[ Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation; changes (corrections of spelling) made to the original text are listed at the end of this file. ] The Clock that Had no Hands And Nineteen Other Essays About Advertising By Herbert Kaufman New York George H. Doran Company COPYRIGHT, 1908 BY THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE COPYRIGHT, 1912 GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY THE·PLIMPTON·PRESS [W·D·O] NORWOOD·MASS·U·S·A Contents PAGE The Clock that Had no Hands 1 The Cannon that Modernized Japan 7 The Tailor who Paid too Much 13 The Man who Retreats before His Defeat 19 The Dollar that Can't be Spent 25 The Pass of Thermopylae 31 The Perambulating Showcase 37 How Alexander Untied the Knot 43 If It Fits You, Wear this Cap 49 You Must Irrigate Your Neighborhood 55 Cato's Follow-up System 61 How to Write Retail Advertising Copy 67 The Difference between Amusing and Convincing 75 Some Don'ts when You Do Advertise 79 The Doctor whose Patients Hang On 85 The Horse that Drew the Load 91 The Cellar Hole and the Sewer Hole 97 The Neighborhood of Your Advertising 103 The Mistake of the Big Steak 109 The Omelette Soufflé 113 The Clock that Had no Hands Newspaper advertising is to business, what hands are to a clock. It is adirect and _certain_ means of letting the public know _what you aredoing_. In these days of intense and vigilant commercial contest, adealer who does not advertise is like _a clock that has no hands_. Hehas no way of recording his movements. He can no more expect a twentiethcentury success with nineteenth century methods, than he can wear thesame sized shoes as a _man_, which fitted him in his _boyhood_. His father and mother were content with neighborhood shops and bobtailcars; nothing better could be had in their day. They were accustomed to_seek_ the merchant instead of being sought _by_ him. They dealt "aroundthe corner" in one-story shops which depended upon the _immediatefriends_ of the dealer for support. So long as the city was made up ofsuch neighborhood units, each with a full outfit of butchers, bakers, clothiers, jewelers, furniture dealers and shoemakers, it was possiblefor the proprietors of these little establishments to exist and make aprofit. But as population increased, transit facilities spread, sections becamespecialized, block after block was entirely devoted to stores, and mileafter mile became solely occupied by homes. The purchaser and the storekeeper _grew farther and farther apart_. Itwas _necessary_ for the merchant to find a _substitute_ for his directpersonality, which _no longer served_ to draw customers to his door. _Hehad to have a bond between the commercial center and the home center. _Rapid transit eliminated distance but advertising was necessary toinform people _where_ he was located and _what he had to sell_. It was anatural outgrowth of changed conditions--the beginning of _a new era_ intrade which no longer relied upon personal acquaintance for success. Something more wonderful than the fabled philosopher's stone came intobeing, and the beginnings of _fortunes which would pass the hundredmillion mark and place tradesmen's daughters_ upon _Oriental thrones_grew from this new force. Within fifty years it has become as vital toindustry as _steam_ to _commerce_. Advertising is _not_ a _luxury_ nor a _debatable policy_. _It has provenits case. _ Its record is traced in the skylines of cities where ahundred towering buildings stand as a lesson of reproach to the men whohad the _opportunity_ but _not_ the _foresight_, and furnish a constantinspiration to the _young merchant_ at the _threshold_ of his career. The Cannon that Modernized Japan Business is no longer a man to man contact, in which the seller and thebuyer establish a _personal_ bond, any more than battle is ahand-to-hand grapple wherein bone and muscle and sinew decide theoutcome. _Trade_ as well as _war_ has changed aspect--_both are nowfought at long range_. Just as a present day army of heroes would have no opportunity todisplay the _individual_ valor of its members, just so a merchant whocounts upon his direct acquaintanceship for success, is a relic of thepast--_a business dodo_. Japan changed her policy of exclusion to foreigners, after a fleet ofwarships battered down the Satsuma fortifications. The Samurai, who hadhitherto considered their blades and bows efficient, discovered thatone cannon was mightier than all the swords in creation--_if they couldnot get near enough to use them_. Japan profited by the lesson. She didnot wait until _further_ ramparts were pounded to pieces but wassatisfied with her _one_ experience and proceeded to modernize hermethods. The merchant who doesn't advertise is pretty much in the same positionas that in which Japan stood when her eyes were opened to the fact that_times had changed_. The long range publicity of a competitor will assurely destroy his business as the cannon of the foreigners crumbled thewalls of Satsuma. Unless you take the lesson to heart, unless you_realize_ the importance of advertising, not only as a means of_extending_ your business but for _defending_ it as well, you must beprepared to face the consequences of a folly as great as that of aduelist who expects to survive in a contest in which his _adversary_bears a _sword twice the length of his own_. Don't think that it's _too late_ to begin because there are so manystores which have had the advantage of years of cumulative advertising. The city is growing. It will grow even more next year. It needs_increased trading facilities_ just as it's hungry for newneighborhoods. _But it will never again support neighborhood stores. _ Newspaperadvertising has reduced the value of being _locally prominent_, and fivecent street car fares have cut out the advantage of being "_around thecorner_. " A store five miles away, can reach out through the columns ofthe daily newspaper and draw your next door neighbor to its aisles, while you sit by and see the people on your own block enticed away, without your being able to retaliate or secure _new_ customers to taketheir place. It is not a question of your ability to _stand the cost_ of advertisingbut of being able to _survive without it_. The thing you have toconsider is not only an _extension_ of your business but of holding_what you already have_. Advertising is an _investment_, the cost of which is in the sameproportion to its _returns_ as _seeds_ are to the _harvest_. And it isjust as preposterous for you to consider publicity as an expense, as itwould be for a farmer to hesitate over purchasing a _fertilizer_, if hediscovered that he could _profitably increase_ his crops by _employing_it. The Tailor who Paid too Much I was buying a cigar last week when a man dropped into the shop andafter making a purchase told the proprietor that he had started aclothes shop around the corner and quoted him prices, with the assuranceof best garments and terms. After he left the cigar man turned to me and said: "Enterprising fellow, that, he'll get along. " "But he _won't_, " I replied, "and, furthermore, I'll wager you that hehasn't the sort of clothes shop that will _enable_ him to. " "What made you think that?" queried the man behind the counter. "His theories are wrong, " I explained; "he's relying upon word of mouthpublicity to build up his business and he can't _interview enoughindividuals_ to compete with a merchant, who has sense enough to say the_same_ things he told you, to a _hundred thousand_ men, while he istelling it to _one_. Besides, his method of advertising is _tooexpensive_. Suppose he sees a _hundred_ persons every day. First of all, he is robbing his business of its necessary direction and besides, he isspending too much to reach every man he solicits. " "I don't quite follow you. " "Well, as the proprietor of a clothes shop his own time is so valuablethat I am very conservative in my estimate when I put the cost of hissoliciting at five cents a head. "Now, if he were _really_ able and clever he would discover that he cantalk to hundreds of thousands of people at a tenth of a cent perindividual. There is not a newspaper in town the advertising rate ofwhich is $1. 00 per thousand circulation, for a space big enough in whichto _display what he said to you_. " "I never looked at it _that_ way, " said the cigar man. It's only "_the man who hasn't looked at it that way_, " who hesitatesfor an instant over the advisability and profitableness of newspaperpublicity. Newspaper advertising is the cheapest channel of communication everestablished by man. A thousand letters with one-cent stamps, will easilycost fifteen dollars and not one envelope in ten will be opened because_the very postage_ is an invitation to the wastebasket. If there were anything _cheaper_ rest assured that the greatestmerchants in America would not spend individual sums ranging up to _halfa million dollars a year and over_, upon this form of attractingtrade. The Man who Retreats before His Defeat Advertising _isn't_ magic. There is no element of the black art aboutit. In its best and highest form it is _plain_ talk, _sane_talk--_selling_ talk. Its results are in proportion to the _merit_ ofthe subject advertised and the _ability_ with which the advertising isdone. There are two great obstacles to advertising profit, and both of themarise from ignorance of the _real_ functions and workings of publicity. The first is to advertise _promises_ which will not be_fulfilled_, --because all that advertising can do when it _accomplishesmost_, is to influence the reader to _investigate_ your claims. _If you promise the earth and deliver the moon, advertising will not payyou. _ If you bring men and women to your store on _pretense_ and fail to _makegood_, advertising will have _harmed_ you, because it has only drawnattention to the fact that you are to be _avoided_. It is as _unjust_ to charge advertising with _failure_ under theseconditions, as it would be for your _neighbor_ to rob a bank and makeyou responsible for _his_ misdeed. In brief, _advertised_ dishonesty is_even more profitless_ than _unexploited_ deception. The other great error in advertising is to expect more _out_ ofadvertising than there is _in_ it. _Advertising is seed which a merchant plants in the confidence of thecommunity. _ He must allow time for it to _grow_. Every successfuladvertiser has to be _patient_. The time that it takes to arrive atresults rests entirely with the ability and determination devoted to thework. But you cannot turn back when you have traveled half way anddeclare that the _path_ is wrong. You can't advertise for a _week_, and because your store isn't crowded, say it hasn't _paid_ you. It takes a certain period to attract theattention of readers. Everybody doesn't see what you print the _first_time it appears. More will notice your copy the _second day_, _a greatmany more_ at the end of a month. You cannot expect to win the confidence of the community to the samedegree that other men have obtained it, without taking pretty much thesame length of time that _they_ did. But you _can_ cut short the periodbetween your introduction to your reader and his introduction to your_counters_, by spending _more_ effort in preparing your _copy_ anddisplaying a greater amount of convincingness. You mustn't act like the little girl who sowed a garden and came out the_next day_ expecting to find it in _full bloom_. Her father had toexplain to her that plants require _roots_ and that, although she couldnot _see_ what was going on, _the seeds were doing their most importantwork just before the flowers showed above ground_. So _advertising is_ doing its most _important_ work before the bigresults eventuate, and to abandon the money which has been invested justbefore results arrive, is not only foolish but childish. _It would bejust as logical for a farmer to desert his fields because he cannotharvest his corn a week after he planted it. _ Advertising does not require _faith_--merely _common sense_. If it isbegun in doubt and relinquished before normal results can be_reasonably_ looked for, the fault does not lie with the newspaper norwith publicity--the blame is solely on the head of the coward who_retreated before he was defeated_. The Dollar that Can't be Spent Every dollar spent in advertising is not only a _seed_ dollar which_produces a profit_ for the merchant, but is actually _retained_ by himeven _after he has paid it to the publisher_. Advertising creates _a good will_ equal to the cost of the publicity. Advertising _really costs nothing_. While it _uses_ funds it does not_use them up_. It helps the founder of a business to grow rich and then_keeps_ his business alive after his death. _It eliminates the personal equation. _ It perpetuates confidence _in thestore_ and makes it possible for a merchant _to withdraw_ from_business_ without having the _profits_ of the business _withdrawn_ from_him_. It changes a _name_ to an _institution_--an institution whichwill _survive_ its builder. It is really an _insurance policy_ which costs nothing--_pays_ a premiumeach year instead of _calling for_ one and renders it possible to changethe entire personnel of a business without disturbing its prosperity. Advertising renders the _business_ stronger than the _man_--independentof his presence. It permanentizes systems of merchandising, the track ofwhich is left for others to follow. A business which is _not_ advertised _must_ rely upon the _personality_of its proprietor, and personality in business is a decreasing factor. The public _does not want to know the man_ who owns the store--it isn'tinterested in _him_ but in his goods. When an unadvertised business issold it is only worth as much as its _stock of goods and its fixtures_. There is no good will to be paid for--_it does not exist_--it has _not_been _created_. The name over the door _means nothing_ except to thelimited stream of people from the immediate neighborhood, any of whomcould tell you _more_ about some store ten miles away which hasregularly delivered its shop news to their breakfast table. It is as _shortsighted_ for a man to build a business which _dies withhis death_ or ceases with his inaction, as it _is unfair_ for him not toprovide for the _continuance of its income to his family_. The Pass of Thermopylae Xerxes once led a million soldiers out of Persia in an effort to captureGreece, but his invasion failed utterly, because a Spartan captain hadentrenched a hundred men in a narrow mountain pass, which controlled theroad into Lacedaemon. _The man who was first on the ground had theadvantage. _ Advertising is full of opportunities for men who are _first_ on theground. There are hundreds of advertising passes waiting for some one to occupythem. The first man who realizes that his line will be helped bypublicity, has a _tremendous opportunity_. He can gain an advantage overhis competitors that they can never possess. Those who _follow_ him mustspend more money to _equal_ his returns. They must not only _invest asmuch_, _to get as much_, but they must as well, spend an extra sum to_counteract_ the influence that he has _already established_ in thecommunity. Whatever men sell, whether it is actual merchandise or brain vibrations, can be _more easily_ sold with the aid of advertising. Not one half ofthe businesses which _should_ be exploited are appearing in thenewspapers. _Trade grows as reputation grows and advertising spreadsreputation. _ If you are engaged in a line which is waiting for an advertisingpioneer, realize what a wonderful chance you have of being the first ofyour kind to appeal directly to the public. You stand a better chance ofleadership than those who have handicapped their strength, by permittingyou to _get on the ground_ before they could outstrip you. You gain aprestige that those who _follow_ you, must spend more money to_counteract_. If your particular line is _similar_ to some other trade or businesswhich has _already_ been introduced to the reading public, it's up toyou to start in _right now_ and join your competitors in contesting forthe attention of the community. The longer you _delay_ the more you_decrease_ your chances of _surviving_. Every man who outstrips you isanother _opponent_, who must be met and grappled with, for _the right ofway_. The Perambulating Showcase The newspaper is a _huge_ shop window, carried about the city anddelivered daily into hundreds of thousands of homes, to be examined atthe leisure of the reader. This shop window is unlike the actual plateglass showcase only in _one_ respect--it makes display of _descriptions_instead of _articles_. You have often been impressed by the difference between the decorationsof two window-trimmers, each of whom employed the same materials for hiswork. The one drew your attention and held it by the grace andcleverness and art manifested in his display. The other realized solittle of the possibilities in the materials placed at his disposal, that unless some one called your attention to his mediocrities youwould have gone on unconscious of their existence. An advertiser must know that he gets his results in accordance with the_skill_ exercised in preparing his verbal displays. He must make people_stop_ and pause. _His copy has to stand out. _ He must not only make a show of things that are attractive to the eyebut are attractive to the people's needs, as well. The window-trimmer must not make the mistake of thinking that theshowiest stocks are the most salable. The advertiser must not make themistake of thinking that the showiest words are the most clinching. Windows are too few in number to be used with indiscretion. The goodmerchant puts those goods back of his plate glass which nine people outof ten will want, once they have seen them. The good advertiser tells about goods which nine readers out of ten willbuy, if they can be convinced. Newspaper space itself is only the window, just as the showcase is but aframe for merchandise pictures. A window on a crowded street, in thebest neighborhood, where prosperous persons pass continually, is moredesirable, than one in a cheap, sparsely settled neighborhood. Anadvertisement in a newspaper with the most readers and the most_prosperous_ ones, possesses a great advantage over the same copy, in amedium circulating among persons who possess less means. It would befoolish for a shop to build its windows in an alley-way--and just asmuch so to put its advertising into newspapers which are distributedamong "alley-dwellers. " How Alexander Untied the Knot Alexander the Great was being shown the Gordian Knot. "It can't beuntied, " they told him; "every man who tried to do so, failed. " But Alexander was not discouraged because the _rest_ had flunked. Hesimply realized that he would have to go at it in a _different_ way. Andinstead of wasting time with his _fingers_, he drew his sword and_slashed_ it apart. Every day a great business general is shown some knot which has proventoo much for his competitors, and he succeeds, because he finds a way to_cut_ it. The fumbler has no show so long as there is a brother merchantwho doesn't waste time trying to accomplish the impossible--who takeslessons from the _failures_ about him and avoids the methods which weretheir downfall. The knottiest problems in trade are: 1--The problem of location. 2--The problem of getting the crowds. 3--The problem of keeping the crowds. 4--The problem of minimizing fixed expenses. 5--The problem of creating a valuable good will. None of these knots is going to be untied by fumbling fingers. They aretoo complicated. They're all inextricably involved--so twisted andentangled that they can't be solved singly--like the Gordian knot _theymust be cut through at one stroke_. And you can't cut the knot withanything but advertising--because: 1--A store that is constantly before the people makes its own neighborhood. 2--Crowds can be brought from anywhere by daily advertising. 3--Customers can always be held by inducements. 4--Fixed expenses can only be reduced by increasing the volume of sales. 5--Good will can only be created through publicity. Advertising is breeding new giants every year and making them morepowerful every hour. Publicity is the sustaining food of a _powerful_store and the only strengthening nourishment for a _weak_ one. Theretailer who delays his entry into advertising must pay the penalty ofhis procrastination by facing more giant competitors as each month ofopportunity slips by. Personal ability as a close purchaser and as a clever seller, doesn'tcount for a hang, so long as other men are equally well posted and wearthe sword of publicity to boot. They are able to tie your business intoconstantly closer knots, while you cannot retaliate, because there is noknot which their advertising cannot cut for them. Yesterday you lost a customer--today they took one--tomorrow they'll getanother. You cannot cope with their competition because you haven't theweapon with which to oppose it. You can't untie your Gordian knotbecause it can't be _untied_--you've got to _cut_ it. You must become an advertiser or you must pay the penalty ofincompetence. You not only require the newspaper to fight for a more _hopefultomorrow_, but to keep _today's_ situation from becoming _hopeless_. If It Fits You, Wear this Cap Advertising isn't a crucible with which lazy, bigoted and incapablemerchants can turn incompetency into success--but one into which brainsand tenacity and courage _can_ be poured and changed into dollars. It isonly a short cut across the fields--_not_ a moving platform. You can't"get there" without "going some. " It's a game in which the _worker_--not the _shirker_--gets rich. By its measurement every man stands for what he _is_ and for what he_does_, _not_ for what he _was_ and what he _did_. Every day in the advertising world is _another_ day and has to be takencare of with the same energy as its _yesterday_. The quitter _can't survive_ where the _plugger_ has the ghost of achance. Advertising doesn't take the place of business talent or businessmanagement. It simply tells what a business _is_ and _how_ it ismanaged. The snob whose father _created_ and who is content to live onwhat was _handed_ to him, can't stand up against the man who knows he_must build for himself_. What makes _you_ think that _you_ are entitled to prosper as well as acompetitor who _works twice as hard_ for his prosperity? Why should as many people deal at _your_ store, as patronize a shop thatmakes an endeavor to _get_ their trade and shows them that it is _worthwhile_ to come to its doors? Why should a newspaper send as many customers to _you_, in _half_ thetime it took to fill an establishment which advertised _twice_ as longand _paid twice as much_ for its publicity? This is the day when the _best_ man wins--after he _proves_ that he _is_the best man--when the _best_ store wins, when it has shown that it _is_the best store--when the best _goods_ win, after they've been_demonstrated to be_ the best goods. If you want the _plum_ you can't get it by lying under the _tree_ withyour mouth open waiting for it to drop--too many other men are willingto climb out on the limb and risk their necks in their eagerness to getit away from you. It is a _man's_ game--this advertising--just hanging on and tugging andstraining all the time to _get_ and _keep_ ahead. It is the finiteexpression of the law of Competition, which sits in blind-folded justiceover the markets of the world. You Must Irrigate Your Neighborhood Half a century ago there were ten million acres of land, within athousand miles of Chicago, upon which not even a blade of grass wouldgrow. Today upon these very deserts are wonderful orchards andtremendous wheatfields. _The soil itself was full of possibilities. Whatthe land needed was water. _ In time there came farmers who knew thatthey could not expect the streams _to come to them_, and so they dugditches and _led the water to their properties_ from the surroundingrivers and lakes; they tilled the earth with their _brains_ as well astheir _plows_--they became rich through _irrigation_. Advertising has made thousands of men rich, just because they recognizedthe possibilities of utilizing the newspapers to bring streams ofbuyers into neighborhoods that could be made busy locations byirrigation--_by drawing people from other sections_. The successful retailer is the man who keeps the stream of purchaserscoming his way. It isn't the _spot itself_ that makes the _store_pay--it's the _man_ who makes the _spot_ pay. Centers of trade are notselected by the public--they are created by the force which _controls_the public--the newspapers. New neighborhoods for business are being constantly built up by men whohave located themselves in streets which they have changed from desertedby-ways into teeming, jostling thoroughfares, through advertisingirrigation. The storekeeper who whines that his neighborhood holds him back issquinting at the truth--_he is hurting the neighborhood_. If it lacks streams of buyers, he can easily enough secure them byreaching out through the columns of the daily and inducing people from_other_ sections to come to him. Every time he influences a customer ofa competitor he is not only irrigating his _own_ field but is divertingthe streams upon which a _non-advertising_ merchant depends forexistence. Men and women who live next door to a shop that does notplead for their custom will eventually be drawn to an establishment_miles_ away because they have been made to believe in some advantage tobe gained thereby. The circulation of _every_ daily is nothing less than a _reservoir_ ofbuyers, from which shoppers stream in the direction that promises the_most value_ for the _least money_. The magic development of the desert lands, has its parallel inmerchandising of men who consider the newspaper an irrigating powerwhich can make _two_ customers grow where _one_ grew before. Cato's Follow-up System If a man lambasted you on the eye and walked away and waited a weekbefore he repeated the performance, he wouldn't hurt you very badly. Between attacks you would have an opportunity to recover from the effectof the first blow. But if he smashed you and _kept mauling_, each impact of his fist wouldfind you less able to stand the hammering, and a half-dozen jabs wouldprobably _knock you down_. Now advertising is, after all, a matter of _hitting the eye of thepublic_. If you allow too great an interval to elapse between insertionsof copy the effect of the first advertisement will have worn _away_ bythe time you hit again. You may continue your scattered talks over astretch of years, but you will not derive the same benefit that wouldresult from a greater concentration. In other words, by appearing inprint _every_ day, you are able to get the benefit of the impressioncreated _the day before_, and as each piece of copy makes itsappearance, the result of your publicity on the reader's mind is morepronounced--you mustn't stop short of a _knock-down impression_. _Persistence is_ the foundation of advertising success. Regularity ofinsertion is _just as important_ as clever phrasing. The man who _hangson_ is the man who _wins out_. Cato the Elder is an example to everymerchant who _uses_ the newspapers and should be an inspiration to everystorekeeper who does _not_. For twenty years he arose daily in the Romansenate and cried out for the destruction of Carthage. In the beginninghe found his conferees very unresponsive. But he _kept on_ every day, month after month and year after year, sinking into the minds of all thenecessity of destroying Carthage, until he set all the senate thinkingupon the subject and _in the end_ Rome sent an army across theMediterranean and ended the reign of the Hannibals and Hamilcars overnorthern Africa. _The persistent utterances of a single man did it. _ The history of every mercantile success is _parallel_. The advertiserwho does not let a day slip by without having his say, is bound to beheard and have his influence felt. Every insertion of copy bringsstronger returns, because it has the benefit of what has been said_before_, until the public's attention is like an eye that has been sorepeatedly struck, that the _least touch_ of suggestion will feel like ablow. How to Write Retail Advertising Copy A skilled layer of mosaics works with small fragments of stone--they fitinto more places than the _larger_ chunks. The skilled advertiser works with small words--they fit into _more_minds than _big_ phrases. The simpler the language the greater certainty that it will beunderstood by the _least intelligent reader_. The construction engineer plans his road-bed where there is a _minimumof grade_--he works along the lines of _least resistance_. The advertisement which runs into mountainous style is badlysurveyed--_all minds are not built for high grade thinking_. Advertising must be simple. When it is tricked out with the jewelry andsilks of literary expression, it looks as much out of place as _a balldress at the breakfast table_! The buying public is only interested in _facts_. People readadvertisements to find out _what you have to sell_. The advertiser who can fire the _most facts_ in the shortest time getsthe _most returns_. Blank cartridges _make noise but they do nothit_--blank talk, however clever, is only wasted space. You force your salesmen to keep to solid facts--you don't allow _them_to sell muslin with quotations from Omar or trousers with excerpts fromMarie Corelli. You must not tolerate in your _printed selling talk_anything that you are not willing to countenance in _personalsalesmanship_. Cut out clever phrases if they are inserted to the sacrifice of clearexplanations--_write copy as you talk_. Only be more brief. Publicity iscostlier than conversation--ranging in price downward from $10 a line;talk is not cheap but the most expensive commodity in the world. Sketch in your ad to the stenographer. Then you will be so busy "_sayingit_" that you will not have time to bother about the gewgaws ofwriting. Afterwards take the typewritten manuscript and cut out everyword and every line that can be erased without omitting an importantdetail. What _remains_ in the _end_ is all that _really counted_ in the_beginning_. Cultivate brevity and simplicity. "Savon Français" may _look_ smarter, but more people will _understand_ "French Soap. " Sir Isaac Newton'sexplanation of gravitation covers _six pages_ but the schoolboy's terseand homely "What goes up must come down" clinches the whole thing in_six words_. _Indefinite talk wastes_ space. It is not 100% productive. The copy thatomits prices sacrifices half its pulling power--it has a tendency tobring _lookers_ instead of _buyers_. It often creates false impressions. Some people are bound to conceive the idea that the goods are _higherpriced_ than in _reality_--others, by the same token, are just as likelyto infer that the prices are _lower_ and go away thinking that you haveexaggerated your statements. The reader must be _searched out_ by the copy. Big space is cheapestbecause it _doesn't waste a single eye_. Publicity must be on the_offensive_. There are far too many advertisers who keep their lights ontop _of_ their bushel--the average citizen _hasn't time_ to overturnyour bushel. Small space is expensive. Like a _one-flake snowstorm_, there is notenough of it to lay. Space is a _comparative matter_ after all. It is not a case of _howmuch_ is used as _how it is used_. The passengers on the limited expressmay realize that Jones has tacked a twelve-inch shingle on every postand fence for a stretch of five miles, but they are _going too fast_ tomake out what the shingles say, yet the two feet letters of Brown's bigbulletin board on top of the hill leap at them before they have a chanceto dodge it. And at that it doesn't cost nearly so much as the _sumtotal_ of Jones' dinky display. Just so advertisements attractively displayed every day or every otherday for a year in one big newspaper, will find the eye of _all_readers, no matter how rapidly they may be "going" through theadvertising pages and produce more results than a _dozen_ piking piecesof copy scattered through _half a dozen_ dailies. The Difference between Amusing and Convincing An advertiser must realize that there is a vast difference between_amusing_ people and _convincing_ them. It does not pay to be "smart" atthe line rate of the average first class daily. I suppose that I coulddraw the attention of everybody on the street by painting half of myface red and donning a suit of motley. I might have a sincere purpose inwishing _to attract_ the crowd, but I would be deluding myself if Imistook the nature of their attention. The new advertiser is especially prone to misjudge between amusing andconvincing copy. A humorous picture _may_ catch the eyes of _every_reader, but it won't pay as well as an illustration of _some piece ofmerchandise_ which will strike the eye of every _buyer_. Merchantssecure varying results from the same advertising space. The publisherdelivers to each _the same quality of readers_, but the advertiser whoplants _flippancy_ in the minds of the community won't attain thebenefit that is secured by the merchant who imprints _clinching_arguments there. Always remember that the advertising sections of newspapers are nodifferent than farming lands. And it is as preposterous to hold thepublisher responsible for the outcome of unintelligent copy as it wouldbe unjust to blame the soil for bad seed and poor culture. _Everyadvertiser gets exactly the same number of readers from a publisher andthe same readers_--after that it's up to him--the results fluctuate inaccordance with the intelligence and the pulling power of the _copy_which is inserted. Some Don'ts when You Do Advertise The _price_ of the gun never hits the _bull's eye_. And the _bang_ seldom rattles the bells. It's the _hand on the trigger_ that cuts the _real_ figger. The _aim's_ what amounts--_that's_ what makes _record_ counts-- Are _you_ hitting or just _wasting_ shells? _Don't_ forget that the man who writes your copy is the man who aimsyour policy. When you stop to reflect what your _space_ costs and that the wrong talkis just _noise_--_bang_ without _biff_--you must see the necessity and_sanity_ of putting the _right man behind the gun_. _Don't_ tolerate an ambition on your ad-man's part to indulge in alurking desire to be a literary light. People read his advertising to discover what your buyers have justbrought from the market and what you are asking for "O.  N.  T. " They buythe _newspaper_ for information and recreation and are satisfied withthe degree of poetry and persiflage dished up in its _reading_ columns. _Don't exaggerate. _ Poetic licenses are not valid in business prose. TheAmerican people _don't_ want to be humbugged and the merchant whofigures upon too many fools, finds _himself_ looking into a mirror, usually about a half hour after the sheriff has come to look over thepremises. _Don't imitate. _ Advertising is a _special measure_ garment. Businessesare not built in _ready-made_ sizes. Copy which fits somebody else'sselling plans, won't fit your store without sagging at the chest orriding up at the collar. Duplicated _argument_ and duplicated _results_are not twins. Your policy of publicity must be _specially_ measuredfrom your policy of merchandising. _Don't put your advertising in charge of an amateur. _ Let somebody elsestand the expense of his educational blunders. Remember you are making aplea before the bar of public confidence. Your ad-writer is an advocate. _Like a bad lawyer, he can lose a good case by not making the most ofthe facts at hand. _ _Don't get the "sales" habit. _ "Sales" are stimulants. When held toooften their effect is _weakening_. The merchant who continually yells"_bargain_" is like the old hen who was always crying "fox. " When thereal article did come along, none of her chicks _believed it_. _Don't use fine print. _ Make it easy for the reader to find out aboutyour business. There are ten million pairs of eyeglasses worn inAmerica, and every owner of them buys something. _And Don't start unless you mean to stick. _ The patron saint of thesuccessful advertiser _hates a quitter_. The Doctor whose Patients Hang On Out in China _all_ things are _not_ topsy turvy. _Physicians are paidfor keeping people well_ and when their patients fall ill, their weeklyremittances are stopped. The Chinese judge a medical man not by thenumber of years _he_ lives, but by the length of time his patronssurvive. An advertising medium must be judged in the same way. The fact that ithas _age_ to its credit isn't so important as the _age of itsadvertising patronage_. Whenever a daily continues to display the storetalk of the same establishment year after year, it's a pretty sure signthat the merchant has _made money_ out of that newspaper, because nopublication can continue to be a losing investment to its customers overa stretch of time, without the fact being discovered. And when anewspaper is not only able to boast of an honor roll of stores that havecontinued to appear in its pages for a stretch of decades, but at thesame time demonstrates that it carries _more_ business than itscompetitors, it has _proven its superiority_ as plainly as a mountainpeak which rises above its fellows. The combination of _stability and progress_ is the strongest virtue thata newspaper can possess. _Only the fit survive_--reputation is a_difficult_ thing to _get_ and a harder thing to _hold_--it takes_merit_ to _earn_ it and _character_ to _maintain_ it. There is a vastdifference between _fame_ and _notoriety_, and just as much differencebetween a _famous newspaper_ and a _notorious one_. Just as a manufacturer is always eager to install his choicest stocks ina store which has earned the respect of the community, just so aretailer should be anxious to insert his name in a newspaper which has_earned the respect of its readers_. The manufacturer feels that he willreceive a square deal from a store which has age to its credit. He canexpect as much from a newspaper which is a credit to its age! The newspaper which outlives the rest does so because it was _bestfitted to_--it had to _earn_ the confidence of its readers--and _keepit_. It had to be a _better_ newspaper than any other and _better_newspapers go to the homes of _better_ buyers. Every bit of itscirculation has the element of _quality and staying power_. And it isthe _respectable_, _home-loving_ element of every community--not thetouts and the gamblers--toward which the merchant must look for hisbusiness _vertebrae_--he cannot find buyers unless he uses the_newspaper_ that enters their homes. And when _he does_ enter theirhomes he must not confuse the sheet that comes in the back gate with thenewspaper that is delivered at the front door. The Horse that Drew the Load A moving van came rolling down the street the other day with a bigspirited Percheron in the center and two wretched nags on either side. The Percheron was _doing all the work_, and it seemed that he would havegot along far better in single harness, than he managed with hisinferior mates _retarding_ his speed. The advertiser who selects a group of newspapers usually harnesses two_lame_ propositions to every _pulling_ newspaper on his list, and justas the van driver probably dealt out an _equal_ portion of feed to eachof his animals, just so many a merchant is paying practically the samerate to a _weak_ daily, that he is allowing the _sturdy profitablesheet_. Unfortunately the accepted custom of inserting the _same_ advertisementin _every_ paper acts to the distinct disadvantage of the _meritorious_medium. The advertiser charges the sum total of his _expense_ againstthe sum total of his _returns_, and thereby does _himself and the bestpuller an injustice_, by crediting the less productive sheets withresults that they have _not_ earned. It's the _pulling power_ of the newspaper as well as the horse thatproves its value, and if advertisers were as level headed as they shouldbe, they would take the trouble to put every daily in which theyadvertise _on trial_ for at least a month and advertise a differentdepartment or article in each, carefully tabulating the returns. If thiswere done, fifty per cent of the advertising now carried in weakernewspapers would be withdrawn and the patronage of the stronger sheetswould _advance_ in that proportion. _There are newspapers in many a city that are, single handed, able tobuild up businesses. _ Their circulation is solid muscle and sinew--_allpull_. It isn't the number of copies _printed_ but the number of copiesthat reach the hands of buyers--it isn't the number of _readers_ but thenumber of readers with _money_ to spend--it isn't the _bulk_ of acirculation but the amount of the circulation which is _available_ tothe advertiser--it isn't _fat_ but _brawn_--that tell in the long run. There are certain earmarks that indicate these strengths and weaknesses. They are as plain to the observing eye as the signs of the woods aresignificant to the trapper. The _news_ columns tell you what you canexpect out of the _advertising_ columns. A newspaper _always finds_ theclass of readers to which it is _edited_. When its mental tone is _low_and its moral tone is _careless_ depend upon it--_the readers match themedium_. No gun can hit a target _outside_ of its range. No newspaper can aim itspolicy in _one_ direction and score in _another_. No advertiser can finda different class of men and women than the publisher has found forhimself. He is judged by the company he keeps. _If he lies down withdogs he will arise with fleas. _ The Cellar Hole and the Sewer Hole A coal cart stopped before an office building in Washington and thedriver dismounted, removed the cover from a manhole, ran out his chute, and proceeded to empty the load. An old negro strolled over and stoodwatching him. Suddenly the black man glanced down and immediately burstinto a fit of uncontrollable laughter, which continued for severalminutes. The cart driver looked at him in amusement. "Say, Uncle, " heasked, "do you always laugh when you see coal going into a cellar?" Thenegro sputtered around for a few moments and then holding his hands tohis aching sides managed to say, "_No, sah, but I jest busts when I seesit goin' down a sewer. _" The advertiser who displays lack of judgment in selecting the newspaperswhich carry his copy often confuses the _sewer_ and the _cellar_. All the money that is put _into_ newspapers isn't taken _out_ again, byany means. The fact that all dailies possess a certain physicallikeness, doesn't necessarily signify a similarity in character, andit's _character_ in a newspaper that brings returns. The editor whoconducts a journalistic sewer, finds a _different_ class of readers thanthe publisher who respects himself enough to respect his readers. What goes into a newspaper largely determines the class of homes intowhich the newspaper goes. An irresponsible, scandal-mongering, muck-raking sheet is certainly not supported by the buying classes ofpeople. It _may be_ perused by thousands of readers, but such readersare seldom purchasers of advertised goods. It's the clean-cut, steady, normal-minded citizens who form the bone andsinew and muscle of the community. It's the sane, self-respecting, _dependable_ newspaper that enters their homes and it's the _home_ salethat indicates the strength of an advertising medium. No clean-minded father of a family wishes to have his wife and childrenbrought in contact with the most maudlin and banal phases of life. Hedefends them from the sensational editor and the unpleasant advertiser. He subscribes to _a newspaper which he does not fear to leave about thehouse_. Therefore, the respectable newspaper can always be counted upon toproduce more sales than one which may even own a larger _circulation_but whose distribution is in ten editions among unprofitable citizens. You can no more expect to sell goods to people who _haven't money_, thanyou can hope _to pluck oysters from rose-bushes_. It isn't the number of readers _reached_, but the number of readerswhose _purses_ can be reached, that constitutes the value ofcirculation. It's one thing to arouse _their attention_, but it's a fardifferent thing to get _their money_. _The mind may be willing, but thepocketbook may be weak. _ If you had the choice of a thousand acres of desert land or a hundredacres of oasis, you'd select the fertile spot, realizing that the largertract had less value because it would be less productive. The advertiser who really understands how he is spending his money, takes care that he is not pouring his money into _deserts and sewers_. The Neighborhood of Your Advertising Circulation is a commodity which must be bought with the same commonsense used in selecting potatoes, cloth and real estate. _It can bemeasured and weighed_--it is _merchandise_ with a _provable_ value. Itvaries just as much as the grocer's green stuff, the tailor's fabricsand the lots of the real estate man. Your cook refuses to accept green and rotten tomatoes at the price ofperfect ones. She does not calculate the number of vegetables that are_delivered_ to her, but those that she _can use_. When your wife selectsa piece of cloth she first makes sure that it will serve the purpose shehas in view. When you buy a piece of property you consider _theneighborhood_ as well as the _ground_. Just so when you buy_advertising_ you must find out how much of the circulation you _canuse_. You must judge the _neighborhoods_ where your copy will be read, with the same thoughtfulness that you devoted to selecting the spotwhere your goods are sold. A dealer in precious stones would be foolish to open up in a tenementdistrict, and equally short-sighted, to tell about his jewelry in anewspaper largely distributed there. Out of ten thousand men and womenwho might _see_ what he had to say not ten of them could _afford to buyhis goods_. These ten thousand readers would be mass without muscle. Hecould make them _willing_ to do business with him, but _their incomeswouldn't let them become customers_. One of the greatest mistakes in publicity is _to drop your lines wherethe fish can't take your bait_. Circulation is, as you see, a very interesting subject, but very fewpeople know anything about it. It would surprise you to know that thisignorance often extends to the business offices of newspapers. I haveknown publishers to continually mistake the _class of_ their readersand have met hundreds of them who had the most fantastic ideas upon thefigures of their circulation. While I would not be so harsh as to accuse them of anything more thanbeing _mistaken_, none the less their tendency to infect _others_ withthis misinformation renders it extremely advisable for _you to_ become amember of the Missouri society--and "_be shown_. " Don't rely solely on circulation statements. You don't understand thetricks in their making. Make the newspaper which carries youradvertisement show you the list of its advertisers. A newspaper whichprints the most advertising, month after month, year after year, isalways the best medium. This is equally true in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Kenosha and Walla Walla. The Mistake of the Big Steak Watch out for _waste_ in circulation. Find out _where_ your story isgoing to be _read_. Don't pay for planting the seed of publicity in aspot where you are not going to _harvest_ the results. The manufacturer of soap who has his goods on sale from Oskaloosa toTimbuctoo doesn't care _how widely_ a newspaper circulation isscattered. Whoever reads about his product is near to _some_ store orother where it is sold--but you have just _one_ store. Buying advertising circulation is very much like ordering a steak--ifthe waiter brings you a porter-house twice as big as your _digestion_can handle, you've paid twice as much as the steak was worth to _you_, even if it _is_ worth the price to the restaurant man. You derive your profit not from the circulation that your_advertisement_ gets, but from circulation _that gets people to buy_. If two newspapers offer you their columns and one shows a distributionalmost entirely within the city and in towns that rely upon your cityfor buying facilities, your business can digest all of its influence. Ifthe other has _as much circulation_, but only _one third_ of it is in_local territory_, mere bulk cannot establish its value to _you_--_it'sanother case of the big steak_--you pay for more than you can digest. That part of its influence which is concentrated where men and womencan't get your _goods_ after you get their _attention_, is _sheerwaste_. By dividing the number of copies he prints into his line rate, apublisher may fallaciously demonstrate to you that his space is sold aslow as that of his stronger competitors, but if half his circulation istoo _far away to bring buyers_, his real _rate_ is double what it seems. He is like the butcher who weighs in all the bone and sinew and fat andcharges you as much for the _waste_ as he does for the _meat_. The Omelette Soufflé There is a vast distinction between distribution for the sake ofincreasing the _circulation figures_ and distribution for the sake ofincreasing the number of _advertising responses_. There is a difference between a circulation which strikes the _same_reader several times in the _same_ day and the circulation which does_not_ repeat the individual. There is a difference between circulationwhich is concentrated into an area from which every reader can beexpected to come to your establishment, if you can _interest_ him, and acirculation that spreads over half a dozen states and shows its greatestvolume in territory so far from your establishment that you can't get abuyer out of ten thousand readers. You've got to weigh and measure all these things when you weigh andmeasure circulation figures. It isn't the number of copies _printed_, but the number of copies _sold_--not the number of papers _distributed_, but the number of papers distributed in _responsive_ territory--not thenumber of readers _reached_, but the number of readers who have theprice to _buy_ what you want to _sell_--that determine the value ofcirculation to _you_. You can take a single egg and whip it into an omelette soufflé which_seems_ to be a _whole plateful_, but the extra bulk is just _hot air_and _sugar_--the change in form has not increased the amount of egg_substance_ and it's the _substance_ in circulation, just as it is the_nutrition_ in the egg, that _counts_. [ Transcriber's Note: The following is a list of corrections made to the original. The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. pronounced--you musn't stop short of a _knock-down impression_. Pronounced--you mustn't stop short of a _knock-down impression_. ]