Page:Oregon Exchanges volume 5.pdf/282



Vol. 6

"[Points for the advertising salesman, the fruit of twenty years of experience in this field, were given in a paper by Ernest R. Gilstrap, vice-president of the Morning Register Company of Eugene, and advertising manager of the Morning Register. Mr. Gilstrap’s very helpful paper, read in his absence by Frank Jenkins, editor of the Register, was received with marked attention by the Newspaper Conference audience. “The advertising man in reality is working for the advertiser,” Mr. Gilstrap told the publishers.]"

CCORDING to your program I am to reveal my methods of selling space. I regret that I have nothing new to offer. I should be delighted to give you a tip you could use in your territory that would turn inches into feet. Such a method I have wished for many times, and if I had it I doubt very much if it could be bought at any price. Take it in July and August and some years in January and February, when the blue pencil leaves only the bare head-rules. Has it ever happened to you? I suppose my method in a case of this kind is no different from that of any other advertising salesman. I probably move more quickly, think faster and work harder—and as a result accomplish more—than on the more favorable days. Just throw her into high and step on it, is perhaps another way of saying it—-and I don’t drive a car, either.

It was more than twenty years ago that I decided, for some unaccountable reason, to take up advertising. After sizing myself up from all angles, I found that I had much to do to equip myself for the work. It meant first, that I must resign my position as foreman of the Register, a position that paid the handsome salary of $8 a week. Did any of you ever get your weekly pay in the quad case? Well, it was that way back in those days, and if you remember, the ghost didn’t always walk on Saturday nights. Getting back to what I started to say: after resigning my position, I took up merchandising. Fortunately for me I was able to divide my time between the various departments of a general store. At the close of the first year I took over the advertising for the store and this department of the business proved to be the most interesting part of my work. I carried on the advertising for two years, at the same time learning everything I possibly could about merchandise. The point I wish to make clear here is this: From my experience I know that it is highly essential for an advertising man to know something about merchandise. He must know merchandise to get the selling points from it. The more of this knowledge he has acquired, the easier it is to tell the story. An advertising man must be more than a copy-chaser; he must be