by Chuck McKay | Sep 14, 2011 | Ad Writing / Copywriting
Originally published June 17, 2005 Is any advertising more closely monitored by the advertiser than a “personals” ad? I don’t believe so. If ever an advertiser wanted results, and wanted them now, this is it. Personals ads demonstrate some of the...
by Chuck McKay | Jan 29, 2007 | Ad Writing / Copywriting, Advertising / Marketing Strategy
For years I’ve said (and I have not been kidding) that the problem with most advertising is it’s written by the advertiser. A typical small business ad makes a major feature of the name of the business. In newspaper the tendency is to make the business name the...
by Chuck McKay | Nov 12, 2006 | Ad Writing / Copywriting, Persuasion / Power of Words
Today’s post will be interactive. Let’s open with a photo of a Salvador Dali painting. In the space below, using 1,000 words or less, please write the message this image conveys, in as much detail as possible. You have a few minutes. I’ll wait. Your answer here:...
by Chuck McKay | Sep 3, 2006 | Ad Writing / Copywriting, Persuasion / Power of Words
Has there ever been a kid who didn’t dream of becoming invisible? To pass unnoticed before people’s very eyes? To come and go with no accountability? There could be some very real advantages to being invisible – provided you’re not an advertising message....
by Chuck McKay | Feb 5, 2006 | Ad Writing / Copywriting, Advertising / Marketing Strategy
I’m uncomfortable with most clever or creative advertising. Clever and/or creative is dangerous, because it’s too easy to get sucked into the creativity, and forget that our purpose is communication and persuasion. If your attention is drawn to the...
by Chuck McKay | Sep 5, 2005 | Ad Writing / Copywriting, Advertising / Marketing Strategy, Budgeting, Pricing, and Return on Advertising Investment (ROAI)
One of the things that too many small businesses do when they advertise is to try to pack the ad with everything that could possibly be of interest to any potential customer. After all, advertising is too expensive to waste any opportunity to sell everything to...
