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The other day I heard a radio commercial that ended by giving the advertiser’s Web address.

Here’s how they gave it:

“Check it out at Triple W XXX.com.”

Instead of saying “w-w-w,” they said “Triple W.”

That’s not a very wise choice.

Why not?

If you mention “www-dot” at all, it’s to alert the listener that you’re about to give them a Web address.

If you say, “Check it out at www.XXX.com,” the “www-dot” tells the listener, “A Web address is coming next.”

But if you say, “Triple W,” the listener’s reaction is…nil.

“Triple W” has not become standard jargon for “beginning of a Web address.”

This discussion, of course, begs two questions:

1.  Do we want to include the Web address?

You should mention the website only if the spot’s Call To Action is to visit the website.

Otherwise, you’re distracting the listener from the spot’s Core Message — the one thing you want the targeted consumer to hear, to understand, and to remember.

Quick Test: Does the advertisement make the targeted consumer want to visit the advertiser’s website?

If not, it’s foolish to spend valuable air time advertising something the targeted listener isn’t interested in.

2.  If we include the Web address, do we want to say “www-dot”?

Usually, no. 

If you say something like, “Visit us online at XXX.com,” the listener understands that’s a Web address. “Visit us online at” serves as the “website URL coming up” warning.

Instead of wasting one second of your radio ad on “w-w-w-dot,” use that second to strengthen the delivery of your sales message.

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ACX AUDIOBOOK Q&A REPLAY (today only)

Sorry, registration for the ACX Home Study Master Class has closed. 

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audiobook narrating ACX classWithout telling us in advance, 4 graduates of the ACX Master Class for audiobook narrators got together for a Google Hangout and talked about us behind our backs.

Note: Because ACX opened up its site to UK talent only after we began the class, David H. Lawrence XVII and I have decided to offer a home study version of the entire class. See details beneath this video.

At the time we announced the ACX Master Class, ACX was available only to U.S. citizens or residents.

Now that ACX also is available to UK residents, we’re making the entire class available as a “home study” course, delivered online.

(We’re making it available to U.S residents, too. So if you’re in the U.S. and you didn’t act quickly enough before, here’s a rare second chance for you.)

Registration now is open for our ACX Home Study Master Class.Registration closes Sunday.

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ONE RADIO GUY’S FIRST AUDIOBOOK

Mike Bower is a radio and voice over guy who took the ACX Master Class for audiobook narrators when David Lawrence and I taught it earlier this year.

“I knew nothing about audiobooks whatsoever, other than occasionally listening to them on long drives. It hadn’t even crossed my mind to become a narrator until I got an email from Dan O’Day about his new ACX Master Class.”

I’ve lost track of the number of titles that have been recorded by our students and currently are for sale at Audibile.com.

One of the bonus features of the class is our promoting titles of graduates via online video marketing. 

We’ve begun the online video marketing, and Mike was the first graduate to submit a marketing video according to our step-by-step specifications.

If you had thought about taking that class but were dissuaded by bitter “old veterans” who convinced you it’s too difficult, I believe Mike would disagree.

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How NOT To Do A 15-Second Radio Commercial

Radio Commercial Critique - 160This radio commercial for La Costa Resort & Spa shows how not to create a 15-second spot.

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