Subscribe to the FREE bi-weekly ezine! http://www.je-circle-marketing.com