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