Once Upon A Time …

Entrepreneur,  March, 2000  by Jerry Fisher

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Share your success story, no matter how small the window of opportunity.

If you're a small-space advertiser, it's a given that you have to try harder to get your ad noticed amid all the leviathans around it. But hoisting your company name to the roof of your little ad is not trying harder. Nor is putting a "Sale" sign up there, the most ubiquitous approach in advertising. A totally unexpected alternative is to tell a first-person story in that space. Yes, even in such a cracker-sized square of space, an anecdotal experience will fit--and capture your readers' attention.

That's my suggestion to interior designer Carol Steele, whose company, Carol's Decor, is in Shingletown, California. My makeover has a headline that says, "How I Became A Decorating [Genius.sup.*]" and the asterisk drawing the eye down to a footline that reads, "([I.sup.*] had a secret mentor.)" The rest of the ad is a personal account of how empowering it was for one client to work with Steele. More than a traditional testimonial, this is a more expansive approach in story form.

Naturally, Steele will have to get one of her clients to agree to be the subject of this ad. But her request should be easily accepted by someone who has been very satisfied with her efforts--and has learned from them. If the story includes some unique experience (for example, how friends reacted), all the better for Steele and her business. Think such a story testimonial would be just as provocative and persuasive on a Web site? You bet.

Jerry Fisber is a freelance advertising copywriter in the San Francisco Bay area and author of Creating Successful Small Business Advertising (available through Bookmasters, 800-247-6553).

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