The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1913-07-10
MANAGER OF THE
MINNEAPOLIS JOURNAL DE.
LIvERs POWERFUL ADDRESS
BEFORE PRESS CONVENTION.

!
g 9 . . o . 9 4. o q o 9 . o o . {.
Q The great problem commercial e,
| 8 ly is distribution. /"
:. Newspaper advertising is q o
. shot of the griddle" message. !.
Q With the aid of imagination /.
9 and a newspaper, man can sell {:
q cactus deserts and frozen des- 9,
. serts. @
!. Gilded, glittering generalities o
have no place in these days of o
9 "show me" publicity. o
|9 Fruitful, sincere publicity is o
= the only kind that's successful 9
9 in the long run. 9
!. One paper in the home is :.
3 worth thousand on the high @
g way. Q
+. The advertiser wants to get <:
(. into competition with the manag- o
9 ing editor for he is the man the !.
9 advertiser has got to keep pace Z.
. with. g,
. Beatrice Fairfax may write :,
(. good stuff for love-sick SWANS 9,
@ but her kind of copy won't sell :.
. suspenders. 9
9 :. :. :: g, 9 9 9 (. . o o g 9 o o 9
The address delivered by E. C. Cliff
ford, advertising manager of the Min
neapolis Journal, before the North
Dakota Press association at the con-
vention held at Grand Forks recently,
was one of the most practical and val
liable addresses ever heard by the as
ISOLATION. The speaker took up var
ious phases of the advertising ques-
ton pointing out the value of the
right kind of newspaper publicity,
and making plea for clean advertis-
ing. Mr.. Clifford said:
"My subject, whats the Matter
With the Newspapers" is just text
and text is usually taken by a
preacher so that he can stray away
from it-into other pastures as far as
he pleases-and that's what l am 90
ing to do.
"There is nothing the matter with
the newspapers, no more than there
was anything the matter with Kansas
when William White wrote his famous
epic. That's it, there's nothing much
the matter with them-nothing but
what can be remedied. So don't ex-
pect me to tell any scandal about our
own profession. Furthermore, have
not come to this state of North Dako-
ia in the role of reformer. You've
got plenty of reformers here now.
The fate of the reformer and the mar
tyr are about the same-monuments
are erected for them hundred years
after they have been kicked to death
or hung to gibbets. Far be it from
me to get into this class.
Before get through / am going
to tell you of few of my experiences
in trying to better the condition Of the
paper | am drawing modest stipend
from. And | am going to endeavor
to show you how and why the news
paper is the one great advertising
medium of modern times in spite of 8
lot of poor advertising put out by
poor advertising men. am going to
talk a little about calculations and
what they mean. am going to have
a little something to say about clean
advertising-just among ourselves.
Il wouldn't attempt to suggest any
improvements that newspaper might
make, were it not for the fact that
everybody else does. Has your news
paper got thousand circulation?
Well then, there are exactly 999 of
your subscribers to sta
tistics- who know how to run it in
fnitely better than you do.
"The whole progressive world these
days must have its newspaper. It is
lost without it. 1t is member of the
lfamily-and most intimate one. It
is guide, counsellor, friend, chum:
an entertainer, an educator, and a
money saver. It starts you off at your
breakfast, and settles your dinner at
night-a servant always at your com
mand. It is "the voice of today and
the herald Of Tomorrow" 1t is almost
all things for families. Its action is
immediate, all-powerful. It talks to
people by the millions in cold type
impressively, intimately, quietly, when
/ the mind is in the mood. And Incl
dentally, the newspaper is the great
est sales force in the world.
This is an age of craftsmanship, an
lage of advertising. The great prob
lem, commercially, is distribution. II
is no great trick to make goods.
Yankee wits have long been famous
but the selling Of them, the distribut-
ing of them, the getting them from
where they are to where they ought ia
be-that's the problem. And the So
luton of it lies in advertising, in pub
licity that creates a demand. And
bear in mind, there's no business, nc
product SO thoroughly established that
its owner can say I do not need "a
advertise That fellow is like Josh
Billings man with blue goggles wink.
ing at girl. The man behind the
goggles knows he's winking but the
girl doesn't.
A "A man owns business. He has
merchandise to sell. The best method
of selling it is to sell it himself. III
owns it and can tell you its merits
more convincingly than anybody else
The next best method is to have &
good mantle next best friend 81
! the merchandise sell it for him. TIL.
next best plan is to sit down ant
write to somebody who he knows i.
interested in his merchandise. These
methods are all slow, however, ans
they don't produce the volume. TIL,
real way is to use a newspaper
Il When he has exhausted the possibil
/ tiles Of the newspaper, then there ar,
many other media to be used will
profit in one way or another. Blu