46 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



ADVERTISING. 



From one year's experience as a publisher, 

 ten as an advertiser, and a still longer pe- 

 riod as a careful observ'er, we wish to say a 

 few words about advertising. But few 

 lines of business that involve the sale of 

 something can be successful without adver- 

 tising. Other things being equal, the more 

 extensive, persistent, and judicious the ad- 

 vertising, the greater the success. It is not 

 always merit that wins. A most excellent, 

 but poorly advertised, article is often crowd- 

 ed to the wall by an inferior competitor, the 

 advertising of which is directed by a master 

 hand. To advertise costs money. How to 

 secure the best returns for the money ex- 

 pended is the problem. To simply adver- 

 tise is no trick; to ad\eTtise J luliciuitsly is an 

 art. There are, however, a few simple rules 

 that may be mentioned. For instance, peri- 

 odicals furnish the best medium. Those 

 journals should be chosen that circulate 

 among the class of people that are interested 

 in the article ottered for sale. There is a 

 still further discrimination to be made. 

 Flashy, trashy papers, those made up from 

 poor material, sold at a nominal price, or 

 given away to Tom, Dick and Harry, such 

 papers have little value as advertising medi- 

 ums. The circulation of a paper is a most 

 important point, but while considering this 

 we must not entirely overlook the lesser fac- 

 tor of what kind of people are its readers. 

 That is, what are they financially, morally, 

 socially? Of what (jrade are they? If an 

 advertiser will carefully examine a period- 

 ical, remembering that "birds of a feather 

 flock together," he can easily decide as to 

 whether its readers belong to the class that 

 he wishes to reach. Papers that publish 

 original and interesting matter, that are 

 clean, and free from "trash," that are 

 sought for and read by a progressive, push- 

 ing, wide awake, industrious class, these are 

 the periodicals in which to advertise useful 

 articles. Having decided upon the journal 

 that shall be patronized, the next thing to be 

 considered is the advertisement itself. The 

 stj/le is important. Some people are born 

 story tellers: they have such a "taking way " 

 of " putting things " that we are at once in- 

 terested and listen with pleasure. In the 

 same way, some have a happy faculty for 

 writing advertisements. Everything is said 

 so approi)riately, so well put, so " pat," that, 

 in spite of ourselves, we read, admire, and 

 Oin/. The wording, arrangement, and dis- 



play are all im])ortant: but it is impossible 

 to lay down specific rules. The best that 

 can be said is think; he <> rig ina I; striye to 

 bring out something new, something unique, 

 something stamped with intliriiluaUty. Let 

 it be character i-ather than size that attracts 

 attention. Mr. Wanamaker. Philadelphia's 

 great merchant, is looked upon as the most 

 successful advertiser in this country. He 

 has the faculty of grasping every passing 

 event and tui-ning it into an advertisement. 

 When beginning life as a tailor, he secured 

 the job of making some uniforms. The 

 profits attending the transaction were f 8S.(X). 

 He spent the whole amount in a unique 

 newspaper advertisement. From the time of 

 its appearance he dates his success. It at- 

 tracted attention; orders poured in; the tide 

 was turned. Mr. Wanamaker says: " To 

 discontinue an advertisement is like taking . 

 down your sign. If you wish to do business, 

 you must let the public know it. Standing 

 advertisements, when changed frequently, 

 are better and cheaper than reading notices. 

 They look more substantial and business- 

 like, and inspire confidence. I would as 

 soon think of doing business without clerks 

 as without advertising." There is one point 

 in these remarks of Mr. Wanamaker that we 

 wish to notice, and that is the discontinuing 

 of advertisements. As a publisher, we find 

 the task a delicate one, but it must be per- 

 formed. There are few things more unsatis- 

 factory, to all concerned, than spasmodic 

 advertising. An advertisement is inserted a 

 few times. Immediate returns are exi)ected. 

 They do not come. The advertisement is 

 discontinued. High rates are paid, as there 

 is little discount on short time advertise- 

 ments. The advertiser feels as though he 

 were being robbed, while the publisher loses 

 a customer. As dealers in apiarian supplies, 

 who have succeeded? Settle this. Having 

 done so, glance over the advertising columns 

 of the bee journals. Invariably, it will be 

 found that they are constant, persistent, ad- 

 vertisers. It cannot be urged that such a 

 course is so verij expensive, as the discounts 

 are such that a yearly advertisement cos* 

 but little ^nore than one for a few months. 

 We can but admire the manner in which 

 gi-eat business houses advertise: how day 

 after day, month after month, year after 

 year, they continue to ding, ding, ding, the 

 merits of their wares into the ears of the 

 people: fairly conrpelling them to listen. 

 There is a sort of arithmetical progression 



