Chapter V 



THE PRACTICE OF PUBLICITY 



IN the last chapter the principles of selling were pointed 

 out; in the next two chapters, some of their practical 

 applications will be illustrated and miscellaneous sug- 

 gestions made which we hope will be of value. 



Before you can consider what kind of advertising you 

 are going to do or who is going to do it for you, you should 

 make a yet more important decision as to the advertis- 

 ing budget. Our government is now run on a budget; 

 many households have adopted this system of controlling 

 expenditures; and the Florists' Telegraph Delivery Asso- 

 ciation has a committee at work determining the proper 

 amount to lay out as an advertising budget. A decision 

 in this matter makes much easier work for the balance of 

 the year and definitely limits the expenditure, besides 

 guaranteeing the accomplishment of just so much. 



To go here into a discussion of the various ways of 

 arriving at a decision in this matter, or to arbitrarily say 

 that you should spend so much on this or that would be 

 treading dangerous ground. Suffice it to say that between 

 three and four per cent of gross sales is considered a fair 

 amount for an average business to expend for advertising. 

 Whether that three or four per cent is to^ be based on 

 past or expected sales is also a matter for you to decide. 

 But after you have decided on the amount you will spend 

 record that amount on your books, and then spend it. 

 It is a good idea at the outset to apportion certain sums 



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