The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1908-03-27
FRIDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 81. 1908.
ADVERTISE YOUR town
PUBLICITY MAN SUGGESTS METHOD OF
BLOOMING A PLACE.
Standing Advertisement in Home Paper
the Most Effective Way.

How can a town advertise 1tSel1 10
the outside world to get the best re-
suits for the least expenditure?
This question was asked recently OF
a man who has had many years ex-
perience in promoting publicity for ex-
positions, theatrical companies, cities
and summer resorts. He replied with
out hesitation.
Garry half page or a page or two
pages of we'll written and illustrated
boom matter in the local newspapers.
Run it regularly, just as if it were a
part of the necessary makeup of the
paper, like the date line. You will
find that that sort of advertising for a
town is about the best that can be de-
vised. 1t brings the best results for
the smallest expenditure of funds"
This same authority went on to say
that the founder of one of the big
eastern summer resorts used to run
a standing advertisement of the town
in each of the local papers, usually a
full page. This advertising was con-
tinued for years until it became al
most joke locally, many of the resi-
dents being able to quote whole para
graphs from the descriptive matter
without referring to the paper. But
whenever a copy of any paper publish
ed in the town was wrapped up and
mailed away by subscriber or Wis
itor it carried with it as a matter of
course that town advertisement 1t
did not matter whether or not the per-
son mailing the paper intended to ad-
vertise the resort. The ad. went
along whether or no."
what was told in this ADJ" the
publicity man was asked.
1.-The history of the resort, when and
how it came to be established, the
price of lots when the town site was
first put on the market, the value of
property at the time of advertising,
the kind of people who preferred that
resort to all others, why they prefer
red it, the cost and quality of houses
in the town and the advantages of the
place from A to lizard. The result
was that thousands of new visitors
and summer settlers were attracted
to the place by seeing copy of one
of the local papers which told the
story of the resort in entertaining
style"
OF course every town cannot be ad-
vertised to exactly the extent of the
one mentioned, that place being a re-
sort visited by many strangers who
are inclined to send away marked
copy of local newspaper containing
a personal item about their arrival or
their attendance at some social func-
ton. But the average town which is
ambitious to get above the average
can accomplish much by exploiting it
self through the columns of it's local
press. Every town has an interesting
history If only somebody who knows
will get under the surface of things
and unearth the facts. Every town
has some peculiar advantages, some
attractions, not to be found else
where. The business of the exploiter
is to set forth these attractions as in
vitingly as possible. Of course no
town is going to boom itself. 1t must
be doomed by some of it's people. Some
sort of organization is necessary to
raise funds and map out the plan of
campaign. The board of trade or bust
mes mems organization can attend to
this.
Suppose that a local business man
or professional man or any plain citi-
zen received from some quarter re-
quest for information concerning the
town. The citizen may be too busy to
write out the desired Information in
full, but If he has copy of the town
paper on his desk containing just the
data called for he is more than likely
to wrap it up and mail it to the in
quirer. Marked Copy"
In every town there are many citi-
zens who have paid no particular at
tention to matters of local history. A
we'll written article running from day
to day or from week to week in the
paper the people read will serve to get
them interested in the town in which
they live and will be the means of add
ing them to the booming element. En-
thusiasm is said to be contagious, and
by frequent contact with some of the
enthusiasm poured out in printers
ink by one who knows his subject and
believes in it the contagion is sure to
be caught and passed along.
What advantages has the town over
its neighboring towns? What interest
ing facts in it's history or development
are there which will make interesting
reading and cause outsiders to want
to know more about the place? What
important improvements have been
near future? What opportunities are
there for settlement, investment, the
opening of new lines of business? All
these things combined would make an
interesting article, and If run as a
standing advertisement it would begin
to show results in short time.
AS eternal vigilance is the price of
liberty, so is keeping everlastingly at
it the price of success in booming a
town.