Articles - Page 2 of 3 - How To Be A Professional Magician

Magic Theory & Presentation – Video Business Lesson

7 May 2020

In this business lesson we cover the subject of magic theory, and the presentation of your magic.

This is important because you need to make sure that people enjoy seeing your magic, because then they will want to book you to entertain at their events or recommend your services to other people.

Before you can perform strong memorable magic you need to introduce yourself to the guests and build rapport. Once you have established rapport and shown some fun and interactive magic you can then perform the magic that will create the long lasting memories of your performance.

Sales Process – Video Business Lesson

6 May 2020

In this business lesson we cover the subject of sales processes. This is the most famous sales process of them all – A. B. C.

If you have worked in sales (or seen the film Glenngary Glen Ross) it’s likely that you will have heard of this acronym before. It stands for Always Be Closing.

We discuss what this means, and how you can use it not only to move conversations forwards, but also in a way to generate interest and enquiries in your magic services.

Brand Awareness – Video Business Lesson

5 May 2020

In this business lesson we cover the subject of branding yourself, and creating brand awareness.

Before you even start to think about ways to market your magic business you need to develop your brand. It is important that your brand is unique and stands out against others, so don’t just copy another magician’s style.

Your brand doesn’t need a logo, simply deciding on what fonts and colours you will use is enough to get started, and it can develop as times goes on and your business evolves.

Ensure that you come across as an expert, and that your branding looks professional and conveys the style for the type of events you want to be working at.

Use your brand consistently in all your marketing, that way it will build the awareness with the audience; meaning that they will have familiarity with you when it comes to deciding which magician they want to book.

Wedding Fairs – Video Business Lesson

4 May 2020

In this business lesson we cover the subject of wedding fairs.

Wedding fairs are a great way to meet brides and grooms, show them a demonstration of your magic and discuss how you can entertain them and their guests on their wedding day.

We look at the types of wedding fair and how you can choose the best one for you to attend. What you need, and what you should do whilst you are there. Most importantly, we discuss what information you need to collect from the bride and groom, and how to use that information to follow up afterwards to increase the chances of you getting booked.

New YouTube How To Be A Professional Magician Videos

29 April 2020

I’m currently producing a range of How To Be A Professional Magician videos for the YouTube channels.

Each video is about 5 minutes long and is crammed with bite-sized actionable content to get you started. They are no fuss and throw you in at the deep end. No waffling, and no excuses for you not to take action right away!

Check out the videos already available, and subscribe to the YouTube channel to get updated as soon as new ones are released.

Click: The How To Be A Professional Magician YouTube Channel

Learning more

The How To Be A Professional Magician Courses cover everything you need to know to set up a business as a professional magician. The Full Course contains all the information (as well as 30 minute Skype consultation to help you get your business launched), and the abridged courses also cover business set-up.

What is a Professional Magician?

2 March 2016

By definition a professional magician is someone makes their living performing magic. However, there’s more to it than that, a magician must also act professional, and be perceived as professional.

If you have tooth-ache you want to see a professional dentist, someone who has training, experience, the right tools for the job and a clean and hygienic room to operate in. You shouldn’t trust a dentist that doesn’t fulfil all these criteria.

Say you drive a nice car and the clutch goes on it, you could spend a weekend with a friend who has some tools attempting to jack up the car on your driveway, but it’s more likely you’ll take it to a qualified mechanic.

People are willing to pay for a professional service

From the first instant a potential client comes into contact with you, you must have an air of professionalism that gives people the confidence to book you.

The professionalism comes across as your tricks, props, patter, website, pictures, videos and marketing materials.

(The How To Be A Professional Magician courses cover all of this, and more!)

Being a full-time professional magician gives you freedom

You are your own boss, and you control your destiny.

Monday to Friday is not spent commuting in rush hour, to work for someone else. A professional magician with a smartphone can run the admin side of their business from anywhere. I have successfully operated the “business end” of my business whilst on a cruise-ship for ten days, only using my mobile for brief internet access when in port.

It does take hard work to set systems up and create the professional act, but once done you are only limited to the times and places you book into your diary.

You have direct control of your income too. Once you get established and your marketing is bringing in a constant flow of enquiries you can book as many, or as few, bookings as you wish.

Being a professional magician is a lifestyle career.

You still have to turn up and provide the shows; but you decide which ones you take, how much you charge, where they are, and when you do them.

Does this sound better than spending 40 hours a week in an office, directly trading your time for money, and ultimately using your skills, talents and resources (time is a resource, and you only have so much of it) to make money for someone else?

If you are going to make some changes to your life, or embark on a big project (such as becoming a professional magician) then you are going to be going outside your comfort zone. It won’t be easy.

Being successful has requirements, often taking you outside of your comfort zone

So now you know the advantages to being a professional magician, and why to need to act like a professional magician.

This article is a based on a lesson in the “Turning Professional” section of the How To Be A Professional Magician course, as well as the abridged versions

Learning more

Reply to Enquiries Quickly

18 June 2015

A quick top tip. It sounds obvious, in fact, I’m sure most people (and not just magicians) will say they do this, but I’ll say it anyway:

Reply to Enquiries Quickly!!!

Here’s a quick example. I have a few suits that need some adjustments, so thought I’d see if I could find a local tailor or seamstress. I did a quick search an online business directory.

One didn’t have a website/email and when I called sounded dis-interested and gave me the bare-minimum of information (even when I asked), another had a nice website but I’ve yet to have a response to the enquiry I sent 48 hours ago.

I’ve had similar response (or lack of!) over the years from other small businesses. It’s crazy that people will pay for advertising, and do little when an enquiry comes in, then no doubt moan that they don’t get business.

In the modern world we expect results quickly – Google can return answers to the most bizarre questions in just a fraction of a second. If someone sends an email they expect the recipient will receive it within a few minutes; and to reply within an hour or two – not days!

I have often got a booking because I was the first magician they called who’s phone didn’t divert to voicemail, or because I was the first to reply to the batch of emails they sent out.

I would hope that none of the magicians reading this would let their hard won enquiries sit idle, but I recommend having a quick look through your email inbox just to make sure!

Learning more

Making Your Magic Brand Stand Out

6 June 2015

Making your magic brand and finding your style is half the battle when it comes to unique marketing and standing out from your competitors. When most people think of branding they think of a company’s logo, but there’s more to it than that.

If you haven’t already, read the lesson on branding. Here are a few points to take in now.

Don’t Copy Your Favourite Magician

It’s one thing to be influenced by a magician, but it’s another to copy them. When David Blaine became popular many magicians suddenly became ‘street magicians’, when Derren Brown became popular magicians became mindreaders, and then there were the Dynamo clones!

Be yourself and let your personal style bloom.

If you are serious about being a professional magician and earning money form performing magic then make sure you come across as being friendly and personable.

Magic for all Occasions

You’ll likely be willing to work at any event; weddings, birthdays, Christmas parties, corporate events and exhibitions; and no doubt your magic will be suited to any of them. However, simply saying you will work at “all occasions” does not come across well to a potential booker.

If you perform both children’s and adults magic then separate websites are a must. Make it clear what you do.

Logos Aren’t Everything

Brand logos that are instantly recognisable

Try to come up with a brand that reflects what you do and your performing style. It doesn’t have to be a traditional logo, but your stage name written in a suitable font, and in appropriate colours.

A children’s entertainer should use bold fonts and primary colours with an appropriate name, a corporate mind-reader will want a more conservative style.

Use Your Brand Consistently

Once you have developed your brand use it consistently on all your marketing mediums.

The idea is to build a feeling of consistency that gives clients the feel of familiarity. For example, Coca Cola is immediately recognisable by the style of writing and colours, regardless of the words, or even language, used.

Market Yourself Properly

It’s one thing having a brand, but it’s quite another to market it properly, and unfortunately this can cost money. But, without this investment you won’t be able to get your brand out there, at least not as quickly as you need if you are looking to turn professional.

Use your marketing to put your brand in front of people and explain to them what service you offer, and why that’s beneficial to them. They may not need you straight away, but when they do and your brand shows on an internet search they will already have a familiarity with you.

This article is a summary of the Creating a Brand Lessons in the Full Course, and also covered in the abridged versions.

Learning more

Wedding Fair Advice for Magicians

5 June 2015

Good marketing involves combining a range of methods to generate booking enquiries. One of these methods I find best is attending weddings fairs – during 2013 and 2014 I averaged 19 wedding fairs per year – and it’s this subject I get asked about most. Therefore, here’s my wedding fair advice for magicians:

What is Wedding Fair?

Wedding fairs are either arranged by a venue themselves, or hired out by a wedding fair organiser. From the venue’s point of veiw they can showcase themselves directly to newly engaged couples looking for somewhere to hold their wedding. Often they will dress a room to illustrate how it would look at a wedding

Wedding Suppliers

As well as seeing the venue, it’s also an opportunity for brides and grooms to meet with other suppliers in the wedding industry and discuss their requirements. This can include photographers, cake makers, wedding dress makers and entertainment.

It’s a good idea to be friendly with the other suppliers there, show them a trick and swap contact details. They are also in the wedding business and it’s possible one of their clients may be looking for entertainment and they can recommend you.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better!

When booking a wedding fair an organiser will often tell you how busy previous fairs have been and roughly how many brides to expect. I try to aim for shows that have around 100-150 brides. Only a small percentage of weddings in the UK have a magician so you need enough traffic through to increase the chances of you generating a booking, but if it’s too busy you just aren’t going to be able to speak to everyone and many will walk by. Often these larger shows are more expensive, so why pay extra to speak to the same number of people?

Have a Proper Wedding Fair Stand

Invest in a roller-banner stand that is about 2.5 foot wide and 7 foot high. These have come down in price massively over the last few years and can be bought quite cheaply via such sources as eBay. You may need to pay a little extra for design work, but hopefully you will have a brand and graphics brief so creating the proof should be quite cheap.

Also have some printed marketing material (even if just a postcard, flyer or simple brochure) to give people, and prettying up the table with a magic themed display is a good.

You want to give the impression you are an established professional business, I’ve seen exhibitors (both magicians, and other services) arrive with nothing more than a box of business cards, and this does not promote that image.

And Stay There!

On occasion it has been suggested to me that I mingle around the exhibition in much the same way as I would at a real wedding. Don’t do it! This isn’t a wedding, it’s a wedding fair. You aren’t getting paid to entertain, you are paying to generate business.

If people are walking about they are probably thinking about another stand at the time, and if they are interested in your service then you won’t have any of your marketing materials on hand to give them.

Where to Stand?

You are the product, therefore you need to be the most prominent attraction on the stand. I always move the table back (this means I then have no space to sit behind the table) so I can stand in front of it and interact with people more easily.

It could be argued that others spend the day sat down behind their table, so why not you? Well, those people are selling their products, so they are displaying them prominently. This could be wedding cakes, photographs or suits.

By standing in front of your stand makes it easier to stop people and ask them if they want to see a trick. Not many people will see that you are magician and approach you to request a demonstration, you need to initiate the conversation. This is after all what you would be doing at a wedding, so do it!

Give a Good Demonstration

Once someone has a hint of being interested launch into a trick. This should be a good example of what you would do at a wedding, though you may want to adjust the patter a little to account of the situation.

It goes without say it needs to be a strong trick, and one that is entertaining. Don’t try and go through your whole repertoire. And don’t be afraid to repeat the same trick to every couple you speak to.

Sell the Problem, Not the Service

Even with a good trick it’s unlikely a bride and groom will know exactly why they should book you. People rarely go to wedding fairs expecting to see a magician, or even know why they’d want to book one.

Once the trick is over explain how you would fit into their wedding.

Note how I said explain how you’d fit into their wedding, not a wedding. Help people visualise you at their wedding.

Follow Up

Make sure you get the contact details of the bride and groom, and the location and date of their wedding (if known). A day or two afterwards send an email summarising your conversation, and remind them how to book. Some people do require a poke, remember they’ve been speaking to all the other suppliers at the wedding fair and that’s a lot of information to absorb in a short time.

A booking isn’t a booking until it’s confirmed. Someone saying they’d “love to book you” can be true, but it can also be a polite way to gently close a conversation. This is why following up is so important.

The subject of wedding fairs is huge and is covered in much more detail in the Full Course, as well as in the Wedding and Party Magician course.

Learning more

Networking Groups for Magicians

17 May 2015

I was recently asked about networking group; and BNI networking in particular, which meet once a week (usually early in the morning) so members can refer business opportunities to each other. It costs around £600 for membership for a year, plus around £10/15 per meeting to cover your breakfast. So call that about £1,200 per year. Is it worth it?

Is joining BNI worth it for magicians?

I was a member of a BNI group. I did get business from the group (and business off the back of that) which did cover my costs, but worked out that it was not enough to make it worth continuing.

If you’re a local printer and can knock out small batches of business cards for the local start-ups then you’re on a winner, but for other services I’m not sure of it’s value.

Is networking worth it for professional magicians?

Actually, it did open my network up and put me in contact with people who’s services I have used. As I had only moved into the area a year or so prior it did have it’s uses, but in hindsight I do wish I’d allocated my time and money elsewhere.

I have heard some real horror stories about networking groups though, but these are probably from people that just think you rock up and expect that you are just handed business. It is a two-way street, and you do need to put work and effort in to generate leads I know some magician (particularly in the corporate sector), who pretty much use networking to generate a large percentage of their new business.

Most groups will let you visit once or twice for free (you’ll probably still need to pay for your food though) before you need to pay to join, and it’s possible that if you do a good enough job of making yourself memorable you may be able to make some contacts who can pass business your way.

There is a full lesson on getting the most from networking groups in the Sales and Marketing section of the full course, and it is included in some of the abridged courses.