The Washington herald., 1915-05-05
WHAT SHALL I Do?

"sell'' and eventually getting an order.
For the first week or SO of the new
work the little country girl had many a
| discouraGing moment. but soon the
knowledge that she was making a good
salary and doing good work made the
work seem like play.
For every bright. energetic. tactful
young woman with a gift for salesman
! ship there Is just good an opening in
the sales end of some business as there
was for this young woman. and there Is
| probably no work that is easier to get
than the work of an agent. There are
| always advertisements of reputable con-
| Germs for agents in the daily papers and
in the weekly and monthly publications.
| But since there are too often advertise
| ments from concerns who make bis
, promises which they never make good
! the wouid-bc agent should be careful: TO
demand and follow up references of her
/ possible employers II she doesn't want
| to waste her time In fruitless and i'll
/ paying schemes. Besides the openings
| offered through the advertisement col
umns of the papers and magazines. direct
; application to publishers, manufacturers
and insurance companies Will almost al
ways lead to opportunities. which. II
properly followed up. will lead to sue
cess.
list of possibilities for the ambitious
, woman agent. You have only to
glance at the list of agents wanted
in one of the big daily papers to see
this for yourself. Here is high
class photographer who will pay large
commissions to an agent who viii get
orders for portraits. Another agent
is wanted by famous publishing
house to present "a special offer In
nf nnSSihla
buyers" Still another agent is want
ed by a real estate company. and an
other by the subscription department
of large magazine.
One young college woman who
wished to help earn her way to her
degree wrote to famous woman'S
hat manufacturer and asked permits
sion to act as his agent among the
college girls with whom she came
in contact. Every spring and fall she
has a large consignment of the latest
designs in hats which she sells at
very reasonable prices to her college
associates. thus managing to clear a
couple of hundred dollars year for
her trouble.
There is at present a very great
demand for skilled and able demon
strators, and the woman who can
prove herself efficient at this line of
work can be sure of salary OF from
SIS Ito s25 week. The large can
ming companies and food manufac-
turers employ many demonstrators
whom they either pay a stated salary
or give a commission on the sales re-
sulting from their efforts.
The good old fashioned agent, the
kind who goes from door to door
selling books and other articles that
she carries around with her. often
makes a good income and has more
variety and a more healthful occu-
patton than most people suppose.
One young country girl. who had
stayed a home till she fairly yearned
to have little broader horizon,
started forth with s. that she had
saved laid in stock of coffee and
tea at the nearest wholesale dealers.
and proceeded to pcddle her wares in
"A neighborinG community. From this
humble beginning she continued her
work all summer. covering an area
of forty or fifty miles. and at the
end of four months found that she
had made $500 besides her expenses.
Probably the most romunerativs sort of
all agent work is that of the insurance
agent \ college graduate. vino, after
teaching school for ten years. finally |
went into business as an insurance agent, !
says that from eight hundred to thou |
sand dollars a year is a falr annual IN
come for a woman to begin with and |
that with experience this may be in |
creased to from fifteen hundred to four !!
or five thousand dollars Il year. The !
income of one woman insurance agent |
the high water mark for women insur- |
anCe agents-is ten thousand dollars a |
wear In one case a young woman who !
started in as an insurance agent In or
der TO earn enough money to take music
lessons, made eighty dollars as life in
surance. agent the first week of her ef-
forts.
When a woman has decided that she
has enough energy and business ability
to act as an insurance agent she usually
has no trouble in getting the company
she decides to represent to give her
try letter sent to the main office of
the company. or n personal interview
with the nearest Representatives. viii in
most cases meet with courteous response.
and the applicant given a chance to prove
herself II after a weeks trial she proves
her ability she will sometimes be taken
on at a definite salary-say at fifteen
,r twenty dollars a week-or she may be
put to work entirely on a commission
Da sis.
Here is word of advice from the
college woman Who gave up school
teaching TO become an insurance agent.
There is only one way to make good
,gent and that is through experience
However, there are four studies the pros
oective agent will find useful in her pro-
ressIonal career mathematics. logic
and ethics.
C'orvrieht by Mary Marshall)