The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1914-08-04

are talking to one customer-but that
isn't the only advantage Of the print
ed page in the newspaper over the
talk of the old-time drummer.
The man who tries to sell goods
through talk wastes thousands Of
words-and every thousand words
means a qYlrter OF an hour. How
often have you seen a loquacious
salesman labortng for an hour to sell
a two-dollar article the profit on
which might be as much as 40 cents!
II the salesman received four dollars
a day, how much profit did the owner
Of the store make on that sale?
You not only reach larger audi
ence through the printed advertising.
but you catch the prospective custom
er In receptive mood. II he is read
Ing his newspaper he is In a mental
attitude that makes him responsive
to argument. He is far away from
the distractions Of his own business.
He is ready to be convinced of some
thing. Moreover, he can't talk back
to an advertisement. He cannot
heckle it with frivolous questions. He
cannot engage 1t In controversy
But l am not in the mail-order
business" says the merchant. MY
goods have to be sold by statesmen.
1t is a matter Of talk, even though 1
do advertise. Besides, there is the
personal touch-the influence Of per
sonality, which you cannot exert
through printed advertising"
In this the merchant is laboring
under two decisions In the first
place, advertising that is properly
done sells the goods before the Gus
toner comes in.
Now, all this applies to retail ad-
vertising in a newspaper as well as
to national advertising. If merchant
makes his advertising educationally
descriptive from day to day the things
that are leaders In his advertising
should be sold to the customar be-
fore he enters the store In his own
mind the customer has already bought
the article. He is merely coming to
the store to supply the want already
created through advertising. 1t is
plainly obvious that the clerk who at
tempts to sell him after he has been
sold" is wasting the time Of his EN-.
ployer 1t is conceivable that the Gus
toner might want to supplement or
confirm what he has already learned
through the advertising, and 1t may
be advisable and 1t may be wise to
answer a few questions, but the val
liable clerk will not encourage his
conversational powers beyond reason
able limits. The printed advertising
should be newsy, Informative, terse
and to the point. 1t should waste no
words
Now, about the personality" In
craftsmanship. It Is possible to put
personality into printed advertising.
Type Is the silent salesman that
works after the store is closed-on
holidays, Sundays, when the merchant
is sick or well-and yet it is possible
to invest this silent salesman with
distinct personality.
Some men who never talk have
more personality than the most gar
ru1ous salesman-in fact it Is the ad-
vertising into which the merchant has
put his personality that leaves and
finally makes a definite impression.
Through the printed type the mer-
chant can project his own personality
1t soon becomes vibrant with his we'll
known peculiarities. You can see and
hear John Wanamaker when you read
his advertising. It is distinctly DIFF
ferent- You quickly differentiate 1t
from all other advertising, and you
soon find yourself looking for the
Wanamaker message every morning
or evening in your newspaper. It has
the Wanamaker atmosphere the
advertising stands for everything of
honesty, peculiarly or sincerity that
may be associated with that name
The purpose of advertising Is to
multiply sales. The great merchants
who have used newspaper space in
diligently and efficiently are the
ones who have built up the volume of
sales until it requires all the time
and energies Of large bodies OF sales
men to supply the demand created
each day by advertising. Are you one
Of them7
Quite = niffer.oc.