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Ultimately, the most important aspect of any ad on the Internet is the ad copy--the subject and text which tell the reader what she needs to know. Unlike older methods, however, the Internet requires a slightly different approach to advertising for both individuals and enterprises.
The Subject LineMost participants in a newsgroup only read a few of the articles posted. Usually, they scan a list of all the subject lines for articles that interest them. Because your ad is very dependent on this first contact with the reader, you should take the extra time to write a brief, informative, and effective subject line.
Basically, you need to present the most important information about your ad in 38 characters or less--the maximum allowed by some newsreaders. In your subject, you should specify what you are selling--items, manufacturers, styles, and sizes, where appropriate. If space is available, include your price and locality, but do not include hype. Also, don't make 30 posts in one newsgroup in order to give each item its name in lights--you'll lose people who don't appreciate your waste of bandwidth. Better is to write one article for each appropriate group, then be as specific as you can within the subject line. If your ad is a "Wanted" ad, the inclusion of "Wanted" somewhere in your subject is required.
Great subject lines:Terrible subject lines
Even if your ad is in the appropriate group, it will often be ignored just because of a lousy subject line. Why would they read yours, when 75 other messages have descriptive subjects?
The Ad BodyNow that you have a descriptive title, you need to write the body of your ad. The key to a good advertisement is the same as the subject. Keep it short, but include as much pertinent information as possible. For example, the best ads in the newsgroups usually fit on one screen--about 18 lines. In this space, you should include:
Occasionally, offerings will be so lengthy as to merit longer articles. If you have a long list of CDs, household goods, software, or computer hardware, try to put one item to a line, single-spaced. The fewer times a potential buyer has to scroll through the pages of your article, the more likely he is to see the items at the end of the list. Commercial users are subject to additional length restrictions.
One final note, please do not include binaries in your advertisements. Pictures of your advertised items are nice for potential browsers, but you must remember that your ad will be stored on a few thousand different news servers. That adds up to a lot of memory, enough that it is usually bad netiquette to post binaries to any groups that aren't specifically for that purpose. Also, many people have to download all of the articles in a group in order to read that group. Binaries cost heavily in transmission time. A better idea, if you have a picture available, is to mention it in your ad, and offer to send the binary by e-mail, uuencoded or MIMEd, to interested parties.
This tried-and-true format is the most successful way to advertise on the Usenet Marketplace. Usenet readers just want facts. Marketing hype and personal commentary is not a good idea because many people see it as wasteful--don't forget who is ultimately paying for the distribution and storage of your ad. If your article is more than a screenful, and you are only offering a few items, make your ad shorter. Otherwise, the majority of readers will simply ignore it.
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