The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1913-12-19
SECURING GREATER
AID EFFICIENCY
Put Your Copy in Simple Words
! But Cover the Main Selling
/, Point.
BY ERNEST X. EDIE.


That's too bad, when it's so easy
to write strong, interesting, convinc
ing, selling copy. No matter how
profitable your advertising is now. you
owe 1t to yourself to increase Its
earning power. You can. It's easy
There are Just two rules to follow:
First-Make 1t interesting. Second
Maize It look interesting.
Put facts in your ads FIJI them
up with information. Make them
worth reading. You know more about
hardware, or clothes. or hats, or
pianos than your customer does. Take
the hardware dealer. He sells saws
A carpenter uses saws, but he couldn't
make one; he buys two or three IN q
lifetime. The dealer buys hundreds
or thousands year. If you're hard
ware dealer you can tell the carpenter
many interesting things about saws
that he doesn't know.
And SO on right straight through the
Hist You're the expert. Your Gus
toners look to you for information.
The facts that are an old story to you
are new to him. There is a world
of advertising material in the every
day facts stored in the back of your
Put them in print. You'll soon have
people asking you: Who's the ad-
vertising expert you've hired?" Where
II seems now as If there were moth.
ing to write about" 1t will be a ques
ton of choosing among the many in
teresting things you'd like to put into
the ad. How to choose? Again there
are two simple rules: First-What
the article is; second, what 1t does
Tell that and no more, and you have
good advertisement.
Take any article. Just what is 1t
about this saw, or stove, or hat, or
piano that made you choose 1t from
among all others saws, or stoves, or
hats, or pianosi And put 1t on sale.
There's always q reason. Are the ma
terials chosen with special care? Is
the workmanship Of unusually high or.
Dart In there some little knack Of
construction that makes the article
different? Does 1t cut, or cook, or
wear or sound better? Does 1t last
longeri
Find Main Selling Point.
When you write an ad first find
the main selling point. Usually it is
not the price. Taking nothing but
the price is the lazy mans way OF
advertising. Every article worth ad
vertising has something more import
ant to talk about than price. Find
the important points. Talk values
Show how the article is made or used
why It's good-what 1t is or does.
Tell the story in the language Of
your reader. Talk to him-not al
him. This Is important. It's the only
hard part Of advertising You have
learned to talk the language of the
hardware business, and that is not
the language of your reader. There
are two rules that will help you
First, write the matter the easiest
way. Second, then go through anG
substitute short word for every Ions
word Condense. Omit all the sen
fences you can. Combine two sen
fences into one. Probably you will
IND that you have brought in more
points that you intended. Cut out the
extra ones. Stick to the one thine
you started to say Now rewrfte the
whole thing. You'll find you will have
a prize piece.
People are attracted by "well-bal
anced" ads and repealed by badly
balanced ones. No use arguing about
that. 1t has been proved. The science
of advertising has reached a stage
where this is absolutely known to be a
fact The retailer who writes his owl
ads can not ignore It. Make your
ads balance" Every badly displayed
nd reduces the selling power of the
space you have bought, and at the
present rates for space you can moi
afford to get less than you pay for.
An ad balances when the "optica
center" is where 1t ought to be. Thii
Is just above the actual center. FIJI
the space with matter all set In one
size Of type. and the optical center
10 not disarranged. But put a blacl
heading on top and the optical center
ID pulled upwards out of position
The I'D looks queer" because It IL
top.heavy. It'needs a black signature
tnot too heavy at the bottom to pull
the optical center back into position
and naks the I'D balance. In exact
II fhe same wy dark cut at one side
Of ne nd ursws the optical center to
ward It. requiring dark mass on the
other side TO balance It, Simple, ISM
~
Two Principal Rules.
BY only q little care you can dis.
play your ads properly and double
their effectiveness. The two rules to
1nlzow are: st-Gather the CON.
Cents Of the ad into a few masses.
Seccud-Arrange these masses in sim
pie relations. with the balance" at
the optical center. The retailer has
10 business attempting complicated
- 4.