4 Ad Mistakes Business Owners Make That Kill Sales

Today we are going to take a look at the advice of a legendary copywriter that will help you avoid common advertising mistakes and rake in the dough.

Transcript

Today, we're going to talk about advertising and how to write good ads for your business.

Everything I'm going to talk about comes from the book Scientific Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins.

Claude Hopkins was an advertising man back in the day.

It's a very old book, but all the stuff in it is just as important today as it was back when it was written.

And that's because the human mind doesn't change.  The way we think, the way we are persuaded is the same as it was thousands of years ago.

To answer the question, what is advertising and how to write good ads for your business, we're going to look at Chapter two, where he talks about salesmanship.

And advertising is just salesmanship.

It's multiplied salesmanship.

It applies to thousands instead of one person.

That's important to understand, because not only can you multiply your sales, but you can also multiply your cost.

That's why it's essential to have a good copywriter to create profitable ads and engage your customers.

And the first thing you need to understand is the only purpose of advertising is to make sales.

It shouldn't be used to get your name out there or for brand recognition.

You need to be selling the click or selling the product all the time.

Mr. Hopkins goes on to say, "successful salespeople are rarely good speech makers."

They're plain and sincere, and they know their customers, and they know their products.

To write a good ad for your business, you should always be asking yourself, would this help a salesman sell the goods?

Would it help me sell them if I met a buyer in person?

And if the answer is no, get that out of your copy because it's not helpful.

And here are a couple of tips.

- Don't think of people in the mass.

- You're writing to one individual who is likely to want what you sell.

- Don't try to be amusing. That doesn't mean you can't have humor. But remember, spending money is a serious matter.

- Don't boast. Don't try to show off.

Just do what you think a good salesperson would do.

And always remember, you know, your product, you know how it's manufactured, you know, in and out.

But that knowledge can lead you astray. Because as soon as you become the manufacturer, even though you may have created this product to solve a problem in your own life, the very fact that you became the product owner means your interest is no longer the interest of your customer.

It's a trap many people fall into as an advertiser advertising your business and your products.

You have to study your customer and place yourself in the buyer's position, and that's where your success will come from.

Another thing Mr. Hopkins talks about is that most non-success in advertising is trying to sell people what they don't want.

So make sure you're testing your product before you go out to the mass market.

Make sure it is truly something they want, not something you believe they want.

I know this comes from an old book, but these things don't change, as I said.

If you have any questions about what makes a good ad or what good copywriting is, or if you'd like some help with your business, you can hit the work with me button up above.


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