The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1917-02-01
Advertising Public Sales.

lHere are no men VINO can use
advertising more effectively and
advantageously than the farmers
who are holding public sales. 1t
must also be said that there are
few men who lose so much money
through failure to appreciate the
value of advertising and the me-
cessity Of spending money for it.
1t is true that public sales are bet
ter advertised than they were a
few years ago, but it is also true
that many farmers are so averse
to letting loose Of little money
for advertising that they indulge
in false economy and greatly re-
ducc their receipts. The average
farm sale should be advertised to
the extent of 500 to $25 and there
are many Of them that could
spend twice that much and have
it far more than returned to them
in increased receipts on the day
Of the sale. Yet there are men
who expect to sell several thou
sand dollars worth of stuff who
think they have advertised liber-
ally when they tack up some bills
and distribute some cards. They
save a few dollars by leaving the
newspaper alone, but one addi-
tional buyer would pay for all the
advertising and the average
newspaper is read by hundreds of
prospective buyers whom the bills
and cards never reach.
That the newspapers are the
most valuable medium for adver-
Using the public sale will be add
mitted by any one who gives
little thought to the matter. The
cards and bills are all right, but
the territory they reach is circum-
scribed. If no advertising at all
were done, if even the bills and
cards were not printed, there
would be some people within a
radius of few miles Of the farm
where the sale was to be held who
would know about it. The bills
and cards reach out further and
should undoubtedly be used, but
it is the newspapers that really
give the public sale the most val
liable advertising. The farmer
thinks nothing Of driving ten or
twelve miles or more to a sale if
in reading over the list Of stock
offered, he sees some horses or
some cattle he thinks would suit
him and it is these farmers who
live six or eight or more miles
away" from the place where the
sale is being held who would not
learn of it from the bills but must
depend upon the newspaper for
information concerning it. He
sits in his home and reads in his
newspaper description of the
horses and cattle and hogs that
someone II considerable distance
away is offering and makes up
his mind to attend. And that
kind Of a visitor to public sale
is worth a dozen who come for
the purpose Of visiting and with
no definite intention of buying.
unless things are extremely
cheap.
The farmer who is going to
have Il sale should look into this
advertising proposition carefully.
Far more money is lost by those
holding public sales by advertis-
ing too little than is wasted by
advertising too much or injudi-
ciously.
\ man should use the papers
that reach the men. who handle
the kind of property he has for
sale, as Il man who had a jack for
sale would hardly advertise him
in the Ladies' Home Journal, but
would use papers read by men in
the jack business.
Today we are tliving in pro-
grcssivc age and the man who
uses the same business methods
today that were successful fifty
years ago as rule meets with
little success.
When a man advertises Il sale
in the papers he never knows
where his advertising will stop,
and in this age of automobile
transportation, distance is short
encd wonderfully and widens
mans territory just that much,
hence man should cover that
additional territory with his adj
vertiscment.
Few men stop team or car to
read a sale bill on a post, but look
for the advertisement in the