Master advertiser Claude Hopkins defined the art of copywriting as "Salesmanship in print", Judith Charles defines a copywriter as "A salesperson behind a typewriter". Both of these definitions are in my opinion the best ones I've heard.

Their definitions are great because none of use terms like: fun, pleasing, entertainment, etc... and those are the lines that most copywriters run by these days. The goal of writing advertising copy is not to be liked - it is to sell more of your products and services.

The advertiser should not be concerned if people like his commercials or ads, or if they are entertained by them. If they are, fine. But advertising is the mean to an end, and the end is to increase sales and profits for the advertiser.

Everywhere you look you'll find stunningly beautiful ads, artful catalogs and brochures and impressively created tv commercials... but think about them for a minute. Do they really persuade you into buying their products just because of those nice advertisings?

Sometimes, inexpensive ads, written in a simple and direct form without a lot of fluff, do the best job selling. Burn that last line in your mind as if your life depended on it, because in a sense, it does - your business life is in direct relation to that concept.

That concept applies to every advertisement you write: brochures, catalogs, direct mail pieces, postcards, websites, salesletters, etc.
In order to sell more of your products, you ad must do three things:

1) Get the attention of your prospects

2) Communicate the benefits of your product or service

3) Persuade your prospects into taking the desired action

During this short copywriting primer, you'll discover exactly how achieve each of the three crucial steps to make your ads bring in the results you expect.