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advertising work will increase the ability of the beginner if he concentrates on it and does his work thoroughly, and though he may not at first get into the berth of his choice, if he persists he will undoubtedly be able to land where he will have his desired opportunity.

The growth of advertising during recent years, both among manufacturers and among business men and retailers, has been a steady one. Today great corporations that a few years ago would have resented the suggestions that they should advertise are among the aggressive advertisers-the most enthusiastic users of the printed message. The use of direct-advertising methods has largely increased. This has made a field for the expert follow-up man, for the catalog writer, for the houseorgan editor, for the technical writer, and for various other specialists. Today there are chief correspondents and heads of follow-up departments earning from $2,000 to $3,000 or more a year.

Advertising being a class of service that is about half way between business and the professions has to be sold with con'siderable diplomacy and by the exercise of much good taste. The man who announces his ability with a blare of the trumpet, so to speak, is likely to be discredited and put down as a fakir. Among employers there is heard considerable criticism of applicants who claim to know almost everything and who seem inclined to make their way through the world by bluffing rather than by performance.

Yet, though a man should be modest to a degree in selling his service, he can make a mistake and go so far in the direction of conservatism and modesty that he will fail to make out a case for himself.

The object of this Section is to point out how a man who has made himself competent to undertake responsible advertising work may go about selling his service, whether he seeks an independent position or a salaried job. These two divisions will be considered separately.

BUILDING UP AN ADVERTISEMENT-
WRITING BUSINESS

GENERAL INFORMATION

2. The easiest way to get work or business of any kind is to convince your prospective customer that you can help him make money. Therefore, in starting out to build up an advertisement-writing business, you must be sure that you can give any prospective customer or prospective employer the kind of service that he will find profitable.

While self-confidence is needed, do not start out with the idea that you know all about advertising, for advertising is by no means an exact science and there will still be something to learn after you have been in the business for many years. The best course of instruction is only a good start in the right direction. Be confident by all means, but do not get an exaggerated idea of your ability. If you are making only $8 or $10 a week, do not expect to jump at once into work that will bring you $20 or $25; be content to advance slowly but surely.

Do not expect the advertiser to be impressed by the fact that you are a graduate of an advertising school; he may have had experience with some conceited, incompetent student of some inferior advertising school and may have a poor opinion of all graduates of advertising schools. Therefore, while being confident and aggressive, be somewhat conservative, and thus avoid prejudicing the advertiser against you. Study the men you solicit; the kind of argument and attitude that will impress some men may not appeal to others.

Until very recently, business men looked on almost all advertising men as "grafters"; that is, as persons that were attempting to get a man's money for visionary or impracticable schemes of business promotion. While this view has

changed greatly, the only kind of advertising men that can hope for lasting success are those who can help advertisers to sell goods. If they are advertisement writers, their advertisements must have selling force. The two important things to understand about the advertisement-writing business, are: (1) How to present your proposition to business men so as to convince them that you can be of real help; and (2) ́how to conduct your work so that you can produce results for yourself and for your customers.

Retail work is by far the easiest to secure, although a good letter writer can, by mail solicitation, get booklet, folder, letter, and advertisement-copy work from general, mail-order, and technical and trade-paper advertisers; some of the most successful independent men solicit, by correspondence, the planning of campaigns and undertake to direct the details of such campaigns in the same way.

3. How to Prove Your Ability. If you decide to take up retail work, clip from your local newspaper an advertisement that you can improve. Study the business that the advertisement represents, rewrite the advertisement and make a careful layout of it, so that a man not familiar with typography can see just how it will look when it is printed. Next, take both advertisements to your prospective customer, and tell him that you are confident that you can write advertisements for him that will be more productive than those he is using. If the advertiser seems to think that his advertisements have been good, great tact must be used in pointing out any weakness in them. Perhaps the best plan would be to talk with him somewhat along this line: "You doubtless understand bookkeeping, but you consider it good business policy to employ a bookkeeper, because your time is employed to better advantage in business management than in detail. It is exactly the same. in advertising. The writing of advertisements is a distinct and separate line of business, and it requires special training of any one that would do the best work. Now, isn't it reasonable to assume that it is not profitable for you to use your own time for this detail of your business; and, again, is it not evident

that it will pay you to employ a special man to relieve you of this detail and at the same time make your advertising more productive? Advertising is my specialty-my sole businessand I want to demonstrate to you that I can make your advertising pay better. I want you to let me write your advertisements for a week or two, and give me the chance to demonstrate that you cannot afford not to employ me. My charges are very reasonable. Of course, you understand that I cannot afford to charge more than it will pay my customers to pay me, and you don't have to pay me a cent unless both my work and my terms are satisfactory."

This kind of talk ought to impress any reasonable business man with your sincerity and confidence in your own ability. He is running no risk whatever to let you try to do his work, for unless it is satisfactory, he is under no obligation to pay you. In this manner, you can secure an audience and a careful consideration of your proposition from men that would not otherwise give it a second thought.

This "trying out" of a concern's advertising will also give you the proper experience to enable you better to decide how much it will be worth to do the work. Of course, there is no money in working on trial, but if you are competent you should be able to make an arrangement with some of the advertisers after a week's work; and the experience with the others will be worth something.

Generally speaking, an interview is more likely to impress an advertiser than a letter, although both means may be used. If a good letter and a layout of an effective advertisement are sent, and the canvass is followed up quickly by an interview, a good proportion of the advertisers ought to be interested.

It might be well if you can afford the expense (which will be small) to have a few of your best advertisements printed on book paper. You can then show samples of your work as you talk to a prospective customer, and emphasize their strong features as you proceed. Some advertisers will give you a definite answer at once. Others will put you off; call on these again. In the meantime you may have added several prospects to your list that will make your claim stronger.

Having secured the consent of an advertiser to write his advertisements on trial, make a careful study of his business and his past advertising. If you can induce him to give you any points on what his advertising has accomplished, or what he desires it to accomplish, these will be very helpful. If he has decided views about what should be done, or has some particular expressions that he wants used, it will be well to follow his ideas unless you feel sure that they will prove detrimental. It sometimes requires much tact to please the advertiser and at the same time to carry out the plan that your judgment dictates. You should find out just what types and borders are included in the equipment of the newspapers in which he is advertising, and decide which will be the best for his business. Note the style of his competitors' advertising in order that you may have something different and better. Try to improve the appearance of his advertisements by displaying them better than he has, and by carefully selecting a good face of type and suitable illustrations, if he has any good cuts in stock. If he has not been using illustrations, you have an exceptional opportunity to interest him.

If you feel that illustration will help in this particular case, you should procure the catalogs of firms that furnish electrotypes for illustrations, select a few cuts that will be suitable for your advertiser's business, and illustrate his advertisements. You may be able to work out an individual design of some kind and induce him to have a special cut made.

Do not slight the advertiser's work in any way, simply because you are doing it on trial, but put forth your very best efforts and endeavor to get his business if it is possible.

Do not give the advertiser the impression that you do not consider your services worth much, or that you are a novice looking for experience. You can be confident without being overconfident. Let him understand that you agree to work on trial merely as a demonstration, and that he is to pay a fair price if your service proves to be satisfactory. Of course, any cuts that you furnish for his advertisements are simply lent to him during this trial work, and are your property. Sometimes, it may be advisable to set a price on your service

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