I was recently talking with a magician friend who is performing in restaurants and he wants to learn how to book gigs from the restaurant. Most magicians perform in a restaurant but they don't know how to get people to hire them for outside engagements.
Before I was doing corporate gigs, I made a living from restaurants and I made a living because I knew how to book gigs from the restaurants. I can give everyone here the outline of the mentality you need to have in order to book gigs but it can be an entire book for me to teach you the details.
My friend is performing in restaurants and he books and occasional gig or two but most magicians aren't booking as many gigs as they would like to. It was not easy to come up with the system but once I knew the system I was able to book a lot of gigs. I'm going to show you guys the mentality you have to be in to start booking gigs.
A lot of magicians think their goal is to add to the atmosphere of the restaurant or to get tips from the tables. They're wrong!
The restaurant's goal is to add to the atmosphere; not your goal. And if your goal is to get tips from the tables then you're seeking chump change. Your goal is to book gigs. If you're reading this and you don't want to book gigs at your restaurant then this essay will have no meaning to you.
Your mentality, your focus, should be that you need to book gigs. You can fulfill the restaurant goal of adding to the atmosphere while fulfilling your goal at the same time. Just think, if people are willing to pay you a lot of money for private engagements then I'm sure they had a great time at the restaurant and you have fulfilled the restaurant's goal of adding to the atmosphere. If you learn to think strategically and think several moves ahead, you will make a lot more money in restaurants.
Forget about focusing on tips, although they're nice, start focusing on whether or not the people at the table can hire you. When you focus on whether or not the people at the table can hire you, your performance changes. You begin to perform in a way that I call… performing like a businessman.
When you perform like a businessman, you do things that make other people want to do business with you. This is very important… do things that make other people want to do business with you. Doing one, two, or three tricks at a table does not make someone want to do business with you; it only makes them think you're good. They have no idea what type of events you do and who you perform for. Learn to figure out ways to let them know about the events you perform for without telling them directly.
This is a big clue on how to indirectly sell someone… the art of omission is the art of selling. You're performing a few tricks for the table but you're giving it to them for free. When you tell people what they're not getting, it makes them curious. I can't go into the exact details of how to get people to ask you about what you do but you need to show them tricks while at the same time telling them what you're not showing them.
For example, while you're performing, say this 2 or 3 times throughout your set, “this is what I do at my shows” (then do a trick). If you keep saying this, people will start to wonder what kind of shows you do… try it and I guarantee you people will ask and him. They are the one starting the conversation and now you can tell them more about the type of events you do.
When you perform like a businessman, you are performing in a way that arouses their curiosity about the type of events you do and you're qualifying them to see if they can hire you. This is the key to booking outside gigs from restaurants.
I want to make it clear that if you just perform then it is not enough to book gigs. The reason my friend, and the reason most magicians aren't booking high-paying gigs from restaurants, is because they don't perform in a way that makes people want to do business with them. If all you're doing is performing a trick and hoping that someone will hire you because you gave them your business card then you will realize that you're not booking as many gigs as you want to.
I wish I had time to go more into detail about how to perform like a businessman but I could probably write a whole book on this one subject. The basics is that when you're performing you want to arouse curiosity and get them to ask you what you do. All your actions should be based on one thing:
Do things that make other people want to do business with you
Before I was doing corporate gigs, I made a living from restaurants and I made a living because I knew how to book gigs from the restaurants. I can give everyone here the outline of the mentality you need to have in order to book gigs but it can be an entire book for me to teach you the details.
My friend is performing in restaurants and he books and occasional gig or two but most magicians aren't booking as many gigs as they would like to. It was not easy to come up with the system but once I knew the system I was able to book a lot of gigs. I'm going to show you guys the mentality you have to be in to start booking gigs.
A lot of magicians think their goal is to add to the atmosphere of the restaurant or to get tips from the tables. They're wrong!
The restaurant's goal is to add to the atmosphere; not your goal. And if your goal is to get tips from the tables then you're seeking chump change. Your goal is to book gigs. If you're reading this and you don't want to book gigs at your restaurant then this essay will have no meaning to you.
Your mentality, your focus, should be that you need to book gigs. You can fulfill the restaurant goal of adding to the atmosphere while fulfilling your goal at the same time. Just think, if people are willing to pay you a lot of money for private engagements then I'm sure they had a great time at the restaurant and you have fulfilled the restaurant's goal of adding to the atmosphere. If you learn to think strategically and think several moves ahead, you will make a lot more money in restaurants.
Forget about focusing on tips, although they're nice, start focusing on whether or not the people at the table can hire you. When you focus on whether or not the people at the table can hire you, your performance changes. You begin to perform in a way that I call… performing like a businessman.
When you perform like a businessman, you do things that make other people want to do business with you. This is very important… do things that make other people want to do business with you. Doing one, two, or three tricks at a table does not make someone want to do business with you; it only makes them think you're good. They have no idea what type of events you do and who you perform for. Learn to figure out ways to let them know about the events you perform for without telling them directly.
This is a big clue on how to indirectly sell someone… the art of omission is the art of selling. You're performing a few tricks for the table but you're giving it to them for free. When you tell people what they're not getting, it makes them curious. I can't go into the exact details of how to get people to ask you about what you do but you need to show them tricks while at the same time telling them what you're not showing them.
For example, while you're performing, say this 2 or 3 times throughout your set, “this is what I do at my shows” (then do a trick). If you keep saying this, people will start to wonder what kind of shows you do… try it and I guarantee you people will ask and him. They are the one starting the conversation and now you can tell them more about the type of events you do.
When you perform like a businessman, you are performing in a way that arouses their curiosity about the type of events you do and you're qualifying them to see if they can hire you. This is the key to booking outside gigs from restaurants.
I want to make it clear that if you just perform then it is not enough to book gigs. The reason my friend, and the reason most magicians aren't booking high-paying gigs from restaurants, is because they don't perform in a way that makes people want to do business with them. If all you're doing is performing a trick and hoping that someone will hire you because you gave them your business card then you will realize that you're not booking as many gigs as you want to.
I wish I had time to go more into detail about how to perform like a businessman but I could probably write a whole book on this one subject. The basics is that when you're performing you want to arouse curiosity and get them to ask you what you do. All your actions should be based on one thing:
Do things that make other people want to do business with you