Here's the next installment of my Essays on how to get get gigs and keep clients. This chapter is a long one so please bare with me. It spans over seven pages on my word program, which will probably be about 6 posts here. I hope you'll find the information useful.
Chapter 4: Marketing: Booking the Gig
So you’ve done your homework, got your marketing materials all prepaired, know who your contact is, and you’re ready for the big interview. This folks is where the rubber meets the road. You’re goal is to have one more gig than you started with when you walk out your front door. In this chapter I’ll talk about what you should do to actually book the gig itself. We’ll discuss prices, contracts, selling points, and personal hygiene.
Yes, I said it. Personal hygiene. This may seem like a really common sense thing to do but I’m going to throw this out there anyways. When you meet with your client to do the interview and 5 minute audition you want to look, and smell your best. Brush your teeth, take a shower, use deodorant, cologne, and make sure your cloths are neat and pressed. Also the single most important thing for all magicians to keep maintained well is your finger nails! Keep them neatly trimmed, clean, and filed. Keep the cuticles pushed back. Don't bite, or rip them. Get in the habit of keeping a nail file and clippers in your magic kit. If you can afford it, have your nails professionally done once a month You want to dress business casual, to business professional. This means jeans and a T-shirt with your favorite band logo on it is right out. A mentor of mine once told me that: “When you perform you want to be the best dressed person in the place.” In reality what he means is you want to stand out from everyone else so you can be easily identified. Business Casual is usually cackies or slacks, and a polo T shirt. Maybe a button down shirt. If you don’t wear a tie, leave the top collar button and the one below it undone. Tuck in, unless you have a neutral solid color shirt under it. If you leave it un-tucked, keep the shirt unbuttoned completely. Turtle necks are also okay if worn with a blazer. Business Professional is suit and tie. This is where your homework on the venue will pay off. You want to dress somewhat appropriate for the business your going into. If you are doing a restaurant then business casual is fine, but if you are meeting with the CEO and his Event Planner for their Christmas party, then you may want to consider the suit and tie route.
Performance Characters: If you perform magic as a specific character I do not advise showing up to the gig for your meeting dressed to the nines in your character outfit. It really puts you at an odd angle when trying to convince these business owners that you are a serious act. As some of you may have realized, “William Draven” isn’t my real name. It’s a stage persona. I perform as a dark, serious, character with the occasional joke and a taste for performing Freak magic. My dress attire is what you see in my profile picture. Neo-Edwardian Goth. I’ve experimented with showing up in character and in a suit before. The ones I was in character at didn’t respond nearly as well as the ones when I was in a suit. Just incase your curious, my suit is all black with a blood red tie. I maintain a hint of my character but don’t compromise the business professional standards. If you perform as a character you may want to ask yourself “Is this character appropriate for the type of venue I want to perform in?” If the answer is no, you may want to pitch the decision maker on a more neutral act. Or better yet, give them a choice! Decision makers love choices. As a final bit of advice here, I would show them a picture or promo shot of you performing as your character. (Remember talking about all those cool marketing materials?) I would ask them for their feelings on weather or not you should bring that specific character into their venue. You never know! I’ve had restaurants before who are –very- kid friendly encourage Dravens’ persona and the parents loved it! It would never have been something I would have risked as a professional on my own.
For those of you who love the gorilla style close up magic made famous by David Blaine that is often referred to now as “street magic” I want to take a moment to talk to you directly. I know that when you are on the street jeans, and a t-shirt are ideal. You blend in well, and they never see it coming. It’s often what you have when you go to school. Unless you have a uniform and if that is the case I’m sorry. No one wears a suit when they hang with their buds, so that’s completely understandable. What is worse is companies are now making magical props (such as the change hat) to help fit that image. I understand being cool, unique and original, I encourage it! But in a professional setting it just doesn’t fly. Until you get major credits under you, have clients begging you for your time, and are having serious trouble trying to decide which gig you should take on any given weekend, you can’t afford to be so relaxed on your image. The things you do when you perform are miracles that your audience should have no doubt in their mind that they can’t do. You are a superman, superhero, or a god among men. That is a bit of an exaggeration I know, but in the very least you are special. Because of this, you need to dress special. You need to look slightly different than everyone else in the room. If you are working in a crowded restaurant someone should be able to point you out and say: “That guy over there is the fricking awesome magician! Make sure he comes to our table!” Just food for thought.
When booking a gig, you will eventually have to talk about prices. What you expect to get paid for your time in, and also how much time are you giving them. These are two very important items that you want to make sure everyone is absolutely clear on! I once did a gig for a artsy restaurant as a favor to a friend, when I got there I was prepared to do my usual two hour walk around gig. I was shocked and surprised when they told me that they wanted me for six hours! Not only did I not prepare enough material for that time frame, but I also had charged them a way cheaper fee for my time. I based my pay that night off of two hours, not six. In the end, I learned to be –very- clear when talking with people about how much I want to be paid and for how long I will be working.
When you do magic, you will either be hired out by the hour, or for the entire event. You may want to create two different price groups to reflect this. I’d make the hourly fee lower up front, but higher over all compared to the entire event fee, however the entire event fee is a better deal if they need you for more than two hours. That way they have a choice. Also another fun thing you can do is attach a minimum booking amount to your price list.
Example: $300.00 an hour minimum 2 hours. Or Minimum $300.00 per booking.
If someone wants to hire you for a couple of hours but doesn’t want to go for the event fee, you can give them a price break for each sequential hour. This usually helps ease the sting to their pocket book, and in this current economy a wise decision.
Example: $300.00 for an Hour, $35 dollars each hour after. *Minimum 2 hours.
*By adding that in, I’m guaranteed to get 2 hours of work, and at the least 325 bucks not counting any tips!
(To Be Continued)
Chapter 4: Marketing: Booking the Gig
So you’ve done your homework, got your marketing materials all prepaired, know who your contact is, and you’re ready for the big interview. This folks is where the rubber meets the road. You’re goal is to have one more gig than you started with when you walk out your front door. In this chapter I’ll talk about what you should do to actually book the gig itself. We’ll discuss prices, contracts, selling points, and personal hygiene.
Yes, I said it. Personal hygiene. This may seem like a really common sense thing to do but I’m going to throw this out there anyways. When you meet with your client to do the interview and 5 minute audition you want to look, and smell your best. Brush your teeth, take a shower, use deodorant, cologne, and make sure your cloths are neat and pressed. Also the single most important thing for all magicians to keep maintained well is your finger nails! Keep them neatly trimmed, clean, and filed. Keep the cuticles pushed back. Don't bite, or rip them. Get in the habit of keeping a nail file and clippers in your magic kit. If you can afford it, have your nails professionally done once a month You want to dress business casual, to business professional. This means jeans and a T-shirt with your favorite band logo on it is right out. A mentor of mine once told me that: “When you perform you want to be the best dressed person in the place.” In reality what he means is you want to stand out from everyone else so you can be easily identified. Business Casual is usually cackies or slacks, and a polo T shirt. Maybe a button down shirt. If you don’t wear a tie, leave the top collar button and the one below it undone. Tuck in, unless you have a neutral solid color shirt under it. If you leave it un-tucked, keep the shirt unbuttoned completely. Turtle necks are also okay if worn with a blazer. Business Professional is suit and tie. This is where your homework on the venue will pay off. You want to dress somewhat appropriate for the business your going into. If you are doing a restaurant then business casual is fine, but if you are meeting with the CEO and his Event Planner for their Christmas party, then you may want to consider the suit and tie route.
Performance Characters: If you perform magic as a specific character I do not advise showing up to the gig for your meeting dressed to the nines in your character outfit. It really puts you at an odd angle when trying to convince these business owners that you are a serious act. As some of you may have realized, “William Draven” isn’t my real name. It’s a stage persona. I perform as a dark, serious, character with the occasional joke and a taste for performing Freak magic. My dress attire is what you see in my profile picture. Neo-Edwardian Goth. I’ve experimented with showing up in character and in a suit before. The ones I was in character at didn’t respond nearly as well as the ones when I was in a suit. Just incase your curious, my suit is all black with a blood red tie. I maintain a hint of my character but don’t compromise the business professional standards. If you perform as a character you may want to ask yourself “Is this character appropriate for the type of venue I want to perform in?” If the answer is no, you may want to pitch the decision maker on a more neutral act. Or better yet, give them a choice! Decision makers love choices. As a final bit of advice here, I would show them a picture or promo shot of you performing as your character. (Remember talking about all those cool marketing materials?) I would ask them for their feelings on weather or not you should bring that specific character into their venue. You never know! I’ve had restaurants before who are –very- kid friendly encourage Dravens’ persona and the parents loved it! It would never have been something I would have risked as a professional on my own.
For those of you who love the gorilla style close up magic made famous by David Blaine that is often referred to now as “street magic” I want to take a moment to talk to you directly. I know that when you are on the street jeans, and a t-shirt are ideal. You blend in well, and they never see it coming. It’s often what you have when you go to school. Unless you have a uniform and if that is the case I’m sorry. No one wears a suit when they hang with their buds, so that’s completely understandable. What is worse is companies are now making magical props (such as the change hat) to help fit that image. I understand being cool, unique and original, I encourage it! But in a professional setting it just doesn’t fly. Until you get major credits under you, have clients begging you for your time, and are having serious trouble trying to decide which gig you should take on any given weekend, you can’t afford to be so relaxed on your image. The things you do when you perform are miracles that your audience should have no doubt in their mind that they can’t do. You are a superman, superhero, or a god among men. That is a bit of an exaggeration I know, but in the very least you are special. Because of this, you need to dress special. You need to look slightly different than everyone else in the room. If you are working in a crowded restaurant someone should be able to point you out and say: “That guy over there is the fricking awesome magician! Make sure he comes to our table!” Just food for thought.
When booking a gig, you will eventually have to talk about prices. What you expect to get paid for your time in, and also how much time are you giving them. These are two very important items that you want to make sure everyone is absolutely clear on! I once did a gig for a artsy restaurant as a favor to a friend, when I got there I was prepared to do my usual two hour walk around gig. I was shocked and surprised when they told me that they wanted me for six hours! Not only did I not prepare enough material for that time frame, but I also had charged them a way cheaper fee for my time. I based my pay that night off of two hours, not six. In the end, I learned to be –very- clear when talking with people about how much I want to be paid and for how long I will be working.
When you do magic, you will either be hired out by the hour, or for the entire event. You may want to create two different price groups to reflect this. I’d make the hourly fee lower up front, but higher over all compared to the entire event fee, however the entire event fee is a better deal if they need you for more than two hours. That way they have a choice. Also another fun thing you can do is attach a minimum booking amount to your price list.
Example: $300.00 an hour minimum 2 hours. Or Minimum $300.00 per booking.
If someone wants to hire you for a couple of hours but doesn’t want to go for the event fee, you can give them a price break for each sequential hour. This usually helps ease the sting to their pocket book, and in this current economy a wise decision.
Example: $300.00 for an Hour, $35 dollars each hour after. *Minimum 2 hours.
*By adding that in, I’m guaranteed to get 2 hours of work, and at the least 325 bucks not counting any tips!
(To Be Continued)
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