The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-04-22
Something for Business Men to Heed.

Gan Old Merchant" in the Toledo
Blade, writes as follows about adVer'ls-
| ing:
In a cheap little book published many
wears ago, entitled "How to get Money"
! find the following remarks on advertls-
| ing: Whatever your occupation or call
ing may be, if it needs support from the
public, advertise it thoroughly and ELL
GENTLY, i'm some shape or other that will
arrest public attention. There may posi-
bly, be occupations that do not require adj
vertising: but | cannot well conceive
what they are. Men in business will
sometimes tell you that they have tried
advertising, and that it did not pay. This
is only when advertisingis done sparingly
and yrudgingly. Homeopathic doses OF
advertising will not pay, perhaps; 1t Is
| like half a portion of physic, making the
patient sick but effecting nothing. Ad-
minister literally and the cure will be per-
manent. Some say they cannot afford to
advertise. They mistake; they cannot
afford not to advertise"
If that was true forty years ago, it is
still more forcibly true to-day. Business
has thrown off many of the forms that
l.hampered men engaged in it. Retailers
mo longer tie their trade to one house,
i,nor expect to be personally acquainted
with each one of their customers. People
l,buy of the party who offers the best bar
-gains. be he friend or stranger. Although
| the young firm of Sharp q Beaten are
selling goods very low, it is not known
I-sround the town, and they have no trade.
Slow & Steady have good stock, are well
/ known, and claim to sell as cheap as the
/ cheapest. Sharp & Beaten must do
20 i,,fo no that they
have better stock of goods and are selling
cheaper than Slow & Steady; they must
advertise. Tomorrow it will be hearlded
about the city that Sharp & Beaten are
selling goods cheaper than any firm in the
/ city, People will wonder if it is true; they
will call lust to price few things" buy
much or little, and go their way. Slow q
Steady notice that great deal of their old
trade is going across the way; what shall
they do to regain it? They conclude they
must advertise; and in this way advertls-
! ing is an absolute necessity. To gain Gus
toners we must advertise ; we must adver-
tise to keep them. We must create de-
mand for new goods by advertising their
merits; we mast hold the sale of old
goods by keeping their good qualities be-
fore the public.
Every business should be advertised, no
matter where or what it is. If moderate
custom were sure among circle OF friends
and acquaintance in given locality, II
would still be for the merchants interest
to advertise and increase his trade. The
main expenses of doing business will be
about so much, be the volume transacted
greater or less. A large business can be
done at a much less per centage OF cost
than a small one. A man can better afford
to sell one hundred thousand dollars
worth of goods at a profit of ten per cent,
than fifty thousand at fifteen per cent.
A merchant may expect to hold trade
by selling low, but he must have first
made it known that he is selling low, or
he will not get the customers in the be-
ginning.
Ways of advertising are as numerous as
the busy brain of man can invent. The
most unmitigated humbugs in soliciting
advertisements, are the men who have
s'hotel cards." "depot cards." "business
cards." maps" and similar abomina-
tons. Men will invest in these wildcat
enterprises who think an advertisement in
the daily or weekly paper is so much
money thrown away! 80
OF course money can be wasted upon
advertisements as upon every thing else.
1t would be folly for hardware mer-
chant to advertise his wares in paper es-
pecially devoted to the druggists trade, or
the reverse. A man who depends upon
local traffic should patronize the local pa
pers.