Free Classified Ads - A "How-To" Tutorial - Part 2 of 4

There are vendors who will offer to "blast" your classified ad to thousands or millions of classified ad sites, for a subscription fee or one-time cost. Some sell a program, some use a Web based service. WAIT before using these services, and even then, check them carefully for what they actually provide!

Try out some FREE classified ads until you have a really good ad going, THEN, you can consider using these services.

There is no point in spending money to distribute a classified ad that doesn't work!

This tutorial will talk you through placing a classified ad for a fictional Web site called: My Wonder Dog Biz.

The site is all about dogs - it sells pet supplies for dogs, dog beds, collars, food, etc. It also allows visitors to send in pictures of their puppies and dogs and see them on-line. It offers free shipping and handling within 24 hours of order and uses a secure on-line ordering system via PayPal.

The Web site needs customers and sales. Classified ads are a way to start getting them.

1. A classified ad consisting of:
   
   
   
   
   • Headline
   
   
   • Body Copy
   
   
   


2. A region where you will sell (i.e. USA, UK, Washington, Alberta, Canada, etc.)


3. A category -- the area of interest where you will place the ad. i.e. Pet Supplies, Home and Family, etc.


4. A Web site and a REAL e-mail box for your ad provider, customers or respondents.


5. REAL company information about you -- name, address, phone number, etc. so they can contact you.

Some free classified ad services will allow you to post a classified ad anonymously, so you won't need item 5. However, most classified ad sites do require full disclosure.

In this part of the tutorial we will deal with the Headline because it is extemely important.

WRITE ALL PARTS OF YOUR CLASSIFIED AD ON YOUR WORD PROCESSOR so you can have a copy of it for revision later on! DO NOT make up a classified ad on the fly within a classified ad site, you'll only get confused! You can copy and paste your ad into the appropriate places on the classified ad site. Copy and Paste can work across programs, so what you copy in one program or application can be pasted into another.

In case you didn't know, copy and paste can be done using a keyboard short-cut.

COPY:

Windows: Highlight some text. Hold down the CTRL key and press the C key. The highlighted text is copied temporarily.

MAC: Highlight some text. Hold down the CMD key (the key right next to the space bar) and press the C key. The highlighted text is copied temporarily.

PASTE:

Windows: Place the cursor into the box or area where you want to paste the copied text. Hold down the CTRL key and press the V key. The copied text is pasted into the space marked by the cursor.

MAC: Place the cursor into the box or area where you want to paste the copied text. Hold down the CMD key (the key right next to the space bar) and press the V key. The copied text is pasted into the space marked by the cursor.

It is the "hook", what catches the eye and brings the reader to your classified ad body copy.

Often, this is ALL that is initially displayed in a list of classified ads on a classified ad site. So it is very important to get people to click on it to read the rest of your ad!

Space is usually very short. You will usually be limited from 40 to 80 characters, although some classified ad sites do not specify length.

That "40 characters" has significant meaning. It means 40 typed characters which includes spaces, punctuation, line feeds and any hidden codes in your text!

Some classified ad sites will indicate how many characters have been submitted as you type into the boxes, others will tell you how many are left, others won't tell you anything at all! Some don't count accurately. And your word processor may not give you an accurate count either, as it may embed hidden codes, and some word processors don't count spaces at all!

There is a handy utility for solving this problem.

Count My Text! counts ALL the characters and codes in text and displays them for you. It can save a lot of frustration! You paste your text into it and it gives a count of all the characters, codes, spaces, line feeds. You can edit on the fly. It gives a word count AND optimizes the text to tighten it (i.e. the double space after a period problem is solved) so you maximize your use of classified ad site space. http://www.clydesight.com/cmt/

Consider terms like "HOT, NEW, GREAT" and so on, carefully. People are used to seeing these and they know that anything that says it is HOT usually is NOT. It's a cliche and those usually never work.

Avoid the USE OF ALL CAPS! Many classified ad sites won't allow it. It's tough to read. Instead, use Title Caps (Capitalize The First Letter Of Each Word).

Target your headline about what you offer.

Think like the potential classified ad reader.

What would excite him or her to click on your headline and read your ad copy?

What would excite YOU to do the same thing in a similar situation?

Getting this right is a matter of trial and error. You have to try different headlines until you get people clicking in. Some classified ads will show you stats and allow you to edit an existing ad, so you can fine tune and experiment. If you see stats that say your ad was exposed 20 times and you only got one click on the headline, you can bet that you are either in the wrong category or your headline is not compelling. Usually, the fault is in the headline.

Our fictional Web site is about dog products. FIRST, think of what it has to offer. It has dog supplies AND it allows people to send in pictures of their pets. That is what you tell people in your headline, AND you give them a reason to look further.

Have Fun Getting Great Dog Supplies!
(This 36 character headline fits within a 40 character limit)

Dog People Love My Wonder Dog Biz - The Fun Place To Get Dog Supplies!
(This 70 character headline fits within the 80 character limit AND it names your website - My Wonder Dog Biz)

(In these examples, the Count My Text! utility was used for character count and optimization!)

People who read classified ads are used to the short headlines. Usually, one or two words will grab their attention because it is what they want (in this case, dog supplies). The rest of the headline is what puts you ahead of your competition -- everyone else who has the same words the potential customer is looking for.

In this case, the word FUN was used to stimulate curiosity, which can result on a click into the ad body.

With a little imagination you can write a compelling headline that attracts interest and avoids cliches that will hurt your chances of getting a viewer and potential visitor, customer, etc.

Now that the headline is created, it is time to drive your point home using the body copy. Use the navigation below to continue learning!

The author of this tutorial does not express or imply any particular measure of success with free or paid classified advertising. All advertising is risky. The purpose of the tutorial is to teach readers how to prepare classified ad copy and properly submit it. What the reader creates and implements is entirely up to him/her. It is up to the reader to decide if classified advertising is a reasonable advertising venue.