To gain clientèle whether you are starting up or looking to expand your business you need to advertise!! I've put together a few hints and tips on designing your own adverts - for marketing info see Sassy's Excellent thread on advertising your business!! But as i spend all day designing adverts for other businesses i thought id share a few pointers with you.


When advertising your business, you need your advert to stand out and be seen so you can generate a positive response. Before you do anything you need to organise your copy. (content of an advert ie text, logos and any pictures etc) plan ahead what you are going to write - don't waffle, keep it short, informative and to the point or people simply won't read it!

Firstly check the details with the advertiser (ie newspaper/mag) dont be afraid to ask questions. How much space have i got to play with?? is it a full colour/single colour publication?? does my advert bleed off the page (you don't want to loose any text) or is it a set space in a border.

Have a Bright Catchy Header
This is an important part of the advert as it draws the reader’s attention to the rest of the advert. It needs to be Big Bold and straight to the point.
Don'tput your company name at the top as people won't know who 'ABC mobile beauty' is - your best off putting your service ie TANNING or WAXING etc

Space
Draw a box the size of your advertisement on a piece of plain paper. Draw out a rough layout of your design in pencil before you start work on your computer - fitting all the info in a small advert space is harder then you might think!! don't put things too close to the edge or it will disappear into the border!

Pictures
Choose pictures of the items you are promoting, make it stand out so it catches the eye - but also it doesn't want to detract from your copy (text).
Use the picture and header to grab the readers attention - then sell the product to them with your copy!!

Copy text
The is very important - the main body of text. This should advise the reader of the benefits of the product/service/special offer that you are advertising. This section is clearly important and should be clear and precise.
Don't make your text too small - it needs to be readable!

Logo, Address and contact information
These are among the most important elements of your advertisement because your potential customers need to know who you are and where to go. Your company name or logo should be prominent. The logo should be placed at the bottom of an advertisement with the address, phone number and any other contact details.

Make sure these are correct and easy to read - as there's nothing worse then having a great informative eye catching advert and not being able to read the phone number/address - if people cant see where to go & who to contact then they wont contact you!

Also check for spelling errors and typos - these can look unprofessional! x