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But choose the right words

I was wandering around the Net the other day when I came upon a mainstream small business board where someone was asking about what to include in a small ad that they wanted to place in a local newspaper.

The advice ranged from some that was very sound to one that was totally absurd. In a 3 inch by 2 inch space one person was suggested a big headline, an image, some killer text - that wouldn't have killed a flea - a URL and maybe a phone number.

I certainly hope that the person who started the thread doesn't take that advice because cramming all that into one small ad is going to be an absolute waste of time. In a situation like that a brief message would definitely have far more impact. Less really will be more.

You can say a huge amount in just a few words. You can attract interest, get your message across to the reader and attract them to your business in just a few carefully chosen words.

As one copywriter mentioned on his blog recently, Ernest Hemingway was able to tell an entire story in just six words. 'For sale: baby shoes, never used' was all it took for Hemingway to tell a story that appeals to our imagination.

Now if someone can tell an entire story in just six words then surely we can get develop a great ad in a small space that does not use too many words?

Even though most of us are unlikely to be involved in writing anything for a newspaper or magazine the same principle applies to writing copy for the Web. Find the local paper and just let your eyes drift over the pages were the cheapest advertising occurs - that's the place where you will find those small 3 inch by 2 inch ads.

Do any of those ads jump off the page at you or do they all tend to look the same if you're skimming the page? Chances are that if any ads do jump off the page at you then they will be ones that have less text than all the others.

The temptation is to cram as many words as you can into the space you have but that's a mistake. Fewer words mean more empty space and on a page in a newspaper or magazine empty space will stand out. Fewer words also means that you can make your headline bigger and that will make the ad stand out too.

On the Net we may not be hampered by a lack of space but we still try to fill our web pages with obvious advertising. Perhaps, when confronted with all that empty space to fill we should take the equivalent of a cold shower. Instead of rushing in to fill it with as much copy as possible we should think about less being more and allow the empty space to work for us.

At the same time we need to really refine what we have to say. I'm not suggesting that we try and tell our whole ‘story' in just six words but instead of overwhelming the surfer with too many words we should use fewer words to get the same message across.

Once again, it's Hemingway who can help us if we want to use fewer words. He used positive action words that conveyed force and enthusiasm. He also used positive words instead of negative words to convey the same message.

Instead of trying to reassure a surfer that signing up for your sponsor with their credit card by telling them that the secure system your sponsor uses means that there is 'no danger' of identity theft you should tell them that it is 'completely safe and secure'.

Rather than telling someone that 'there is no cost involved' tell them that it's 'free'

I hope you see what I'm getting at here because it can mean the difference between making a few sales and making great sales. Choose your words carefully, use your space wisely and your ads will stand out and people will read them. Cram every bit of available space with poorly chosen words and no one will read them.

Less is definitely more and one carefully crafted ad can have much impact on your bottom line than a whole bunch of rubbish that few people will even notice let alone read.

And that's it for this week. There's only something like 53 days till Christmas and even in adult Christmas can be a great time for making sales. All you have to do is think outside the box … just a little.