1909 



(ILKANINCJS IN BKK CUl.TUKK 



4;{i 



SELLING 20.000 POUNDS OF HONEY AT 



THREE CENTS ABOVE THE MARKET 



PRICE. 



BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



The first year that my brotlier and myself 

 produced honey in Northern Michioan we 

 sold it to bottlers and consumers at 8/2 cents 

 a pound. This was about two cents above 

 the market price. The advance was secured 

 because the raspberry honey was something 

 of a novelty, of superior quality, and was 

 extensively advertised. 



The next year a short crop, combined with 

 a general upward tendency in the price of 

 most commodities, enabled us to sell our 

 crop of honey to the same class of customers 

 at an advance to 10 cents a pound. 



FINDING THE RIGHT CUSTOMERS THE FIRST 

 STEP. 



Last year il908) there was a fair if not a 

 bountiful crop of honey, and many bottlers 

 who really preferred our honey found it im- 

 possible to pay 10 cents a pound for it. Hon- 

 ey nearly or qiaiteas good could be bought at 

 from six to seven cents per pound. We ad- 

 vertised our honey at ten cents, but orders 

 were few and small; and we were not long 

 in deciding that some change must be made. 

 Either the price must be lowered or a dif- 

 ferent class of customers secured. Once a 

 man has tasted the joys of ten cents a pound, 

 they are relinquished with reluctance; be- 

 sides, we felt sure there were men (actual 

 consumers) to whom the honey would be 

 cheap at ten cents; but the difficulty was in 

 finding such men who would buy in large 

 quantities. Heretofore our advertising had 

 been confined to the bee-journals; but we 

 now decided to venture into a new field, 

 such as might be reached by advertising in 

 the Saturday Evening Post. When the cost 

 is nearly $4.00 a line, the story must be ex- 

 ceedingly short, and the whole effort was 

 aimed at inducing the reader to send for a 

 sample of honey. Here is the advertisement 

 that cost us nearly $25.00 for one insertion 

 in that paper. 



HONEY gathered from the blossoms 

 of the wild red raspberry, in North- 

 ern Miehitjan, has a raspberry fla- 

 vor; shipped in tin cans, securely 

 boxed, at ten cents a pound. Par- 

 ticulars and a generous sample by 

 mail, ten cents. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Flint. Mich. 



IMPORTANCE OF THE RIGHT KIND OF ADVER- 

 TISING. 



Let's analyze it. First, the word "Honey" 

 is printed in large type to catch the eye. 

 Next, there is the reference to honey from 

 the "wild red raspberry of Northern Michi- 

 gan." Here is something of a novelty, with 

 a tinge of romance. "Northern Michigan " 

 alone calls up a picture of vine-wound thick- 

 ets, mossy carpets, and "the cedar's dim 



cathedral;" the "wild red raspberry" gives 

 an additional touch to the picture; then to 

 have offered honey gathered from this 

 s nirce, honey with a "raspberry flavor, 

 there is conjured up a taste and a longing 

 that can be satisfied only by actually tasting 

 the honey. "A generous sample will be sent 

 for only ten cents; " but before sending for 

 a sample the prospective customer would 

 like to know the price and how the honey is 

 put up for shipment; and this information is 

 given in the advertisement. 



It may seem that undue importance is at- 

 tached to this little advertisement, but it 

 must be borne in mind that this is the foun- 

 dation of the whole scheme. Once a read- 

 er's interest is sufficiently aroused to lead 

 him to send ten cents for a sample, the right 

 kind of after-management will often lead to 

 a sale. 



GETTING PAY FOR SAMPLES. 

 By the way, the first two years that we 

 were trying to build up a mail-order trade in 

 honey we offered to send samples free; but 

 this is a great country when things are 

 "free," and we probably gave away hun- 

 dreds of samples to people who had no in- 

 tention whatever of buying. Last year we 

 asked ten cents for a sample, which just 

 about covers the cost, but offered to allow 

 the ten cents to apply on the first order. 

 Each sample sent out was accompanied by a 

 slip printed hke this: 



This slip is good for ten cents 

 in payment for honey ordered of 

 W. Z. Hutchinson, Flint, Mich. 



This, too, may seem like a small point; but 

 the spirit of fairness and generosity thus be- 

 tokened arouses in the prospective customer 

 a feeling of friendship, or good will; makes 

 him feel like saying, "That's the kind of 

 man I like to patronize," and it may even be 

 the turning-point that brings the order. 



NEW CUSTOMERS MUST BE EDUCATED. 

 It must be remembered that the majority 

 of the readers of the Saturday Evening Posi, 

 the public in general, know very little about 

 bees or honey. Outside of the bee-keeping- 

 ranks, probably not more than one person in 

 ten knows about extracted honey — how it is 

 secured and how it differs from strained 

 honey. To sell to this class to the best ad- 

 vantage, all this must be explained in such a 

 way as to be readily understood. In shore, 

 the getting of an order from a man of this 

 class, one who has sent for a sample, depends 

 largely upon the kind of reading-matter that 

 accompanies the sample. I wonder if Glean- 

 ings could make room for the subject-matter 

 of the circular that we sent out — not as a 

 model of superior excellence, but as a sug- 

 gestion for something better along this line. 

 If allowed to do so, we will give the circular 

 first, and comment upon it afterward. 



