The American w ■'<, chool of Poultry Husbandry Mountain Grove, Misst uri 9 WE IIEU> \.S. I'. II. STUDENTS I'll SUCCEED Building Up a Trade in Pure-Bred Poultry GENERAL COURSE IN POULTRY HUSBANDRY :OPYRI8l I SCHOOI ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges of Agriculture and Home Economics at Cornell University THE GIFT OF Paul Pomeroy Ives 2d IN MEMORY OF Paul Pomeroy Ives Cornell University Library SF 502.A511 Building up a trade ln |l P l "^ 11 7„?„S ™ l l S[ y 3 1924 003 167 727 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003167727 BUILDING UP JL TRADE I1NT PURE-BRED POULTRY -BY- HALPH SEARLE AND T. B. QUISENBERHY INTRODUCTION The pure-bred poultry business in America is by no means an old business. Men are still alive who virtually witnessed its beginning, and who have watched its marvelous growth up to the present time, when hundreds of thousands are engaged in it, either in a large or small way, and when the sum total oi the annual sales runs into mil- lions of dollars. To the careful student of poultry conditions it is ap- parent that no industry in America is built upon a more stable foun- dation, or has a brighter future. Every egg and every chick has a distinct, and constantly increas- ing economic value. If that egg or that chick is pure-bred, their value is increased many fold. "With the growing scarcity of beef and other meats, and the continual rise in the cost of living, the demand for poul- try and poultry products is bound to increase. The fact that poultry can be raised as a side-line, and that it costs but little to start ; the fact that poultry can be successfully kept on the back end of a city lot ; the fact that poultry raising is intensely fascinating, either as a business or an avocation ; the fact that pure-bred poultry are not only the most beautiful, but also the most valuable from every standpoint, — all of these facts contribute to the making of the future of the pure-bred poultry business seem bright indeed. As the title indicates, it is not the purpose of this lesson to tell how to raise pure-bred poultry' "I can raise just as good chickens as anybody, but I cannot sell them at a profit/ — I cannot build up a trade!" is a common complaint among amateurs. It is to help solve the difficult and complex problems incident to building up a profitable trade in purebred poultry that this lesson is written. The problems considered are problems of distribution rather than of production, — problems of business management rather than of housing, feeding and care. THE COMMERCIAL EGG FARM AND THE FANCY COMBINED 6?m 5es not matter if you get the major portion of your income from the commercial egg business, it will pay every egg farm to keep pure-bred poultry and sell stock for breeding purposes, eggs for hatch- ing and baby chicks to those who desire them. The best and most successful egg farms in this country are doing that very thing and profiting by it. It is as necessary for the commercial egg farmer to have some instruction along the lines of this lesson, the same as the men who depend entirely upon the fancy. These facts make this a very valuable lesson. No matter whether you expect to secure a position as superintendent of some one else's farm or wehther you expect to build up a profitable business for yourself, you ought to master the facts contained herein. Study that you may master the secrets of good salesmanship, and familiarize yourself with the right and wrong things to do in building up a trade in pure bred poultry. Whatever you do, even on a commercial farm, keep pure bred poultry of one variety, and push your sales of stock and eggs for breeding purpose. This will help materially to increase your income, and help swell your net profit at the close of the season. THE NATURE OF THE PURE-BRED POULTRY BUSINESS The pure-bred poultry business, as a business, is unique in several ways. In the first place, it is largely a mail-order business. Buyer and seller perhaps never see each other, though dealing with each other for several years. The bird, or baby chicks, or eggs for hatch- ing, are bought and paid for before they are seen. "Whether they give satisfaction, or not, depends upon a number of contingencies, chief among them being the care with which the buyer described what he wanted, and the care and honesty with which the seller described what he had for sale. Values in the pure bred 1 poultry business are not intrinsic. They are relative. That is, the value of a pure-bred cockerel is not based upon his weight, nor the price of a pure-bred egg, upon its food value. This being a peculiarity of the pure-bred poultry business, in addition to the fact that it is a mail-order business, makes it readily apparent that he who would succeed in it must be a good "salesman-on-paper." He must have the happy faculty of being able to so describe that which he has for sale as to create a sufficiently strong desire in the mind of the prospective customer, that he will part gladly with his hard-earned cash. This is an art which can be acquired, and which should be studiously cultivated by every beginner in the pure-bred poultry business. THE BASIS OF VALUE IN PURE-BRED POULTRY The person who is about to embark in the pure-bred poultry busi- ness, should both for his own sake, and for the sake of his customers, form a clear idea of the basis of value in pure-bred poultry. As has already been suggested, the basis of value is not the flavor of the meat, 2 nor the freshness of the eggs, it may be based upon one, or a combina- tion of several factors. The main reason why a pure bred cockerel is of greater value than & scrub cockerel is because he is pure bred, and, being pare bred, is more able to transmit his superior qualities to his offspring. The pure bred cockerel depends, first, upon his individual excellence; second upon his breeding, the strain or family to which he belongs ; the prizes, if any, which he has won ; and, fourth, the reputation and integrity of the breeder who produced him. • By "individual excellence," we mean, commonly speaking, how much the bird scores, — the degree to which he approaches perfection in body shape and color markings. The extent to which individual excellence should govern the price, varies. A solid colored bird which scores ninety points is not worth as much as a parti-colored bird with the same score. Again, a cockerel scoring ninety points that is the re- sult of an indiscriminate mating, is not worth as much as a cockerel scoring the same amount, that is the result of years of careful selec- tion, scientific mating and line breeding. The real value of any bird depends upon its ability to transmit its good qualities to the offspring. The winning of a prize, in competition, adds to the selling value of a bird, on account of its advertising value. The more prominent the show and the stronger the competition, the greater will be the adver- tising value of the prize won, and the more it will add to the selling price of the bird that won it. The reputation and integrity of the breeder is an extremely im- portant factor in fixing the price of pure bred poultry and eggs. Right here is where a great many young breeders make a serious mistake. They seem to think that just because they paid a hundred dollars for a pen of fine birds, they should be able to sell the progeny of that pen for prices equally high. They cannot do it, simply because they are not yet well enough known. To attempt to do it is to invite disaster. It takes years of work, of showing and advertising to reach a position where people will be willing to pay you fancy prices on account of your reputation as a breeder of quality stock. During the first few years you will find this to be true, — that it will be far better for you to sell ten cockerels at a net profit of a dollar each, than to sell one cock- erel at a net profit of $10.00. Just what prices you should charge, de- pends largely on local circumstances and conditions as well as upon the quality of your stock. It certainly should never be less than $2.00 for a cockerel, or $1.00 for a setting of eggs. PERSONAL ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS Every successful business is builded around a personality. It is "the man behind the gun," not the gun, that counts for most. If a blind gunner hits the target, it is an accident. He hits it in spite of the fact S|t he is blind, — not on account of his blindness. There are too many T^lind gunners" in the pure-bred poultry business. They "don't know "where they're going, but they're on their way," — and most of them are headed straight towards failure. If there is any business in the "world that one needs to go into with both eyes wide open and in good working order, it is the pure bred poultry business. 3 The same sterling qualities and characteristics which are required in order to achieve success in the modern business world, are demand- ed of the man or woman who would be successful in building up a trade in the pure-bred poultry business. In other words, the pure- bred poultry business is a "man's size" business in which honor, brains and education count for just as much as they do in any other line of human endeavor. It is a business in which Personality plays the leading role in making or breaking the aspirant to success in it. Let us, then, consider some of the personal characteristics which make for success in this fascinating and profitable business. First and foremost among them is Honesty. "Honesty is the best policy," — even in the pure-bred poultry business, where there is commonly supposed to be a scarcity of it. A good many years of ex- perience and observation have convinced the writer that there is not nearly as much intentional dishonesty on the part of the breeders of pure-bred poultry as many would have us believe. There are frequent differences of opinion as to the value of birds, and these, all too often, result in the breeder being accused of dishonesty, whereas the real trouble lies in ignorance and, sometimes, dishonesty of the purchaser, or in the ignorance of the seller and not an intention to deceive. Be that as it may, there is no doubt but that there are some scalawags in the poultry business. But it doesn 't pay, in the long run. In the end, ' ' the chickens come home to roost, ' ' and Mr. Scalawag finds himself, — friends, business and reputation gone, facing a term in the federal prison for misuse of the United States mails. Looking. at it solely from the standpoint of dollars and cents, aside from the moral obliga- tion involved, the person who aspires to build up a successful and per- manent trade in pure-bred poultry will find it greatly to his advantage to be governed by the Golden Rule at all times. The going may seem slow, sometimes, but it's a whole lot surer! Do not forget that "a satisfied customer is the best advertisement, ' ' as well as the cheapest. If you pass the honesty test, perhaps the next most important re- quirement is that you shall be in love with the business. It must pos- sess a charm and fascination for you which no other business has, else the odds are heavily against you in the battle for supremacy. Now and then someone is found who has made a financial success of a busi- ness that was "wished on him," and for which he had no special fond- ness. But such a person is the rare exception, not the rule. I doubt whether such a person has ever made a success of the pure-bred poultry business. If one is in love with his business he will think about it in the day time, and dream about it at night. He will make its every feature a constant study, and will always be on the look-out for "new wrinkles," methods and practices which have made good. The odds are strongly in such a person's favor. Perseverance, sometimes called "stick-to-it-iveness", is another admirable quality greatly needed by the person who is to achieve suc- cess in the pure-bred poultry business. Discouragements are bound to come. Birds will fail to win. Advertisements will fail to "pull." Letters will fail to "bring home the bacon." It is at such times, when the temptation is strong to, "throw up the sponge" that the quality of perseverance comes to the rescue, and helps one to weather the storm. It is oftentimes "darkest just before dawn," and it is the person who sticks when others quit, whose reputation will continue to grow, and whose trade will steadily and surely increase as the years go by. A good education is a great asset in building up a trade in pure bred poultry, and the -lack of it, a serious handicap. The ability to express one's thoughts in clear, concise, "King's English,"— to draw a word picture of a bird that will make it fairly stand out on the writ- ten or printed page, is a faculty greatly to be desired. Poor grammar poor spelling, and worse writing, do not make a winning combination. These are days of keen competition. The breeder who writes the best letter and puts up the most convincing arguments, usually gets the order. Last, but by no means least, comes business sagacity, — good judg- ment, — shrewdness, all of which terms mean practically the same thing. A man can be shrewd without overstepping the bounds of honor and integrity, — and he must be, if he is to make a marked suc- cess of any business. An educated fool is still a fool. Some men with . splendid college educations fail in business because they lack that peculiar quality known as business sagacity. It is so in the poultry business. Keep your eyes open. Don't take "snap-judgement," on anything. Reason it out. "Be sure you're right, — and then go ahead. " It is much better to be possessed with a reasonable amount of common sense and lacking in education, than it is to have an over- supply of book knowledge and be lacking in common horse sense. LOCATION AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION Someone has said something to the general effect that "if a man makes a better mouse-trap than anybody else, the world will beat a pathway to his door, even though he live in the midst of a forest." The general idea which the philosopher had in mind was that the world is on the look-out for the man who excels, even though it be in as humble a thing as making mouse-traps. He uttered a great truth. Yet, looking at it from a cold-blooded business standpoint, our "Ex- cellent mouse-trap, ' ' manufacturer would greatly increase his chances for financial success by moving from the midst of the forest to some more accessible place. If you raise the best Barred Rocks in the country, you can build up a profitable trade, even though you live in the midst of the Great American Desert, fifty miles from the nearest railroad. Yet it would hardly be fair to suggest that you seek a secluded spot in the heart of the Great American Desert, fifty miles from the nearest railroad, in which to commence your poultry breeding operations. In the first place, you will probably not raise the best Barred Rocks, or any other variety, in the country. You will have hot competition, and lots of it. And, since the average man moves in the "line of least, resistance, " and since in buying poultry he keeps a watchful eye on transportation charges, the more accessable you are to the largest possible number of possible customers, the brighter will be your chances for securing their trade. That is one very important reason why the largest and most successfulpoultry businesses have been built up in the east where the country is the most thickly populated. It should be remembered; however, that the center of population is gradually moving westward. It may therefore be laid down as a fairly reasonable statement that the central west and some sections of the west today offer as good a location for going into the pure-bred poultry business as does the East The statement does not in any sense mean, however, that you cannot build up a profitable trade in any other section of the country. Thoun- sands are doing it. The matter of climate, especially as it relates to heat and cold, is not as important as some would have us believe. While it is some- times argued that the milder sections of the country are best adapted for poultry, yet it is a well known fact that some of our very best, specimens of the various varieties are produced every year in the Northern part of the United States, and in Canada. A damp climate is not favorable to poultry raising, yet it can be done. Peculiar prob- lems will be found wherever you are located, and these must be care- fully studied and solved. A location where there are good railroad facilities is very desir- able. After you have been in business a few years the bulk of your trade will be from a distance. The more direct the route, and the shorter the time in transit, the better general satisfaction you can give. WHICH VARIETY? If there is 1 any one question, in connection with the poultry busi- ness that is asked more often than any other, it is, "Which is the best variety?" Perhaps as nearly correct a general answer as can be given is that the best variety is the variety you like best. Yet such an an- swer needs qualifying. Some varieties are better adapted for certain purposes than others. For instance it would hardly be good business to start a commercial egg farm with Buff Cochins, nor to embark in the capon business with Silver Spangled Hamburgs. You might like the Bearded Golden Polish the best. Yet your chances of making a financial success with this variety would be very poor as a rule. Some people have made the serious mistake of selecting one of the rarer varieties, figuring that there would be little or no competi- tion at the poultry shows, and they could win lots of prizes. They could, but they soon found that the mere winning of prizes was not a profitable business. The chief value of winning prizes is the adver- tising value. There is little or no advertising value in winning where there is no competition, or in winning with a variety in which there is no general interest on the part, of the poultry raising public. A single first prize won in the Barred Rock class at Madison Square Garden has a hundred times the advertising value that making a clean sweep with a rare variety would have. From the advertising standpoint, then, the man who chooses a rare variety so that it will be easy to win, is using very poor judgment. It is true that, now and then, someone takes up an obscure variety and makes a fortune out of it. Such a one, however, is the rare exception and not the rule. He usually has plenty of money to start with, and spends it lavishly in printer's ink, boosting the breed into prominence by sheer force of advertising. We cannot all follow_in the footsteps of a Kellerstrass, however, and the most of us will be far better off if we do not attempt such a stupen- dous task. ' ' Money talks, ' ' in the poultry business, as well as anywhere else. In this discussion it is asumed that you are going into the pure bred poultry business, because you like it, of course, yet, primarily, to make money. You would not long like any business which showed a monthly balance on the wrong side of the ledger. Therefore, in sel- ecting a variety, you should take a common-sense view and pick out the variety which seems to you to offer the greatest opportunity for money-making. In considering the various varieties, you will find this to be true, — that the most popular varieties today are those which have the greatest utility value. Either from the standpoint of egg-production, or of market value, or of a combination of both. It is well that this is true, for the surest way to make a success in the pure-bred poultry business is to select a variety whose utility qualities will support you while you are building up a trade along pure-bred and fancy lines. If you can put a few crates of early hatched broilers on the market every spring, or send a case of eggs to market every week during the winter, your chances of losing money, during the first few years of your career in the poultry business will be greatly lessened. There are many varieties that are popular, and which make good from the utility standpoint. Select the one of these which appeals most to your fancy, and, having selected, stick to it through thick and thin. That is one of the greatest secrets 1 of success in building up a permanent and profitable trade in pure bred poultry. The primary cause of many failures is the habit of jumping about from one variety to another. BREED FOR EGGS AS WELL AS SHOW Many of the so-called fanciers or breeders who devote their time and attention solely to breeding for feathers and shape, often fail be- cause of that fact. They have nothing but their show record to sup- port their sales. A hen that don 't lay an egg is practically valueless, no matter how beautiful her plumage and shape might be. It will pay every poultryman who expects to build up a profitable business, to pay much attention to selection and breeding for eggs as well as for fancy and show purposes. These two make a strong combination, and if you cannot combine the two in one bird, you can have different pens mated for different purposes. Breed good layers and then ad- vertise that fact along with your winnings jat various poultry shows. MAKING A START Above all things else, start modestly. "Learn to creep before you try to walk," is splendid advice when applied to the pure bred poultry business. Don't try to carve out a niche for yourself in the " Poultryman 's Hall of Fame" the first year. Fortunes have been lost in that very attempt. Men who would have made a success of the business, and who would have been a credit to the industry, have gone down to early ruin because they thought themselves capable of launching a big business the first season. One of the beauties, of the pure-bred poultry business is that you can start inexpensively, and can conduct it as a "side-line" while pur- suing some other vocation. And that is exactly what you should do in beginning this business. In this way you do not run any such risks as you would if you were tp suddenly "burn your bridges behind you, ' ' and launch out into the poultry business, expecting it to make you a living from the start. You do not jeopardize your future by subjecting your business to the strain of supporting you before it is able to do so. Again by starting in a small way you have an oppor- tunity to learn the myriad details of the business while it is yet in an experimental stage. A mistake made on ten hens is not nearly as serious and far-reaching as though it was made on a hundred or a thousand hens. The cheapest way to start is with eggs for hatching or baby chicks. Unless you happen to have hens with which to hatch your eggs, it Avill probably be cheaper and more satisfactory to buy baby chicks, provided you can secure them in your variety at a reasonable price, and provided they do not have to be shipped more than a twen- ty-four hours journey. By purchasing baby chicks you relieve your- self of the necessity of buying an incubator and of getting used to running it when it is filled with eggs which have cost you good hard money. If you can afford it, the quickest and most satisfactory way to start is to buy a pen of eight or ten hens and a cockerel from some good reliable breeder. By so doing you immediately begin to derive an income from your poultry breeding operations. Tou ought to be able to sell enough eggs for hatching the first season to pay for the pen, and at the same time raise a nice flock of young stock. Don't take any chances in buying baby chicks or eggs. Buy them from some flock which you know to have all the desirable qualities you wish to have in your own flock and from some breeder whom you know to be perfectly honest and reliable. It is not usually necessary to send your order a thousand miles to find such a flock or such a breeder. You can usually find them near your own home and thus save express charges and chances of loss by long shipments. If you have never had a great deal of experience with poultry, it is usually best to try all three methods of getting a start. Buy some baby chicks for fear yon will have bad results with your incubator. Incubate a few eggs yourself for fear the baby chicks might be lost or become weakened by shipment. And it is also a good idea to have, at least one small breeding pen so that you can study your birds, become ac- quainted with their needs and habits and the results of the mating which you have. If you can afford it, it is not a good idea to depend entirely upon one method in getting a start. THE SALES PROBLEM Assuming that you have made a successful start with the variety of your choice, and having your first surplus birds on hand, your next problem is the sales problem. You are ready to begin the task of building up a trade. Your entire future hinges on your ability to dispose of your surplus at a profit. Perhaps the solution of the prob- lem looks easy. Possibly you think all that you have to do is to ad- vertise, and customers will flock to you from every direction. Thou- sands have thought the same thing, have tried it, — but the customers failed to materialize. Why did they fail? Simply because the poul- tryman had failed to grasp the situation. He did not realize that the solution of the sales problem means more than merely advertising and that advertising itself is one of the most complex problems of the age. ADVERTISING Advertising is the foundation of the modern business world. Ad- vertising has created fortunes, — and fortunes have been lost by the unwise use of advertising. In this vast country of ours with its hun- dred million population, the possibilities of judicious advertising are almost unlimited, but it must be judicious. The best of judgment must be used. The experience of others must be studied, and their mistakes profited by. Hundreds of poultrymen have built up profit- able businesses by the proper use of the power of advertising, — and you can do the same. HOW, WHEN, AND WHERE SHALL I ADVERTISE? One of the most important problems which the pure-bred poultry breeder has to face is that of knowing what publications to advertise in. Modern advertising is a cold blooded business proposition. It should be looked upon as an investment, — not as a sort of necessary expense. The poultryman's advertising is not "general publicity," advertising; such as is used by large manufacturing firms to induce the buying public to purchase their goods at the nearest drug, or gro- cery, or hardware store, as the case may be. The poultryman sells direct, and his advertising must yield direct returns. For this reason he must select his advertising media with greatest care. THE LOCAL PAPER •The first advertising which the average beginner does is to insert an advertisement in his local newspaper. This, is a good thing to do. "Charity begins at home." The worst feature about advertising in your local newspaper is the fact that your friends and neighbors, ex- cept in very rare instances', will not pay you what your stock and eggs are worth. They seem to think that if they are paying you a slight advance over the current market quotations, they are doing well by you. "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country." For the selling of utility cockerels at one to two dollars each, or the selling of eggs for hatching from the range flock at seventy-five cents to a dollar and a half per setting, the local newspaper has a logical place. But one cannot hope to build up much of a trade by its use alone. THE FARM PAPER The leading farm paper which circulates in your own state should undoubtedly be made use of in building up a trade in pure bred poul- try. Scrubs are rapidly disappearing from the modern farm. The average farmer, even though he may keep pure bred poultry, is a busy man with little time for reading. Poultry is strictly a side-line with him. His "hen fever" has not yet reached a point where he feels im- pelled to subsrcibe for an exclusive poultry journal. He will make a good customer for medium priced stock and eggs, but in order to reach him you must advertise in his favorite farm paper. Most farm " journals have a special rate for poultry advertising which is slightly lower than the regular rates. For advertising poultry in the farm papers, classified advertising is usually considered preferable. No display type is used in classified advertising. The advertisements are classified according to the variety, so that the busy farmer who wants to buy a Barred Rock cockerel, for instance, turns to the Barred Rock heading in the classified advertising department, instead of having to search through the whole paper for your ad. Classified advertising is paid for by the word, numbers, and initials counting as words. Do not make the mistake of using too few words. It is often false econ- omy. Use enough words to describe what you have for sale in a way that will create a desire to buy, on the part of the reader. As sug- gested above, the farm paper offers a good outlet for your medium priced stock and eggs. A profitable business can be built up by its exclusive use, — but not as profitable, as if, in addition, you make use of one or more good poultry journals. THE POULTRY JOURNAL A ' ' Class publication " is a journal or magazine devoted to the in- terests of one particular industry or business. It naturally appeals to and attracts as its readers those who- are particularly interested in the profession, business or industry which it treats. The lawyers have their special publications through which they keep in touch with pro- gress and current events in the legal world. So have the doctors, — and every other profession. These journals and magazines are known as "class publications." A journal devoted exclusively to dairying is a class publication. Likewise, a poultry journal is a class publica- tion. If you had just published a book describing in technical lan- guage an important medical discovery, and selling for twenty-five dollars a copy, you would expect to secure best results by advertising it in a medical magazine, rather than in a dairy paper or poultry jour- nal. For exactly the same reason, if you are setting out to buiid up a permanent and profitable trade in pure bred poultry, you should ad- vertise in one or more exclusive poultry journals. The man and wo- man who reads them are especially interested in poultry. They ap- preciate that elusive thing called "Quality" in a bird and are willing to pay for it. With a few years of experience you should be able to .produce birds that- are really worth from $5.00 to $25.00 each and eggs for hatching that are worth from $3.00 per setting to a dollar each. If But you cannot expect to obtain these prices by advertising in the farm papers. You must look to the poultry journals to put you in touch with the specialty breeders and fanciers of your variety who are willing to pay a fair price for the results of your years of study and experience. Which Poultry Paper? When you take your birds to a poultry show, and there encounter the persuasive representatives of twelve or fifteen poultry journals, you are immediately brought face to face with the question : ' ' Which of these journals will it pay me best to advertise in?" Upon your intelligent answer to that question will depend, to a considerable ex- tent, your ultimate success. Intelligent advertising pays, — Always! Any other kind does not, except in very rare instances. Do not take snap judgment in this matter of deciding in which journal you will place your advertising. A good many shrewd poul- trymen refuse utterly to sign an advertising contract at a fair or poul- try show. Why? Simply because if they do, they are too likely to be influenced by the eloquence of some especially persuasive poultry journal representative, rather than by quietly weighing the respective merits of the different publications and deciding upon the one which seems most likely to bring the best results. What points then, shall we consider, in selecting our advertising medium ? What tests shall we apply in order that we may feel fairly certain that out of the hundred poultry journals now being published in America, we are selecting the one best adapted to our use? In the first place, preference should be given by the young breeder to his own state paper, or 'the one circulating most in his own immedi- ate territory. You are still showing and winning at local shows. The largest show you make is, the state show of your home state. Win- nings at such shows are of the greatest advertising value to you near- est home, where the greatest general interest in the shows themselves is taken. Again, your reputation as a breeder of the variety of your choice must begin at home and gradually spread like the waves in a quiet pool of water into which you toss a stone, — another reason why you should advertise in your state paper, first. If you commence ad- vertising in a large poultry journal of large circulation, the competi- tion will be too strong for you. You will find that too many breeders of your variety are better known than you are, and that, therefore, they will get the orders while you "hold the sack. " When you begin to win at National Shows like Chicago, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Boston, and Madison Square Garden, St. Louis, or Kansas City, there- by achieving a National reputation, — then will be the proper time to begin to use the large National poultry journals in addition to those which circulate principally in your section of the country. There is still another reason why the poultry journal, the bulk of whose circulation lies nearest you, should pay you best. The average person, in buying either eggs, baby chicks, of stock, keeps one eye on the express charges. If he can get what he wants near home, he would be foolish to send to a distant state, thereby doubling the trans- portation charge. If you live in Minnesota, and have not yet acquired 11 a National reputation, you could hardly expect a Texas poultry jour- nal to prove a profitable advertising medium, and vice versa. From what has been said above, it has not been intended to con- vey the impression that you should advertise in the journal which cir- culates nearest you solely for that reason. There are other require- ments which must be met, other conditions which must be taken into account, before you make your final desision. It must be well estab- lished and in good repute. Subscribers must have confidence in a publication before they will buy of its advertisers. This not only takes time, but it requires the services of a strong man in the editorial chair, — a man of unquestioned integrity, a skilled diplomat, a "live wire ' ' and, last but not least, a thorough poultryman. A poultry jour- nal is the reflection of its editor. You cannot expect a poultry journal to make good as an advertising medium unless it has a "back-bone," unless it is the exponent of a "square deal," and unless its pages are filled with something more than long-winded "puffs" for prominent advertisers, regardless of the quality of the stock they are offering. A new poultry journal, unless it has a strong organization behind it, and unusual efforts are put forth, is at a distinct disadvantage on account of the lack of prestige and also on account of the lack of cir- culation. Speaking of circulation, it is another very important point to be considered. Other things being equal, the relative value of two poul- try journals from the standpoint of the advertiser, is in exact ratio to their actual paid circulation, — not what they claim their circulation to be. If your poultry journal publisher is honest, he will gladly fur- nish you with a sworn detailed circulation statement, and he will back it up with a copy of the Post Office mailing receipts. If he refuses to do it, beware ! The writer knows of a poultry journal which claimed thirty thousand circulation. A little quiet investigation at the Post Office revealed the astonishing fact that between seven and eight thou- sand copies per month were being mailed ! Small wonder that that particular poultry journal has not made good as an advertising me- dium. Advertising rates should be based on real circulation, not hot air. In order to merit your patronage your state paper should be able to show an average paid circulation of not less than ten thousand copies per month, and the short-time display advertising rate should not exceed a dollar and a half per inch for such a circulation. Quality in Circulation By quality in circulation we mean a good circulation, — a circula- tion made up of people who pay for a publication because of their in- terest in the class of subjects which it treats, and because of the inter- est and value of its contents ,to them. Quality in circulation is far more important than quantity, as some advertisers, and poultry jour- nal publishers as well, have discovered to their lasting sorrow. Dur- ing the past few years the practice has been all too common of securing circulation through the services of professional "strong-arm" sub- scription solicitors at the fall fairs and shows. There solicitors have become such a pest and have made themselves so obnoxious that they have been barred from many a show room and fair grounds. These 12 solicitors are usually paid all that they take in. All the publisher gets is the names and addresses, and these are usually worth mighty little either to him or his advertisers. Nine out of ten of these professional subscription solicitors tell the same "story" as a means of securing subscriptions. They offer to send the paper, ' ' a whole year free if you will pay the postage, — just two cents a month, twenty-five cents for the year. ' ' Those who ' ' bite ' ' are either too dull to see the ruse, or are not possessed of enough back-bone to enable them to say no. Every subscription thus obtained is secured through a. deliberate mis- representation, for the postage on poultry journals is exactly one cent a pound. Two cents, therefore, would pay the postage on most poul- try journals for an entire year ! Quantity of circulation is important, —vitally so. But it should not be secured at the expense of quality. The poultry journal which bases its appeal to prospective subscribers upon the character and value of its contents can usually be relied upon to prove the best advertising medium. Display vs. Classified Advertising Having decided which poultry journal we will advertise in, we must next decide whether we will use display advertising or classified advertising. Perhaps nine out of ten beginners commence their poul- try journal advertising in the classified advertising department for about three months during the hatching season. Classified advertis- ing has the advantage of being cheap. It is the cheapest advertising you can buy. That is the most that can be said in its favor. For the small "side-line" breeder with only half a dozen surplus cockerels or a few setting of eggs to dispose of, classified advertising is the logical way. But for the breeder who desires to "get somewhere," who is anxious to achieve a National reputation, and to build up a permanent and profitable trade in pure-bred poultry, the wisdom of using classi- fied advertising is doubtful. As a classified advertiser you cannot hope to secure as good prices as you could if you were a display ad- vertiser. The class of people who consult the classified advertising columns are those to whom price, rather than quality, appeals. Those who want the best and are willing to pay for it deal with those pro- gressive breeders who use display advertising space. Again, as long as you remain a classified advertiser, you are bound to be regarded as "small fry" by the leaders in the poultry world, — the very class you want to get out of as soon as you can. It is very well to start with some classified advertisements for the first year or two, and gradually work into display space. By display advertising is meant advertising in which display, (Black-face) type is used. The purposes of display type are, first to attract the attention of the readers to the advertisement, and, second, to emphasize the most important points in the advertisement. Display type varies in size from very small to very large. Several sizes of the letter "A", in display type, are shown below. aaaAAAaaa 13 There are almost numberless styles of display type, the details of which it is not necessary for any one but the printer to know. Display advertising is measured by the single column inch... That is, a one- inch display advertisement is, normally, an advertisement one inch deep and one column wide. All standard columns, whether in news- papers, farm papers, or poultry journals are thirteen ems, pica, wide, (two and one-sixth inches). In practice, a one-inch ad, for instance, may extend only across one column, or it may extend across two col- umns. If it extends across two columns, it will be only a half-inch deep, thus giving you the same amount of space as though it only ex- tended across one column and was an inch deep. Double column ad- vertisements are more popular than single column advertisements be- cause there is more room for the display heading. The two adver- tisements shown below are both one-inch advertisements, one being a one-inch, single column advertisement, and the other a one-half inch, double column advertisement. WHITE PLYMOUTH ROCKS EGCS FOR HATCHING from matings of pure white large bone, fine shape birds, at from $1.50 to $2.50 per sitting. Write for free catalog giving full information. MRS. C. A. LEMLEY, B. F. D. No. 8 WYACONDA, WIS. White Plymouth Rocks EGGS FOR HATCHING from matings of pure white, large bone, fine shape birds, at from $1.50 to $'Z 50 per sitting. Write for catalog giving full information. MRS. C. A. L.EITILEY R. F. D. 8, Wyaconda, Wis. There are numerous advantages of display advertising over classi- fied advertising. They may be briefly mentioned as follows : First : The very fact that you are a display advertiser adds to your prestige, — gives you a standing in the poultry world which you would not enjoy as a Classified advertiser. Second : As a display advertiser you can use illustrations as a means of attracting attention to your ad and of display type to drive home your message. Third: Display advertising is distributed through the paper along with the reading matter so that it is more liable to be seen. Fourth : In practically all poultry journals display advertisers are entitled to have their winnings at the various fairs and poultry shows published free of charge, together with free reading notices and illustrations of their birds. This supplementary service is exceedingly valuable. The amount of it which you are entitled to is in direct pro- portion to the amount of advertising space which you use. How Much Space? Granting that we have decided to use display advertising, the next question is, how much space shall we use, and when shall we use it? Let us answer the last question first. If you will look through 14 the files of any of the leading poultry journals, you will be struck with the fact that the leading poultry breeders of the country, men whose standing in the poultry world is unquestioned, advertise the year round. It is one of the secrets of their success! . .Some well meaning people assert that these leading breeders advertise the year round be- cause they have plenty of money. They would be nearer the truth if they would turn the statement around and say that these men have plenty of money because they advertise the year around! That "the constant dropping of the water wears away the hardest stone" was never more true than in the advertising field. The readers of the pa- per will become accustomed to seeing your ad in it just as you become accustomed to the familiar faces in your home town. Through the ad they become acquainted with you. By a well known psycological law, the impulse to buy is strengthened. In other words, the affect of ad- vertising is cumulative. It "piles up" from month to month. If you allow your advertisement to drop out during the so-called "dull sea- son ' ' you lose this valuable cumulative effect, — you lose far more than you save. Someone has weir said that "insistent, consistent, 'persis- tent advertising is what pays." Let us not make the mistake, then, of proving ourselves "penny wise and pound foolish" by only adver- tising part of the year. When we start we must" stay by it until the goal of' success is reached. The amount of space to be used during the year will depend, of course, upon the amount of stock and eggs which you have for sale. Be conservative. Over-advertising has spelled RUIN for many a- young breeder whose ambition to make a big showing ran away with his judgment. One of the besetting sins of many poultry journal ad- vertising solicitors is that of urging the prospective advertiser to con- tract for more space than he really oxight to use. Even from the standpoint of the poultry journal, the policy, is very short-sighted. In ■order to enjoy any lasting career of usefulness a journal must bring «atusfactory returns to a large majority of its advertisers, and the overloaded advertiser is rarely a satisfied advertiser. A poultryman would be foolish to contract for two hundred dollars' worth of adver- tising space if he only had a half dozen birds to sell, or a single breed- ing pen from which to dispose of eggs. Many poultrymen are ruined "because they spend more in advertising than they could possibly sup- ply in case they were fortunate enough to get the orders. A lot of money in advertising, and a lot of orders without a lot of stock and eggs to fill the orders with, is a waste of money. You should also sell and deliver just what you advertise and do just what you ao;ree to do. A satisfied customer is a standing advertisement for you. In order to do enough business to have volume enough to make the business very profitable you must raise stock enough and produce eggs enough to have them for sale when you receive an order. Then by judicious advertising you can build up a business in proportion. Pay Cash in Advance One of the best safeguards against over-doing this matter of ad- vertising is to adopt the policy of paying for it, by the year, cash-in- advance. Too many breeders are dealing strictly in "futures" — they 15 are gambling, when they contract for their advertising space. They find the poultry journals glad to extend credit. They figure on pay- ; ing for their advertising from month to month, out of the proceeds from said advertising. If, perchance, their dreams do not come true,j they are unable to pay their advertising bills, the journals put them in its "dead-beat" list — they are ruined. How much better would have been their chances for success if they had used less space and paid for it cash-in-advance! Paying eash-in-advanee is good business from any standpoint. It not only helps to keep you from using too much space, but it gets you a place very close to the heart of the poultry] journal publisher, — an asset with a real dollars-and-cents value to any 1 ambitious poultryman. You can easily increase your space at any time if your sales justify it. Again, by paying for your advertising] a year in advance, you will be allowed to discount ranging from ten to; sixteen and two-thirds per cent, an item well worth looking after. You will also save the time and trouble of sending in the monthly pay- ments.. It is hard to lay down any general rule governing the amount of space to be used. ' ' Circumstances alter cases ' ' — and circumstances and conditions vary greatly. Roughly, it may be said that the adver- tising appropriation should not amount to more than twenty, nor less: than ten, per cent of the gross sales. Your first year's advertising will be the most expensive in proportion to the amount of sales which you make. Advertising in a poultry paper is just like moving into a new community, — it takes time to get acquainted, especially to get ac- . quainted to the point where the people are willing to trust you in busi- business dealings. The longer you advertise, the smaller should be your relative advertising cost. "A satisfied customer is the best ad- vertisement" and the larger the number of your satisfied customers, the greater will be the amount of business which will come to you un- solicited. In most poultry journals the smallest annual advertising contract which you can take out is twelve inches, an average of one inch per month. However, it is neither necessary nor wise to use the same amount of space every month in the year. More should be used dur- ing the late winter and early spring, the height of the poultryman 's selling season, and less during the summer. Assuming that you have] decided to use twelve inches of space during the year, the following schedule is suggested as a good one : -January, 1% inches ; February, 1% inches ; March, V/% inches*; April, 1 inch ; May, 1 inch ; June, 1-2 inch; July, 1-2 inch; August, 1-2 inch; September, 1-2 inch; October, 1 inch ; November, 1 inch ; December, l 1 /^ inches. If more space is used during the year, the relative proportions, under ordinary cir- cumstances, would remain about the same. If you have a compara- tively small amount of stock for sale, but are in position to take care of a good trade in eggs for hatching, you should use your largest space during January, February, March, April, and May. If you have a lot of stock to dispose of, you should begin using your largest space! as early as November. How to Write a Good Advertisement There are five points to a good display advertisement. They are as follows : 16 (1) The Display Heading, sometimes called the ' ' catch-line ; ' ' (2) The Body of the Advertisement; (3) The Signature ; (4) The Illustration ; (5) The Border. The display heading is the beginning of the advertisement. It usually takes the form of a line of display (black-face) type, running the length of the advertisement. Its purpose is, chiefly, to catch the attention of the reader, and arouse his interest to the extent that he •will read the balance of the advertisement. This display heading may mention the variety advertised, and tell something about them. Quite a common custom, and a good one, is to mention the owner's name, as, for instance, "Jones Farm Houdans" or, "Smith's White Leg- horns." This associates your name with your variety, and, as your reputation increases, there will be a constantly increasing tendency on the part of the buying public, to think of you whenever your variety is mentioned. Another excellent idea in display headings is to link the name of your particular strain with that of your variety. ' ' Ring- let" Barred Rocks, and, "Crystal" White Orpingtons are familiar ex- amples of this practice. "Ringlet" is the name of the particular strain of Barred Rocks, while "Crystal" is the name of the strain of White Orpingtons. Do not make the common mistake, however, of giving the other fellow 's strain a lot of free advertising. By careful selection and line-breeding originate a strain of your own, select a suitable name and advertise it at every opportunity. When you are just beginning to advertise it is a good idea to use the name of the strain from which your stock came until you have established a little reputation for yourself. The body of the advertisement contains your message. It is the vital point of the advertisement, — the part that gets you the inquiries. It should be concise, to the point, and very carefully worded to convey exactly the impression which you desire to make. It should tell the truth and tell it in a way that will convince the reader that it is the truth. It should contain the strongest reasons that you can think of why the reader should buy your stock, or baby chicks, or eggs rather than those of your competitor. If you live on a farm, mention the fact that your birds are farm raised, — it is an argument in your favor. Prizes won at fairs or poultry shows should be mentioned. If your birds have stood well in some egg laying contest, that is a selling point which you should not overlook. Do not try to say too much in a small space. It is both poor economy and poor advertising to crowd so much into the body of your advertisement that you do not have room enough left for a good display heading. Tell just enough in your advertisement to arouse the reader's interest. Promise to tell him the rest in your letter and catalog or mating list. The signature of the advertisement is the last line. It should con- tain your name, address, and the "key." The "key" of an advertise- ment is a device used by all up-to-date breeders who have advertise- ments in more than one journal. It is usually a part of the address, and is different in each journal in which the advertising is running. In -this way you can tell which journals are paying you, and which are 17 not. Suppose you live on Rural Route No. 1, and are advertising in three poultry journals, you could "key" your advertisements by mak- ing your address in one paper, "Route 1, Box A;" and in the second paper, "Route 1, Box B," and in the third paper, "Route 1, Box C." Your mail carrier knows where you live, and you need not worry about his leaving part of your mail at the wrong place. If you have a Post Office box— say box 16, a very good way to- key your ad is to make box numbers in your advertisements, "Box 16A, 16B, 16C," etc. Other ways of "Keying" your advertisements, will occur to you. The idea is to have some way of telling in which paper the inquirers saw your advertisement in case he fails to men- tion it in his letter. Occasionally you will receive an inquiry with no key number on it. The usual custom is to credit the non-keyed inquiries in propor- tion to those that are keyed. For instance, if you find that you have- received six inquiries from one paper, and twenty from another, and have received six inquiries that were not keyed, you would be war- ranted in crediting the paper which brought you twenty keyed in- quiries with four of those that were not keyed, and the other paper with the other two non-keyed inquiries. This matter of keying your advertising is a matter of tremendous importance in stopping your advertising leaks, and should not be overlooked. It is not absolutely necessary for you to have an illustration in your advertisement, nor to have a border around it. In very small advertisements where it is necessary to economize space, the border, especially, may well be omitted. The purpose of both the illustration and the border are to give the advertisemnt individuality, to make it- more attractive, and to make it "Stand out" from those around it- All advertisements an inch and a half in size, or larger, in order to- give you the greatest possible amount of advertising value for your money, should have both an illustration and a border. The following three inch double column advertisement contains the five essential features — display heading, body, signature, illustration and border. 18 PINEVIEW WHITE LEGHORNS (Single Comb Exclusively) THE KIND THAT WIN AND LAY Farm raised, trap-nested, sel- ected and bred for egg produc- tion. Several liens with rec- ords of over 250 eggs each. Cockerels from high laying hens for sale at reasonable prices. Won six first prizes in St. Louis and Chicago shows this season. Eggs $3.00 to $5.00 per setting and $10.00 per hundred. A rea- sonable hatch guaranteed. Write for Free Mating List You will never regret having done business with the PINEVIEW LEGHORN FARM BOX I6A SLATER, MISSOURI '^■StaT A Well Written Advertisement A great many attractive things are stated in the above advertise- ment, things which would tend to bring an inquiry from anyone want- ing Leghorns. The Leghorns are farm raised, some are trapnested, they have been selected and bred for egg production, several of the hens have made exceptionally high records, his birds have won first prizes in good shows, cockerels are for sale at a reasonable price, and satisfaction is guaranteed from any eggs which are purchased. You. invite him to write for other literature and he is assured that he will be given a square deal. Don't promise any more than you can do and always do what you promise. Produce the goods and then go after the business in both letters and advertisements. Set a price according to the quality produced and you are almost certain to build up a nice business and net a handsome profit. 19 PINEVIEW FARM SLATER S§P*fl Missouri HANGE-RAISED S. C. W. LEGHORNS HATCHING EGGS IN SEA.SON A Very Poorly Written Advertisement The above advertisement does not state a single fact that would attract anyone looking for White Leghorns, outside of the fact that the birds are range-raised. It is almost a waste of money to take an advertisement like that in any paper. The owner of the farm would no doubt blame the paper, and condemn advertising and the poultry business in general because he failed to get inquiries or make sales from such an advertisement. The advertiser himself is at fault. Get enough facts in your advertisements and your letters and your litera- ture to make prospective customers feel that they must have some of your stock. You should state only facts in your advertisement, of course, but be sure you do get the facts included and state and illus- trate them in the most attractive way. The Pineview Farm may have the greatest layers and the most attractive Leghorns in the world, but no one would ever know it from the above advertisement. Hundreds of poultrymen fail because of two facts, they raise the chickens and produce the eggs but they can- not sell them because they don't advertise properly and because they don't use any judgment in answering inquiries after they are received. "With attractive stationery, a neat little circular to enclose with each letter and the facts properly told in their letter when writing about stock and eggs which they have for sale, and then by delivering the goods it is possible for any man or woman to build up a successful busi- ness. 20 [ Changing Copy Theoretically, your advertisement should be changed eyery month. Our largest and most successful advertisers rarely, if ever, run the same advertisement in two consecutive issues of any publication. "Variety is the spice of advertising." If the readers of a poultry journal find that your advertisement is the same, month after month, they will cease to look for it or take any interest in it. On the other hand, if they find that your advertisement is different each month,— that in each issue you are advancing new selling arguments, they will instinctively become interested, and watch for your advertisement, with a constantly increasing number of inquiries as the inevitable re- sult. If you cannot take time to see that your advertisement is chang- ed every month, above all things else, see that it is changed often enough so that it is timely and seasonable. Don't let your "eggs-for- hatching" run clear into the following fall. It riot only does no good, but it does you a positive harm in that it is indication that, you are not wide awake and progressive. Prospective buyers would naturally and rightly conclude that you were as careless in all your other practices, with your poultry and he would rightly look for some more timely advertisement and some more careful and up to date breeder. "Eter- nal vigilence is the price of success" in advertising as in every thing else. It is often wise to run an ad this month, change the copy next month, and the third month repeat the first ad if it brought good results. FREE READING NOTICE As has already been noted practically all poultry journals are glad to co-operate with their display advertisers by publishing free of charge, their winnings at the various fairs and shows, cuts of their prize winning birds, little "write ups", calling attention to their ad- vertisements, etc. Naturally, the amount of free publicity which you will receive, depends upon the amount of advertising space which you are paying for. Remember this, — that the poultry journal publisher is a busy man. Furthermore, he is not a mind reader. If you want reading notices that are of real value to you, write him a little letter giving him some data upon which to base a reading notice. The writ- er has known advertisers to feel that they were not getting all that was coming to them because they did not receive as many reading notices as some other advertiser using the same amount of space. Nine times out of ten, they had only themselves to blame. They failed to get the "write ups" because they failed to ask for them or failed to prepare and send them to the publisher. CUTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS Cuts and illustrations should play a very important part in building up your trade in pure-bred poultry, — but they must be good cuts, not patch-work or botched-up jobs,— pictures of the birds they are in- tended to represent. A poor cUt or picture is worse than none. Have your work done by a reputable artist who understands how to pose a bird so as to make it look as natural as possible. An unretouched 21 photograph, provided it is a good one, should be as valuable as an ad- vertisement as one which is ' ' made over ' ' by the artist until a strong imagination is required to see any resemblance between the finished product and the original. The sentiment against cuts made from over- retouched protographs is rapidly growing among honest poultrymen. Legitimate artist work and retouch so as to show the 'true shape and color of the bird is justifiable and profitable. Stock cuts, cuts made from idealized drawings, can be purchased from the leading poultry 'journals. These are much better than nothing, but not as good as first class photographs of your own individual birds. Poultry jour- nals in which you are carrying display advertising the year around will be glad to run a reasonable number of cuts for you free of charge. you of course, are to pay the original cost of the cuts themselves, you will also have use for your cuts in advertisements, on your letterheads, in your circulars, mating lists, catalogs, etc. For such purposes cop- per halftone*, made with a 120-line screen are usually the best. WRITE ARTICLES FOR JOURNALS You must get a lot of publicity and the people must become ac- quainted with your name before you can build up a very big business in the poultry world. A very good method of getting some publicity is to write articles for journals and papers in which you carry adver- tisements. The public will read your articles and they will soon feel that they know you. Your articles must contain good practical infor- mation, or else it might do more harm than good. You can illustrate the articles with the photographs of your own birds and your own houses and equipment. In the article you can refer to your own farm, birds, and your own experiences and in this way may get a lot of valu- able publicity, and at the same time furnish the public with some in- formation that is really worth while. Every thing of this kind helps you one step nearer to success. TURNING INQUIRIES INTO SALES All any poultry paper can do is to bring you the inquiries. It is up to you to do the rest. Many an inexperienced advertiser has found serious fault with the journal in which he happened to be advertising because each inquiry did not produce a sale. As a matter of fact, the journal was not in the least at fault. The best of salesmen cannot turn eveiy inquiry into a sale and such a record should not be expect- ed. The problem is how to iurn the largest possible number of in- quiries into sales. There is a large number of factors which enter into the turning of inquiries into sales. Some of them seem relatively unimportant. Yet they should not be overlooked. Let us consider each of them seperately. Stationery. If you were to call in person on your prospective customer, he would instinctively form an opinion of you by your per- sonal appearance. When you write him a letter he forms just as dis- tinct an opinion of you as though you called in person, — and that opinion is quite largely determined by the general appearance of your 22 letterhead and envelopes. Thus the advisability of having neat, busi- ness-like stationery, becomes at once apparent. If you answer your inquiries on plain tablet paper and buy an envelope at the Post Office, the 6pinion which the recipient will form of you will not be flattering, to say the least. It is not necessary to have your letterheads embossed on the highest grade of bond paper in order to have them look busi- ness-like. But they should be neatly gotten up and well printed. The same is true of envelopes and other printed matter. Get a Typewriter! Thirty years in the poultry business in its various branches in which correspondence has, been carried on with thousands of poultrymen, impelled the writer to give the above advice. Some letters of breeders who really have good stock for sale are "fearfully and wonderfully made." The wrting is terrible and the spelling is worse. Of course, the typewriter will not remedy the spelling, but the recipient of the letter will have a fairer chance to tell what the sender is trying to say. The modern successful poultry breeder does business in a modern business way, and no business which requires correspondence can lay claim to being modern without the use of a typewriter. The very fact that you use a typewriter marks you as being progressive and down-to-date, — just the sort of a man whom anyone likes to do busi- ness with. Again by the use of the typewriter, you can keep a carbon copy of all the letters you write, — a very wise and important thing to do. It not only enables you to know exactly what you described to a pro- spective customer, when he sent in his order, but it also effectually does away with any chance for a misunderstanding to arise. More than one law suit has been avoided by one party or the other having a carbon copy of his correspondence. It is not necessary for you to buy an expensive machine to start with. Good serviceable second-hand machines can be bought from a third to half the standard price. You do not need to be a business college graduate in order to operate a typewriter. The art can be readily picked up during your spare minutes and in two or three weeks' time you will be writing like an "old timer." By all means get a typewriter. Inclosures. Every letter which you send out should contain some sort of circular or booklet. Do not try to give the prospective cus- tomer all the information he ought to have regarding your stock, in a personal letter. Life is too short. Besides, it is both cheaper and more effective to give it to him in printed form. The personal letter should be devoted to answering in detail the questions asked in the Tetter of inquiry, rather than to a general description of your stock and plant, prizes won, etc. A very important feature of your inclos- ure should be testimonials. Confidence begets confidence, and the more testimonials you can inclose with your letter, the more likely you are to get the order. Answering the Inquiries. When you receive a letter of inquiry, do not make the mistake of taking it for granted that you are the only one to whom the party has written. The chances are that you are one of half a dozen breeders to whom he has written. Whether or 23 Missing Page Missing Page Thanking you for your inquiry, and awaiting your favorable re- ply, I remain, Cordially yours, In answering inquiries for stock, an attempt should be made to find the bird or birds which seem to best fulfill the requirements, and then to visualize them, — draw a word picture of them so that the prospective customer may form a fairly definite idea of what you are offering him. Do not overdraw the picture. Try to view the bird with as critical an eye as your prospective customer will have. It is hard sometimes to point out a defect in a bird you are trying to sell, but it is the safest way of insuring satisfied customers. KEEPING THE RECORDS Name SrvuMrv, (xvlo/yv $L>- Key- 100 "CI" Address ^a/yvYvu 'xxi/, Tllo-, R^MA/te^ 4 Inquiry rec'd 8-1-13 5-6-14 Followed up 8-10-13 SALES MADE 8-1 b- 13. QxxJmaA, Uo, (Xsb . $5.00 5- 1 2- 14- CWiX/ k/ttti/vixL' e^gxjA- fAKvwv 'ja^yw c] $3.50 • A Sample Record Card It is not essential to your success that you have an office with a mahogany desk and a plush rug on the floor. But you should have an office, even if it is no more than a corner in the dining room. It should be equipped with a desk in which to keep your papers and records. There should also be a verticle letter file and a card index. The lat- ter two are especially important. A vertical letter file is equipped with manilla folder large enough so that an ordinary letter can be put into it flat. These folders stand in the file vertically, — hence the name, ' ' Vertical Letter File. ' ' A separate folder is used for each person with whom you have any cor- respondence. These folders are numbered consecutively from one, up, and the name and address of the person whose correspondence is in each file is written along the upper edge. Used in conjunction with the letter file is a card index, for the keeping of records, and to facilitate the use of the letter file. A sam- ple of a suitable card is shown herewith. The method of procedure is as follows : \ 26 When you receive your first inquiry, you, of course, first answer tiie letter, pinning the carbon copy of your reply to the inquiry, when it is ready for filing. You then take an index card, printed or ruled as above, and fill m put. As the cards are to be filed alphabetically, rt is best, in filling in the name, to put the person's last name first. Inen iollows the complete address and the date when the inquiry was received and answered. The number in the upper right hand corner is the number of the folder in which you place the correspondence. The first one which we are now filling out will, of course, be No. 1. Just below the number you place the "key" by which you know which paper should be credited with the inquiry. After you have received a good many inquiries and have your file started, the procedure is slightly different. Upon receiving an in- quiry, it is a good plan to first look in your card index to see if you have ever had any previous correspondence with him. Suppose, for instance, you receive an inquiry from John H. Smith, Hannibal, Mis- souri. You look in your card index and you find the card illustrated above. It immediately gives you a lot of valuable information. You learn that he is an old customer of yours, and that you will'find all the correspondence which you have ever had with him in folder No. 100 in your letter file. You learn further, that you sold him a cockerel for $5.00 on August 16th, 1913, and a setting of eggs for $3.00 on May 12th, 1914. You see also that you had to write to him twice before you sold him the cockerel, which brings us to another very important point. THE FOLLOW-UP No modern business house doing a mail order business, would think of doing business without a careful ' ' follow-up ' ' system. If the order does not come in reply to the first letter, within a reasonable length of time, a second letter is sent, and sometimes a third if the second does not suffice. Eesults prove conclusively that a "follow- up ' ' system pays in the poultry business, — at least to the extent of one follow-up letter. Oftentimes a new argument will be presented or a new fact pointed out, or the very fact that you are progressive enough to write a second letter will land the order where the first letter would have failed. The length of time which should elapse between the first and second letters depends upon how far away the inquirer lives. If a reply to the first letter fails to come after time enough has been given for it to do so, if answered promptly, the follow-up letter should be sent. From a week to ten days is usually long enough to wait. A LETTER WITH EACH SHIPMENT Many breeders make the mistake of shipping a setting of eggs without notifying the customer by letter the day they are shipped. As a result the eggs may remain in the express office for several days and a poor hatch and a dissatisfied customer* the result. Also when you ship a bird be sure to have a letter mailed to your customer on the day the shipment is made, requesting the customer to be on the lookout for the shipment. This practice pays. These letters should also contain other statements about the qual- 27 ity of the stock and eggs and close with the desire that your customer will be pleased with them and reassure him that it is your desire to please him and give him value received for his money. If you simply make the sale and then drop your customer he may feel like you were simply after his money and perhaps he has not gotten a square deal. A final letter from you, sent along with the shipment notifies the party to be on the lookout for the shipment and at the same time reassures him that you have a desire to do what is right. Always try^ to deal honestly and remember a satisfied customer is your best advertisement. SHALL I EXHIBIT MY BIRDS? We believe you should exhibit at one or more shows each season or at least every other season. If you make a good winning at some good show then stay away from other exhibitions until you have thor- oughly advertised the last good winnings for a year or two. After you have made a good winning don 't give some other breeder a chance to defeat you and take your honors away from you at some other show until you have gotten the good to be derived from your good winning. When you decide to make a show see that your birds are in proper condition. Don 't enter just two or three or four, but wait until you have a reasonably good string of good ones, then enter in all classes and enter from 10 to 40 depending upon the number and quality which you have. Make fewer shows and try to make a winning worth while when you do show. If you know your variety and you enter enough birds, you are almost certain to make a hit somewhere. It is quite expensive to exhibit birds and it is best to exhibit more birds and make better winnings at fewer shows. If you are a small breeder you will have to be content with fewer entries. We recom- mend showing at your local show and at one other show which has considerable reputation in the section where you desire to do busi- ness. It is often advisable to make State Fairs, but don't drag your birds around from show to show each season. It is very expensive and is also hard on your birds. Don't attempt more than two good shows in one season. After you have made your winnings they will do no good unless you advertise the fact. SOME BREEDERS DON'T EXHIBIT It is the custom of some of the breeders to not show their own stock. They make a specialty of producing high class birds and sell them to their customers who win upon them. The percentage of such breeders is rather small. Usually these men spend great sums in advertising. Some of the largest advertisers are men who seldom, show in hot competition. They contend that it pays them better to spend the money they would use in exhibiting their birds in judicious advertising. They use