The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-11-30
ADVERTISING
By JOHN H. FRYE President Finders National Bank of Birmingham

Influential and wealthy, it must be rec ognized that the so-called middle class Of thrifty people is the one most likely to bring new business
 By using proper care, few names can also be secured from day to day. which are likely to be better adapte,
 to the purpose than those selected from the directories. Persons may be thought of at odd moments, and memo randa should be made promptly, when the thought occurs. If ones concern extends credit, it is unwise to solicit the patronage of those in lines that arc regarded as hazardous, unless it is be- lieved that they are, despite their line of business, thoroughly responsible
 The preparation of a mailing list should be made, or the names should, at least, be submitted to officers who are well informed as to the character and standing of people in the commu- nifty, and who know the names both Of
 persons whose business is wanted, and of others whose patronage is not de sired. An excellent method is to check names in the directory with q pencil, and after these have been care fully revised, they should be tram scribed on cards prepared for the pur-
 pose, which should also show the
 month and year in which they were placed in the files. Special effort must
 be made to see that tho name, business address, and occupation for each party is properly entered.
 MAIL ADVERTISING
 It is essential to see that all mail is properly and neatly handled. It some times occurs that good material is so carelesly put up and sent out as to negative, if not to destroy its value When two items are placed in the same envelope they should not face in op- poste directions, or be inserted upside i down, but in such a way as to face the recipient when removed from the enclosure. It must also be borne in
 mind that no saving is effected in time or effort by doing a thing of this sort in wrong way; it can be done just as rapidly when done right.
 Without increased expense, valuable results can be secured by the insertion of advertising material in all mail. Insofar as this is practicable, it is we'll to classify inserts, with Q view to sending them where they will do the most good. Care must always be used tc- see that a single item is not en- closed to the same person oftener than once in each week. We have all seen
 tho bad effect of inserting too much material in the same envelope; ones first impulse, under such conditions, is to discard it all. The better method is to enclose only one advertising item in SlTSle letleE-
 A CUMULATIVE EFFECT Very much better results can be se- cured by the homeopathic principle in advertising, than by any other. In other words, it is question of reach ing the same man a great many times, rather than of making profound i'm pression on him at any one time. There is a cumulative principle, by which the force of each advertisement is added to that of those which preceded it. An other has illustrated this by the fol . lowing incident:
 "A very interesting experiment was made a short time ago in one of our
 great rolling mills. A bar of steel weighing half a ton was suspended vertically by a slender chain. Nearby cork from a bottle was suspended by silk thread. The cork was started to swinging so that it struck gently against the steel bar. Of course. it
 made not the slightest impression. But the motion of the cork continued, and at regular intervals it struck the great bar of steel in exactly the same place. Five minutes passed and still no effect was noted on the bar. After 10 min utes, however, the bar gave evidence of feeling uncomfortable. A sort of of 20 minutes the chill gave way to dis tinct vibration, and 15 minutes later the great bar was swinging like the pendulum of a clock.
 "A single week or month of adver- Using Is merely blow or two of the cork against the bar of steel. It's ef- feet Is absolutely nothing. It Is money and effort wasted-but the continuous, persistent hammering, week after week, month after month, is just as
 sure to start the pendulum of business swinging your way as day is to follow
 night'' ''