The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1884-03-15
HENRY JACKSON
Dealer in Names.

HENRY JACKSON,
Dealer in Names
''Won't you explain p said the young
oly ana sell the addresses OF peo-
pie IN all parts of the United States and
Canada. There are hundreds of busi
ness men who reach their customers by
circulars, as well as by advertising in
the newspapers. Thus book publish
er gets out new book which he wants
to sell through agents He is anxious
to learn the names and addresses of all
the men and women in the United
States who sell subscription books. He
also wants the names of those who sell
oeteer e4Ieb goods in the same way because
article for the sake of the new book
Then he wants the addresses of the peo-
pie who have never acted as agents, but
who want to try it to see what they can
do. He advertises for agents in a
variety of papers, and at a pretty heavy
expense 1t costs him several cents for
every letter of inquiry about his book
that he receives. To that letter of in
quiry he sends his elaborate circulars.
l come to the relief of the publisher by
selling him large number of agents
addresses at a small part of the cost of
getting them by advertising"
elbow do you get them?'
"You see every publisher has a list
of agents whom he has employed at
one time and another. Nearly every
one will sell me copy of his list for
consideration. The combined copies
make a formidable pile of manuscript.
Then there are the novelty men, who
accumulate large lists ofnames of agents.
Agents form one line of special names.
Invalids form another"
"Do you mean sick people?"
"Not necessarily. Every community
has lot of people who are always buy
ing medicine. They are the most valu
able lot an advertiser can reach. The
consumption remedy circular gives them
hacking cough and a hectic fush.-
The bood purifier circular fushes them
with eczema. So is goes through the
list of chronic and acute ills that flesh
is heir to. They will buy anything
from beef and bark to steam stomizer
to o.dectQr a ..snraipfd foot All. these
the elixir of life buy the names from
the advertisers, classify them according
to the number of times the names have
been used by medical men and the last
diseases that afflicted the writers, and
sell them over and over again. Some
times l sell the original letters outright.
The careful advertiser sometimes varies
the character of the circulars sent ac-
cording to the characteristics of the
letter writer, even writing a personal
letter in some cases. .
"What other classes have you?'
"Two general classes. One for the
sharpers and one for the general ad-
vertiser. The latter class is cosmopoli-
tan. 1t includes all others, really, but
it is made up mostly of farmers. For
instance, in New York, Rochester and
Detroit, are several firms of dealers in
garden and farm seeds. They get
hundreds of thousands of letters every
wear. To those addresses circulars for
all kinds of farm and household goods,
books, jewelry, anything that man or
woman doesn't need but is sure to want,
can be sent with great profit. The
names for the use of sharpers are the
most profitable of all, and yield the
largest returns to all concerned, except
the ones addressed. Once we get a
name on that list we know it will pan
out till the man dies. The addresses
ofall people who buy tickets in lotteries,
who write to dealers in fac smile green
backs, and who write to other adver-
tisers that offer to give something for
nothing, are very carefully arranged by
themselves. They are usually very
smart in their own conceit, but they
nibble at bare hook"
"What prices do these names bringF
'sI have got as high as Sa5 a thousand
for names for sharpers' use. Good
lists of babitual invalids are worth all
the way from $40 to $40 thousand
Agents are so easily obtained that $40
is big price; from So to S. is ordin-
ary. General-use lists copied off the
letters bring from So to S. where they
have not been mailed to more than
twice. When mailed to oftener than
that, and where year or two old they
get down to a dollar thousand.
"Are many in this business of yoursF'
"Not continuously. They drop in,
make good thing. and straightway
begin mailing circulars on their on ac-
count. The number of actual addresse:
handled by me in one year has never
exceeded 1000, 900, but it has crowded
that figure closely"