Thursday, September 22, 2011

Get Gigs & Keep Clients



One side of a professional magician is the business side of things. And one of the smartest business decision I ever made was to admit to myself that I suck at doing business. So I outsourced my business and got me a manager. And by that I mean my gf took over and does all the scheduling and pricing.
But not everyone is so smart. And some might actually have business skills and even like doing that. Learning about how to get gig and how to talk to clients and how to get higher fees for your work is information that doesn't fall from the sky. You can get books on how to create promotion material and how to cold call businesses offering your magic service. But you still need to find out how to apply all this available knowledge to magic.
This work has been done before so one would be stupid not to benefit from it.

A few weeks ago Theory 11 started "The Wire" a marketplace where magic creators can sell their stuff. Theory 11 takes 40% of the sales. Which is a huge amount. But that shall be discussed later. In the General Magic section an eBook is sold. "Get Gigs & Keep Clients" The author: William Draven. He is no stranger to this blog. In fact he used to be a Weekly Magic Failure for exposure. Since then he has evolved a lot. To a point where he actually knows what he is talking about.

A few weeks ago he approached me, asking me if I review books. I told him that yes I would, if I can be totally honest about it. So he send me the eBook that is now sold for 24.95 dollars via "The Wire".

I read it. I read the whole darn thing. And I hate it. I totally hate it, yet I ask you to get this!

Here is why. Basically this book tells me all the things I am doing wrong on the business side of things. Now I need to change my business cards, because they contain my address and all of that shit.

Also the book tells you in a very unflattering way to become a telemarketer and to cold call businesses to offer your service. It tells you how to avoid talking to the wrong people and how to get and talk to the right people.

The book is very upfront that way and gets to the point quickly. The whole book is constantly telling you not to think like a magician, but like a business man. And I hate that. But I see the necessity in that. If you wanna be a professional magician, that means making money with what you like doing most, you gotta do something that your probably won't like doing at all.

It sucks all the fun out of the magic in a way. But I have no doubt that the techniques offered in this book (85 whooping pages) will make you a more successful magician in the long run.

Sadly very few will actually buy the book. Hell, if I hadn't got the book for free I wouldn't have got it. And sadly "The Wire" is probably be the worst place for this valuable information. For a few reasons. First: It's a book. "The Wire" consumers don't read books. They want it all in nice video chunks. Second: It's theory. There is no new gimmick offered. No magicians fooler. Not even pretty pictures (OK, a few) Third: It's not about magic. It's about magic business. Now think about it. Who in the right mind will want that...

Well only who is "in the right mind". So I do something that I rarely do here on my blog. I am telling you to get this book. I am telling you to read it and to apply this to your professional business.

I don't get paid and yet I am endorsing this product. I am actively telling you to get this book from a guy whom I introduced to you with the following lines: "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck you. Really, Fuck you Wayne Phelps, aka William Draven. Fuck you and your greasy hairdo."

The book is that good.

No comments: