Graphic Design, Direct Response Ads - Make Your Ad Jump Off The Page in 3 Easy Steps

Step #1: Keep The Message Clear.

Despite what some have been led to believe, no-one is in the business of spending a fortune to sell acres of white space or pretty pictures to art-starved consumers.

Your mission is to make a sale.

Don’t cut sales copy for massive margins, vast areas of empty “white space” or ponderous photographs. You’re just asking for trouble and, quite possibly, you could blow the sale.

Step #2: Great artwork doesn’t always sell.

This isn’t about art. It’s about business. Specifically, it’s about selling a product or service.

Art is subjective. Certain techniques have been proven over many years to be more effective at generating attention, readership and response than others.

The first lesson that great designers have learned is that design does NOT sell products. Copy sells the product. Great design helps the copy do its job. Bad design gets in the way of the sale.

You only have a limited amount of space in each promotion. Every element that gets through to final draft displaces something that didn’t.

Every unnecessary graphic element you add means crucial sales copy has to be smaller, shorter – or worse, cut altogether. That means you sell less. Bottom line.

Step #3: Recognize that your design only has to accomplish two, simple but essential tasks.

Graphic designers’ first job is to help the copy grab the prospect’s attention. Do this one thing well – and yes, that usually means big, “ugly” headline and deck type – and you’re 60% of the way there.

Their second job is to convert that attention to readership and to help keep the prospect reading until he responds.

Do these 3 simple things well, and you’ll create more responsive ads and bigger winners, more often!

Clayton Makepeace is a direct response consultant and copywriter whos marketing brainstorms and copy have sold over $1 billion worth of products for his clients in his over 33 years in the business. Clayton's e-zine THE TOTAL PACKAGE shares his billion dollar copy, design and marketing secrets for direct response professionals FREE in your in-box every Monday. To sign-up and claim your FREE copy of Clayton's latest guide "Beat the Blank Page Blues - 3 beginning outlines for every type of copy you'll ever write" visit: http://www.MakepeaceTotalPackage.com/?s=M151&e=63030

By: Clayton Makepeace