Money down the drain. 

Waste of time. 

No luck. 

Total bomb. 

Does that describe your responses you have had with classified ads? 

There are reasons that happens, including just bad copy in a classified or a bad headline, and that does happen to folks who don't understand the psychology of running ads. 

But we have found, after a lot of research and study, that there are 10 Rules to classified ads responses... some are common sense, others may surprise you.

If you are working the cold market, and having little luck, maybe this will help open your eyes to why your response may be a little lacking in your ads, as there are some reasons you just can't do anything about.

Here they are: 

1) "It all depends on who’s looking." 

Simply, there are weeks that there are not many people looking at the ads and there isn't a thing you can do about that.

If that happens, just understand it, and move on...next week will be better. 

I ran ads that pulled nothing one week, and ran it again the next week and got a lot of calls, so don't be too discouraged if a bad week happens and you get no calls. Sometimes that is going to happen...accept it and wait till next week.

2) "It all depends on who’s looking and what they are looking for."

So true. People may be looking, but if they are not looking for what you are offering, then you still may get limited response. 

Continue on and know that the people you are looking for will eventually see your ad...maybe not today or this week, but it will happen. 

Again, I ran a ton of ads and I knew there were people looking as they called me, but they weren't looking for what I had to offer...most were looking for a

job...God bless ‘em, move on to the next response of which there will be more.

3) "Ads must be run consistently not just once." 

Ads that run for weeks at a time have a better response in the long run then short run ads.

I had many people I recruited tell me they looked at our ad for several weeks before calling, as they were curious to see if we would be around for a while.

Don't be afraid to run an ad for weeks as you will get calls from folks who don't call ads the first week they run.

4) "The first 5 words must grab their attention."

The first 5 words in the headline, and copy MUST grab their attention. If they don't, you lose them.

And the first 5 words must create some form of curiosity, and compel them to pick up the phone and call. I have run many ads that I didn’t realize the first 5 words were horrible!

Don't make the mistakes I did, and if you want to know more about this, I recommend my friend Kim Klaver's site: http://www.myharvardeditor.com 

5) "Asking questions will draw them into your ad and increase your response." 

If your headline is a question—and a HOT one—you will increase dramatically the response ratio to your ads.

Why? 

It draws them into the ad, and creates some curiosity and compels them to call.

Questions can be powerful in grabbing a person's attention, so use them and again...use short, provocative questions or statements in your headline to draw them in.

• "Has this ever happened to you?" 

• "Maybe this is what you are looking for..." 

• "I doubt it..." 

• "Don't tell me they have done it again..." 

6) "Hype is a repellant and pushes readers away." 

Simply, for the person you are looking for, hype is a no-no. There are many hype-y ads out there promising the moon, but the kind of people that are attracted to that ad are not who you are looking for. Trust me on this one...been there done that!

The only people you will attract are short-term "lottery heads" who think they’ve won the lottery. Try it, you will find out.

7) "Think ‘WI-TV’" 

Get them watching TV...of sorts! Think, "What Is The Value..?" 

In your ads, you must put the value to the reader in it, and also what they will get out of your offer. People want to know if what you have to offer will increase, expand, enlarge, and empower their life.

All are a direct result of Value...keep it in the ad and create VALUE in the minds of your readers. And that will determine a LOT of the response ratio of your ads.

8) "Understand the Rule of TRASH."

Simply, you’re going to get TRASH calls: people who are just kicking tires, and not interested in what you have to offer, and that goes with the territory. 

If you are running ads and expect all calls to be interested...What planet are you from? Probably 30% of your calls will be TRASH calls, and you just smile and move to the next one.

TRASH is one of those pain in the rears about running ads, and yes, you can put a very focused ad in that will get rid of most, but you still will always get tire kickers with every ad. Sift through them and move forward to the next response.

9) "The Rule of Impact." 

You want your headline and copy to IMPACT and gain their attention.

There is a training we do called, "The 10 Hottest Impact Words for Classified Ads." It is on our site in the KILLER Training Pages. I would suggest you look at it.

Impact is a secret that will triple your response on ads. Impact, don’t Inform and you will get a much better response.

10) "The Rule of Loss." 

The fear of loss is an incredible motivator in ads and can explode your calls, so don't be afraid to use it.

People will move twice as quick for loss than gain—it’s human nature and works all the time. Again, there are questions and phrases that can create an enormous fear of loss, and compel people to call your ad...use them effectively and often, and your response will EXLPODE! 

These are the 10 Rules of Response for Classified Ads. Learn them, use them and master them to create responses you want and understand the ones you don't want.

Mastery in this is the key!

blessings... 

Doug Firebaugh is a trainer, author, radio talk show host, speaker and the Chairman/CEO of PassionFire International, www.passionfire.com. He spent 11 years in the network marketing industry full-time building a National and International Business that spanned the globe. Before that he was an award winning financial counselor.