Mr. Draven, thanks for the support! The two forums are very similar with lots of repetition.
When it comes to promotions there is one thing that I believe we need to note here; "Why are we trying to sell our gigs to magicians?"
The majority of magic junkies will try to ooze into any gig we do free of fee if an admission price exists. Then too, the gigs that actually pay are typically closed to a very specific "client base" by the contractor. The last point here, is marketing your gigs on a forum like this, gets you next to nowhere unless you're an established headliner. Why would anyone on a forum want to dish out the time and travel costs (especially given today's fuel prices) to go see Goffer the Great, someone they only know from one forum? After all, most of us are hundreds of miles a part form one another if not thousands e.g. a single post about appearing at a particular public event and inviting anyone that's going to be in the area during that time would be most practical and yet, a bit masturbatory at the same time.
The people that pay you AREN'T MAGICIANS by the laity. This is who you need to appeal to, reach out to and excite when it comes to your appearances. The local magic clubs can, if you give them sufficient advance notice, mention your gigs in their newsletters. If your gig is for charity/non-profit then you can usually generate TV/Radio & Print notices at no cost via the area media which will muster both, layman and magician alike.
If you are playing a gig at the local pub or casino, etc. there is another way of placing seats into the seats but it requires a great deal of time and some business management savvy to get there. Too, it is a method that works best for Mentalist while there is a version of it that can benefit the traditional mage as well, just not in as direct a manner; it is something I cover in the Psychic Technologies series and part of the Domino Principle. . .
Many in Old School Mentalism do Readings -- legit, private counseling -- it is through this we can generate a very extensive mailing list, especially when on line doing Readings as well in person. Add to this our ability to create an expanded list by way of Home PSI Parties and all persons attending (and I have a very sneaky way of getting EVERYONES name & address). What this allows me to do is via my Newsletter as well as one other more direct mode, inform these proven clients -- people I already have a relationship with -- to know about an engagement ahead of any other media notice and thus, purchase "special priced" tickets ahead of said date. By sending physical Post Cards in follow-up to the e-Newsletter I'm able to increase the odds to my favor when it comes to putting people in the room that are already "qualified" so to speak.
Any of you with more than a year's study & practice of Mentalism should be able to see other reasons as to why this would be such a huge advantage and I can assure you, I'm not the only old school working of today's era using this time proven means of making good things happen -- MENTALISTS CHEAT!
I point this out because of that other well known truth -- word-of-mouth is your most important PR tool. The ONLY WAY to generate positive word-of-mouth PR is by delivering a solid program; the kind of thing folks will walk away from feeling good, inspired and eager to talk about. . . not just for the day or two following the show but for YEARS after the fact. This places the onus on our back as the showman; if we cut corners, don't rehearse and take solid critique so as to perfect each part of the program, the word-of-mouth won't happen or will happen in a manner that hurts rather than helps and thus, we have to end up working even harder to get out of the hole our poor attitude put us in.
It's something to give serious thought towards.
