Have you ever wondered why your perfectly fine classified ad fails to attract the attention you desire? There should be dozens—no, hundreds—of perspective buyers swamping your e-mail inbox with offers. After all, you are offering a mint baseball card, a vintage coat, pristine used car, those wholesale-priced sporting goods, and whatever other attractive items are in your inventory. Instead, you only have a slow trickle of questions, a handful of sales. What gives? More than likely, your sales are slow because you have not mastered the three techniques of writing a classic classified ad.

Of course, give yourself credit for recognizing one important facet of today’s selling world. You decided to sell your stuff at an online classified site. As anybody in the business knows, online classified ads get you more privacy, a broader selection of buyers, and a wealth of tools to help you keep tabs on your transactions. When compared to a newspaper, cyberspace is also a wee bit more spacious. There are billions of pages on the Web, and only a few dozen in your typical neighborhood rag. For you, that means a lot more space for your ad to say the least.

With that space, however, comes great responsibility—and great potential. The extra room gives you the freedom to include as much product description and sale copy as you want. You can’t just slap together a whole bunch of information, though. You need to use the three special ad writing techniques that will attract buyers and seal the deal: attention, interest, and action.

Attention. Make sure the buyer stops at your ad instead of the thousands upon thousands of others out there in cyberspace. Your ad’s title is the first lure to grab his or her attention, and the first component of a catchy title is the item’s best feature, whether it’s the price, the item’s rarity, or its popularity. Next, be sure the title includes keywords or other synonyms for your item that a buyer might use in a search. For instance, a buyer could search for “automobile” instead of “car,” “pullover” instead of “sweater.”

Interest. Once you have the buyer’s attention, hook them with details. There is a direct relationship between the amount of information you provide and the number of sales you’ll make. So describe the item as completely as possible—size, color, material, designer, model—and provide a clear, digital photo to finish the job where your words leave off. Even offer your prospective customer the item’s history if possible.

Also, try to list as many possible benefits that your sales item could offer the buyer. Come up with some that the buyer probably wouldn’t think of on his or her own. And zone in on specific benefits. Use what you already know about your target. For instance, if you were selling a car, you know that whoever is looking at your ad is in need of a vehicle. If your car is compact, perhaps the buyer is in search of great gas mileage. Or perhaps it’s power he or she wants if your car is a sports model.

Action. Finish your ad strongly. Don’t just suggest to the buyer that you offer a great deal. Tell them it’s a fantastic offer that they can’t pass up. Use phrases like “Call me now before someone else does” or “Buy now, this opportunity won’t last long.” Be cordial while you’re pressing the issue, of course. Thank them for reading your ad and make sure they know you appreciate their business.

Most importantly, your customers will also value your honesty throughout the whole ad. So whether it’s the attention, interest, or action you’re shooting for, never lie or exaggerate. Go so far to include any defects if your product is not in mint shape. Your honesty will build trust, and trust above all else makes an ad work. What’s more, it makes for repeat customers.

Remember, if you use all three of these elements—or four if you include honesty.  When you’re finished with it, it should read something like the two examples below.

Example 1:

Discover the beauty of a Forest Hill Home
2500 sq. ft. home, 4 bedroom, 3 baths, double garage, upgraded kitchen, 12 ft. ceilings
This open concept house is situated in a historical landmark district of Rhode Island. It’s a wonderful neighborhood to raise your family, with nearby schools and amenities.

(Insert your image or photo here.)

Call for an on-site appointment. Thanks for looking!

Example 2:

Looking for an inexpensive used car that drives well? only $4,950.
2003 Honda Civic, Limited Edition, 65,000 miles, manual transmission, CD, AM/FM radio, power steering, low maintenance. Great on gas – this car will save you $$$ on high gasoline prices.

(Insert your image or photo here.)

Send me a message now. Thanks for looking!

In corporate circles, the words e-commerce and e-business have for long been used synonymously and few have come to acknowledge the innate differences between them. And indeed there is! Traditionally, e-commerce relates only to those processes in a business which directly affects the customers, suppliers, vendors and other business partners. These processes include sales activities such as order taking delivery, payment via credit cards, customer support et al. It may also include interactions with suppliers regarding purchase of raw materials and office supplies.

E-business however is a superset of e-commerce and includes a gamut of other management processes that include inventory management, production and product development, supply chain management and financial management apart from e-commerce itself. It effectively “fast forwards” day to day activities of the e-business and streamlines its processes in such a way as to reduce costs augment and simplify access to information (for customers, employees and other business partners) and improve efficiency.

With more businesses embracing the Internet revolution with ascending fervour day by day, it is fast becoming imperative for businesses to quickly carve a niche for themselves in cyberspace and better their competitors. This is true whether it be in the matter of increasing sales volumes or increasing profit margins or search engine optimization, lowering input costs or improving organisational efficiency and bettering aesthetics or greater website user satisfaction.

At the centre of any such improvement is the concept of empowering through information. The organisation may use collaborative user applications, Intranets, extranets and the internet to make information accessible. An employee who has access to all the necessary information regarding his work will not only be able to perform better but will also feel as a part of the decision making process and thus put in his or her best.

Similarly, customers would feel empowered if they have access to information regarding the specifications or delivery status of their order. E-business makes it possible for this information to be effectively disseminated using minimum man-hours and expense. The returns of a well networked e-business are very high even if it is at the cost of a major organizational reshuffle. The differences between e-commerce and e-business may be many but the real difference is reflected in the quality of performance of e-commerce companies and e-businesses.