Posted by: Troy White
June 20, 2008
Issue #442

How to Write
Lead Generation Display Ads

In this issue:

• The Small Business ATM Machine - or the curse of the advertising sales rep?
• Silliness 101 and why most small businesses are fed up with their marketing and Yellow Pages efforts
• The 3 proven rules for writing a money churning display ad for any business
• And Much More!

Fellow business builder,

Over the past 5 years, I have noticed a very scary thing with small business owners. They tend to believe the people who are selling them advertising space! Considering that most advertising sales reps know very little about direct response (or even how to spell it), and that they are paid on the space they sell - not the results their clients get … there couldn’t be a worse place to get advertising advice.

Yet, a decent Yellow Pages ad or small display ad can bring in a constant stream of paying clients.

Today I want to discuss how effective display ads can be used for the average house painter, massage therapist, Laundromat, restaurant, printing company, etc.

These are not the type of ads that Clayton would be writing - these are much easier for the typical small business owner to write, and run themselves.

Small display ads …

You see them everywhere!

They are plastered all over the local newspapers.

They are in the phone book.

They are on the Internet.

They are used as brochures.

They are used in e-mail promotions.

They are used on eBay listings.

They are used on web pages.

They are used as handouts.

They are everywhere
and are being done COMPLETELY WRONG!

How do I know this? Testing and history. History has proven that the way most people write display ads is guaranteed to BOMB.

My own tests prove this is still applicable today.

And yet, when a small display ad is done properly – it is an automated ATM machine. It will bring you in consistent numbers of leads every time it is run. The leads will be high quality. The leads will convert easily to paid buyers – again, using as much automation as possible.

For example, I run a small display ad (you will see it below) in the local business paper. The paper comes out bi-weekly.

Every single time that ad runs –
I get 30 – 50 QUALITY leads.

Not only that, those leads convert better than leads generated via other means. And they buy more – at higher prices – and more often. Which is the panacea for most entrepreneurs: More leads, better quality leads, high conversion numbers to buyers, buyers that buy more, at higher prices, at higher frequency.

So why do people continually complain
about their ads not working?

Because they are doing them ALL WRONG.

• They listen to the advertising sales reps on what makes a good advertisement.
• They listen to the same old line – “ you have to run your ad more often, for longer periods of time before people become familiar with you and start buying.” Reality shows that if your ad generates no response the first time it runs – it will NEVER make real money. While not everyone buys from first exposure – some do – and if you cannot get them to ask for information – you will never get the hard-to-sell types.
• They copy the other ads from the same industry (again – written by people who have no clue what makes for a great advertisement).
• They run them in the wrong places.
• And they do not understand the basic fundamentals of good advertisements and sales copy.

One last thing most people do completely wrong – they SELL THE WRONG THING IN THE AD!

• They try and sell a car in an ad – would YOU buy a $50,000 car from a 200 word ad?
• They try and sell house painting from an ad – would you trust some contractor to come into your house - $3,000 check in hand – just from a small ad?

My point is – you cannot, nor should not, try and sell your main product or service from the average small display ad. People like to know what they are buying – and why they should buy from you.

To do that … you must educate them.

For example:

A house painter came to me to place his first Yellow Pages ad. He was going with a double business card style ad. The advice from the Yellow Pages sales rep? Look at all the other ads in the house painting section and make yours like that!

Funny thing, I know a couple former Yellow Pages sales reps – and THAT is the summary of their training on advertising – “look at what everyone else is doing in the section and make your clients ad similar to that.”

Sad  – but true.

Anyhow, all the other ads in that section place the company name at the top of the ad (usually taking up 20% of the space). They show a ladder and a can of paint. They say “free estimates” … “quality workmanship” … “bonded and insured” … etc. They ALL say the same thing!

Now THAT certainly makes it easy on the buyers to choose one from the other. Wrong.

To stand out  – you do the OPPOSITE  –  not the same. Here is the ad I wrote for him:

Notice a few things:

1. No company name as your headline – people could CARE LESS how creative you are with your company name – they want to know what you can do for them
2. If you are reading the Yellow Pages painting section, and you see all those ads looking and sounding the same – then you see the ad that says “HEY! Before you call any of these other guys – you have better read this one first” – and it looks like a newsworthy article – would you not read it?
3. Notice you are raising questions in your ad that they have never thought of. And they need to.
4. Notice it looks like an article in the midst of all these ads (articles get 7 TIMES as many readers as advertisements – make it look like an article!)
5. Notice there is a testimonial. The name was not there as this was the draft ad before the person’s name was actually input. This was the ONLY house painter ad that used PROOF via testimonials.
6. Notice you are offering an education. They can learn about house painting – what they should and should not be doing. All this before they make a decision on who they are going to use.

If they are looking through the Yellow Pages and your ad is the only one who provides this information – yours will be the one that the majority call. And from that, you will close more than enough business to keep you very busy.

You want to know what’s truly sad
about this house painter?

He listened to the Yellow Pages sales rep. It was his first ad – and he got scared. Scared to be different. Scared that this way may not work. Scared that all the other painters would hate his ad and ridicule him.

He did put in the testimonial – but he also put his name at the top  – the ladder  – the paint can – all the same junk every other single ad had.

Which is the reason why only 3% of the population ever succeeds – the 97% does what everyone else is doing. Marc has done well because he is an exceptional painter and businessman – but he could have done much better – faster – by using the approach that is proven to pull in 5 – 10 times as many quality leads.

3 Rules
of Small Display Ads 

Display Ad Rule #1: You must have a powerful headline – and possibly a different font from the rest of the ad

• All Bold - NOT ALL CAPS – which is difficult to read - and never use your company name as the headline.
• Your ad must stand out from other ads. (Look at the ads in the section you’ll be advertising in and make yours look different, sounds different, and have a completely different call to action than the others.)
• Either an attention getting headline – or a benefit-based headline (WARNING! STOP! IF YOU ARE ABOUT TO … or the Fastest and Easiest Way To Lose Weight … For FREE)

Display Ad Rule #2: You must talk to the readers – not yourself

• Use normal people talk … not "advertising" talk – Make it sound like a conversation you would say to a prospect the first time you try to get their attention.
• Again, you must contrast with others in the section – talk like one of them. Don’t pretend to be a multi-million dollar empire when you aren’t. Be yourself - act like you are "one of the boys - or girls."
• Write your ad as if you are talking to one person only. Most ads are written as if they are talking to a group. (Use words like you and yours.  Actually count the use of you and your versus I and  we – there should be less than 5% of the use of I , me or we.)
• When people are looking at ads – they are typically interested in buying. You are talking to people who already have a desire for what you are offering. Take advantage of this and do what you need to force them to pick up the phone and CALL YOU RIGHT NOW.

Display Ad Rule #3: Make Your Display Advertisement As Long As It Needs To Be

• There is a false belief that you must keep your ad as short as possible. (Again – false advice from people who have never been accountable for the results they get from their advertising. The more you tell the more you sell has always been true – and it always will be.)
• Always be addressing the benefits of what you provide to them – not the features. List out everything about you, your business, your product or service – then ask “so what?” – do you answer that? Do you tell them what it means to them? What is in it for them to read your ad and to call or come by your business?
• BY FAR - the biggest mistake made - you MUST have a call to action. (Most people miss this one. Ask for them to take action – request your report – get their free coupon – book a free consultation – make it a limited time offer – or limited quantity – or a single day of the week.)

NEXT WEEK we are going to start designing your actual ads you can use in your business. Do you want to know WHY I love these little gems so much?

Because they are (for me) the most profitable and consistent stream of high paying clients I have.

Have a look at this ad:

This little gem is sooooo simple …
yet brings me in a solid 30 - 50 offline leads
every time the ad runs.

Those leads have been proven to be some of my highest return clients of ALL sources. It costs me less than $400 to run this in a highly targeted business newspaper that runs Canada-wide. Every time it runs - I build my database and I ultimately sell more products, services and seminars through the follow-up I am doing.

I can run this in as many different targeted sources as I need … and can handle (remember - too many leads can be a bad thing if they fall through the cracks and never get followed-up on).

This ad could always be improved. I have tested multiple variations of it. This one works the best, for this size.

You could easily modify it to suit your business … next week I’ll show you how.

To your success,

Troy White
Editor, Small Business Mastery
Supplement to THE TOTAL PACKAGE

Looking for resources related to this article? Try some of these.

Looking for more of Troy’s articles? Check these out.

Looking for past issues of The Total Package? Click here for our archives.

A Final Note:

If you have specific subjects you would like addressed, or have any comments on what you have seen here, please submit a comment below and I will see how I can help.

"Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”

–Napoleon Hill

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20 Comments »

1. Comment by Caleb — May 8, 2007 @ 8:57 am

   This is so spot on!

   Can\’t wait to implement it with my dad\’s home improvement company!

   LAter
   Caleb

2. Comment by Olan Butler — May 8, 2007 @ 9:11 am

   Great article Troy. One question: Where is the Ad for the house painter that you wrote? I don\’t see it in this article.

   I have discovered that when you write advertorial ads like the one above, prospects cut them out a keep them. I have gone into a customer\’s home and found my ad sitting on their desk. The funny thing is that the ad may be months old!

   Olan
   [URL=http://www.bhotechnologists.com]BHO Technologists[/URL]

3. Comment by Andrew — May 8, 2007 @ 10:00 am

   Troy, Loved this article! Im just beginning to knock out a few of my own info products aswell as finding copywriting clients.

   This was so well timed, for me, it was just unreal!

   Bang On The Money!

   Thank You, look forward to next month

   Andrew Harkin

4. Comment by Steven Cundiff — May 8, 2007 @ 11:30 am

   Wow-

   These newsletters never cease to amaze. But this issue in particular was fantastic.

   I never even thought of doing non-traditional small display ads. I feel like a fool.

   I now have lots of work to do. Thank you!

   Steven Cundiff
   FTG Asset Development

5. Comment by Carolyn Warren — May 8, 2007 @ 11:54 am

   I just finished writing a space ad for a company using this approach. I suggested they offer five free special reports, thinking that at least one of the five would hit a hot button and get the phones ringing. You can tell me if you think that was too much.

   The ad comes out next week, so we\’ll see what happens. But I think it makes good sense that the purpose of the ad is to get them to call in, rather than to sell a $100,000 product, like my client was trying to do before he hired me.

   Thanks for the great newsletter!

   Carolyn Warren

6. Comment by Jayme — May 8, 2007 @ 12:19 pm

   Troy, This article is great! I\’ve been trying a similar approach for our general contracting business with some results. I plan to change some things and re-run the ad- I\’m sure it\’ll boost our response.
   Thanks,
   Jayme

7. Comment by John Fike — May 8, 2007 @ 2:08 pm

   Excellent article! Why don\’t more advertisers understand this?

8. Comment by Brian — May 9, 2007 @ 9:29 am

   Troy,

   Nice article. I was wondering WHERE you run your example lead generation ad (NOT the painter ad).

   Do you run in the business section of a local paper?… trade magazine?… etc?

   Thanks.

9. Comment by John Platt — May 10, 2007 @ 8:50 am

   Great article! I hope to see lots more \”real-world\” examples and how-to\’s in future issues!

10. Comment by Tom Jones — May 12, 2007 @ 9:47 am

    Thanks Troy,

    great advice. I\’m looking forward to the next installment.

    Best Wishes,

    Tom

11. Comment by Chuck — May 14, 2007 @ 7:26 am

    Excellent article. Very nformative with outstanding xamples. Great ad for the house painting service. I\’m wondering how that ad itself was created. Was it done in Quark Express? IT has two columns and it looks like a drop cap at the beginning. Did you lay it out or have an artist do it? Thanks again. (I printed out the whole article to keep as a handy
    reference.)

12. Comment by Helen — May 15, 2007 @ 12:32 pm

    Great information. How do you feel about realtors personal branding in the same context? The herd mentality demands a headshot and blah, blah, blah about service or \”free home evaulation.\”

13. Comment by Bob Oni — May 22, 2007 @ 12:47 pm

    Hi Troy,
    What a great article! How could I adapt the method to sell books? I mean should I try to sell from the ad or offer a free report first?
    My book will be published in two months time and I will appreciate your comments. Regards, Bob

14. Comment by Norm — September 4, 2007 @ 4:31 pm

    Why haven\’t I read this before?
    My wife\’s specialist sign business just ran a 1200 A4 page insertion into a Trade Magazine and broke just about all your rules! It looks the same as her Yellow Pages ad which looks the same as everybody elses ads.
    I have just re-launched my photography business and you have sent me back to the drawing board.
    Thanks for your free advice!
    About 15 years ago I was critised for \”writing as I speak\”. Why did I listen to these experts? I should have honed that skill.

    Cheers - Norm

15. Comment by John Klein — June 20, 2008 @ 9:52 am

    Troy…

    Great article, but I’m wondering if there is anything else we can offer to get leads besides free reports, newsletters, CDs and other informational products.  Aren’t people inundated with so much information now?

    Another question: Postcards are currently a very popular medium. If we wanted to send them to a targeted list for lead generation, would you use the same approach for the post card copy? Any other thoughts/rules for using post cards or jumbo post cards?

16. Comment by Randy Kemp — June 20, 2008 @ 11:12 am

    Simple and to the point.  Offer them something free - write as you speak - and work on fear.  Guess what?  It works!
    Randy

17. Comment by Glen Kohlenberg — June 20, 2008 @ 12:10 pm

    Great job Troy! this is needed by the clients that sell in the service business big time. My ad lady is forever trying to write my ads and I say no way.

    Know one understands your business better than you. Give it a try and you will see amazing results. Can’t wait until next week!

18. Comment by Tom — June 20, 2008 @ 1:36 pm

    Troy,

    I’ve been waiting for someone to show me how to apply these principles to a franchise luxury car dealership… hopefully next week you will help me out with this.

    Thanks for all the great advice!

19. Comment by Annie — June 23, 2008 @ 11:26 am

    Troy,

    This is a great article. Lots of useful info for me, especially as I’m currently writing a similar ad for my own business.

    I used to work as a classified ad rep for a local newspaper and it’s true, just like the yellow pages reps, the extent of ones "training" is simply to tell customers to do what others are doing. Yikes!

    You know, I think the quality of ones customer base is in direct proportion to the quality of ones advertising. If you want top quality clients, use top quality marketing materials and such.

    ~ Annie

20. Comment by paul sterling — June 30, 2008 @ 12:58 pm

    thanks Tory…

    That one line was a major eye-opener.

    they SELL THE WRONG THING IN THE AD!

    i sure know i have….

    we teach relationship communication tools to couples and find that after filling out one of surveys… saying that if they don’t take action they relationship will end… and then still don’t take action.

    do you have some articles that address this issue?

    also have you written anything on writing adwords ads for Google?

    Paul Sterling
    http://www.magicrelationship.net