The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1919-02-21

home and fireside of the only people
town business men can hope to draw
business from. Its mission is to give
the news of the community and to
act as messenger from the local mar
kets to local consumers. The pub
lisher's duty ends when he gathers
and rints the news as it has occurred
from one issue to another. If his
paper is not creditable representa-
ton of the business being carried on
in his town-if it carries no message,
no inducements from business men to
his readers, the fault is not the pub
lisher's. And, if his paper goes into
the homes of his readers week after
week with this lack of store news, the
readers of that paper very naturally
assume their business men are not
sufficiently interested to bid for busl-
ness and the better part of it goes
elsewhere.
"When a man or woman on the
farm or in the town home sits down
to read the local paper in the even
ing, that paper should be representa-
tive of every man engaged in bust
ness of any kind in the town where
the paper is published.
"The writer does not believe the
business man lives who does not be-
lieve in advertising. He may be pref
| udiced against it and refuse to use
/ it, but we believe that his secret
opinion is favorable to it. Perhaps
Won know of a business house that has
succeeded without advertising. Such
a fact is no argument against adver-
Using. That same house could and
would have succeeded in greater de-
gree by advertising.
"Some business men think they can
not afford to advertise, but the truth
81. none of them can afford not to
advertise. Any business can use one
per cent of its gross earnings for ad-
| vertising. If house is doing $5,OOO
a wear it should spend not less than
$50 a year for advertising. Let the
gross business be as large as 1t may,
this one per cent holds good. APP
propriated for newspaper space and
that space used with diligence and
backed up by good business methods
inside the house, any firm in the world
can make an appropriation OF one
per cent pay handsome DIVIDENDS.
Many firms use much more than this
small percentage of their business, but
the figure named is one that any firm
can use and should use.
Because of it's truly wonderful
power, advertising should be handed
with care. 1t can harm, as well as
benefit a business. False statements,
persistently made in ones advertise
ing will certainly ruin that business.
Advertising must be truthful. the
public is quick to learn Of and slow
to forget misleading statements
''The smaller town business man
who complains that city stores are
robbing him of patronage should give
some serious thought as to how the
citv stores are doing it. They have
oniv one method of reaching consum-
ers. That method is advertising. The
smaller town business man can BUY all
the advertising he wants for less
money than can the city business
house. Space in the city papers costs
more, yet the percentage OF readers
of any city daily is small when COM
pared with the readers of any COM
munity of the local paper or papers
published in that community. Inc
whole secret is that city business
houses know they must advertise to
get business, and they consider adver-
Using as one of the necessary in
vestments connected with their busl-
ness. They have found it to pay
them in such degree that they employ
men whose only duty is to prepare
the advertising copy for their bust
ness. These men draw big salaries.
The city papers charge high rate
for space-yet both of these expenses
are returned with big profit added
add by advertising. Let the small
er town business men give the same
attention to his advertising that the
city business house gives to tits, and
he can fight them to finish and come
out the victor, every time. Let him
decide to give one evening in each
week to the preparation of his adver-
Using copy for that week.
"If you should have difficulty IN
preparing your advertising we will
be glad to help you in any way we
can, and our knowledge of advertls-
ing really should be beneficial to you
Or, if you wish, ask us any question
you may care to concerning advertls-
ing. If you wish to take issue with
any statement we have made in this
letter, feel free to do so. Send a
stamp with your letter and we will
give you a personal answer. Our
study of newspaper advertising has
| taught us that it is wonderful OPP
portunity, within the reach of every