Hello everyone!
I am trying to market myself to corporate events and the like and my question is this. Should I write my copy for brochures and sales letters aim toward the event planners like those who work at all the convention centers or aim directly to the company themselves?

If I aim my marketing material to companies then who or what department should I aim it?

Thanks
Ray Noble

This to me is simple. Market to event planners and agents. It makes your job so much easier and I will tell you why.

You make a successful pitch to ONE event planner, you have sold untold numbers of shows.

Same success to one company, and it is 1 show, or a couple if you book work from work.

Why not make it easy on yourself? Yea you give up 10-God knows how much % but it is worth it if you ask me, provided you get the right planners.

I agree with Danny one most of his post but respectfully disagree on the last part. You don't really give up anything when you work through an agent.

When an agent calls you with an offer of a show it is usually because someone else (their client)has asked them to find suitable entertainment, within a specified budget, for a particular event. The agent is calling you with an offer of a certian portion of the amount the client has to spend. The client is of course payng a fee for this service, which is the agents commission. The client pays the fee, not you.

For example, if the client has $2000 and the agents commission is 20% ($400), then then you are being offered $1600 or 80% of the amount the client has to spend. The agent is not taking 20% from you, he is giving you 80% of something he has and you don't. He has the client, not you.

As Danny said, agents and planners can be a great source of revenue for your business if you have a show that will impress them. I get tens of thousands of dollars worth of work every year from agents.

Doug I should explain a bit.

Many guys feel that giving up an agent fee is not worth it. I was trying to say that no matter what it is it is worth it. If you think of it as not losing 20% but indeed gaining 80%.

Agents are great to work with, if you work with the right ones. The number of clients who just call them out of habit, and them sending you, is worth it to me.

Hey guys, both of you have some really good points.

I have hired a writer and must make a decision of the direction the copy will go. I hate to spend all that money and have my copy written for the wrong group!


Ray Noble

Danny, I understand completely what you're saying and I agree with you, working with agents is worth it!

What I don't understand is the guys who think they're "giving up" an agent fee. The agent is bringing these guys work that they would not otherwise have and, quite frequently at a higher fee that they would have gotten themselves. Also, as I said before, it's the client who pays the commission, not the entertainer. They're being offered a piece of something they never would have had!

Would these guys rather sit at home in their underwear with the remote control in one hand and a warm Bud in the other or, be out doing a paid show with possible spin-off bookings coming out of it? DUH!

Ray,

With only forty-eight years invested in the professional entertainment industry and wearing three hats: professional entertainer since age 13, former owner of a personal management and booking agency that sold magic acts, and published university marketing professor, there are some basic truths in this thread you should recognize.

1. The most successful professionals use agents.

2. There is a world of difference between professional and hobbyist.

3. Don't go to a gun fight with just a knife. Use the best professionals that are available to you. You don't hunt ducks and moose with the same gun. When you change talent buyer perspectives, change the marketing campaign. You may need several different promotional pieces for several different markets. Just do it!

4. Corporate talent buyers are frequently much better educated, focused and prepared than most agents or agency employees. (I've trained and hired both.) Don't take being rejected by a corporate buyer as his or her only filling a temporary need. That is rarely true for educated professional marketers. Most of my corporate gigs have lasted four to six years. It's worth finding the right fit. It is not in the same league with the awards banquet. It is becoming part of the corporate image. It's not for everyone.

Good Luck!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Doug I know a bunch of guys who will end up doing just that.

Bob, your agreeing again. This is really getting to be a bad habit.

Danny,

Bad company?

Bob

Bob's point about corporate talent buyers is one that everyone should heed seriously. They are quite knowledgable and will very often work only with reputable agents.

One reason they do that is because they have been burned before when they booked the entertainment directly. I'm not suggesting for a moment that there are not a lot of terrific acts available. But, there are also some who are less than stellar.

When one of these "marginal" acts gets a call from a buyer, do you think they'll say, "Well, Im not all that good and may not be the best bet for your importatnt corporate event. So, would like to book me?" No, of course not!. They're going to tell them everything they want to hear in order to try and get that gig.


And of course if the unsuspecting talent buyer books them, they can't sink low enough in their chairs once the guy begins his "show." You know who I mean. The guy who shows up in a 1978 K-Car with no front bumper, one functioning headlight and a windshield so cracked you couldn't see Pavarotti through it. He stumbles into the banquet room, in the middle of dinner of course, and begins setting up his props. There will be the prerequisite chipped red boxes with dragons painted on the side (regular boxes of course because he'll tell them that) and the filthy silks worn so thin you can see your uncle Harry through them.

When he's finished he proudly stands there in his threadbare fortrell tuxedo, scuffed shoes, gym socks, pants above the ankles becasue he's gained 40 pounds, tux shirt with the buttons popping and frills so big they slap him silly in a five mile an hour wind, and a velevet bow tie the size of a friggin' meat platter! That is why talent buyers are sometimes a bit reluctant to book direct.

My point is, if you have the opportunity to work with reputable agents, take it. They can bring you a lot of work you might otherwise never even be aware of let alone book yourself.

So are you saying just work with event planners/agents and have my brochure copy directed toward them?

Seems that if the buyer wants to see some material of the entertainer he would read copy directed toward the event planer/agent and not his company.

Wouldn’t it be better to have material aim toward companies that the event planer/agent can keep on hand?

This way the event planer/agent will have material of your program and still can hand out your brochure to companies that are written toward them if asked.

Am I thinking correctly?

Ray

Actually, Ray, I have both. I do so because I not only work with agents, but also book myself.

The promo that the agents have is what is commonly called "agent friendly." What that means is that the promo is identical in every way to what I have, with the only difference being the agents contact information is on it instead of mine. This way an agent can freely send out to prospective clients the written material, DVD's and even send them to my "agent friendly" website. Agents like this!

The easier you make it for reputable agents to book you, the better chance you will get booked.

One other point. I charge exactly the same fee whether I book it myself or an agent books me. Agents like this! It's consistent pricing and it makes it easy for them to sell your act. I could never understand why someone would want to lower their price just because someone is booking them direct. If an agent can get my full fee plus expenses for my show, then I should be able to as well. And I do.

Doug the agents do not want to compete with you, when booking you. IF the price is the same, that is why they like it. Yep great advice.

You will have to target agents and plannes spacifically. They will tell you what they need when they decide to use you.

One note that is quite important to note. If you do book yourself on occasion remember this. When an agent books you on a gig, and someone wants to use you for another gig, the agent gets the referal. ALWAYS. At least that is what they expect. Let them book that next gig.

Many guys get greedy and miss this point. It really will hurt you bad if you don't do it.

Thanks for writing Doug,
I was just thinking of having the brochures printed with a blank space for the contact information. This way I can print stickers with my contact information and place the sticker in the blank space. The agent can also use the blank space for their contact information.

This way it will save money on printing.

So, I should direct my copy toward companies?


Ray

That's a great, great, point, Danny! For ALL gigs you do for an agent, if there is any spin-off work that comes from it, refer it back to the original agent that put you in there in the first place. It's the right thing and the ethical thing to do. That is a primary reason there is so much mistrust between agents and performers.

And for you guys out there who think you can get away with it, you can't! You might for a while, you might for along while, but you will get caught eventually. And then guess what? The agent no longer trusts you and you go to the bottom of his call list if not off it all together. How much money are you saving then, Sport?

Be watchful of the event planners. I recently and probably still am dealing with one on a nightclub gig. The owner is from Vegas and opened up a new nightspot here. He found me through his PR man (who went through the event planner). After the initial gig, the owner wants me to work regularly and the event planner wants to be a part of the action. Its been a royal pain but I think the sky is clearing.

Don't get me wrong, if an event planner regularly books you, that is great. But this particular one called a magician friend of mine who doesn't perform mentalism.
The owner specifically requested mentalism strolling. My friend is the actual one who referred me. No other bookings have yet to come in from this particular agent.

Thought I would throw my 2 cents in here...

I have found that directly marketing to companies is more beneficial.

If a company contacts an event planner for entertainment, you may or may not get pitched for the gig. How will you know? By contacting companies directly, you are 100% positive that your information is crossing the desk of qualified prospects. Note I said QUALIFIED prospects. It's important to find out the specific name of the person with each company that you intend on marketing to in order to address the brochure directly to that person for maximimum ROI.

By doing this your information gets exposed to decision makers that may not even think of using an event planner for their events. It makes them think in an entertainment direction that they may not have even thought of before! "Wow! A magician - that's a cool idea!"

By developing relationships with companies in this manner, I have established clients that have booked me 2-4 times per year for the past 10 years! So the suggestion above that you'll only get one show by marketing directly to companies is not really accurate unless the act they book is sub-standard and sours them on booking you again. With proper nuturing of the client and having a show that is corporate quality - you practically guarantee yourself more work!

Does it cost more to market directly to companies? Absolutely! Will you get more gigs by doing so? Absolutely!

***************************************
A thought for the road: An entertainment agent, a magician, and a juggler were gathered by a coffin containing the body of an old mutual friend. In his grief, one of the three said, "In my family, we have a custom of giving the dead some money, so they'll have something to spend in the after life." They all agreed that this was appropriate. The magician dropped a hundred dollar bill into the casket and the juggler did the same. The agent took out the bills put them in his wallet and wrote a check for $300...





Lyndel

Lyndel,
Most excellent post, dude.

There are countless ways to market yourself and I believe all posts above are right. It boils down to each entertainer to find the best method that fits his or her style.

This thread has been informative and I thank everyone so far that has posted their thoughts on this matter.

Ray Noble

Lyndel, I will agree it costs far more to market directly to companies.

BUT consider this, once you have yourself busy as you want to be, then who does the marketing while your doing the shows?

You don't necessarily get more gigs by doing the marketing yourself. You do and that is great, but it is not really a rule.

Like I said how do you market while your on the road?

Danny,

Good question! But you answered it yourself... I am as busy as I want to be - That's how I do it... In other words, I balance shows with time for marketing. It also helps a great deal that I enjoy marketing and advertising almost as much as magic.

If one is going to do this magic thing full time, I think that's a good combination!

By nature, I'm an A Type personality and find myself being pro active. I am constantly networking and shopping for a new client. It scares me to death to put my trust & monthly bills soley into the hands of an agent in hopes they'll pitch me enough to their clients for me to pay my bills. I tried that a little bit early on in my magic career and almost starved!

I know full time guys who rely soley on agents and that works for them, but instead of waiting for my phone to ring, I find it more productive (and fun) to spend my down time marketing!

Oh, and in answer to your question about marketing while on the road... Easy, I just carry a laptop and some promo DVD's with me and pop into a Kinkos if an inquiry comes in - and in no time, the iquiring client has my materials in front of them! Sometimes, after a gig, instead of sitting in front of the TV or swimming in the hotel pool, I'll be busy stamping / addressing brochures, making phone calls on my cell, or designing new flyers or promotional pieces on the laptop.

Having said all this, I'm not totally against agents mind you... I just depend on myself a great deal more than I depend on anyone else! Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself."


Lyndel