The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1903-01-17
AS TO ADVERTISING

The gullibility Of some news
paper men is proverbial and the
sharpers who make up many OF
the so-called advertising agencies
are acquainted with them and play
them for suckers, aud nine times
out of ten they catch them. Some
publishers are so anxious to fill up
space that they will take a con
tract from foreign firm at almost
any price, in order to get the
plates to stop up holes in their
forms and save the labor of set
ting three Or four sticks OF matter.
Some enterprising firms, in order
to save the good commissions paid
to agencies for placing their ads
in papers, send ont agents OF their
own, with cast iron contracts CIV
ing the misery sums they are
willing to pay newspaper for ID
Producing their "stuff,' building
up their trade and making them
rich men. Nothing but choice
positions, top OF column and
alongside of reading matter" will
do them. When their contracts
have been signed and delivered
they have you just where they
want you, and from that time on
until it has expired you will have
no end Of trouble with them. IT
you should happen to misplace
their ad or leave it out, you will
hear from them post-haste and
they will not be over polite in call
ing your attention to the fact.
Then the omission is charged up
to you and you must make it good.
In addition to publishing their ads
for one. third rates, you must send
two or three papers to different
parties, the names of whom they
will furnish, and one to the firm
sending in the desirable adver-
Using. ~ Every now and then you
will receive a notice that certain
number of the paper has failed to
reach them and they must have it
for "checking purposes If that
particular edition of the paper has
been exhausted, then you are sup
against it," and will have to make
Pthe deficiency goOd-by giving the
ad another insertion later on
And when the time of the ad has
expired and the bill is sent in for
payment the chances are nine in
ten that you will be sent an ex-
ceedingly long list Of dates show
ing what papers have not been
received and stating that they
must be supplied before the bill
can be paid. There are very few
papers which file away numbers of
each edition, and as a result the
papers claimed to be missing can.
not be- supplied, and the insignifi-
cant sum which the publisher has
earned thrice over, is lost. Still
that same publisher is liable to
bite at similar bait later on.
One day this week the repre-
sentative of big medicine firm
came into this office and wanted
to edo business with u.s." We
told him we were agreeable if
there was anything in it. Then he
produced his papers and showed
us what he wanted done. The
contract was to be made on a.
three-year basis. He asked us
what we would take the contract
for and we told him. He came
near fainting and said that was
nearly three times as much as he
had paid any paper in the State
and he could not entertain the
for. 4 moment. He SAID
the best he could do would be to
pay $4S for the three years. ser
wee. 1t was worth pretty near
that much for one year. He said
a number Of papers had taken it
for $40, $12 and els a year and he
had the contracts to prove it
We did not doubt his word and
old him so, in meek humility. 1t
vas a sad reflection upon the in