Commanding Higher Fees

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In the January 2020 issue of Magicseen I have written a piece on how to go about deciding on the right fees for your shows.

It’s a common worry, especially for those new to paid work, about where to pitch their fees. They don’t want to charge too much, but by the same token nor do they probably want to ask for too little, and finding the right balance and assessing one’s personal value as a performer is a challenging task.

In David Regal’s excellent book Interpreting Magic, there is a quote from Derren Brown on this subject. Derren was reflecting on how as a jobbing close up performer in Bristol, he was commanding £300 fees. Yet the moment that he was seen on TV, his agent hiked his charges up to £3000 per show—overnight! Continue reading “Commanding Higher Fees”

Online Marketing Checklist

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I belong to a business network organisation which is nothing do with magic as such, but which is a brilliant way for me to mix with local businesses in order to promote my corporate work and to learn more about what the challenges are facing those in business generally.

At each monthly lunch meeting, one of the members will get up and do a 10 minute presentation on a subject related to their business or expertise, and recently I saw an excellent talk by David Graves of GWS Media, a company which deals in website design and marketing.

David provided a 10 point checklist of things to help your online marketing, and it was so useful that I thought I would pass a summary of it on to you now. Continue reading “Online Marketing Checklist”

Never Let The Truth Get In The Way

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Justin had worked for the Rip Off Magic Company for many years. Joining as a warehouse box packer in his late teens, he had now been at the company for over 20 years and had worked his way up to his current position of Marketing Manager.

His job was, on the face of it, a straightforward one. Every new product that came in simply had to be presented to the customers in the best possible light with its strengths accentuated and any weaknesses ignored or swept under the marketing carpet. And with both text and video at his disposal, Justin had turned his publicity virtually into an artform. Continue reading “Never Let The Truth Get In The Way”

5 Reasons Why Your Bookings May Be Down

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I don’t know whether it is a coincidence, but over the last 6 months or so I have had conversations with a number of magicians who have been bemoaning the fact that the number of shows they are doing these days is less than they have had in previous years.

Often these magicians seem surprised at the downturn and have attempted to either come to terms with the new reality, or have wanted to understand what is causing the reduction in bookings in order to try and arrest the decline.

Continue reading “5 Reasons Why Your Bookings May Be Down”

Advertising – The Importance Of Who Says What And How Often They Say It

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Einstein said, “Insanity is doing exactly the same thing again and again and expecting to get a different result!” Actually, he didn’t really say that, but for some reason it is attributed to him. I suppose whoever did express the idea originally thought it would carry more weight if it appeared to come from a genius such as Einstein.

This does, however, throw up two interesting thoughts. The first is whether the saying itself is actually true, and the second is whether statements or ideas carry more or less weight and validity, depending on who expresses them.

Continue reading “Advertising – The Importance Of Who Says What And How Often They Say It”