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AuaoBT 22, 1912. 



The Florists' Review 



46 



with orders. It's far from it, because 

 it is a straight business procedure and 

 not a fairy tale. 



No single ax-stroke can clear a for- 

 est. The woodman who chops and 

 stops, wastes time, timber and money. 

 He had better not have begun. 



Make up your mind you are going to 

 spend so much money this year — and 

 then spend it. Send out your message 

 each week. Keep continually chopping 

 away. But every week chop from a 

 different side. In other words, change 

 your ads. Bemember that advertising 

 is intended to arouse interest — to hold 

 interest — and to turn that interest into 

 an order. 



Last week's paper doesn't interest 

 you this week — so how can you expect 

 last week's ad to hold anybody's in- 

 terest this week? 



A Beal Ad or Only a Sign? 



In preparing your ad, make up your 

 mind whether it's going to be a sign, 

 or a real, full-blooded ad. Don't try 

 to mix them. 



A sign is to attract people who are 

 looking for you — a sort of guide post. 



An ad is to attract and convince the 

 people you are looking for, that your 

 goods are the goods worth looking for. 



Very few are looking for you. 



It's up to you to look for them. 



Having found them, it's all your 

 fault if you don 't make them remember 

 you and your goods — not only remem- 

 ber, but remember to send you their 

 orders. People are not going to bother 

 to keep remembering you, especially 

 when your competitor is continually re- 

 membering them, by weekly telling 

 talks in the trade papers. 



The indecisive, haphazard way some 

 men start out to advertise reminds me 

 of my neighbor, who is handy in carv- 

 ing wood. He started one day last 

 week to carve out a Duke of Welling- 

 ton. The duke was a tall man and he 

 cut the wood too short, so he concluded 

 to make it into a Napoleon, who, you 

 know, wasn't tall. He then cut it too 

 narrow for the broad shoulders of Na- 

 poleon, so he concluded to make it into 

 an Isaac Watts, who was very thin. 

 Then he carelessly split it, and finally 

 whittled it into a button for the barn 

 door. 



The moral is: If you expect to get 

 Wellington victories, cut your expendi- 

 ture big enough to land somewhere be- 

 sides on a barn door. 



What to Say. 



Now for *he text of your ads. 



What shall you say in themt 



What do you say to your customers 

 to get them to buy when you see them 

 personally? 



Your talk sells the goods, doesn't itf 



Then why not use the same line of 

 talk in your adsf Ads, after all, are 

 only selling talks on paper. 



Just forget forever and ever that 

 an ad, to catch and win, must be clever 

 or funny, or have some peculiar twitch 

 or turn to it. Simply be frank and tell 

 your straight, concise business story. 



Hlustrate it. 



Don't crowd your space jam-full of 

 text. Leave some white space about 

 It, for it to breathe in. 



If then you have the good goods 

 your ad says you have, your ad will 

 not only catch readers— but hold them 

 and influence them to write to you. 



Don't use up any part of your space 

 telling how poor the other fellow's 



goods are. You have none too much 

 room to tell about yours, the way they 

 ought to be told about. Besides, ten 

 chances to one, you stir up a curiosity 

 in your readers to find out more about 

 those other goods. Incidentally, they 

 then find out from the other fellow 

 some of the weak spots in yours, and 

 promptly you have a man's size job on 

 your hands to land the order. 



A Contrast in Methods. 



One boiler firm, for instance, that has 

 only steel tubular boilers for sale, is 

 making sweeping statements about the 

 absolute worthlessness of cast-iron 

 boilers. 



On the other hand, as a contrast, one 

 of the firms making cast-iron boilers 

 comes out frankly and says that "each 

 type of boiler has its particular uses 

 and limitations, and each is particu- 

 larly adapted for its particular pur- 

 poses. ' ' Then the advantages and dis- 

 advantages of both are freely exploited. 



There can be absolutely no doubt in 

 your mind which firm you would appeal 

 to if you wanted frank, dependable 

 advice. 



It's always well to keep in mind that 

 the important things in an ad are the 

 buyers' reasons for buying — not the 

 sellers' reasons for selling. 



Keep sharp watch on the other fel- 

 lows' ads — not so much for pointers 

 for what to say and do, as what not 

 to do. 



If you are too much influenced by 

 what they do, you will follow them. 

 If you do it the other way about, you 

 will lead them. 



And who wouldn't rather be a leader! 



As for illustrations — by all means use 

 them where possible. But for heaven's 

 sake, use illustrations that illustrate 

 what you want to sell. Don't use the 

 smirking picture of a girl showing her 

 pearly teeth if you have carnation sup- 

 ports to sell. Show the supports. Bet- 

 ter yet, show them in use. Leave the 

 pearly teeth girlies for dentists' ads. 



How Much Space to Use. 



"How much space should I use?" 

 This is a question advertisers are con- 

 tinually tussling with. 



Lincoln said, "A man's legs should 

 be just long enough to reach the 

 ground. ' ' 



By the same token, you should use 

 enough space to show your article and 

 tell your story as it should be told. 



Any more space is extravagant — any 

 less is costly. Costly, because it's send- 

 ing a boy to do a man's work. Gen- 

 erally the boy goes off swimming or to 

 the ball game. 



Unfortunately, there exists a certain 

 fear in some advertisers' minds that 

 if they don't use some space in all the 

 papers in the field, the omitted ones 

 will in various ways conspire against 

 them to the serious detriment of their 

 business. In short — a mild form of 

 blackmail, if you please. 



On the other hand, there are other 

 advertisers that feel that because they 

 place a large amount of business with 

 certain papers, they can dictate the 

 policy of the paper, even to the absurd- 

 ity of either excluding or of giving 

 undesirable locations to competitors' 

 ads. Both points of view are not only 

 highly absurd, but indicate a mighty 

 poor business vision. 



Too Small Space — ^Too Many Mediums. 

 Unquestionably, too small space is 



being used in too many mediums. Cut 

 down the mediums half, and increase 

 the space proportionately. In this way 

 you cut out repeated duplication of cir- 

 culation and give yourself a chance to 

 both show and talk about your products 

 as they should be shown and talked 

 about. 



In choosing your mediums, always 

 bear in mind that the ones having the 

 largest circulations do not necessarily 

 represent the largest buying numbers 

 for your particular product. Large cir- 

 culation often means hundreds and 

 thousands of readers who are absolutely 

 worthless to you. 



One of the trade papers, for example, 

 has 10,000 subscribers — another only^ 

 4,000. One of our customers has 

 proven, beyond a doubt, that for reach- 

 ing a certain limited class with whom 

 their business is large, the 4,000 paper 

 yields greater returns than the 10,000 

 one. 



On the other hand, this same concern 

 is paying for a 30,000 circulation in 

 one magazine to reach a certain few — 

 a very few — not more than 500, in fact 

 — and it's a remarkably cheap buy for 

 them at that. Cheap, because it's the 

 only medium that reaches their log- 

 ical customers the way they want them 

 reached. *• 



On a Scientific Basis. 



The greatest help to an advertiser 

 that established advertising agencies of 

 reputation have to offer to their cus- 

 tomers is not the mere writing of the 

 ads, but the directing of the adver- 

 tiser's money in channels that shall 

 be the most productive, regardless of 

 personal friendships or "influences"; 

 channels concerning which these 

 agencies possess facts, figures and ex- 

 periences to prove the soundness of the 

 treatment and expenditures advised. 

 This, then, is the bringing of advertis- 

 ing to the basis of a science, a profes- 

 sion that bids fair to make dollars by 

 both the intelligent saving and the 

 spending of advertising moneys. 



The way advertising used to be 

 placed reminds me of the story of a 

 couple of darky janitors who were 

 sweeping the snow off neighboring steps. 

 Suddenly Tom's feet slipped out from 

 under him and he slid down the steps 

 on the end of his back. 



Eubbing his head thoughtfully, he 

 slowly remarked to Sam: "Say, Sam, 

 the Bible says 'the wicked they stands 

 in slippery places'; I don't see how 

 the debbil they does it." 



OBEENHOUSE FOUNDATIONS. 



Please tell us about the requirements 

 for the foundation of greenhouse walls 

 in which concrete blocks, eight inches 

 in width, are to be used. The walls 

 will be three and one-half feet in height 

 and the houses will be 20x100, con- 

 nected at the gutters. I am located in 

 Ohio. o. P. B. 



The requirements for a foundation 

 such as described will depend largely 

 on the character of the soil and sub- 

 soil. If possible, the excavation should 

 extend to a firm hardpan, but under 

 average conditions it will generally an- 

 swer if the excavation is carried down 

 to the depth of two feet. A width of 

 eight or ten inches will answer, al- 

 though for the bottom of the wall it 

 will be well to give it a width of twelve 

 inches. 



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