award winning web design & development

I have read thousands of ad copies online and offline over my lifetime. I have read excellent ad copies that made me buy right away and some that may have had a decent product, but had a poor ad copy that turned me away.

Now that I am in business, I have written some of my own ad copies. Some of them have worked, some of them have bombed. The key is to keep changing and testing your ad copy, don’t just write one and then stop. I don’t have a college degree in copywriting, but I know to learn from the mistakes and never give up.

Below I’ve made a list of 42 deadly ad copy sins that I’ve made over the years and that you can learn from:

-no compelling headline
-no believable testimonials
-no sub headlines
-no attractive benefits
-no features
-no strong guarantees
-no asking or answering questions
-no proof of benefits offered
-no contact information for questions
-no endorsements
-no conversational writing
-too long of sentences
-no deadline to order
-no free trials
-spelling mistakes
-grammar mistakes
-too light of text
-too dark of background
-ad copy doesn’t blend together
-no breaks in ad copy
-no bullets
-ad copy in all CAPS
-few ordering options
-no visual aids
-no comparison to competition
-no reminding of benefits or deadlines
-no information about your business
-no appealing adjectives
-no appealing phrases
-too large of text
-too small of text
-no emotional appeal
-too large of paragraphs
-no story telling
-no underlining or bolding of keywords
-too short of ad copy
-too long of ad copy
-no facts or case studies
-hard to understand jargon
-no free bonuses
-too low of price
-too high of price

Don’t get me wrong, not all 42 of my ad copy sins will apply to each and every ad you write. It is just a list you can use in the future.  If you currently have an ad copy, compare it to the list right now. Your ad copy could make or break your sales.

1. Give Away An Electronic Information Product
The product could be a simple report posted on your website or autoresponder to a downloadable e-book.  The information product should relate to your target audience. Just place your advertisement somewhere on the product.  Allow other people to give away the information product to attract even more customers.

2. Offer Free Consulting Via E-mail
Allow potential customers to ask you specific questions relating to the subject of your business. Giving away free advice can show your prospects your expertise and give you instant credibility.  Another benefit is when you e-mail them back the free advice or information include your signature file to get free advertising.

3. Hold A Free Chat Room Seminar
People go to seminars to learn about a particular subject. With chat rooms you don’t need to fear public speaking or spend money to rent out a seminar room. You can use your own chat room or hold the seminar in someone elses. Holding a chat room seminar is an incredible way to get free publicity. Just send a press release to the media announcing your free seminar.

4. Start A Free-To-Join Club
Having people join your club is a creative way to attract new customers.  People want to belong to something, why not your online club.  The club should be related to your product or service.  You could give away a free e-mail newsletter for club members only .  Have a members only message board, e-mail discussion group or chat room. Post your advertisements on all the club information.

5. Provide Your Product Or Service For Almost Free
Tell potential customers you’ll accept barter deals for your products or services.  You may not be getting money but they will become your customers.  If they are satisfied they might pay money the next time they make a purchase.  Barter for things to improve your business or your own personal life.

The use of the right colors on your web site can actually increase your sales. When people see certain colors they can change their emotions or they can symbolize things related to the colors. Here are a list of colors with some emotions and symbolizations they can cause:

Red - love, excitement, warmth

Pink - romantic, affection, sensuality

White - purity, peace, perfection

Blue -  sky, water, travel, freedom, truth

Purple - royalty, dignity

Black - space, night, authority

Green - money, calm, envy, greed

Yellow - light, purity, understanding

Orange - autumn, youthfulness, fire

Brown - wood, comfort, strength

Its very important to know which emotions or symbolizations will trigger your target audience to buy your product or service. If your selling a money-making product you should use green colors to represent money or bring out the emotion of greed.  People also associate comfort and travel with money so you maybe want ad in some brown and blue colors on your web site.

The same principle can be applied to graphics or pictures of your product on your web site. Package your products with colors that will trigger your audience to buy. If your selling a book about how to be more romantic, use red and pink colors on the cover.  I hope these simple website color techniques will increase your business’s sales.

1. Most people like surprises because it’s a change of pace from their routine. Tell your prospects that they’ll get a surprise free bonus for ordering.

2. Most people want life to be easier. Give your prospects easy ordering instructions, easy product instructions, etc.

3. Most people want to feel secure and safe. Tell your prospects that you have secure ordering and a privacy policy.

4. Most people want to receive compliments for their achievements. Give your prospects plenty of compliments for them considering your product.

5. Most people are curious about things that could affect their current lifestyle. You could use words like “Secret” or “Confidential” in your ad.

6. Most people want to invest in their future. Tell your prospects to “invest in your product” instead of “buy our product”.

7. Most people want the latest and newest things in life. Use words and phrases in your ad copy like “New”, “Just Released”, etc.

8. Most people want to solve their problems. Tell your prospects what problems they have and how your product can solve them.

9. Most people want to make the people around them happy. Tell your prospects how happy their friends or family will be if they buy your product.

10. Most people want to get over obstacles so they can achieve their goals. Tell your prospects which goals they’ll achieve by ordering your product.

As you know it can be very expensive to attract new customers. You can cut down on those expenses by “upselling” to those new customers. For example, let’s say you’re selling a computer with a 15″ monitor for $1200. You tell people they can upgrade to a 17″ monitor for only $200 more. That’s upselling! Your goal is to get more money out of the first sale. Below are ten upselling strategies you can use to increase your profits.

1. Deluxe Upsell-You could sell a basic product and tell people for a little more money they can receive the deluxe edition.

2. Money Upsell-You could offer people the rights to sell the product they are buying from your business. You could charge an extra $30 dollars to get the reproduction rights.

3. Discount Upsell-If you’re selling a product people may order again in the future like shave gel, you could offer them a second can of shave gel at a discount.

4. Time Upsell-If you’re selling a product or service people subscribe to, like a magazine, you could tell them if they subscribe for two years instead of one, they can receive it half off the cover price.

5. Quantity Upsell-This is similar to the discount upsell. The only difference is you increase the discount by how many products they order. If they order 3 it’s a 10% discount, if they order 5 it’s a 15% discount.

6. Package Upsell-When you’re selling a product you could offer similar products in a package deal. Tell the people the other products are cheaper with the package deal versus purchasing them separately.

7. Affiliate Upsell-When you’re selling a product you could offer someone else’s product as an upsell. You would have to make a commission on the product in order to profit.

8. Free Upsell-You could offer a free sample or trial of your product (your first sale would be free) and then tell people if they order the full version right now they will get a discount.

9. Extra Upsell-There are many things you could charge extra for at the time of sale. It could be gift wrapping, imprinting, custom designs, etc.

10. Extended Upsell-If your product comes with a warranty, you could ask people if they would like to extend the warranty one more year for only $30.

In conclusion, you can use one or all these strategies to increase your profits at the point of sale. Don’t be afraid to use your imagination to come up with other upsell strategies.