Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 87, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1907 — FOR THE MERCHANT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FOR THE MERCHANT

**...• v ■ i - LITTLE POINT* THAT HELP IN SELLING GOODS. BE READY FOR OPPORTUNITY *■ m - ~ Let the Public Know Whit You Have to Bell—Never Stop Pushing— A Hint for the 1 Clerk* 5- ' r Pluck. How often you hear one business man say of another who has been successful: “Ain’t he lucky?" Luck has nothing to do with anyone’s success. It is pluck. Pluck and enthusiasm are the powers which make the winner. With these two qualities, which are invariably found together, a man will JHCCfifid, : ’ J : - Business men who have achieved greatness in their line are those who possess an abundance of enthusiasm. •' A possession that is better than anything else-to.a man is that determination of character known as pluck, and an enthusiastic confidence that he will succeed. To persevere against great odds, and to make a victorihus fight in the face of almost impossibilities, it requires pluck which is not governed by impulse. To cultivate pluck one must encourage steadfastness of purpose. Wh“?n a thing is begun -it- should be finished. The trouble with most of us is not so much that we have a hard row

to hoe but that we dislike hoeing. Opportunity knocks once —and often a dozen times —at every door, but you have no kick against the fates if Opportunity knocks, finds you lost in a pipe dream and turns away never to return. Bacon said; “The mold of a man’s fortune is in his own hands.” All men cannot be captains of industry. All men cannot succeed phenomenally. All men, it seems, cannot succeed even moderately, but all men can make an effort to succeed. We must not stop striving to reach a higher and better place until we are willing to sink to the bottom. If we simply expect to float and not try to swim we might just as well quit It would be well for us to keep as a motto before us; “Perseverance and pluck conquer all things,” for It bears close relationship to the subject chosen. If we regarded the little opportunities in life more seriously and made the most use of them we would be better able to master the golden opportunities.

Let It Be Known. You may know that you have the best assorted stock in town, but the public will not know it unless you tell them about It; they are not clairvoyants. First use the newspapers liberally, then circulars, personal letters, talk to them when you can catch them in your store, at their homes —anywhere. The first and last thing to bear In mind about advertising is that it is as wide as human nature in its appeal. Advertising is the mighty engine of success, and without it the business world would be minus its dynamo of energy. ’ *4 Push All the Time. If It pays to push when business is good. It pays to push when business is bad. If it pays to push when business is bad, it pays to push when business is good. —r - If it pays to push at all, It pays to push all the time. Therefore, don’t let it die. When everything is coming your way, push to make it come the faster. When everything is going the other way, push to make it come back to you. ’ 4 Push all the time and you’ll feel the better for It, and make more money. It takes hard thinking add hard

work to fhervaae. business fa the fees of strong competition. But the business is there, and somebody wfli.get it —you or your neighbor, jjff perhaps your competitor la the j£sxt town. Which shall it be? Help your employee increase you business. Be Business Throughout. A Joke is a joke, but business is no joke, and it is mighty hard to make the two mix. A man once said: “It pays to advertise most businesses, but mine is different.” The sheriff sold him opt, and now he works for his successor, who does advertise. 1 Success.' The secret of most successes lies in the man rather than in the method. Making people want the goods is, after all, about as near the secret of it as there comes to being any secret. Make the public want what you have to sell hnd the sale Is half made. Epitaph of a failure: “He worked overtime dodging work.” ...... .* That Man with the Overalls* When the man with the overall* comes into your store don’t turn around and take your time to wait on him. Don’t snub the man with the overalls in order to wait upon some elite of yonr town —that is, if the overall man came into your store first. Your overall man usually stands by the home town. He works in the shops, in the stock yards, in the factories and in the mills. iHs dollar is just as good as the dollar given to all kinds of airs in your town. The old American eagle on the silver dollar given to you by the man attired in

overalls counts for just as much and screams Just as hard as the bird on the dollar turned over by the man who belongs to the “upper tens.” Besides, if the man In the overalls wants credit until Saturday night or until the first of the month, you’ll stand to win to get the cash from him when he says he’ll pay yom Don’t give him the marble heart. You want his trade. He needs dry goods and groceries, and he will spend his money with you If you treat him right. Business Sickness a Common Complaint. Stuck In a rut, are you? Same old rut, boss doesn’t appreciate your efforts. Interest In your business wearing thin at the edges? Eh? Thought so! Well, what are you waiting for? You know nothing really comes to the fellow who waits, except the “push.” Some people never “get there” unless they’re pushed. If you’re sick of your job you’re doing yourself and your boss a bad turn by hanging on. Start looking around for another job—that'll keep your mind liquid. Wonderful wh&t a pick-me-up job-hunting is to some people. If you get "turned down” two or three times you’ll begin to think what small potatoes you really are after all, and that’s good tonic for business sickness —the first sign ot recovery, In fact. Your present Job will, maybe, a©quire a fresh interest to you, and you’ll come at it again like a two-year-old. If you were bora with a square chin and the normal amount of gray matter you’ll probably want to get ahead of the procession. There Is only one sure way, and that Is “know how.” A fellow with “know how” never loses Interest in his job. He wouldn't get the "know how" If he did. It’s marvelous how Interesting business Is when you get the proper spirit Some men obtain more genuine pleasure from business than they do from play. If you want to enjoy business—study it—soak yourself In it and imagine It's play. You won’t have to Imagine long, and when you’ve got the spirit of the game you couldn't be kept oat of It with a pickax.

Turn to and bury the mail-order house monopoly qnder the sod of local prosperity. You can do it by spending your money with the local merchants. If you give them an opportunity they will treat you fairly, and they, like yourself, represent the interests of the home town.