Are You a Sinner? Part 1

Thou Shalt Not Try to Sell a Half Eaton Sandwich

Solutionless Advertising: Any ad including Web page, direct mail, fliers, space ads, PPC phrases- any ad needs to address a problem.

You may be saying to yourself- "duh, I know that". Do you? Do you talk about your commitment to quality and customer service in your ads? Do you talk about years in business? Do you talk about why you are better than everyone else?

What problem did you address? You did not advertise a solution, you advertised YOU. I don’t give a squirt if you have great customer service as I would need to be a customer first. How would that entice anyone? Has anyone ever called and said "I seen your ad about high quality and how much you love your customers, SIGN ME UP!".

I will guess 0

This happens both with people selling online as much as offline.

If I try to sell an ebook and talk about me through the whole sales page and end with BUY THIS NOW! What happens? click and goodbye (normally the click happens way before buy now). Many onliners need to learn the rules of direct response as much as the offline companies.

That smells good, who’s barbecuing?

You have likely heard the old advertising phrase "sell the sizzle, not the steak". People don’t usually arbitrarely buy stuff without some reason. There is an exception and that is in retail. There is a reason why items are placed in certain areas. There is a reason why tabloids litter the checkout line. Did you notice the easy to grab candy and gum for the kids to hound you about?

Every minute you are in that line the chances of grabbing something you had no intention of buying increases 10 fold.

That does not work when selling a service or a product outside of retail. I can easily look past your postcard and long winded boring Web page. If you add some sizzle buy addressing a problem I have or did not know I had and have a solution, that’s gold.

Your ONLY goal in an ad is to turn that need into a want. People will pass on stuff they need all the time, but they buy what they want. You do not need to be a master copywriter or ad wizard. You need to be a problem solver and state it that way.

People do not need or want YOU. They may need and want what you can do for THEM

You don’t want to miss Sin #2. Bookmark my blog or follow me on Twitter and I will alert you when a new post is up.

Go get some

Paul