Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1843-05-04
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ADVERTISING.


! The philosophy of advertising does no
appear to be sufficiently unders'o od IN tha
country. Many traders and business
men do not keep pace with the progress
OF the times. They fancy that the worle
has changed very little within tie las
twenty five years, and hence, either ole
themselves, or pursuing the example O
their fathers, they suppose that there are
no more newspapers now than there were
in 1870, and that tue readers of public jour.
nails have not increased to any consldera'
BILE extent. Never did men labor under
greaier mistake. The schoolmaster has
been abroad oflate years, and where there
was one reader Sin the o den time" there
are Ten now. Not only have the old and
large to increase their papers, and found II
necessary to enlarge their mansions, but
in order to satisfy the craving appetite OF
the public, we have journals Of the smaller
class, and at cheap rates. The change is
an important one, and it indicates the on
ward progress Of the age. The world is
m rrored from day to day through the
newspaper press. Authors seek publicity
for their productions, through the means OF
our periodical literature, so that in large
sheet like the Inquirer, commerce, manu-
features and the fine arts are not only duly
attended to, but we daily serve up stories
sketches of travel, extracts from new pub
lications, every thing in short calculated
to put our readers in possession Of correct
information as to the progress OF the
family of man. Under these circum
Stances, because newspapers and newspa-
per r, aders are far more numerous now
than heretofore, the keen-eyed children of
trade, asd the active spirits OF enterprise,
pay more attention TO advertls cme nts,
and constantly present their goods TO the
minds of the multitude thro' the medium
Of our public journals. This is the true
policy. The present, as relates to this
country at least, is emphaticaly a read.
ing age, end it seems to us quite as essen
,ial for merchant, trader or storekeep-
er, especially if new beginner, TO keep
a good advertisement in leading paper
from day to day, as TO place his goods
in the window, upon his shelves or IN
any other conspicuous place about his
establishment. The majority Of our po-
pulation are now in tt e habit of looking
over the newspaper before they go forth
to make their purchases. The sys,em
saves time, for an individual conversant
with such matters, may by running lis
eye over the advertising columns OF a
well.filed sheet, acquire as much in
formation as to goods and prices and the
locality Of stores, as by wandering for
hours up one street and down an Their
The policy of advertising with these facts
in mind, and we state them as facts, may
be seen a, glance. Fortunate, more
over, is the Individual who possesses the
knack of sketch'ug out happy account of
his own store and his own goods. A
writer If frst-rate advertisements is no
common genius. Dozens of instances
could BE quoted, even in our own country,
Of handsome fortunes made through This
TALENT Let us not be misunderstood
The constant system of ext.ayagnnt puff
fng, which is resorted to by some persons,
is calculated rather to disgust, than 10 IN
ter st or convince. BY this plan an III
dividual may soon render himself notorl-
Gus for exsggeration, not to say falsehood.
The effect in such cases IS 10 induce read
ers to turn away with incredully ami
loa,hng. The real art of the skllful adj
vertser is in the first place TO attract the
attention Of the reader, and in the second,
to interest and convince by the frank and
truthful mature Of his statement. Of
course, there are arts connected win the
business, which when employed with doli-
cacy and tact cannot be regarded as ex-
cept enable. II, however, an advertiser
promise constantly more than he is able TO
perform, and thus go on deceiving from
day to day, he may make an impression,
out it will prove Of very evanescent
character. To advertise under existing
circumstances, and with disposition OF
the public at large to reao newspapers, IS
absolutely essential to beginners who have
yet to esta blish themselves in business and
indeed to all whose stores are not in the
midst of our ,horoughfares Of business, or
who desire to serve new customers, or to
attract them from distant points. When
we commenced this article, we intended
to give few specimens of rich adver,is-
meuts, with extracts from the paper upon
the subject which recently appeared IN
the Edlnburg Review. But our limits
are exhausted for to-day. We may per-
haps adver, to the topic again, and mean.
while beg to repea, that an active business
man who is well known and not iu ly
established, who thinks an occasional al
veriisement matter Of no importance
sadly mistakes his own interest, and mis-
understands the spirit Of the agssin which
he lives. - Penn. Ing.
SECRET OF SUCCESS. lit is said, that
'the great secret OF success in life is TO
keep gong on; mark out an honest re.
spectacle course and go on. Let no OBJ
siacle stay your progress. Success must
attend our we'll directed efforts some time
or other. II is only the wavering and the
doubtful who fall
To SMOKERS Blackwood. better au.
thorty IN such matters than in politics.
II laws down this rule: "NEvER smoke CT.
gar IN MIDDAY and then adds: "No
better sign than this can you have
OF a fellow reckless of decency and
behaviour; a gentleman smokes, if he
smokes at all, where he offends not the
I