488 
£/>*>  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Developing  a  Home  Mail  Order  Business 
By  S.  Roland  Hall 
An  Alluring  Idea. — “Start  a  Mail¬ 
order  Business  at  Home”  and  "Have  a 
Business  of  Your  Own"  are  specimens  of 
a  number  of  advertisement  headlines  that 
draw  attention,  for  the  desire  to  start 
and  develop  a  business  that  can  he  run 
from  one's  own  home  is  widespread 
among  women  as  well  as  among  men. 
The  idea  of  reaching  out  for  customers 
in  all  parts  of  the  country  and  of  solicit¬ 
ing  and  filling  their  orders  by  mail  is 
very  appealing.  Many  a  woman,  tied 
down  to  home,  has  real  business  ability 
that  could  be  utilized  only  in  this  way. 
Many  boys  and  girls  on  the  faiyn.  or  in 
country  towns,  yearning  for  an  active 
business  life,  would  have  their  ambitions 
satisfied  if  they  could  get  into  a  real 
bns'ness  enterprise.  The  very  fact  that 
many  yearn  to  get  into  some  form  of 
business  work  without  moving  to  the 
cities  or  leaving  home  has  made  it  pos¬ 
sible  for  unscrupulous  advertisers  to  de¬ 
fraud  and  disappoint  thousands  who 
have  replied  to  “Kturt-a-Mail-Order- 
Business-at-Home"  advertisements. 
The  Fraudulent  Advertiser— It  is 
easily  possible  for  instruction  in  the 
conducting  of  a  mail-order  business  to 
be  imparted  by  mail.  An  honest  course 
of  instruction  may  be  well  worth  the 
price  paid,  provided  the  pupil  has  a  busi¬ 
ness  or  an  article  to  which  the  instruc¬ 
tion  can  he  applied  after  it  is  received. 
But  most  of  those  who  advertise  that 
they  will  give  instruction  or  information 
on  the  starting  of  a  mail-order  business 
are  not  merely  selling  instruction  hut 
merchandise  that  they  hope  to  induce 
thei.r  pupils  'to  buy  and  resell.  The 
writer  of  this  article  has  been  in  adver¬ 
tising  work  17  years,  and  has  had  con¬ 
siderable  experience  in  mail-order  ad¬ 
vertising.  I  once  investigated  the  offers 
and  methods  of  half  a  dozen  of  the  con¬ 
cerns  that  advertise  easy  ways  of  de¬ 
veloping  a  mail-order  business  at  home. 
In  every  case  investigated  the  scheme 
of  the  advertiser  was  more  or  less  fraudu¬ 
lent.  Usually  his  game  was  to  toll  how 
he  needed  to  develop  agencies  to  market, 
the  article  he  manufactured,  explaining 
that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  take 
care  of  the  large  demand  or  market.  The 
inquirer  was  told  how  advertising  skill 
developed  in  pupils  enabled  them  to  buy 
merchandise  and  catalogs — from  the 
philanthropic  advertiser,  of  course — and 
get  started  in  a  profitable  private  busi¬ 
ness. 
Work  Wanted. — Those  who  want  to 
get  into  business  on  their  own  account 
will  save  money  and  bitter  disappoint¬ 
ment  if  they  will  just  remember  that  no 
one  with  merchandise  or  other  products 
that  he  can  readily  sell  at  a  good  profit 
is  advertising  to  find  people  that  he  can 
divide  profits  with.  No  matter  how 
plausible  the  argument  is — and  the 
fraudulent  advertiser  is  often  eloquently 
plausible — just  ask  yourself  this  ques¬ 
tion  :  “If  this  man’s  product,  or  plan 
is  so  profitable,  why  does  he  not  keep 
the  business  to  himself?  Why  does  he 
pay  large  advertising  bills  in  order  to 
find  greenhorns  to  be  trained  to  the 
point  where  they  can  share  his  profits?” 
Throw  the  advertiser’s  circulars  into 
your  waste-basket  unless  these  questions 
can  he  answered  satisfactorily.  I)o  not 
put  much  faith  in  testimonials,  for  the 
crooked  advertiser  can  always  arrange 
to  have  a  few  people  assure  inquirers 
that  his  schemes  are  all  right.  Be  on 
your  guard  when  anyone  asserts  that  it 
is  very  easy  to  build  up  a  mail-order 
btis:ness.  It  is  not  easy.  An  honest  and 
profitable  mail-order  business  calls  for 
as  much  ability  and  hard  work  as  any¬ 
thing  else  that,  is  worth  while. 
Considerations  Involved. — It  is  a 
good  general  rule  that,  to  build  up  a 
successful  mail-order  business  from  your 
home,  you  must  first  have  or  create  the 
article  .  r  products  that  have  mail-order 
possibilities.  It  is  unlikely  that  you 
could  buy  merchandise  from  others  and 
resell  it  at  a  profit,  by  the  mail-order 
plan.  Mail-order  advertising  requires 
more  skill  than  retail  store  keeping  or 
any  other  form  of  local  selling.  In  the 
home  market  people  know  you  and  rely 
on  your  word  and  reputation.  When  you 
reach  out  into  country-wide  markets, 
you  are  not  only  appealing  to  people 
who  do  not  know  you,  but.  are  probably 
coming  into  competition  with  others  who 
are  trying  to  sell  the  same  class  of  goods. 
The  need  for  a  distinctive  product  and 
for  merchandising  sk i  1(1  becomes  more 
urgent.  The  chance  for  loss  is  consider¬ 
ably  greater,  for  advertising  space  in 
publications  .reaching  hundreds  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  people  costs  a  great  deal. 
Character  oe  Goods. — The  first  ques¬ 
tion  of  all  to  decide  is  whether  the  arti¬ 
cle  you  have  in  mind  is  one  for  which  a 
country-wide  market  is  possible.  Is  it 
of  a  character  or  quality  that  people 
generally  who  could  use  it  to  advantage 
and  could  afford  to  buy  cannot  obtain 
nearer  home?  Is  it  something  that  can 
be  sent  conveniently  and  economically  by 
parcel  post,  express  or  freight?  Will 
the  people  that  buy  he  likely  to  buy 
again  or  to  tell  their  friends  about  what 
you  have  to  sell?  Is  it  practicable  to  get 
people — possibly  some  who  buy  from  yon 
— to  act  as  your  agents  for  additional 
sales?  Can  you  sell  at  such  a  good 
margin  of  profit,  that  something  will  be 
left  for  you  after  a  large  selling  cost 
has  been  taken  out?  Could  you  sell  on 
approval,  and  if  so.  how  can  you  safe¬ 
guard  yourself  against  loss?  Have  you 
tried  out  your  selling  plans  in  the  home 
market  and  learned  what  can  be  learned 
in  that  field  before  trying  to  get  into  the 
broader  field? 
General  Commodities. — These  are 
general  questions  but  they  will  enable 
you  to  get  at  the  fundamentals  of  the 
mail-order  business.  There  are  many 
things  produced  on  the  farm  or  in  the 
home  that  can  be  sold  to  better  advant¬ 
age  in  the  local  market.  But  another 
long  list  of  commodities  have  country¬ 
wide  possibilities.  You  may  have  Shet¬ 
land  ponies,  purebred  cattle,  dogs, 
chickens,  shade  trees,  fruit  trees,  fruit, 
nuts.  hams,  sausages,  pickles,  preserves, 
oysters,  fish,  honey,  mushrooms,  canned 
goods,  or  other  things  of  such  quality 
or  quantity  that  you  are  justified  in 
seeking  a  broader  market  than  your 
home,  county  or  home  town.  Folks  in 
farm  homes  have  gone  further.  It  has 
been  demonstrated  that  such  things  are 
possible  as  becoming  expert  in  photo¬ 
graphy  and  building  up  a  developing  and 
printing  service  for  amateurs;  learning 
taxidermy  and  selling  specimens  through¬ 
out  the  country;  collecting  geological 
specimens  or  Indian  curios  and  market¬ 
ing  them;  making  and  advertising  old- 
fashioned  rag  carpets  or  quilts;  or 
gathering  and  offering  balsam  or  mistle¬ 
toe.  One  does  not  have  to  live  in  a  city 
to  get  into  such  business ;  the  small 
town,  the  village  and  the  country  have 
their  peculiar  advantages,  not  the  least 
of  which  is  low  operating  expense. 
Typewriter  Helps. — After  determin¬ 
ing  that  you  have  the  right  kind  of  article 
and  in  •  sufficient  quantity  for  the  de¬ 
veloping  of  a  mail-order  business,  it  will 
he  a  good  plan  to  buy  a  typewriter  and 
learn  to  operate  it,  or  have  a  helper  do 
so.  If  every  dollar  must  count,  a  good 
second-hand  machine  can  he  bought  for 
a  reasonable  sum.  The  machine  will 
enable  you  to  write  letters  iu  a  more 
businesslike  way.  Some  letterheads 
ought  to  be  provided.  Give  your  farm 
or  home-place  a  name,  if  it  hasn’t  already 
been  favored  with  one,  and  if  you  can 
have  a  striking  view  of  its  location  pre¬ 
pared,  that  illustration  will  add  con¬ 
siderable  to  the  letterhead.  A  view  of  a 
colonial  mansion  high  up  above  a  pretty 
river  will  do  much  toward  creating  the 
impression  on  readers  of  your  letters 
that  the  sausages  you  sell  are  put  up 
in  the  old  Maryland  way. 
Booklets. — Usually  a  folder  or  a 
booklet  is  necessary.  Good  printing  pays, 
and  you  will  do  well  to  put  a  few  extra 
dollars  ip  to  the  job  for  the  sake  of  get¬ 
ting  it  above  the  plane  of  cheap  circulars. 
Crude  printing  on  common  paper  will 
not  help  people  to  imagine  that  your 
goods  are  high-class.  Sometimes  it  is 
worth  while  to  employ  outside  assistance 
in  the  writing  of  your  folder  or  booklet, 
but  if  you  are  enthusiastic  about  the 
quality  of  your  products  and  can  tell 
your  story  earnestly,  you  are  likely  to 
write  a  more  convincing  message  than 
the  outsider.  The  ideal  way  is  to  first 
do  your  best  and  then  get  an  outside 
critic  to  go  over  your  effort,  if  possible. 
A  few  good  illustrations  will  also  help 
your  folder  or  booklet  immensely.  These 
can  he  made  from  kodak  photographs  if 
the  pictures  are  s'hnrp.  Pictures  tell 
things  realistically,  and  they  make  read¬ 
ing  matter  more  interesting.  Illustrations 
made  from  photographs  arc  referred  to 
as  “half-tones,”  while  the  printer’s  cuts 
that  are  made  from  line  drawings  are 
known  as  “line  cuts.”  Small  cuts  can 
be  made  from  large  photographs.  It  is 
possible  to  get  a  good-sized  description 
on  a  folder  that,  when  folded  once  or 
twice,  will  go  into  the  ordinary  business 
cured  by  such  combinations  as  printing 
a  brown  ink  on  a  buff  paper  or  a  dark 
green  ink  on  u  paper  with  a  light  green 
tint. 
Descriptive  Matter. — In  selling  such 
commodities  as  purebred  livestock,  i,n  ad¬ 
dition  to  a  general  folder  or  booklet,  you 
should  have  available  small  photographs 
of  the  animals  to  enclose  with  letter  and 
booklet.  Put  the  name  of  the  animal, 
age,  weight,  and  other  details  right  on 
the  photograph.  Don't,  he  afraid  to  give 
plenty  of  description  in  your  printed 
matter.  People  like  to  get  details  of 
what  they  are  asked  to  spend  their  money 
for.  If  you  can,  quote  what  pleased 
customers  say.  Tell  plainly  how  you 
pack  and  ship. 
Mediums  for  Advertising. — Equip¬ 
ped  with  typewriter,  letterheads,  folder 
or  booklet,  the  question  now  comes  of 
how  to  locate  the  probable  buyers  of  your 
goods,  how  to  interest  them  and  induce 
them  to  send  an  order  or  to  write  for 
particulars.  If  you  are  planning  to  reach 
the  people  of  only  one  State  or  possibly 
parts  of  two  or  three  States,  it  is  pos¬ 
sible  that  one  of  the  newspapers  of  a 
nearby  large  city  will  prove  to  be  a  good 
medium  for  the  advertising.  Although 
newspapers  sometimes  seem  to  be  a  mass 
of  display  advertisements,  small  adver¬ 
tisements  inserted  in  the  classified 
columns,  or  small  display  advertisements 
inserted  in  special  departments  that 
readers  of  the  paper  have  become  trained 
to  consult,  often  firing  excellent  results. 
Farm  Papers. — If  farmers  and  farm- 
owners  are  your  logical  customers,  farm 
magazines  can  fie  found  that  appeal 
principally  to  the  farmers  of  a  single 
March  18,  1910'. 
State;  others  can  be  found  with  circu¬ 
lations  extending  throughout  a  large  sec¬ 
tion  of  the  country  or  throughout  the 
entire  country.  There  are  publications 
that  appeal  particularly  to  well-to-do 
suburban  people,  to  keepers  of  poultry, 
fruit  farmers,  stockmen,  and  other  spe¬ 
cial  classes. 
Advertising  Advice. — If  it  is  the  i.dea 
to  use  publications  reaching  people 
through  the  entire  country,  it  will  be 
well  for  the  now  advertiser  to  consult  one 
of  the  advertising  agencies  or  some  pro¬ 
fessional  advertising  man  as  to  the  best 
magazines  to  be  used  and  the  style  of 
advertisement  that  will  probably  be  most 
effective.  This  advice  and  assistance  will 
be  worth  the  fee  or  commission  charged 
and  may  save  some  costly  mistakes.  The 
inexperienced  advertiser  frequently  errs 
by  inserting  his  announcements  first  in 
the  publications  that  he  reads  in  his  own 
home.  These  may  happen  to  he  the  right 
mediums  for  his  advertisements  or  they 
may  be  entirely  unsuitable. 
Cost  Involved. — Do  not  be  alarmed  at 
the  cost  of  advertising  space.  The  pub¬ 
lication  that  asks  $10  to  $26  or  more 
for  a  one-inch  advertisement  inserted  one 
time  may  be  actually  a  more  economi¬ 
cal  publication  than  one  which  offers  a 
two-inch  space  for  $5.  Find  out  what 
kind  of  people  each  appeals  t<>  and  the 
number  of  thousand  renders  each  has 
and  see  what  the  cost  per  thousand  read¬ 
ers  is.  Advertising  rates  are  based  to 
some  extent  on  the  quality  of  a  periodi¬ 
cal’s  circulation,  but  more  upon  the 
quantity;  and  a  publication  reaching 
150.000  people  has  a  perfect  right  to  ask 
three  times  as  much  for  its  space  as  one 
reaching  only  50,000  readers,  provided 
the  publications  are  on  a  par  otherwise. 
Study  publications  closely  when  you  are 
thinking  of  advertising  in  them,  and  try 
to  get  a  good  picture  of  the  class  of  peo¬ 
ple  they  appeal  to.  A  woman’s  magazine 
is  not  likely  to  sell  Holstein  bulls  for 
you,  nor  is  a  farm  magazine  likely  to 
sell  lap-dogs.  When  space  is  quoted  at 
so  much  an  inch  that  does  not  mean 
square  inch,  but  a  space  one  column  wide 
and  one  inch  deep.  When  the  price  is 
quoted  “per  agate  line”  that  refers  to 
the  one-fourteenth  part  of  an  inch,  as 
14  Hues  <>f  agate  type  fill  an  inch.  There¬ 
fore  a  publication  that  asks  $1  an  agate 
line  has  a  rate  of  $14  an  iueb. 
Returns  from  Auvertising. — Some¬ 
times  even  a  small  advertisement  will  close 
a  sale  and  possibly  bring  the  cash  wi,th  the 
order.  However,  when  the  price  is  more 
than  a  dollar  or  two  the  reader  is  likely 
to  want  more  particulars  than  you  can 
give  in  n  small  advertisement.  In  such 
cases,  all  the  advertisement  can  do  is 
to  attract  favorable  attention  and  get 
the  reader  interested  to  the  point  of 
writing  a  letter  for  your  booklet  and 
other  details.  It  should  be  noted  here 
that  it  is  easier  to  get  advance  orders 
for  goods  at  such  prices  as  an  even 
dollar  than  to  sell  at  90  cents  or  $1.25., 
for  the  reason  that  it  is  more  convenient 
to  send  a  dollar  through  the  mails  than 
it  is  to  send  fractional  parts  of  a  dollar. 
Enclosing  a  convenient  order  blank  is 
an  aid  toward  gettiug  an  order.  So  is 
a  coin  holder  when  the  amount  to  be 
sent  is  25  or  50  cents.  When  the  goods 
are  of  such  characters  that  a  sample  can 
be  sent  to  the  inquirer,  that  will  be  found 
of  great  assistance  in  making  sides. 
Fulling  Power. — The  “pulling  power” 
of  the  different  publications  used  can  be 
determined  to  some  extent  by  asking 
readers  to  “mention  the  ‘Times’  when 
writing”  or  asking  him  to  ask  for  “Book- 
lot  A."  “Booklet  B,”  etc.,  changing  the 
“key  letter”  for  each  publication  used. 
This  will  not  he  a  complete  check,  for 
some  readers  will  f si il  to  refer  to  the 
publication  in  which  the  advertisement 
was  noted  or  to  use  a  special  form  of 
address  that  you  request.  Iu  ease  of 
sales,  it  may  be  well  to  ask  nil  such  cus¬ 
tomers  where  they  saw  your  advertise¬ 
ment.  This  will  enable  you  to  trace  and 
continue  your  most  profitable  forms  of 
advertising. 
Mum  in  Little  Space, — When  space 
costs  from  $5  to  $50  an  inch,  every  word 
and  sentence  used  in  the  advertisement 
should  coil nt  for  as  much  as  possible. 
Usually  one  good  display  line  is  suffi¬ 
cient,  and  that  should  he  words  that  will 
draw  the  favorable  attention  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  you  want  to  reach.  “Let  Me  Tan 
(Continued  ou  page  493.) 
envelope.  Very  good  effects  can  be  se¬ 
LAYOUT  OF  A  SAMPLE  FOLDER  OF  A  SIZE  THAT  WILL  FIT  AN  ORDINARY  BUSINESS  ENVELOPE. 
THE  LINES  ON  THE  RIGHT-HAND  FIGURE  SHOW  POSITION  Of  TEXT  TYPE  AND  SUB-HEADINGS. 
ONE  PAGE  OETHIS  SIZE  WILL  HOLD  TWO  HUNDRED  WORDS  OP  DESCRIPTION. 
T^e 
MANTUA 
KENNELS 
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-R.F.DT5  — 
kendallville.INI) 
