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ilic business was down to a most discouraging figure. Ihe (juality ot work tinned out was, to pin it mildly, lar below par, and the place had the blackest eye ol any plant in town.
,^. TiRST, we brought the cjuality oi work up ' lo a point where there was none better lurned out in any plant in the state.
MAKE A BIG NOISE
Next, I undertook to tell the public . |ust what we could do for them. 1 used newspaper ads, hand bills, package inserts, even solicitors. All w^ere good and ill brought a measure of results. But none like radio. I tried both the J)la, bla, type of radio ads and short skits. 1 he latter was, !)v far, the most producti\'e, with the least ost per-dollar return.
Some will say, "Oh radio costs too much for me. 7 hat's all right for the big iellow, but I couldn't afford it."
And right here, I disagree. Brother, \()u ire losing a mighty good bet if you don't try it.
I don't mean that you should put on a lialf-hour program w^ith a 60-piece band. Vour business isn't national in scope. It's local. So use a local type of program. In )ther words, build the type of program hat fits your business.
NOTHING FOR NOTHING
If the radio station rates seem a little iteep, they very likely have listeners to )ack up that rate. After all, it's listeners hat you are looking for, isn't it?
If you can only afford one program of ' "ive minutes per week, all well and good, ^ 3ut make that five minutes count. Twice a kveek is that much better. Three times a iveek should get good results. Six days a iveek should really do the trick.
Sound effects? Many small radio staions do not have much in this line, but ^ou can get by very well with such simple hings as an electric bell, or even an orlinary alarm clock, a newspaper, and a )iece of cotton rag. As a rule, the voices jf the regular radio staff are plenty varied ind they can handle your skits very nice
It has been my experience that almost
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without exception, the general public enjoys a bit of Scandinavian dialect, so that is what I have used. If, by chance, you are fortunate enough to possess a Scandina\ ian name, by all means cash in on it. If not, then use the name of an imaginary driver, as I have done. Each of our skits featmes another episode in the life of "Jalmer, the Cleaning D)u>er." Through these brief dramatizations, we establish three points in a painless fashion: (1) emergency one-day service; (2) prompt pick-ups, and (3) tailoring service. Incidentally, having educated and entertained the housewife, we know she'll be back among our listeners the next time we are on the air.
DOUBLE CHECK
You may doubt this. So did I. And I began to get a little nervous when our radio bill climbed far above the cost of other advertising. Although I knew the business was growing rapidly, it occurred to me that this might be a natural seasonal trend.
Here's what I did. In every case where the customer mentioned our radio advertising, I instructed the counter girl and drivers to make a note of the name, address and the amount of each order. As a rule, several days before the month was up, these orders totaled as much, or more, than the cost of the radio advertising. That's why I call it pay-as-you-go-advertising.
EPTEMBER, 1946
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