The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1907-06-27
WORDS OF ADVICE
Some Valuable Suggestions About
Newspaper Advertising
BOOM YOUR BUSINESS
Merchants Urged To Use Printers
Ink Freely and Thus CirCumyent
Catalogue Houses

Catalogue houses
A great deal has been said and
written about the competition the
catalogue house offers to the local
merchant. Many remedies have
been proposed for the evil which
no one can deny exists.
Printers ink, properly applied, is
probably the most valuable and
effective remedy for this business
ailment. The following article by
Editor Day of the Sioux Falls Daily
Argus-Leader puts the question so
fairly and so sensibly that The
Herald reproduces it in full and
recommends its careful perusal by
every business man. Here it is:
81 believe it is a waste of time to
keep on appealing to the local pride
and patriotism of the buyer. The
average man is very likely to buy
where he can do the best, or where he
thinks he can do the best. This
means, when stripped of the lowest
terms, that the country merchants
must meet the competition of the
catalogue houses. There is just one
way to meet it and that is by per-
sistent, systematic and judicious
advertising in the local newspapers.
II believe that the newspaper
publisher who makes up his mind
to exclude from his columns all
'roasts' of the catalogue houses and
who talks this matter ever fully with
his local merchants, will find that
most of them agree with him, and
that they may be easily induced to
enter upon a program of display
on much more elaborate
scale than they have ever done before.
Let the local merchant stop grow
ling about a competition he cannot
possibly abolish, and let him, with
The aid of the publisher, boost and
boom his own business, and l think
We shall, in year from now, hear
less about the mail order house, and
It's ruin of the country merchant.
II believe that printers ink is the
only weapon with which the mail
,rder houses can be defeated. The
ocal merchant can afford to spend
more money in advertising in his
ocal territory than can the mail
,rder house in the same territory.
n addition, the local merchant and
buyer have the advantage OF a per-
,onal inspection of the goods, .of the
,hance to satisfactorily right any,
hing which is wrong, and of an
to meet any price which |
he mail order house advertises. If,
the merchant will use his
ocal newspaper, and let his readers
know what he has to sell, and what
ne will sell it for, he can increase his |
business every year, and in addition |
le will help to build up progressive
md helpful up-to-date newspapers in |
lis locality.
SIT is up to the editors of the state
o stimulate this program. The field |
8 ripe, as it has never been before.
The local merchant is just now look
ng for a remedy. Bring it to him,
nd explain what you can do for him.
+ he don't believe it, urge upon him
six months trial. Get him started.
explain to him that a paper which |
las LOCO subscribers is read by
,erhaps 5000 different persons. That
means pretty wide publicity. Let
linn understand the importance of
aking care of his advertising. 1t |
hould be bright and interesting and |
hould be changed often-the oftener
he better-both for the publisher and
he advertiser. The publisher is just |
Is much interested in making the
ADVERTISING pay as is the merchant,
because if it doesn't pay it will soon
be discontinued. Help him with new
IDEAS. Suggest new schemes. Get
him to put in rest room for the
wives of the farmers. Induce him 60
give away premiums. Get him to
advertise leaders. Advise him to
advertise in detail and, above all, to
quote prices.
'In closing I want to emphasize