es the _spot_ pay. Centers of trade are not
selected by the public--they are created by the force which _controls_
the public--the newspapers.

New neighborhoods for business are being constantly built up by men who
have located themselves in streets which they have changed from deserted
by-ways into teeming, jostling thoroughfares, through advertising
irrigation.

The storekeeper who whines that his neighborhood holds him back is
squinting at the truth--_he is hurting the neighborhood_.

If it lacks streams of buyers, he can easily enough secure them by
reaching out through the columns of the daily and inducing people from
_other_ sections to come to him. Every time he influences a customer of
a competitor he is not only irrigating his _own_ field but is diverting
the streams upon which a _non-advertising_ merchant depends for
existence. Men and women who live next door to a shop that does not
plead for their custom will eventually be drawn to an establishment
_miles_ away because they have been made to believe in some advantage to
be gained thereby.

The circulation of _every_ daily is nothing less than a _reservoir_ of
buyers, from which shoppers stream in the direction that promises the
_most value_ for the _least money_.

The magic development of the desert lands, has its parallel in
merchandising of men who consider the newspaper an irrigating power
which can make _two_ customers grow where _one_ grew before.

Cato's Follow-up System

If a man lambasted you on the eye and walked away and waited a week
before he repeated the performance, he wouldn't hurt you very badly.
Between attacks you would have an opportunity to recover from the effect
of the first blow.

But if he smashed you and _kept mauling_, each impact of his fist would
find you less able to stand the hammering, and a half-dozen jabs would
probably _knock you down_.

Now advertising is, after all, a matter of _hitting the eye of the
public_. If you allow too great an interval to elapse between insertions
of copy the effect of the first advertisement will have worn _away_ by
the time you hit again. You may continue your scattered talks over a
stretch of years, but you will not derive the same benefit that would
result from a greater concentration. In other words, by appearing in
print _every_ day, you are able to get the benefit of the impression
created _the day before_, and as each piece of copy makes its
appearance, the result of y