Page 170 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

some. This first polish was in liquid form, and reasonably successful, but
when he tried to sell it he discovered that it wasn’t exactly what prospects
required. Then he searched for a new formula. After a great deal of
experimenting, he developed a formula of his own that was practical for use
as an all-purpose metal and glassware polish, and has made hundreds of
dollars as a result.

“While I found a widespread demand for a high-grade metal polish,” said
Coleman, “I had difficulty selling enough to make a worth-while profit. I
knew practically nothing about selling or advertising in the beginning, and it
took a little while for me to learn. For instance, the containers I used had no
labels, and my product had no name. I sold a gallon jug to a large Chicago
hotel one day, and they asked me the name of the polish explaining it was
necessary to name the brand in their records. That stumped me. ‘I haven’t
called it any special name,’ I said, ‘but, use it. If it’s good, you’ll want more.’
The man laughed. ‘I’ll call it Use It, then.’ About two weeks later, I got a
phone call at my home for five gallons of Use It. That’s how I came to give
the polish that name. When I went around, I told my prospective customers to
use Use It, and sales began to increase. The polish did its work well, but there
was a good deal of competition. However, as I picked up additional business
steadily and was holding what I had, it wasn’t long before I was making real
money.

“I could have done better had I given the polish a trade name and made up a
week or a ten-day supply at one time. But being cautious I made up only as
much polish daily as was needed to fill orders. Furthermore, I should have
had some circulars printed but I did not think it was necessary to give
directions to the purchaser. I have since found I was wrong.

“To sell readily, a metal polish must have certain features and these should be
explained to the buyer. This explanation should be followed by instructions
about applying the polish to glass and metal surfaces, and the effect
demonstrated. Be sure that your formula does not contain poisonous or
inflammable agents. While the danger from fire is not great, big users of
polish will not have an inflammable or poisonous polish on the premises as
they don’t want any more occupational hazards than are necessary. You can