Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-31

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possible for a local newspaper to become
widely known outside of its own immediate
field II it contains even one thing the people
want which is not to be found elsewhere.
Some publications find their way around
the world for the simple reason that they
are the source of supply for some line Of
thought which no other publication con-
tains.
Another scope of opportunity for the pub
Usher is that of creating advertisers, by
educating the public to the value Of ad-
vertising. To do this It is necessary to con
slider the origin of advertising. Many pub
fishers think that the idea to insert an adj
vertisement in the paper originates with the
man who places the order for II, or at least
with the man who pays for it. Now that
Is a great mistake. Let us suppose there is
a merchant in your town who is in a po-
sition to advertise. You approach him on
the subject of advertising. and lay before
him all the arguments you have to prove
that 1t will pay him to advertise. You
think you have won him. But the next day
he informs you that he has decided not to
spend the money. You seek in vain for the
cause of that action. The probable secret
of the story is that his wife does not be-
lieve in advertising. Your side of the ques-
ton has never reached her. But she is
often the power behind the throne, and
when the matter of advertising is laid be-
fore her 1t is her opinion in the matter,
that often decides the case; and the next
day her husband informs you that re has
decided. Perhaps he has; but his wife had
a hand in it, and her word has more
weight with him thar all the an
outsider could ever spread before him. Now
IL you could educate the women to believe
In advertising it would make the way
smooth for you
Another origin of advertising is that
friends sometimes recommend it, when
business affairs are being talked over. A
friend may be in some business which
never advertises. and he may or may not
believe in advertising; but whichever it is
you are likely to feel the echo of it in the
conclusions some of your advertisers reach
on the subject. So you must do something
to educate that friend to believe in adver-
Using.
Now let us suppose there is a dry goods
store In your town and you get an adver-
tisement from it. You may think that It
originated In the mind Of the proprietor
of the store; but in this instance. at least.
1t didn't. 1t originated in the mind of one
of the saleswomen- She observes that
things in her particular stock have not
been moving well the past few days; and
she begins to think about advertising.
After a while she gets up courage enough
to suggest It TO the head of the department.
He thinks II over and decides he will in
clude a few other items in IL, and then he
suggests the whole matter to the adver-
Using man, or, in some cases perhaps to
tho manager or proprietor, and the plan
receives Official recognition, the COPY is
prepared and sent to the paper for pubIi-
cation. Now, suppose that saIeswoman had
not believed in advertising7 Where would
that advertisement be?
From these Illustrations you see that
advertising does not start nor stop with
the people who send the COPY to the news
pape@ or with those who pay the hills. It
starts I'm a thousands anu one different
ways; all the people have a hand in 1t. So
II the people believe in advertising there
will he plenty of it; and IL the people do not
believe In advertising there will be very
little of 1t. Furthermore the character of
the advertising is influenced pretty much
In the same way. So advertising becomes
a topic upon which the public needs
to be educated. A discussion of
some OF its phases might properly form a
part of the reading matter of your paper
In almost every issue. II such discussions
can bring about a wider understanding of
the subject. so that the money which is
now being spent will be more inteHigently
spent. and perhaps a great deal more might
be probably spent IL people knew how and
why to do it. Such a course of public
education would be productive OF much
good for all.
While 1 am on this subject 1 wish to call
attention TO one particular line upon which
a great amount of educating seems neces-
sary. I refer to the want pages of almost
every newspaper. This is one of the great
est features OF some newspapers, and 1t can
be made one OF the greatest features of
almost any newspaper. 1t Is the place
where the wants of some people are
matched up with the surplus commodities
OF other people. One man is very anxious
to find a position, and another man is very