lack of thoroughness in the knowledge of the work in hand. Better Book-keeping, better System, and better Organisation in general, are having effect, and creating a new type of business man, who sees that slovenly system, backed up by dishonest methods, are not the ways to achieve any real and enduring success.

Business now needs more concentration, so as to

obtain greater accuracy. There is no time for correcting daily errors and losses. It is better to take precautions to avoid them. Profits are too finely cut to allow of men muddling along by rule-of-thumb methods, until they find the correct way of doing a thing by sheer experience. It is now found that calculation plays a large part in business. So much so that a success can almost safely be predicted where formerly men only trusted to chance.

Luck has been ousted from its pedestal as a God to be worshipped by the would-be successful man of business, and in its place appears a plain shield graven with but three simple words-Tact, Push, Principle.

These are the essentials of business success; and the man who possesses such qualities has all that is required to enable him to await the floodtide which will carry him on to fortune. It may not be given to all to attain the prizes of business life; but the opportunity comes to all, and it is only those who fail to see and grasp it who lose the advantage offered to them, and which probably never comes again.

HOW TO SELL

On Advertising

"There is nothing that you may not get people to believe, if you will only tell it them loud enough and often enough."-OUIDA.

ADVERTISING is a necessity in the Business of today. It will be more than ever a necessity in the Business of to-morrow. The time has long gone by when the world was small enough for people to hunt out your shop for a particular article. People don't usually ask for "Smith who sells so-and-so," but Where can I buy so-and-so ? " People want the goods. They do not care particularly who sells them, so long as they get the right goods at the right price. Therefore, it is essential that the Firm wishing to sell goods should Advertise them, and if other people are selling such goods, the Advertiser must seek to prove that his goods are the right ones. It is not sufficient to produce good stuff, nor is it enough to make a good show. Both are essentials; but a greater essential is to Advertise so as to attract a much wider circle than the people who pass your shop, or those who are recommended to visit it.

The fact is that there are so many good things in the world nowadays that you must Advertise to let people know you have a good thing, and that you claim it is the best of all good things. If you Advertise long enough and boldly enough, people will take it for granted that yours is the best;

but let it be a good thing that you Advertise. All the Advertising space in the world will not give sustained sales to an article which is not what it pretends to be.

There are Advertising schemes that glint and glitter in the sun like morning dew; but, like the dew, they soon melt away. There is too much of the soap-bubble about a great deal of the Advertising we see about us to-day. So many Advertisements charm the eye and captivate the fancy, and then burst, leaving nothing behind. There are other Advertisements which are deliberately dishonest, though plainly written. This kind of Advertising will not avail in the long run. An Advertising catch may occasionally cause a great deal of comment, and may result in some sales; but the only kind of Advertising that is permanently and continuously profitable is the commonsense kind that tells a plain story in a plain and honest way. If in Advertising you can, at the same time, impart to your customer a little knowledge, he will appreciate it all the more.

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Advertising is plain, hard, cold, business sense; but it need not of necessity be dull. Some people can't talk Shop' without being dull; other people can talk 'Shop' and you don't know it; or at least they make themselves so interesting and amusing that you don't notice the 'shoppiness.' It is the same in Advertising. A little humour or a little pleasantry is not a bad thing sometimes; but the main thing is to get the facts forcibly before the people most likely to be

DIFFICULT QUESTIONS

interested, without boring them to death with shoppy details. The only kind of Advertising that pays is that which sells goods; and that is the kind you want to do.

The questions, where, when, and how, and to what extent to Advertise, are, and always will be, There is no royal road

difficult ones to answer. to successful Advertising; though the man who does not pay for the Advertising often tries to persuade you that he can point the way to one. To decide on a suitable course of Advertising is a task that will tax a man of the greatest experience and of the keenest judgment. There are propitious times to Advertise; and times when Advertising, beyond a certain measure, becomes an unprofitable expenditure of money. It is possible, in fact, to damage a business by an abundance of bad Advertising; just as you may greatly improve it by a minimum of good Advertising.

A new and novel article may excite the caprice and curiosity of the public; make it easy to successfully Advertise for a time; but unless there is a substantiality about the article the Advertising will soon cease to draw business. The public mind may be easily played on for a time and held in captivation by flights of wit and fancy; but Advertising is Business; and in business emotions are to be controlled, not excited. Goods things deserve good publicity; and attractive things should be attractively advertised. The Advertisement that is pleasing to the eye, which jingles in

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the ear, or which tickles the sense of humour, is the kind that will 'pull'; and if the public find there is something good when they get there, they will, of themselves, increase the effect of the Advertisement ten-fold, or perhaps a hundred-fold, by quoting it to their friends and neighbours.

Of late men have set up with specifics for Advertising, and pose as Advertising experts; but, after all, there is nothing mysterious about Advertising; nothing that any good business man does not know. It has been said that any man who is a good reader of human nature can write a good Advertisement. If he can't write the Advertisement, it shows that he can't read people. The man who Advertises successfully is the one who studies his customers, and can tell, pretty nearly, what they are looking for.

There are certain rules about writing Advertise-) ments that should be observed; and it is here where the skill and judgment comes in. The main thing, is, to put the facts you want to Advertise in a natural way. Sensible people like natural talk. The Advertiser should talk as naturally in his Advertisement as he would do over the counter. Don't state anything you could not substantiate in the presence of your customer, with the article before you. Avoid comparisons with competitors. It is better to write as though you were unaware that there was another man of your trade in the field; or that there are any other goods of the same kind as yours. You can let people know that you exist, and that you have