The total cost of establishing her dairy, exclusive of the separator, was $26.25, and with the present equipment she is ready to add one or two more cows to her dairy, whenever she finds those that are as good as the one she already has. She will thus be at but little additional expense, while greatly increasing her revenue.
PLAN No. 9. WRITING BUSINESS LETTERS
Many good business men write very poor business letters, and anyone having a taste and a talent for this class of work can make the writing of such letters a permanent and profitable profession. A former newspaper man in a western city took it up, and found in it a much larger income than even the liberal salary he had formerly received.
Living in a town of about 50,000 inhabitants, and having a rather extensive acquaintance, he called upon a number of the leading merchants and offered to come at a certain hour each day and dictate the answers to all letters received from out-of-town customers. As most of these firms did a large mail order business, and the heads of the concerns in many cases lacked either the time or the ability to give the correspondence the attention it deserved, they were glad to turn it over to a man who could handle it in a thorough manner.
This man found that he could easily dictate one hundred or more letters per day, among the various firms engaging his services, and could well afford to do the work for five cents per letter, thus making at least thirty dollars per week, with but little effort. He also prepared form letters for many of his patrons, for which he charged from five to ten dollars each, and thus increased his income to over fifty dollars per week. It is readily seen, therefore, that this is not only a very genteel profession for anyone adapted to it, but one that also pays well, besides being a good thing for the merchants who have their letters written by someone who knows how.
PLAN No. 10. WINDOW-CARD SUGGESTIONS
An Illinois woman tells an interesting story of how she helped her husband rise from a $20-a-week clerk to proprietor of a fine office business netting them $5000 a year, but she furnished the plan.
Both were employed in an advertising agency, and patronized a nearby delicatessen store kept by a German woman who prepared palatable foods, but never had used any form of publicity concerning them.
The lady with the idea was fond of the home-baked beans and the salads sold at this place, but had no means of knowing on what days they were to be had. So, instead of asking the German lady what days she had these on sale, she suggested the idea of furnishing her with attractive window-cards and appropriate decorations showing each day’s specialties in a way that drew favorable attention—and an increased volume of trade. Later she asked her patron to allow her to write and place in the local papers notices regarding her specialties, and this greatly added to the incomes of all concerned. But it was the results of those display cards in the window, “Today is Baked-Bean Day,” and “If You Like Potato Salad, You’ll Like Ours,” that turned the trick and got things going.
Soon after this, the husband and wife joined forces and made a “drive” for other lines of business, with the result that in six years they were occupying a handsome four-room suite of offices, with two large national advertisers and twenty-seven smaller ones for a clientele, were employing a rather extensive corps of assistants, and clearing up $5,000 per year net profits.