THE PRINTER AND PUBLISHER
amount at 5,ooo. Now the honest man, by experience, knows
exactly what his competitor will do and should he send in his
figures at the 3,oo000 mark, he will be bouind to lose his business-
if the directory ever directs. He faiils to send ill any informa-
tion, and Rowell guesses at it and places it anywhe-e from one
to four thousand. 'I'his is where Mr. Rowell makes a mistake.
All unsupplied information should be left out. Blanks are pre-
ferable to gutesses.
There can be no denying that a iewspaper directory of
Canada and the United States is a desirable thiing, but it should
not be published by an advertising agency. When it is, it is
sure to bear on its brow tlie mark of the beast. Colored inks
may tiot be used in the prinlting of it, but the colorations are
there, and thle publisher of the fake journal is usually tlie man
who succeeds in affecting these colorations.
Advertising agericies are objectionable ini themselves from
many poiiits of view. they adopt some very ingeilious, yet lot
ingeiiuols, ways of securing space at 75 per cent. off regular
rates. They have an advertisement of some patent medicine to
occtipy a space in a weekly which usually costs$1oo per year.
Tlhey write out a cheque for $25, and inclose it with the adver-
tisemecit to the publiher, saying that the advertiser cannot afford
to 1ply more tlani that amount for that space. The publisher
fingers that $25 cheque very gingerly at first, then doubtfully,
an?d finally, after thinking that lie might as well have that as
nlothiig, atil that he is just in iieed of $25, accepts it. He
argues that he is only robbing his readers of a little plate matter,
an?d it will not matter. But once lie has accepted such a rate,
he will never get any higher. His record is made and placed
on file, to be used against hini so long as he remains in business.
The newspaler that cani conduct its business witliout
appealing to any advertising agency for business is lucky and
fortunate. Indeed it is often a nark of great wisdom. Iocal
news and local advertising only are the one source from which
sustentation can be expected. The newspaper half full of
doubtful patent medicine advertisements at one-quarter regular
rates, is not fit to enter the clear atmosphere of the pious home.
Moreover, its lack of suitable readinlg matter and abunidant
local news causes it to lose more i?n subscriptions and local
advertisemenits than would pay twice over for all the advertising
ageicy advertisemenilts at cut rates.
Of course, when these contracts can be procured at not less
than 25 per ceniit. off regular rates, a?nd if the advertisemeiits are
nlot of a doubtful character, it would be folly to refuse them.
Some cases might arise when it would be unwise, but so far as
the city daily and the local weekly are concerned, these cases
would be infrequent.
Local advertising is capable of very large developmernt.
Any publisher can by col?unsel and example educate his adver-
tisers to write taking advertisements. He can, moreover, edu-
cate his readers by strategy, and carefully calculated make-ups,
to read the advertisements. With this double-barrelled gun he
can secure double the supply of game. The educationi of
patrons and readers is someth?ing to which publishlers give, per-
haps, too little attention. A publisher in Western Ontario
speaking on this point, recently, retiarked that the purchase of
som? dozen copies of a monthly advertising journal for grattiit-
ouis distribution among the nierchants of that town, doubled
his advertising patronage in two years. This is something
which every publisher should bear in mind.
QUEER THINGS AROUND.
O\iW'VIER pleasant a business man
may be, however jolly his conversa-
tioni, lhowever niutmerouts and taking
his yarns, he iieeds soniething more
substantial to win him the confi-
dence of his trade. The printer
must know li?s business so that he
can make suggestiotis to all his cus-
toniers as to the proper inethods to be
tised by them in setting up their circulars, their billheads, letter-
heads, etc. He must e a an artist, caplable of showing a methlod
of puotting in ink the half-formed idea that his customer lias
place. iBut the benefit flowinig from it is wonderful, even in a
town of 1,ooo inhabitants. Every time a customer goes through
that book le is educated to lave better printing done, and he
soon becomes willi?ng to pay $4 a thousand for the printing of
his letterheads, where before he wanted it donle for $I.50.
Moreover it educates the printer himself. Standing on the
rounds of the ladder that he has already reached, he climbs to
greater heights of artistic perfection. His strength draws him up.
A friend of mine, a printer in a city, has a large case of
drawers, each of which is divided into four compartments, and
in each compartment is kept a certaial line of sampl?s of his
brought to him to be developed. in order to do this ne must printing. All these compartments are numbered and labelled,
make a careful study of good printing as seen in the products and on the top of the ox is an index to the various ki?ds of
of the best prinititng offices atd as seen in tlle trade journals samples contained therein. He says it saves hin enough time
of thle day. each week to pay the original cost. He is a busy man, and
n* does a huge job business. For my own smali business I fitnd
His sample book should have acarefully arranged set of an invoice book with a leather back, size 12 x i8, to be just the
samples showing model billheads, model statements, model thing. 1 keep onll samples of my best work.
business cards, programnes, etc. Each class should be kept o
by itself, that is all the billheads together, all the wedding But I have drifted far afield of what I intended to say at
announcements in the one part of the book, etc. Such a first. The man who runs a newspaper and job printing business
sample book will cost about $3 to start with, besides all the in connection will, besides what has been suggested above, need
trouble of pasting samples of everything that is worthy of a to be a man of great education and varied accomplishments.
September, I894
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