Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-05-28

under the guise Of advertising for one
purpose or another. 1t has for its star
a professional solicitor who travels
from city to city promoting entertain
ments Of various kinds and who is al
ways q well-dressed and attractive
woman, as well as a convincing talker
who would reflect credit upon almost
any school or system of salesnanship.
Such solicitors, whether men or wo-
men, are expensive luxuries to retail
dealers, for they invariably succeed in
obtaining advertising at excessive
rates. Oftentimes the entertainments
are merely secondary to the programme
or souvenir. And the pity Of 1t is.
when signing contracts, that the
solicitors or promoters get the major
part of the receipts.
To every one of these varied and
multitudinous affairs, the retail mer-
chant is supposed to contribute by ad-
vertising. And in many cases he Is
practically forced to do so by an I'M
piled intimidation, for usually the 80
licitors, when not professionals, are
persons whose good favor the dealer
wishes to retain. Customers, for In
stance, are sent to select merchants
and the dealers, rather than take the
chance of offending their patrons,
quietly take the space desired. Or the
solicitors may be paid workers repre-
senting a class of buyers whose trade
the merchant desires. In some in
stances, the argument used in the So
licitation Is mild sort Of blackmail.
In other words, the argument is: "Ad-
vertise in our sheet or we will break
your trade with our members"
Practically every merchant realizes
the money expended for advertising
Of this kind Is worse than wasted, for
It is an unproductive extravaganza
from strictly business viewpoint.
The more programmes and special
publications a dealer goes into, the
more he Is called upon, for 1t Is ar
gued that IL he went into the Elk's
programme he certainly ought to go
into the hospital souvenir booklet On
the other hand, II the merchant is
known to refuse advertising In such
mediums, hardly a thought is given
him, and he goes his way rejoicing and
dollars ahead.
The question Is serious one for adj
vertisers. II those merchants who ad-
vertised In general mediums like pro-
grammes or souvenirs, spent the same
amount of money in newspaper or d.
rect advertising, they would get some-
thing for their money. And they would
also come to believe that fair amount
Of money judiciously spent win in
crease business.
The question that confronts the aver
age merchant Is: How can ] evade
such advertising In programmes and
other special bookletsT
The most satisfactory way is to have
a fixed advertising policy and to ad-
here to it. Spend your money in GER
tain ways and, IL possible, determine
upon a specified sum that you will
spend during the year. II conditions
arise that compel you to spend more
money to maintain trade, you can cas-
ily do so. The advertiser who works
with a fixed policy is the one who OBJ
tains the best results-always.
When a solicitor comes along, treat
him courteously and explain that you
spend a certain sum every year. Tell
him how you spend 1t and then express
regret that your appropriation Is ex-
hausted, and however much you would
like, you do not feel justified In exceed
ing that sum, especially as you have
already refused several others on the
same ground.
When your position Is explained In
this way or some other similar way, he
will go away satisfied and without car
rying any feeling Of hostility. There
are Of course, exceptional cases when
the dealer feels in duty bound to take
some space. Many merchants in such
cases deliberately shut their eyes to
the possible advertising value OF the
medium in question and simply take
the space without furnishing copy.
They figure that while that particular
space might do them some good, COM
pared with the expense of other ads
which would surely follow, 1t is cheap
er to insert the word Reserved"
other advertisers have banded to-
gether for mutual protection and refer
all inquiries to an advertising agent
who agrees to act as buffer for GER
tain sum. In one city a secretary OF
the board of trade has been commits
stoned to either refuse all comers In
the name of the advertiser, or else ju-
atoto,,sI,, onapd q small sum