The Washington times., 1895-01-27
The "AD" MAN;
How His ABS ARE CONSTRUCTED;
PRINCELY REMUNERATION,
[By ISAAC GANsI

OF the thousands of readers OF advertise
ments of the present day, how very few real
ize what an amount of work and trouble il
requires to properly construct an advertise
ment aside from any intrinsic merit such ad-
vertisement may possess.
First of all it is really necessary to be ac-
quainted with the wares to be advertised,
whether they be clothing, drygoods, or any
other class ofmerchandise After possessing
this knowledge the wording of the advertise
ment follows. To write your phrases so that
they sound reasonable. to use the proper Ian
guaGe, to describe the article to be advertised,
to portray to the mind at a glance what you
are advertising, these are important features
1t is absolutely necessary for an advertiser
to know something of the type, as the con-
struction is more important than the word
I ing, and TO MAKE an advertisement show to
the best advantage he must select the tpye so
that the word or sentence upon which he
lays the most stress looks 1t in his lad"
Many nicely-worded advertisements bring
no results, for the reason that the tpye Sc
lected was not sufficiently bold or prominent.
After The ad. writer has succeeded in writing
good lad" and selected the proper type,
to get it properly placed is his next work
| The position of an lad" is exceedingly i'm
portant. and a good ad. writer knows he
must select the proper position in the paper.
! OF course the position of an ''ad'' depends,
| too, ON the article 10 be advertised. But ali
''ad" men generally scramble for top of
/ column" place and next to reading matter"
and the business manager OF paper has TO
exercise much diplomacy in satisfying the
| hungry applicants.
CAREFUL ABOUT THE 'fPRooFs."
Next to reading matter is generally much
wanted place by all the writer's. 1t being i'm
possible to secure this place for all. the ad
writer must use judgement and select posi-
| ton nearly as desirable. Taking 1t for
| granted that your ad writer has written a
readable and slightly "ad'-well con-
structed- the desired position-then
he must secure the copy and make the cor
! rections before 1t goes TO print, for one un-
necessary word or the displacement of a
comma or period might serve to make the
entire "ad read nonsense instead of sense,
and the ad man goes over his copy more care
| fully than he does in its construction.
Go to the newspaper offices as late as mid
night and you will see the ad men there look
ing intently over their "proof'' and seeing
that the "ad'' goes into the paper faultless.
While you readers are enjoying your home
comforts or attending some amusement, the
ad writer is at work.
the care of contracting for space, this requir-
ing clear discernment and entails work and a
good deal of study.
The ad writer knows that immediate re-
suits do not follow every advertisement
From some advertisements you are liable to
make sales for a week to come. This is not
due to the ad writer, but to the whims of the
readers and the demand for the goods ad-
vertised.
Ad writing has made much progress In the
past few years. Advertisements are better
and more intelligently written and do add
much attractiveness to the paper. This is
conceded by both the editorial and business
ends of the paper.
| FREQUENT CHANGES IN "ADs."
A few years back merchant would have
been satisfied to have inserted an advertise
ment and would not care in what part of the
paper 1t was placed and would leave 1t IN
changed for months. Frequently would be
seen overcoats advertised In summer and
mosquito net in winter. This would seem
ludicrous now, almost idiotic, yet such was
the case. and even in our times. Now most
ads are changed daily and many every other
| day. You scarcely ever see the same ad in 8
paper one week at time.
There is a good deal OF literary merit ut
tached to the wording of advertisements now.
adays. The representative of one of ouI
prominent dailys here said recently that
certain very prominent lady had congratu.
listed him on the appearance Of his paper and