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10 tricks for creating better advertising
By Jay
MacDonald • Bankrate.com
• Talk directly to your reader: Do you know
where your children are?
• Don't just write it, say it. Read your
copy out loud to make sure it sounds spoken.
• Use sentence fragments. Often. Whenever
you want.
• Begin sentences with a conjunction:
And you'll see why. Or not.
• End sentences in a preposition: What
is it good for?
• Use lively, enthusiastic, engaging words.
Avoid bland or static words.
• Avoid negative words in headlines; readers
may overlook a key modifier and get the opposite message: I am not
a crook.
• If you pose a question in your headline,
answer it in your body copy.
• Keep your paragraphs short -- and your
opening paragraph shorter.
• Use no more than two fonts; a good readable
serif type for your body copy, a sans serif type for your headline.
(Source: "The Copywriter's Handbook" by Robert
W. Bly)
Jay MacDonald
is a contributing editor based in Florida
--Posted: Oct. 16, 2000
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