Hey Y'all!

I'm planning to go semi-pro this summer. AND I need some advice! I'm in high school, and I want this to be my source of income, and I also want to earn some money for college.

Could any of you reccomend any good (cheap) books or websites on the business of magic?

If y'all don't mind reading it, here's an outline of what I would be trying to do. PLEASE correct it as you see fit if you want to!

- Venues
Street magic and Birthday Parties would be my main venues. Also community centers.

- Length of program
30 minutes for a birthday party
45 minutes for a community center
10-15 minutes for the street shows

- Fees

$100 for a 30 minute birthday party of up to 30 people in the audiance. $25 for each additional 10 persons.

$125 for a 45 minute community center show of up to 40 people, $25 for each additional 10 persons.

Whatever I get doing my street magic!
What does everyone think of the "each additional 10 persons" idea? Is this stupid?
Or not?

- Advertising

Run ads in the local pennysaver, post ads on magic websites, put ads up at community bulliten boards.

- Contracts...or Terms of Service
Oh yeah, by all means!
Have a contract stating:
The date, time, fee, length of show, number and AGES of kids (no shows for kids under five), a 20% deposit to reserve the date, cancellations made at least two weeks in advance will be refunded 50%, after two weeks, no refund. If I can't make the show due to illness or an emergency, I don't owe the client a thing. (I've been reading Great Scott's "Pro Files"!).
If for some reason performance conditions make it impossable to perform, I don't do the gig, and I get the full payment.
Also, from Great Scott's "Pro Files", the time that your show starts. If this time is not met (within a margin of about 15 minutes or so), then there would be a fee for each additional 15 minutes. Great idea, Great Scott!

- Selling my shows via the phone....I need some help here! I'm not exactly sure how to do it! When do I state my rates. AND DO I CALL PEOPLE UP, OR DO I WAIT FOR MY ADS TO TAKE EFFECT AND THEM TO CALL ME???????? That's what I really need to know.

Thanks in advance everyone!!!!!

5150,
Bird Brain
PS. I'm going to try to be at that business chat on Monday!

Our very own "Great-Scott" Guinn and his "Pro-Files" is an excellent source of information and insight into the Marketing Mind.

Also, if you have not yet done so... SIGN-UP for "Magic Coach!" an absolutely FREE, in your e-mail box, marketing newsletter. Sign-up at: MagicCoach.com

The "Millionaire magician" has a FREE 7-day course that you can sign-up for at his site: http://www.MillionaireMagician.com and his site is the single MOST "knocked-off web-form on the internet" having to do with marketing for magicians. There IS a reason for that... have a look for yourself! A lesson in marketing all by itself! straight from the mouth of SUCCESS! Kinda' hard to argue with THAT, isn't it?

And of-course, the KING of "Outrageous Marketing for Magicians" [and our very special Guest on Monday Nights Magic Marketing Chat] Millard Grubb has soooo much to offer on the topic... http://www.OutrageousMarketing.com

Also, have a look at Dave Dee's new "Marketing Center for Magicians" located at DaveDee.com. Yes, there is stuff for sale there, but there is also at-least 5 or 6 FREE articles on the subject of "Marketing" and free newsletter that you can subscribe-to! {I also RECOMMEND that you DO-SO!]

YES, It's TRUE that there is a "barrage" of new, "Super-Marketing" manuscripts, systems and videos on the "marketing" from a plethora of "self-proclaimed" gurus touting their rags to riches stories in all manner and aspects of magic for your consideration. {and hard-earned money] As a full-time performer, [for over 25 years... ok, yeah, I'm old!] and one who has been super "Blessed" in this amazing business of show, we have pain-stakingly put-together a FREE On-Line Marketing Solutions Forum as my small way of "giving-back" complete with LINKS, reviews, critiques, free articles, chats and so much more, so that you can weed-through the cornucopia of information out there.

It's absolutely FREE, [Has been for almost 20 years and always will be!] and you have nothing to loose by haven't a look around. Find it at: http://www.TheDean.net/business.htm ...ENJOY!

These are just a FEW, but there is a more COMPLETE offering of more free on-line resources at "The Dean's List!" so no-need to worry about not having enough great marketing information! It should keep you busy for the next few YEARS... over 35,000 links and resources for your thoughtful consideration!

I hope this helps give you a start....

If there is anything else we can do to support you and our dreams, feel free to let us know!

I am, as always, at your service,
TheDean - Rev Dean Hankey

Go to your local super bookstore and purchase books from Jay Conrad Levinson on Guerrilla Marketing. His books are the best and they apply to any business.

Check out the Magic Coach, as Dean recommends.
I've found a wealth of information there.
And, before you ask, no, I don't not have any connection with the business, the site or Dean Hankey.
It's just one of the great deals in magic!
cheers,
Peter Marucci
showtimecol@aol.com

So Peter, I shouldn't mention that we are
Brothers from Another Mother"?

snicker*snicker

I am at your service,
Dean

cheers,
Peter Marucci
showtimecol@aol.com

Hi, Bird Brain.

Off the top of my head and in no particular order:

Church bulletins

Free shows at mall with a sign; "Take a (business)card to make your next B'day party a hit"

Flyer neighborhoods

Work out something with a few B'day cake bakers -- how can you help their business if they help yours?

If you like http://www.millionaire... try http://www.sitesell.com . I suspect that's where Randy's site started. (Not that I know).

Ask at your local magic shop how others are making a go of it

Concerning phone sales, I'm not sure who you would be calling. Discussing money doesn't have to be an uncomfortable situation. Q: How much do you charge? A: Well, I can answer that in one of two ways. Tell me your budget and I'll tell you what I can accomplish within that or how long a program are you looking for

or

I offer several packages that might include the cake, entertainment, music, toys and magic sets that are given to the kids.... you get the idea.

Thank you all very much for the advice!
I really appreciate it! I'll be sure to thank the Magic Cafe from national TV....LOL!

Some things have been shifting around in my brain (uh, oh, what WAS that clunking sound?), and I'm not sure WHAT I'm gonna do right now...I might go to restaurants instead of stage shows....I was looking into colleges today, and it looks like I'm gonna need to do something in the way of a job. So, who knows what's gonna happen!

Thanks again for the kind advice! Y'all are great!

I felt my ears burning
dropped in at the cafe
and found you had been talking about the MagicCoach project.

Thanks for your nice comments.

Bird Brain
If you visit the site
http://www.magiccoach.com
you'll find the Resource Pages, Bookshop
and Archive section.

We are working on our 100th issue
over the next week or so that will go out
to over 2500 enthusiastic independent performers just like you.

You will find that the Archive Section of old issues has some Offline
at the moment as we are working on a Archive ebook.
We are revising, editing, updating and expanding on all the
old articles. I hope to have that finished in the next few weeks.
But I keep getting last minute bookings which is throwing the
schedule out of whack.

If you really need a bunch of great ideas Dave Dees newsletter
collection that has just come out is a stuffed full of ideas at a very
good price. It’s much cheaper than his full course. I have been reading
it again in the last few days.
http://www.marketerschoice.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=27843

Someone else mentioned the SiteSell product. There is a new edition
of this out now, Make Your Site Sell 2002. This is an incredible
resource, very reasonably priced.

But I’m not sure BirdBrain, if you have a website or not.

If you do, Ken shows you how to tweak a site so that it gets more
traffic and how to get people to buy your services from it.
I think you can still download a huge chunk of the book for
free. A lot of the success of the growth of magicCoach is based
on ideas in this book
http://www.sitesell.com/magic5.html

Someone else mentioned the Guerilla Marketing books.
I heartily agree but also suggest you check out your library
as they are often available there.

You know, if I was starting out again and didn’t have any cash for
advertising, but needed to get money fast and the lead time was short
I would target the party supply stores.
The ones who sell paper plates and decorations etc
to people who are having a children’s or family party. They would
probably be buying these one or two weeks before the date. Perfect .

Get a small flyer made up that both describes what you do
and includes a discount voucher. I can’t guide you on the amounts
( it’s called price fixing where I came from) but it should look
pretty good on paper. $20 off ?

Go to the shop with a mock-up of the flyer. Ask them if they would
be interested in putting one in each shopping bag of their customers.

Offer to pay them X dollars for every show that gets booked.

Hmm. Two questions. Are they going to trust you?. How do they
know you are any good?

Offer to do a free show at the store on the following weekend
or offer a free show that they give away as a prize.
This of course is a huge success and the ball is rolling
You don’t even need to get a huge run of printing done.
Just a bunch to get them going and the first show you get
booked will pay for a big run.

If you march in on Monday morning with $20 or $50
that goes straight in their pocket I’m sure they keep handing them out.

If you target different shops make sure you show them how
the Voucher has their Specific shop name on it so you know where
the work comes from.

The other option is to ask if you could just put a poster up
in return for a free show. This will also generate work
and is hardly any trouble for the shop owner.

I would suggest getting this done well.
Use the great Paul Osbourne idea and approach a High School
art department. They will sometimes do these as a project or
get one of the talented students to do it.

There’s a couple of ideas for you.

There have been many many people
who have paid their way through college
by performing magic part time.
Some have gone on to have great careers as lawyers and
bankers, accountants and all other manner of jobs, all funded by their performances.

And then there are the others,
who find they can’t stop once they graduate
and the performing takes over.

It all depends if you have the brain
of an Golden Eagle or a Turkey.

I'm sure you'll have an exciting summer

cheers

Timothy Hyde
http://www.magiccoach.com