Are you willing to invest five to six hours to begin mastering a unique skill that will put food on your table for the rest of your life?
If you can write good ad copy, you will never be out of a job for longer than a few weeks. Your ad writing skill will get you a new job. You will be able to sell yourself in print -- or on YouTube.
Not many people can write a good ad. Yet the skill is easy to develop. If you have read and understood V. O. Schwab's book, How to Write a Good Advertisement, you've got the basics.
Here, I will introduce you to the basics. What I reveal here took me three decades to learn , plus millions of dollars for printing and postage. Pay close attention. Then you can work on a real ad: a YouTube script for www.GaryNorth.com.
I strongly suggest that you click Printer-Friendly Format, which is just below my name, which is just below the headline. Then print out this page. Get a highlighter or a pencil to mark it up. The information on this page could be the basis of a major change in your career's prospects.
If you send me your posted YouTube ad for my site, I'll critique it for you free of charge. If you are serious about learning advertising, that's a deal!
Even if you decide you're not ready to learn Camtasia Studio, you can do a practice run, just to see if you've got the idea.
As a would-be ad copy writer, you must begin with a list of benefits that are likely to motivate your targeted audience to buy. "Lead with the benefits. Follow with the features (proof)."
You don't have to personally use the product to be an effective ad copy writer, although it surely helps if you do use it, assuming that you think it's a top-flight product. Your enthusiasm will show in the ad. Enthusiasm sells.
To write effective copy, you have to be able to empathize with one hypothetical member of the targeted audience of potential buyers. This person must be representative of the group. Never write to a group. That's writing for a committee. You must write the ad for this imaginary person. Ask yourself:
Who is this person?
What things does he most want to achieve?
How can this product help him achieve these things?
What problems are bothering him most?
How can you show that this product can solve these problems?
How can you prove that this solution is a bargain?
What is the #1 benefit?
Is there a money-back guarantee?
Does this take the risk out of the deal?
What factors are operating to keep him from acting?
Can you think of honest reasons to overcome this resistance?
Can you present these reasons with enthusiasm?
Can you present logical reasons that back up your enthusiasm?
How can you prove to him that he really should act now?
Can you write a brief headline that persuades him to watch your video?
Never oversell. Don't say anything you know is not true. Be as specific as possible about benefits.
You cannot deal with all of these issues in a YouTube ad. The ad should be under ten minutes long.
The one thing you must do is to persuade him to act now. This means you must (1) ask him to take a specific action and (2) show him exactly how to take it.
Once you have identified the targeted audience, the two most important aspects of the ad are the headline (the big promise) and the call to action. Never forget this. The power of the ad is the size of the promise. The entire ad must be built around the Big Promise.
Here is an example of a big promise, turned into a headline: "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand." That headline/promise was worth hundreds of millions of dollars -- back when a million dollars was a lot of money. You know the product, right? See what I mean?
With this as background, let's apply these criteria to Gary North's Specific Answers.
The sales strategy is to create a simple screencast tour of my site. Start with a practice run: your own self-guided tour. Use the cursor to highlight departments. Click through to the free departments under Free Materials. Get a feel for the site.
You'll want to write a basic script, not to read word for word, but as an outline to guide you in an easy-going tour of the site. When you have rehearsed it a couple of times, you'll feel confident in taking the viewer through the site, commenting on the benefits. You should sound relaxed.
If you can learn how to do this with my site, you will know you have the basic skills you need to begin supplementing your present sales skills with on-line skills. Remember, you must keep selling yourself to buyers, which includes your boss. You must also stay ahead of the communications curve.
Now, let us return to the general categories above.
Who is this person?
He is probably male, over 30, with above-average income. He has a savings program. He is a reader.
The safest approach for your first ad is to write it for yourself -- someone like you. You know more about yourself than you know of others. What are your concerns, goals, dreams, and hot buttons? How does this site relate to you and your concerns? Tell this story, not some other story. To tell this story, get a sheet of paper and make a list. That's the best way to prepare for writing any ad.
What things does he most want to achieve?
These may include financial independence, financial security, lower taxes, a better job, a new career, out of the rat race, a safer region to live, retirement without impoverishment.
How can this product help him achieve these things?
It is action-oriented; it centers around Q&A forums that offer specific answers to real-world questions; it it has active participants with similar concerns; it has daily postings of important news, with comments and analysis by Gary North.
What problems are bothering him most?
Fears regarding: government interference with the economy, popping bubbles, taxation, inflation, recession, retirement, his career's future, and Hillary Clinton.
Note: This site doesn't have a solution to Hillary Clinton.
How can you show that this product can solve these problems?
Point to the Departments that deal with these issues. Show that there are articles on-line that provide answers. Direct him to the departments in the Free Materials section that provide useful information. If you are a site member, talk about the value of the forums. If they have benefited you, say so. Be specific. Don't neglect Members' Free Manuals. It won't do any good to click on the link; it's closed to non-members. So, take him inside the site. Sign on. No one will see your password. Give him a giided tour. Access the manuals' section from the home page after you have signed in. Click the link to show him what's available. Show that he can "test drive" the site by subscribing to Tip of the Week. Use the cursor to direct him to the subscription box.
How can you prove that this solution is a bargain?
If you are a member of the site, this is ideal. Tell about the benefits. If you are not a member, point out that the monthly fee of $14.95 is not much money for gaining access to articles, analysis, and Q&A forums. Ask: Where else can he get such a bargain?
What is the #1 benefit?
You will have to decide. I know what I think it is: access to the Q&A forums. I discuss this benefit here. On the forums, you can get specific questions answered, not just by me but by very sharp members who participate on the forums. If you have been helped on a forum, say so. Be specific. Specific sells! If you want, take the viewer inside the site. Your password won't be visible. Give him a guided tour inside the closed section.
Is there a money-back guarantee?
Yes. Use the cursor to direct him to the Legal Notices section on the left-hand side of the screen. On-screen, click on My 100% Guarantee. Let the viewer see where it is on my site.
Does this take the risk out of the deal?
It does. The new subscriber can test-drive the entire site at no risk. He can cancel at any time for 30 days using the Link, Your Account.
What factors are operating to keep him from acting?
The usual suspects: skepticism, procrastination, busy-busy-busy, distractions, "I'll get back to you on that," and that crucial one, fear of being taken for a fool in his own mind (self-recrimination and guilt). Rarely is it the lack of $14.95. But if it's good, old-fashioned pride -- "I don't ask advice from anyone" -- then he's not going to subscribe. Don't bother to overcome his resistance. Try to persuade some other viewer.
Can you think of honest reasons to overcome this resistance?
This is always a challenge. Refer back to the site's free sections. Refer back to the free Tip of the Week. Challenge him: Why is $14.95 with a money-back guarantee so important, compared to walking away from potential solutions to his problems? Isn't it better to try the product on a risk-free basis to see if it offers real-world solutions to pressing problems? He is stuck by the question, "Why should I subscribe?" Turn this around by asking: "Why wouldn't you subscribe on this basis?"
Can you present these reasons with enthusiasm?
I don't know. Can you?
Can you present logical reasons that back up your enthusiasm?
You probably can. The main issue is benefits. Can you show that what you have described enthusiastically has valid logical support? Just make a list.
How can you prove to him that he really should act now?
Point to the escalating economic subprime mortgages, the downgrading of financial institutions and their assets, the falling housing market, the falling dollar, the looming recession. Remember this slogan: Procrastination kills. What action should you ask him specifically and forcefully to take? Give him a choice: (1) Join now at no risk, or (2) Subscribe to my free Tip of the Week.
The Headline
The headline is the single most important factor in drawing viewers. It should offer a major benefit for the person you are targeting. You cannot target everyone. The headline should appeal to the representative viewer in the targeted group. It should press his hot button. But the video must verify it. Don't promise what the ad does not verify.
For more suggestions that may help you write the outline, click here..
Now go through the script on-screen. Pretend you're recording it with Camtasia. Even if you decide it's too much work to spend an hour learning Camtasia and YouTube, see if you can do the ad presentation.
A trial run is like "story problems" in your high school math classes. This tells you if you really understand the procedure. It can't hurt! Nobody is watching. Nobody is listening (if you're at home). Why not give it a try?
If you think you just don't know enough about my site to write an effective ad, you should join it, get involved with it for two weeks while you're learning Camtasia and YouTube, and then write your ad. Produce the video. Post it on YouTube. Send the link to me. Then cancel your membership if it's not worth the money. Send an email asking for a refund. I'll send you a refund check. This in no way will affect my opinion of your ad. I am after some good ads to use in my special report on how to create YouTube ads. If you can produce a good ad, it's surely worth a $14.95 refund to me. It may even be worth $1,014.95.
My ads have generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue. Send me your posted YouTube ad, and I will critique it for free. Is that worth producing an ad? If so, take step 4.
You have the basics for writing any ad (general). You have a product to use as a sample problem (specific). If you can do this once, you can do it over and over. You can do it for your business, your department, your career, your home-based side business.
You might as well start here. You might even make a thousand dollars.
For Bill Myers' brief, practical introductions on how to use Camtasia Studio and YouTube, click here:
Don't let the program's minimal learning curve overwhelm you. Invest two or three hours to learn Camtasia's basics. Then spend three hours in putting together a YouTube ad. This exercise will make you a more effective advertiser than most of your competitors ever will be. This could easily change your future. Copy writing surely changed mine.
When you have posted your ad on YouTube, write YouTube Ad in the subject box, and send the link to:
Deadline: January 15, 2008.
Have you seen my YouTube ad? It's not a Camtasia ad, but it is under ten minutes. If you search on Google for accredited college and YouTube, my ad will be at the top.
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