by Dr. Ana Hernandez

Welcome Back to our “NETfabulous! Marketing” Course Online. Today we are going to continue with our hard-core, easy-to-use, step-by-step marketing tips. We will begin by covering the nitty-gritty of successful marketing campaigns in four delicious sections. This week we begin on the first section with headline creation. Shall we begin?

Let’s talk about your advertising. This week we’re going to begin creating your advertising analysis toolbox. By this we mean that you’ll be able to take any ad or sales letter and compare it against the ‘checklists’ contained in this tool box and see how it stacks up.

Of course, nobody can guarantee a winning ad. Don’t ever forget that. So the only way to know for sure is to test it.

However, there ARE several things that you can incorporate into your ad and sales letters which will give you an infinitely better chance of a winner.

Also on the flip side, there are several common mistakes which if made in an ad can almost guarantee a loser.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to hedge your bets like a professional? Well that’s what we are going to help you do right now.

Remember, the main goal of the checklist is to remind you of the important elements of the ad, rather than to teach you how to write an ad. The issue of product selection, target market selection, and prior preparation or research that you have done on your product is not covered here and would take volumes. Perhaps we can touch upon those subjects in future newsletters.

Now we proceed to build a checklist of elements needed to create dazzle in your ad copy:

The Advertising and Sales Letter Checklist

Section 1 : The Headline

The MOST important part of the whole ad is stated right on top. Period. A very strong headline can save a weak ad, but the best copy in the world can’t get past a poorly thought out headline.

• Does your headline express the needs or the benefits to the reader, or does it merely talk about the advertiser?

The best headlines fall into one or more of the following categories. Make yours fit into one of the following groups, written in their order of potency...

BENEFIT DRIVEN: The headline promises a benefit that will appear to your target market. What’s in it for them?

NEWS ORIENTED: The headline promises to deliver which will be of interest to your target prospect.

CURIOSITY DRIVEN: The headline will pique the interest of your target prospect. This is powerful, but the top two are the winning approaches.

• Does the headline jump out at your best prospect? It would work best if it actually calls out to him or her...

For example:

“Salesmen: How To Double Your Commission In Thirty Days - Guaranteed!”

This ad calls forward your target prospect to read the ad. It practically calls them out by name. How does yours fare?

• Is the headline posed as a question or an announcement? these are quite powerful.

For example: Posing a question...

“How Many of These Deadly Marketing Mistakes Are You Making”

For example: Posing a solution..

“You Too Can Have A Slimmer Figure- Without Dieting!”

For example: Posing an announcement...

“Amazing Car Gets 60 Miles to the Gallon!”

• Does your headline invite the reader to get on the bandwagon with words like:

“Who else wants...”

“Why 9 out of 10 women...”

“Are you one of the..."

• Does your headline offer a guarantee?

For example:

“Auto Tires Guaranteed For 50,000 Miles”

"Hot Delicious Pizza Delivered in 30 Minutes or Less or It's FREE!"

• Does your headline show an eye-catching paradox?

For example:

“When Doctors Feel Rotten, This Is What They Do”

People never think of doctors as feeling poorly so this paradox works and creates curiosity to keep reading.

• Does your headline get the reader involved?

For example:

“Do You Have WHat It Takes To Succeed?"

"Take this Little Test To Find Out Now”

• Does your headline use common words used by your target audience?

For example:

“How to lose that pot-Belly in 30 days”

“When your child has a tummy-ache...”

Is your headline testimonial in nature?

For example:

“How I became a star salesman in one month”

“They laughed when sat down At the Piano...”

• Does your headline imply exclusiveness or let the reader in on something special and of limited supply?

For example:

“We’re looking for a few good men”

“Strategies of a Millionaire Investor Revealed!”

• Does your headline offer specifics?

When you use specific numbers, percentages or facts, your headline becomes more believable.

For example:

“11 steps to financial independence”

“How to quit your day job in 90 days”

“101 ways to fix hamburger”

• Does your headline make good use of attention getting, powerful words?

Here’s a list to get you started...

alarming free real

amazing helpful reliable

announcing hot revealed

authentic how revolutionary

beautiful huge sale

brilliant instantly sale

charming immediately secret

common incredible shocking

complete latest smart

delightful little-known special

discount money successful

easily more surprising

easy new terrific

exciting now unique

exclusive only unveiled

Well this concludes section one of our advertising analysis toolbox. We hope you can join us for the remaining three sections to review the dynamics of a successful marketing campaign which includes the layout, ad copy and additional tid-bits for writing yummy, irresistible ads.

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About the Author: Dr. Ana Hernandez is the editor/publisher of NETfabulous! Marketing Course Online. Her Website athttp://www.netrageouz.net offers the portal to her delicious recipes for creating the perfect marketing success campaign on a fixed budget. If you’ve been researching ways to make your first dollar online, then you’ll definitely want to sign up for her training course. Ana’s easy reading style and FREE E-course NETfabulous! Marketing Course Online is jam packed with tips and techniques for any level marketing enthusiast. Or Subscribe for FREE by visiting her blog. Don't forget to sign up for her blog and article feeds while you are there.

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