Little Falls herald., 1905-05-19

Shingles, Etc. Estimates cheerfully
furnished. Now, what. under thl
shining sun 10 there in such advertis
Ing to induce a man to hitch up hia
team and drive into town when he cat
cit down and use postal card which
Uncle Sans r. F. D. carriers bring
to his door, order what he wants from
the catalogue house and mails his or
der without leaving bis own premises
What is the country merchant do.
Ing to deserve patronage2 Perhaps he
keeps q good stock Of goods, and when
I say ':keeps' them I mean just wha,
I say. He oaght to be selling them
He is probably oblieing and does up a
very neat package. but that is not
what brings trade. Yoo have to get
after the customer right in his own
home and you have to use magnet OF
some kind to pull him to yonr store.
Now, how much do you suppose an
advertisement such as the ones that
generally run in country papers will
pull? Why, they are worse than
nothing. Talk about money thrown
away, they are far worse. If man
doesn't advertise at all, the few
people who know him will think that
he is trying to drive the editor out OF
business on account of some personal
feeling which may or may not be JUS
tilted. but when they see the old
"standing adj that has stood the
storms and strife of a dozen years
without blinking, they at once come
to the conclusion that his stock has
stood or the shelves just as long as
the ad has been running and that the
merchant Is back number and
ought tc be laid quietly away with
bis forefarhere. But the real live
advertiser is the man that gets the
business. He heads off the catalogue
house man and has him licked to a
finish. But the live advertiser isn t
a lazy man and he isn't a coward. He
gets long'range telescope and can
zee the dollars out in the country dis
tricts and he Immediately proceeds to
gather them in. To get mp an attrac-
tive advertisement is not the work of
a moment-neither is dressing store
window-but the writing of your sd-
vertisement is one of the most import
ant duties that you have to perform.
It means more to you in dollars and
cents than anything connected with
your business. The mail order houses
and a good many houses that do not
do a mail order business-pay their
advertisement writer's from 90, 900 to
81. 600 a year for doing what the
country merchant thinks isn't worth
attention. What is the result2 The
catalogue house man gets the business
and the country merchant pays the
taxes. And they are both looking for
business from the same people.
What 1 started out to say is this -
If you want to stop the catalogue
houses from running away with your
business you must interest the pur.
chasing public and the more you in
terest it the more business you will
get. I have tried to point out how
1t is that customers is attracted to
the catalogue houses and I have tried
to show tine utter uselessless of Slip
shod advertising.
Who has the temerity to deny tnat
the local paper is read and re-read by
every member of the family where it
circulates2 Advertisements and all
If you think go just drop a little 2.line
paragraph in among the most incon.
spicuous matter in the paper adv YER.
tise J. T. tobacco for 20 cents a pound
and see "where you will get off at, -
as the boys say. Speaking of these
thrifty towns you can tell one as soon
as you look at the local paper. It is
an index to the push and enterprise of
the place or to the decay and grave
like stiffness of tie hamlet that is In.
fallible. I get upwards Of one-hun-
dred exchanges every week and in
Rlancing over these I can tell to an
absolute certainty where the catalogue
house is getting in its work without
looking though the news columns for
the pitiful winnings Of the mer-
chants.
No matter how you try to avoid it
no matter how your kick and squirm
and tighten you purse strings around
your pocket book in the false notion
that you are saving money by hiding
yourselves in your ehell, the time will
come when you will have to tight
the devil with fire. or 20 out Of busi-
ness. The catalogue house Is here to
stay and can't be leeislated out of
business. If you think this business
is worth going after it will be neces-
sary to 90 after it in q business like
way. It isn't necessary to cut prices