The Edison phonograph monthly (Jan-Dec 1912)

8 Edison Phonograph Monthly, Feb., 1912 Advice from a Far Country A. Baiting, of Nelson, New Zealand, has been in the business of selling Edison Phonographs for upwards of twenty-three years, and in all that time he has found that it pays to carry a large stock, and keep same with a proper system. Mr. Baiting has doubtless had ups and downs in his business, as everyone has, but from his twenty-three years of experience he has come to the conclusion that it pays to stick to the Edison line to the exclusion of all other makes. Mr. Baiting's own words on the subject are: "During the twenty-three years that I have been in the Phonograph business, I have handled several different makes of Machines, Records, and Attachments, and I find that the 'Edison' Machines and Records are the most satisfactory in every respect. I find that keeping the other makes of Records only caused more work and no more sales. For an instance, a customer would come in and hear some Edison Records, and then ask to hear the other makes of Records, and in the end he would take the Edison in preference, so I have given up all the other makes, and now I am purely an Edison Dealer. "My advice to small Dealers is to stock only the popular Machines and Records, and they are the 'Edison.' Keep a good stock of Machines and Records, advertise well, and success will follow. Of course, there are other things that are required to become a successful Dealer, such as a good system. Dealers should remember that system is the backbone, and punctuality is the soul of any business. "Small Dealers who cannot afford to keep a repair man should become acquainted with the working parts of the different Machines, and learn to repair, and keep repair parts in stock. "Not having had any business training myself, I have had to learn from day to day. But, however, I have found the 'Phonograph Monthly' of great help to me." A Queensland Dealer, with his eyes open for business, gives us the following interesting little news item: "Circumstances recently taught me that the Edison Phonograph can speak for itself, and if one only uses his brains in keeping it under the public's nose, as it were, it must win. "Here's an instance: An agent came to this town with some very elaborate talking machines and rented a large room to demonstrate them. On the first day he spent considerable time in explaining the merits of the machines to two Scotchmen, who decided to call and purchase a machine before leaving town, but it happened, unfortunately for the agent, that the two men came my way, when I had an Edison Standard going. I managed to get their attention long enough to play a few Scotch Records, commencing with Hector Grant's 'Lassie Dinna Sigh for Me,' this being a loud, clear Record with a good swing. It will always lift a Scotchman's foot. I had no voice, so just put on the Records, and finished up by selling the Machine and twenty Records, and I am persuaded that a dumb man could sell Edison Phonographs as well as any man if he uses good judgment in selecting the Records to play to his audience." Irving Berlin It is stated that Irving Berlin, author of "Alexander's Rag-time Band," and other "hits" too numerous to mention, has made close to one hundred thousand dollars through his song writing, in the two and a half years he has been in the field. His rise in the realm of popular music has been rapid. Four years ago he started his career as a singer of illustrated songs in a moving picture house at a salary of $15.00 a week. To draw down that sum, he sang ten times a day! His first bid for fame as a popular song writer was a number entitled "Queenie." He presented it to a score of music publishers without success; the same publishers later offered him contracts larger than ever were offered a song writer to write exclusively for them. "Queenie" was at last accepted by the Ted Snyder Co., and Mr. Berlin has shown his gratitude by writing for the concern numerous other songs, the popularity of which has placed the Snyder Co. in the first rank of music publishers. A number of his successes, including "My Wife's Gone to the Country," "Mendelssohn Tune," "Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon," "Grizzly Bear," "Stop, Stop, Stop!" "Kiss Me, My Honey, Kiss Me," "Piano Man," "Dreams, Just Dreams," "When I'm Alone I'm Lonesome," "When You're in Town" and "Alexander's Rag-time Band," have appeared on Edison Records and are now available. His latest compositions, "That Mysterious Rag," "Ragtime Violin" and "After the Honeymoon" are contained in our late Record lists. The man who stays in the retail business, and succeeds in the future, will be the big man, the man who is a student of human nature and the man who knows how to sell goods and sell them right. It will be the man who knows how to cope with the traveling salesman. Summed up and boiled down, the man who stays in the, retail business in the future has got to be a real man. He must be a man of broad mind. He must be a man who realizes that it is not a question of manual labor, but a question of business judgment and of good common sense. — Merchants Trade Journal.