The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1909-05-21
OF ADVERTISING
Why Local Merchants Cannot %
Without Il
GREATLY INCREASES TRADE

<%%S ..H-
-caacage claims the distinction Of b
Tag tae mai, order center Of the uni
verss. and eme exures from the post
etsce thew woasd to establish
the right TO The honor. One Of the big.
gest man order houses recently broke
al postal records BY mailing 6oo0.Oct
catalogues. each weighing two ounces
the whole weighing $50 tons. The
sacks holdlng the catalogues weighed
SIXTY -Gvs tonsA II these pamphlets
bad been sent on one train thirty cars
wuald have been filed"
All thee Aooaoo0 catalogues repre-.
sent advertising. They set forth the
goods to be had from the mail order
house In the most concise but aliuring
form Low price - the chief argument
depended 10 TO pull trade. Nothing ID
said about the poor quality Of the
| goods sold That the customer must
End out for himself.
The only way for the home mer.
chant % meet this dood Of advertising
Ia by an equal or greater nood Of ad-
vertising. This Is lighting the devil
/. With aee to some purpose. Then let
him get 4 few samples Of the goods
said by. the order house. put them up
beside his own goods and show that.
quality considered. the customer can
get better bargains at home than by
sending his dollars to the distant city.
The merchant has three avenues of
publicity to the order houses one He
ran send out his own catalogues Of a
circular. which amounts to the same
thing. a method used effectively BY
ZONE of the smaller stores in the large
cities, he thus covers the one avenue
open to the order house. In addition.
hs has his local paper and his store
windows. The paper commands more
respect and attention than the circu-
lar. which lie liable to be thrown aside
without reading. The paper Is an e.
tablished institution. IN regarded AS an
old and trusted friend IN the homes II
enters. and therefore its implied In
dorsement Of the house It advertises Is
Of value.
Success or failure depends on the in
dividual merchant. Where one man
will lose out another will make a for.
tune II depends on the amount Of
energy and Intelligence used. I have
just bean reading an item that has
gone about the country credited to
"Ex.." which. BY the way, II about the
msanest credit that can be given. but
which must stand In this case, since I
do not know the name Of the paper the
item originally appeared In and will
not give the name Of the paper that
wal small enough to swipe It and give
the credit to "Ex."
This item rscounts how q man start.
ed Z store IN . certain neighborhood.
but did not make It 80 and had to sell
In q year. His successor began to pick
up trade, In q few months had to hire
q clerk. then q second and finally a
third to take are Of the growing bust.
ness. Now, the only reason vas the
difference in methods. The neighbor-
hood had not grown sufficiently to &C.
count for the change. The first mar
was careless Of his dress and eouallv
careless Of his store. Hia wares were
not displayed to advantage, the front
Of his store vas not attractive, and be
did not advertise. The result was that
people passed him BY or, II they did
call nee. fslt no i-nducement 10 no
back. Ths second man "a. e,ean N
his personal anpearance. e-nsrretic. mt
his store n, osder. had an Attractive
display in fnont And strove "a, .knov
peopie and to p,ease them. Hs aAver-
(, tfsed. He arranged nj rooA. q the
best advantage. he made friends. Ne
let the neixhborhood know he vss m
earth and that he wanted trade. He
rot II. people were Attracted nv Ma
store front and drouped n. They were
pleased By their treatment and, drop.
ped IN sssiu. They were stf,l Q
pleased and told their neishbors. In
other worda. this merchant by oral.
narv Diligence took I stors that h.A
been I failure md N : few MONTH
created ! 0ourfshin, husineea n. ~.
cree ~ n IN ~. -thst 4, h,.v ~ q
play nm 10 rooda. he undsrstood re
magic a. Attractive a-pusarances ara n
skGlful adyertiaine.
Ths sams .Ex.s ns.t1o,. m a~ss.
NM So ~ vorkis. ~ a. sr.a0cs.I n.
"