So what makes a classified ad good or bad? First of all, it must

appeal to the reader, and as such, it must say exactly what you

want it to say. Secondly, it has to say what it says in the least

possible number of words in order to keep your operating costs

within your budget. And thirdly, it has to produce the desired

results whether inquiries or sales.

Grabbing the reader's attention is your first objective. You must

assume the reader is "scanning" the page on which your ad appears

in the company of two or three hundred classified ads. Therefore,

there has to be something about your ad that causes him to stop

scanning and look at yours! So, the first two or three words of

your ad are the utmost importance and deserve your careful

consideration. Most surveys show that words or like this. MAKE

BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple. Guaranteed! Limited offer. Send $1.00

These are the ingredients of any good classified

ad---Attention--Interest--Desire--Action...Without these four

ingredients skillfully integrated into your ad, chances are your

ad will just "lie there" and not do anything but cost you money.

What we've just shown you is the basic classified ad. Although

such an ad could be placed in any leading publication and would

pull a good response, it's known as a "blind ad" and would pull

inquiries and responses from a whole spectrum of people reading

the publication in which it appeared. In other words, from as

many "time wasters" as from bona fide buyers.

So let's try to give you an example of the kind of classified ad

might want to use, say to sell a report such as this one...Using

all the rules of basic advertising copywriting, and saying

exactly what out product is, our ad reads:

MONEY-MAKER'S SECRETS! How to Write winning

classified ads. Simple & easy to learn-should

double or triple your responses. Rush $1 to

ABC Sales, 10 Main, Anytown, TX 75001.

The point we're making is 1) You've got to grab the reader's

attention...2) You've got to go "further stimulate" him with

something (catch-phrase) that makes him "desire" the product or

service...4) Demand that he act immediately...

There's no point in being tricky or clever. Just adhere to the

basics and your profits will increase accordingly. One of the

best ways of learning to write good classified ad is to study the

classifieds--try to figure out exactly what they're attempting to

sell--and then practice rewriting them according to the rules

we've just given you. Whenever you sit down to write a

classified, always write it all out--and then go back over it,

crossing out words, and refining your phraseology.

The final ingredient of your classified ad is of course, your

name & address to which the reader is to respond--where he's to

send his money or write for further information.

Generally speaking, readers respond more often to ads that

include a name than to those showing just initials or an the

number of words, or the amount of space your ad uses, the use of

some names in classified ads could become quite expensive. If we

were to ask our ad respondents to write to or send their money to

The Research Writers & Publishers Association, or our advertising

costs would be prohibitive. Thus we shorten our name Researchers

or Money-Makers. The point here is to think relative to the

placement costs of your ad, and to shorten excessively long

names.

The same holds true when listing your post office box number.

Shorten it to just plain Box 40, or in the case of a rural

delivery, shorten it to just RR1

The important thing is to know the rules of profitable classified

ad writing, and to follow them. Hold your costs in line.

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