This has nothing to do with the topic - I just like these earrings! |
You might have noticed that I've changed the look of my
blog. For years I clung to the
white-type-on-black-background look, which I find sexy and intriguing. But I’m reading a book that’s changing
the way I present my jewelry and my blog.
According to Ca$hvertising by
Drew Eric Whitman (published 2008), reversing text (white letters on a black
background) is a no-no. Apparently it’s
harder to read, and he cites research supporting this. (Reversing text slows down reading speed and frustrates the reader.) I zeroed in on his advice and decided to test it on my blog, hence
the new format.
Ca$hvertising is a
goldmine for any online retailer. It offers
suggestions on such things as fonts (choose one with serifs, such as Times New
Roman or Arial) and how to format headlines (initial caps). I found the guidelines on how to write
advertising copy particularly valuable – they made me laugh and look carefully
at how I was presenting my jewelry.
Prior to now I’d never thought how I described my items made that much
difference. As an experiment, I focused
on one item I was selling in my shop and described it as carefully and
enticingly as possible. I was astonished
when I sold it for full asking price, almost immediately.
A lot of his advice is not obvious – you could be sabotaging
your efforts in any number of ways without realizing it, and your friends and
clients won’t be able to tell you what you’re doing wrong. Let a seasoned ad exec help you out.