All The Raves A customer's praise could be your flier's best headline.

If there's a single solitary soul out there who loves yourproduct or service and is willing to express that feeling forpublication, you not only have a valued testimonial but combustiblematerial for a powerful ad. So while I'm forever beseechingreaders to harvest their customer base for testimonials and tosprinkle them liberally throughout ad materials, don't fret ifyou haven't already done that. Another approach is to get theconsent of just one enthusiastic client to reprint the good thingshe or she has said about your company. Then give those comments thelead role in your advertising.

That's my message to Susan Justice of Woodacre, California,who wrote recently. Justice, co-founder of OneSpirit Healing ArtsCenter, is a certified clinical hypnotherapist who specializes inhealth issues, emotional problems and spirituality. Her currentflier-brochure leads off with her specialty--hypnotherapy--as aheadline, but it's not done to the flier's advantage. I saythis because hypnotherapy is still controversial to many, andperhaps misunderstood by others. So it behooves Justice to firstentice prospects with the benefits of her therapy before she tellsthem about the means by which they're attained. And perhaps themost credible way to do that is through the testimony of someonewho's experienced her service firsthand. Hence my thought aboutusing a testimonial to lead off this advertisement.

As an example of the power of a tossed bouquet, I often cite thetestimonials that accompanied two educational products that came onthe market about 10 years ago. One's called Where There's aWill There's an A--a system to help students develop betterstudy habits. The other is Hooked on Phonics, a program that giveslittle kids a leg up on elementary language formation. Thecompanies that created these products put out a few great TVcommercials, each concentrating on real-life testimonials fromparents and children. The customers' unvarnished feelings,expressed in the most genuine, honest and heartfelt way possible,were the real power of these spots. Could anyone possibly say no tosincerity like that? Apparently not, because both products werestill selling rather well the last time I heard.

So the burning question is, How do you carry that kind offeeling from an animate medium--television--to an inanimateone--the paper flier? The answer is to turn a poignant testimonialinto the headline on your flier. In Justice's case, I went toone of her brochures and plucked out a gem that seemed to meet thecriteria: a genuine, honest, heartfelt expression of appreciationfrom one of her clients. I excerpted the most evocative phrase Icould find and made it into the following headline: "Shehelped me (to) heal myself, body and soul."

That's a pretty profound message, and it would surely be theinducement for a prospect to call for more information. After theproposed headline would come a subhead that reads "You, too,can awaken your own remarkable healing power when you put yourselfin the hands of therapist Susan Justice." Then I would stickwith the impressive bullet points Justice used to describe all thedesirable benefits of her therapy. This, combined with the warm,attractive photo of the proprietor, makes for evocativeadvertising.

But one caution for Justice: A wonderful quote and strongadvertising message can be undone by even one careless, butobvious, typing mistake. In her second bullet point below theoriginal headline, she didn't notice that the lead-off word"Renew" was spelled "Nenew" so that the phrasereads, "Nenew your confidence," etc. One such error cantaint the impression this advertisement leaves with readers.It's a bit like finding a fly in your soup. It spoils the wholebowl for you. This is especially true if, as is the case withJustice, you're advertising a professional practice.Professionals like doctors, lawyers and therapists are held to ahigher standard than other businesses. So a misspelling,particularly one that's so noticeable, prejudices readers rightfrom the start. If you're lucky and it doesn't completelyalienate them, you're still saddled with a minus in thereaders' eyes that will have to be compensated for with otherpluses. You don't need or want any such detraction to diluteyour advertising effort. So, please, always use your computer'sspelling checker to scour your copy for errors that are so easy tooverlook.

Before:

This flier gives off warm fuzzles, but the headline may causereader to be wary.

1. This headline may turnoff the uninitiated. It's better to lead with a benefit.

2. the second bullet pointbegins with a pretty egregrious typo. That, too can be aturnoff.

After:

This version hits readers between the eyes with the benefits ofthe therapist's skills.

1. A testimonial headline,if it's credible and conveys a highly desirable benefit,can't be beat.

2. The subhead gives readersa bridge from the headline message to the body copy.

Jerry Fisher is an advertising copywriter, consultant andauthor of Creating Successful Small Business Advertising($39.95), available by calling (800) 247-6553. If you'd likeJerry to consider your materials for a makeover in this column,send them to "Ad Workshop," Entrepreneur, 2392Morse Ave., Irvine, CA 92614, or e-mail him at Jerry228@aol.com

From the Mailbag. . .

Q: I own a small mail order jewelry company and reallycan't afford to do anything other than small-space advertising.But my current ad is not getting results, and I wonder just how biga chance advertisers like myself have in terms of gettingnoticed?

A: You raise a valid concern: visibility. Is your smallad getting noticed in the shadow of all the larger, more visibleadvertising that dominates? The answer is that, amid all theGoliaths, your David-sized ad can get attention. But you have towork harder at it than the guys who take up all the space.

They rule by girth; you respond with guile. They shout, youyodel. And that means, as I've said many times, you have tobreak the mold. When you create a piece of advertising that looksand reads like a lot of other ads, then you've produced, ineffect, invisible advertising. That means the average reader,inured to the intrusion of advertising, is unlikely to notice yourad as he or she cruises through a publication.

It's similar to how we zone out when commercials interruptour TV viewing--unless they break the mold. Think about your ownreading and viewing habits and the percentage of ads you actuallypay attention to. Ten percent? Twenty percent? Even those figuresmay be generous. But let's be optimistic and say you actuallyread or watch 10 to 20 percent of the ads you're exposed to.That means the remaining 80 to 90 percent are virtually invisibleto you--a body of advertising effort representing a lot of blood,sweat and tears, not to mention money, all for naught. And frankly,these ads are not just produced by the inexperienced. A lot ofpolished and professionally produced ads for cars, banks,computers, food, clothing, electronic equipment, and many otherproducts and services might as well have never been produced forthe amount of attention they get.

Truly memorable and riveting advertising images have one thingin common: They break the mold. They look different. They sounddifferent. They approach the reader in an unexpected way. Butthey're not irrelevantly different. That's a bigdistinction. You still need to appeal to the reader'sself-interest as the first order of business in any piece ofadvertising.

It's how you address that requirement that matters most. Thead shown in this month's column with the dominant testimonialis just one way to get the indifferent reader to cock his head andpay attention. There are innumerable other ways waiting in thewings (your subconscious) for you to bring out onstage.

Contact Source

OneSpirit Healing Arts Center, P.O. Box 786, Woodacre, CA94973, (415)258-0509.