Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1859-05-13

dinarily should be. A card to designate
the location of business house, and the
kind Of business engaged in, is very use
full and should not be omitted. Stran-
gers visiting town, and persons resid
ing at distance, are often put upon
inquiry by card. The stranger ascer-
tains from the local newspaper, which he
picks up at his hotel, that certain kind
of business is transacted at certain
place, and he goes there to see if he can
get what he wants; SO also with persons
residing at distance, having ascertained
the name and business of firm, they
write for further information. Every
ones experience will furnish examples Of
this kind.
A card also may be extended over q
whole column with advantage; it attracts
immediate attention, and therefore an
swers an admirable purpose upon the es-
adjustment of a new firm, or upon the
receipt of new goods. Ordinarily, how
ever, it should only be used as the fore
runner Of detailed advertisement.
A regular advertisement should set
forth fully the capacities of a business,
or, in other words, should present in de-
tail the particular inducements he can
offer in selling them, their quality, style,
prices, &c. In short, he must embody
in his advertisement just what be would
say to an individual, were he to visit him
to solicit his patronage.
An advertisement should be plain,
concise, and truthful. Some advertisers
imagine that they must be witty or wordy,
and therefore introduce their wares to
the public in secondhand jokes or high
sounding phrases Others stultify them
selves and their business in doggerel
verses. Dry goods in blank verse, and
groceries in rhyme, may create a laugh,
but the persons attracted will be few and
far between. The proper place for clown
is a circus, and not mercantile house.
An advertisements, again, should be
truthful, simply because lie is a lie,
whether in the newspaper or behind the
counter. Lying is also very bad policy;
a customer attracted once by false adj
vertisement, will not be fooled second
time in the same way. A patent medi-
cine imposter may possibly succeed al
though he never should have the same
customer twice but regular merchant
never. Every merchant has some point
of superiority in bis business; let him
give that prominence, and then trust to
courtesy and fair dealing for the rest
Integrity" should be the motto of every
department of business without it, sue
cess is doubtful; with it, entire failure
is impossible.
Having determined upon the substance
Of an advertisement, the next thing to be
attended to is Typography aud location
An advertisement should be well display
ed that is, it should have an attractive
heading, and its leading points should be
prominently set forth. The way to do
this to best advantage is q question to be
decided mainly by the ingenuity Of the
advertiser and skill Of the typographer,
and every one must decide for himself,
according to the circumstances Of each
particular case.
An advertisement should be changed
frequently, else, sooner or later, it will
become an old story, and will not be read
as it should be- To obtain it's full eflica-
cy. an advertisement should be changed
with the variations Of stock in trade,
and, if possible, it should be made 50
attractive that its change will be looked
for as an item Of news interest With
proper tact and attention, this can be ac-
complished in almost every business
( Take, for instance, bookseller; all he
has to do is to secure column in the
newspaper, and fll it weekly with notices
Of new books, select criticisms, anecdotes
Of literary pen, &c in this way be can
bring in all the changes Of his business,
and at the same time, make his column
one Of the most interesting in the paper
1t is true, this kind Of advertising will
cost more than the usual form, but it
will pay per eentage more than sufficient
to justify it. AS with the book mer-
chant, 50 with every other; each can
make his advertisement much more at
tractiye than usually is. Let every one
have a certain amount of newspaper space
subject to his wbim, and then change it
more or less weekly, by inserting items
in regard to bis business The grocer,
the hardware dealer, the jewoler, and
the dry goods merchant, should each
have a commercial column, in which he
should constantly make known all the
attractions and changes in his business
Such advertising viii always pay an enor-
nous profit, aud tits exceedingly strange
that it is so seldom resorted to- / be-
licye the tine will come when the present
style Of advertising, at least among re-
tail merchants, will 60 out of fashion
entirely, and will be superseded by the
system I have suggested. At any rate,
"it i8 consummation deyoutly to be
wished, " not only by readers and pub
1 fishers, but by advertisers also.
There is still another matter which
should not be neglected by advertisers,
and that il liberality 10 editors and pub
fishers. Editors are men Of like pas
sions with you" and are subject to the
same influences. They have also pow
or and position which may be welded
for or against you, as tho circumstances
may direct. lfyou treat them literally,
il is human nature to return il. My
observation teaches me that editors, as O
class, are generous TO fault, and they
never fail to reciprocatc aproper liberali-
ty. In fact, ninety nine times in hun
drcd, an editor rcpsys n favor with com
Mound interest.