![\"Carol](\"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/12\/Carol-Jacobson.jpg\")
<\/a>Carol Jacobson, who inspired and guided several crops of reporters, novelists, and advertising copywriters.<\/p><\/div>On August 23, 1969 the late Carol Jacobson began teaching us how to write effective advertising. <\/p>\n
By us, I mean the English composition class of Alamo High School, Alamo, North Dakota.<\/p>\n
Oh, she didn\u2019t call it effective advertising. She called it “writing.” <\/p>\n
Carol Jacobson believed that people who could write a persuasive essay could write anything. I\u2019ve been using the structure she taught us to create advertising copy for the last three decades. <\/p>\n
Mrs. Jacobson used a diagram similar to this one:
<\/a>Use this outline to create persuasive advertising in any medium.
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The Attention-Getting Headline, sometimes called the First Mental Image, is what draws you into the ad.<\/p>\n
Once you have the prospect’s attention, lead up to the Persuasive Proposition.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Jacobson called this part the thesis. Sometimes it\u2019s called the Value Proposition<\/a>. Rosser Reeves called it the Unique Selling Proposition<\/a>.<\/p>\n Regardless of what it\u2019s called, this is the main point of our ad. This is the one thought that we want to stick in people\u2019s minds.<\/p>\n We usually use three points (or benefits) to convince our prospect of the validity of our Persuasive Proposition. For some reason three is a magic number. Any fewer, the proposition appears weak. Any more and you run the risk of a long and boring list.<\/p>\n Exception<\/u><\/strong>: If you’re targeting Transactional Shoppers<\/a>, and are showing off items included in your big sale, three groups of three items is magic. “They come in red, blue, and yellow; with zippered front, buttons, or pullover; and are available in medium, large, and extra large.”<\/em>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Finally, the Call To Action tells your prospect what you want her to do next.<\/p>\n Get familiar with this diagram. You can use it to create effective advertising copy for radio, for newspapers, for flyers, for sales letters, for television ads.<\/p>\n Next time we’ll use the diagram to create actual ads – the perfect bait when you’re fishing for customers.<\/p>\n Your Guide, <\/a>
\nChuck McKay<\/em><\/p>\nYour Fishing for Customers guide, Chuck McKay<\/a>, gets people to buy more of what you sell.<\/p>\n