I've always appreciated structure.  Tell me to free-write, and I'll just stare a hole through that blank page.  Tell me to write 500 words encapsulating the philosophical problem of other minds, and I'm good to go.  (I agree wholeheartedly with the metaphysical solipsists, by the way--there's really no such thing as other minds.  They're all just projections: constructs of your own mind.  No one else exists.)

Ha ha.  Just playing around.  I wanted a reason to write "metaphysical solipsists."  It feels so good after writing about overpriced hotel rooms in Long Island.  See how I would have ended up if I'd had any more grad school?   Thank goodness for community college IT programs and online moneymaking training sites.

Oh yes, back to the idea of a structured writing assignment.  I never gave a thought before to those Google SERP ads that come up on the right-hand side.  (I know there's training for all that here, but I've been totally focused on the article marketing stuff so far.)

I've been working with a very good client who gives me work on a weekly basis--all very clearly explained.  It's a full-service copywriting, SEO, and online marketing outfit run by a young husband-and-wife team in NY.  He's a developer, and she's a writer and graphic artist.  They're smart as heck and quite the go-getters.  This week he asked if I was ready to take on my first PPC assignment.  

I said of course, and he kindly provided me with a whole bunch of guidance on how to do it and what he was looking for in the copy.

It was harder to do than I ever would have thought.  Hard in a cool way, though.  Like writing a Haiku.  I mean, it's easy to dash off a horrible Haiku.  

The litterbox reeks / Why did I purchase two cats? / Next time avoid Petco.

But the goal is to write a soul-stirring image, not just to count syllables and kvetch about the kitties.  (I'm guessing Reefswimmer could write a stunning Haiku about giant sea turtles.  Come on, Diane.  Show us how it's done :-)  

In the case of PPC, the goal is to get people to want to click (and, in a perfect marketer's world with perfectly constructed landing pages, to buy something AFTER they have clicked..)  To that end, PPC marketers write different versions of the same ad, so that it's a little easier to analyze what is making people click on one piece of copy over another.

I wrote my five ads--well, 10 ads, considering that each has an A and a B version. It felt like writing Haiku, except with character constraints instead of syllable limits.  I think they were pretty good, but of course I could be wrong about that.  The creative part was trying to...

Use the keywords

While thinking about the mindset of the person who entered that search term

While crafting a looky-here headline  (Or at least a GOOD headline)

While sticking to the 25- and 35-character limits

While thinking about the best display URL to use

While thinking about making the whole ad into (if possible) a pleasing shape.

While remembering that avoidance of pain generally works better than the pursuit of pleasure.  (I was writing copy to get people to want to go to a romantic $500/night inn in the Hamptons.  Presumably, that means I should be reminding them more about how much they need an escape from the stress of the city--and how much they need that anxiety-quelling cabernet from the nearby Long Island vineyards than about how much fun it'll be to shop in the nearby historic village?)

I don't know...if I were thinking about going to the Hamptons, I think I'd be fine with the idea of running toward pleasure.  But we'll see what the clicks tell us, I guess.

I'm unsure whether what I'm writing here squares with all the PPC training that WA gives.  That's just what my client said he was looking for.  But, just in case you're all curious about what a professional marketing firm gave me as a beginner's guide, I thought I'd share the links.  There's a "quick-start" PDF file they gave me as well.  Happy to send it along to anyone who asks.

Here are those links the client sent me.  If you're a PPC genius reading this, of course I want your links too!

These 3 are in order with the first one being the best:

http://www.bruceclay.com/ppc/ creatives.htm

http://www.searchenginepeople. com/blog/how-to-write-ppc-ad- copy-four-templates.html

http://www.derekbeau.com/18- tips-for-writing-better-pay- per-click-ads/  (this one is pretty old but there is some good info)