Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1911-08-17
BUSINESS BUILDING.
Craftsmanship in Your Advertisements.

By Dundss Henderson. Advertising
Manager of the C. E. Zimmerman
Co., Chicago.
The most pertinent question a retailer
must think about when he starts out to
consider the question of filling the ad
vertising space he has bought in the To-
cal newspaper is, how can l sell nv
goods successfully through this news
paper? The best answer to the oues-
ton is undoubtedly another question.
he must ask himself: If l bad to sell
these goods in my store, how would 1
approach the customer-how could I in
terest her and in what way should I
convince herr" Last of all he must
ask himself whether he is as CAPABLE of
doing all this in the newspaper space as
well as in his store
When a merchant has answered these
questions satisfactorily he NAV COM
meDce compiling his advertisement
But until he realizes that salesmanship
Ia just as necessary in the newspaper
space as in his store when selling goods.
ne can never hope to get the value he
has every right to expect from the
space.
Successful newspaper publicity has
been called craftsmanship on paper.
When retailer can distinguish that
kind of craftsmanship and appreciate its
value, he Is long way on the road to
advertising success.
If retailer employed inexperienced
or amateur help in his store TO sell his
best goods he would be classed as a fool
Why should he not also be put in that
category if he employs amateur sales
maDship IN his newspaper space? He
pays good money for both and should
get the same degree of satisfaction for
his expenditure
-Four main points enter into all sales
manship wheti er personal or on paper.
First, the attention of the possible Gus
toner must be obtained; second, inter
est must be created in the goods Won
are going to sell; third, the customer
must be convinced that she wants the
goods, and last, but by no means least
she must be induced to make a mr.
chase.
In planning his advertising. there
fore, the merchant has to apply these
principles in such way that. from his
announcements, results are obtained "a
matter of course. But he mnst 70
member always that salesmanship on
paper is more difficult than salesman
ship in person because he cannot make
his selling arguments felt in the same
degree as when he meets his customer
face to face.
Unless a merchant can apply these
four principles successfully to his sales
manship through advertising, his pub
hclty will get no more returns than a
bad salesman in his store. And let me
state here that no ordinary merchant
can get the highest grade of salesman
ship IN his newspaper space without
outside help. There are MANY reasons
Tor this. 1t has been found, for inst
ance, that the best way to secure at
tention Is to use a good illustration.
Nothing has surer human interest eff
feet or gets quicker action than a we'll
selected picture. To get such iilustra-
lions you need not only high grade ex-
perienced artist but one who has a first
class knowledge of advertising art.
Then, it requires considerable study and |
experience in descriptive literature to
create interest in goods-even in those
you are selling daily. Again, to bring
conviction to the mind of a reader sure
ly n successfully, necessitates a
knowledge of how it has been done in
thousands of other cases.
All this means that the up-to-date
merchant who desires to make his adj
vertising scientifically certain must
either study retail advertising as a part
IF his business training or employ an
experienced advertising constructor.
There is more in planning and writing
successful advertisement than the or
iinary retailer realizes And the small
n the advertisement the more difficult
he process. Only those who have made
'ig successes by the employment of adj
ertising in its most efficient form know
ne true value of craftsmanship through