The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-13
PUBLICITY WRITIN c.
Some Practical Advice on Business
Writing.

u
Brevity the Soul of Successful Ad-
vertising- BY Nathaniel c. Fowler,
Jr, Doctor of Publicity.
copyright, 1898, by The Trade Company.
Boston,
Ninety-nine per cent. of all advertise
ments contain from two to niuety-nine
times too many words.
Some advertisers forget that their adj
yertisements are not for them, for all ad-
vertisements are exclusively for the
public.
1t makes no odds how well an advertise
ment reads to the advertiser. He is sun
posed to be Interested in his own goods
and TO be particularly impressed with
them, but the public cares nothing for
him, and-lis words may fall as fat as the
page upon which they are printed
An advertisement IS for the public and
unless the advertiser makes it so it is ac-
ceptable to that public, his advertising
space is worth less than it ought to be.
Poor advertising has paid, and ALWAYS
will pay. for give advertising anv chance
and it win bring return 1t is Simply a
question of making advertising pay bet
ter Foolish indeed must be the man
who is satisfied with ) or 10 per cent
u
will bring him 20 or 80 per cent. profit. If
poor advertising pays, it is all the more
reason that good advertising should be
resorted to, that it may pay better
The proof Of the pudding may be in the
eating. so the-proof of conventional ad -
vertising may be in the return it brings.
but conventional advertising never can
pay as well as progressive advertising.
Because men put rocks inOne side of the
Ia hprr Il anl in
brought up family well fed and well
clothed, and founded successful posterity.
is no reason that the progressive men of
to-day, who know better, should follow
ancestral foolishness, even if such foolish
ness may not have wrought any direct
damage.
These are days of fierce competition
when most men have ability and know
how to use it, and he who would sail at
all must sail with a full headof steam, or
be OutpOinted in the race of business.
During the last few years, advertising
has assumed a position alongside Of finan-
Cial management, and is recognized as
being as important as the goods them
selves. 1t is being handled with the
incest care. Trained men of ability are
giving their entire attention to its preDar-
alton. 1t has become a business. or
rather profession, recognized by every
llllNlll-tllb DuSlllGSS luull, On d par NlJn
law and physics, and whether one desires
it or not, he must have it, for the bust
ness man who has never dabbled in law is
not business man, and the business man
who has never found use for physic is too
much Of a phenomenon to be discussed,
and he of no advertising seldom even
crosses the tape of business.
Advertising is necessary, and so long as
1t is necessary, it must be used to it's full
advantage.
Great indeed is the man who knows
enough to say something, and then stop.
Effective is the advertisement which
makes one direct statement, and says no
more, Where there are several state
ments in the same advertisement, each
statement is liable to counteract the
force of the others.
Ii the public would only read a long ad-
Vertisement, one could send it a diction-
airy OF his goods, and expect to get his
money back.
One solid statement win be read and
digested, while ten equally solid state
ments will be forgotten. One thing at
time, given with all the force the writer
can command, is all that the public will
appreciate, and all that the advertiser
has right to give it.
OF course it must not be understood
that descriptive matter need not follow
bold headings What / mean is that one
direct headline statement is to be followed
by as brief printed matter as possible,
that the reader may have one point driven
into him, and not driven out of him by
cOunteracting other points
The following advertisements represent
the extreme of brevity. Limited space
makes it impossible for them to be pre-
sented to full advantage, but the adver-
tiser viii readily understand that with
plenty of space and large type, these
statements may be made to stand out as
prominent features in any newspaper.