Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-01-21
LOCAL COMMENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In spite of the fact that 250 mllllonS
of dollars We're spent in advertising
during the year 1908 and in the face OF
the fact that more millionalreS have
been made within the past ten years
from advertising than from profits in
gold mines, MarshalltoWn has devel-
oped a citizen SO far behind the pro-
gress of events as to advance the ar
gulnent persistently to his customers
that his competitor who advertises in
the newspapers must charge more for
his goods "You fellows have to pay
for that advertising" Is what he tells
his farmer friends and in order to
make the story big the intimation Is
given out that page advertisement in
the Times Republican costs $500. Now
we only wish that this price were the
which gets $500 per page for it's adj
vertising, is said to be worth S25.0O0,-
900.
The fact OF the matter is MARSHALL
town merchants who buy full page
advertisement In the Times Republic
can get 1t for s42 and a half page for
$21, where they are regular customers
with contracts for a years business.
Ads scheduled to run in the. same sized
space week in and week out cost less
than half that price pro rata. And the
funny part Of these things is that these
rates have never been changed in the
past ten years, while the circulation of
the Times Republican today is just
three times as great as 1t was In 1897
when the present editor began selling
advertising for the former management
and more than twice what it was In
1899 when the present management
took charge Of the paper.
This man, who has endeavored to
meet his competitor who advertises in
the newspapers, forgot to tell his far
mer friend that he, too, advertises by
sending circulars thru the mails. What
this costs him was seen this week
when a Marshalltown merchant spent
$40 and eight days Of his clerks time
to send out 5000 circulars to people
in this and four adjoining counties
The same sized circular could have
been published in the Times-Republ1-
can daily and weekly editions for S4o,
and would have been read by three
times as many people in these very
same counties. Not only this, but the
people who read newspapers are Gag
erly hunting thru it's columns for news
thus holding an advertisement before
their gaze for half an hour at a time.
This same man, were he to be arrest
ed tomorrow, would rush to the editor
TO keep it out of the newspaper" pc
cause Everybody would see 1t, yer
he will "knock" when more enter
prising merchant wants to put MS
store news in newspaper where "ev-
erybodv will see It," Coming down to
actual figures it would cost merchant
more to send one single circular thru
the mails to every name on the Times
Renublican's subscription lists than IS
now spent for a whole years news
paper advertising by the largest ao-
yertiser In Marshalltown.
But whether expensive or cheap
nearly all advertising pays. Ihe pc
ginning of the millions that Lydia
Pinkham's compound has MADE LOT one
family began with the bright idea OF
Young man, who conceived the pian
of publishing in a Boston newspaper
of $4,000 circulation at cost OIL Soo'so
the circular he and his brother had
been distributing about town at cost
of $685. and three days time for every
1 900 circulars distributed. His mother
and sisters at home in Lynn were
brewing the medicine and he had just
received his first check of $S4 from
wholesaler. With this he expected to
relieve their severe poverty, but sud-
denly tempted by his own idea, ne
spent the most of it in an adVertlse-
ment. and a few years afterwards
when the mother died. she left an es-
tate worth several millions. The secret
of the wonder was that information
about that medicine was conveyed 70
so great a number of people that ou'
of the thousands upon thousands tnus
informed buyers enough were founo
ia move great quantities of the goods
And so 1t is with the local merchant
II he has $4,000 invested in his STOCK
he has fixed annual interest charge
of s1.400 Then he must 1--we "hlie ne
deyotes his own time to his business
and this adds $1,000 more to his fix
ed annual expense. Rent adds $1,2o0
clerks possibly $1,000, heat and lights
$50, and there is still added another
unknown but large sum for losses or
bad accounts, and on goods which &C