| Many prospects skim through catalogs and brochures, | | | | whenever possible, with a pithy intro phrase. In five |
| glancing at the photos and reading the accompanying | | | | words or fewer, capture the essence of what you |
| captions only when a particular image arouses their | | | | are saying with a clever word play, like the one above. |
| interest. That's when you have their attention. And so | | | | Here's another example. |
| that's when you sell them. | | | | My local newspaper ran a story about the problem |
| My advice for writing captions is to never describe | | | | that my city is facing this summer with some |
| what readers can see for themselves in your photo. | | | | homeowners watering their lawns every day when |
| If your photo shows a man in a golf shirt, for example, | | | | they should be watering every other day to conserve |
| don't place a caption beneath the photo that simply | | | | water. The story was illustrated with a photograph of |
| says "New Golf Shirt." Instead, write a subhead that | | | | a city bylaw officer, in uniform, at the door of a |
| communicates a benefit that the reader cannot see, | | | | homeowner who was in the very act of breaking the |
| one that the photographer could never capture. Write | | | | bylaw. The photo caption began: |
| something like this: | | | | LAWN ORDER: Bylaw Enforcement Officer Jack |
| NEVER A HOLE IN ONE: Our new Glengarry Golf | | | | Phillips issues a warning to homeowner . . .. |
| Shirt features a Teflon fabric protector that forms an | | | | That caption put a smile on my face and forced me to |
| invisible shield around fibers for superb protection | | | | read the story. Your captions and subheads will do the |
| against tears and punctures. | | | | same if you make them clever, interesting and laden |
| My second piece of solicited advice (you subscribed to | | | | with benefits that interest your readers. |
| the newsletter, after all) is to start your captions, | | | | © 2005 Sharpe Copy Inc. |