Advertising Department.
809. Free Wants.—In establishing a paying paper you lose nothing by what you give away. You can well afford to give away space that costs you nothing. Before your circulation is large enough to attract advertisers, you must devise some other means of attracting them. Advertise that on a certain day you will insert everybody’s wants free. This will introduce your paper to a large number of persons, who will not only buy the copy in which their want appears, but will in many cases be ready to pay a little when they next need the services of your sheet.
810. Bargain Bureau.—Have a bargain bureau on the first page or in some other prominent place, and let it be understood that you will each day in this bureau call attention to the bargains especially advertised for that day, and to any new or special feature contained in the advertising columns. You will thus please and draw advertisers, and at the same time attract readers who want to know what, where, and when to buy.
811. Reserve Space.—Have a large blank square or rectangle with the announcement that “This space is reserved for —— ——.” After two or three days people will begin to wonder who will fill the great blank. It becomes by far the most prominent and valuable advertising space in the paper, and should command a good round sum. Make a profitable bargain for a month or year for the filling of the space. If withdrawn, announce, “This space will now be filled by —— ——.” The first advertiser’s rival will pretty surely want it, a result which No. 1 will hardly permit if he can help it, and so between competitors in business your blank will always be filled and you can raise your price if competition becomes sharp.
812. The Page Contract.—When your advertising patronage becomes large and you find it necessary to employ assistants, you will find it to your advantage to let the advertising out in contracts to your subordinates. Instead of paying your helpers a salary, you tell them that they can have a page for $50 or $500 (according to the size of the page and the number of the circulation). They then secure the advertisements themselves and make what they can. They and not you take the risk. Many assistants would not be willing to do that, but others would prefer the opportunity to work for themselves in this way.
CHAPTER XIX.
MONEY IN CLOTH.
Capital in Cloth—How Uncle Sam Helps Linen-Makers—The Mistake of Stocking Manufacturers—5,000,000 Sales if the Maker will get the Right Thing—Better than Starch?—A Chance to Become a Millionaire—Another Eli Whitney Wanted—Go South and Get Rich—Secrets About Silk Manufacture—Startling Suggestions About a New Process of Making Wool.
In the materials for making cloth and in the improvement of garments there is an unlimited field for development and fortune. Here are a few of the roads in which capital may profitably move:
813. Linen Mills.—The schedule of the new flax tariff was framed especially to protect linen manufacturers by cheapening the imports of the raw material so that they can compete with foreign rivals. Money put into linen mills ought to reap a bountiful harvest during the next few years.
814. Triple Knee Stocking.—Why do not stocking makers give additional strength to the parts which are the first to wear out? Five million boys and girls in this country are wearing their knees through their stockings and yet makers go on in the assumption that the quicker the wear the better the trade. It remains for some sagacious manufacturer to put a double or triple thickness on the knee, get a reputation for his stocking, and command the market.