It is time to skip the flash, player, and flavor text. Here are the brutal facts about what you need to invest in yourself…
The first and most important thing you need to understand is this is hard work. This is not flash or flavor, it is fact. You want me to be brutally honest with you and I will tell you that most people don't have the discipline to work for themselves. A lot of people understand that you must have a hard-working mentality but they haven't experienced it.
As you're reading this you might be saying to yourself that you understand you need to do hard work. But 10 min. from now you won't be working on booking gigs. You probably go watch TV, surf the Internet, spend an hour eating lunch, and other useless activities that don't move you towards your goal of being a professional. You must take this advice to heart… do nothing which is of no use.
When I say hard work, I mean spending an hour on marketing isn't enough. You must wake up at 8 AM, eat breakfast and get ready, and then start marketing. You must be contacting people and at 12 or 1 PM you take a 15 min. lunch break and start working again. 90% of your activities should be nothing but work. If you're not ready for this then you're not ready to make money running your own business.
So let's imagine that you have this hard-working mentality and you need to know where to start. You can make money in this business with just a computer and video camera. Even if you don't have a computer and a video camera then you can make money without any investment.
If you don't have any money to invest in your business then you need to start out with hotel crashing. You need to wear your best suit and get your best tricks and go out to hotels so you can perform at random events. The number one way people will hire you is from having seen you perform in the first place and that is the purpose of crashing a hotel event.
You walk into an event and start performing for people and you will start making contacts. Let's imagine you don't have any business cards, all you have to do is spend $20 on the business card paper you can get at OfficeMax and when someone ask you for card, you write down your information (tell them you just got done doing a showing you don't have any more cards on you).
Hotel crashing requires no money on your part. If you're serious about it than you will wake up early, go to hotels, and stay out all day. You won't do this for just one day or even one week. You will do this for months and even years if you have to because you're dead serious about booking gigs. Your goal is to meet as many people as possible who host events and what better way to meet them than by going to the event itself.
Let's say you're not completely broke and you have some money to invest. You have a computer and the camera (if you don't have a camera than get one). Whenever you perform for someone, and I mean anyone, you need to use your camera and get a testimonial from them. These video clips of testimonials will help in the long run for social proof. Post these clips everywhere online.
You must have video footage of you performing. People need to see the results you produce and that's what a video does. If you can't spend money on someone to edit your video in a professional way then either do your best or show the full clip of you performing. You can also create a montage of clips where people are reacting to what you're doing because reactions show results that you produce.
Having a video camera will allow you to do a lot. You will create desire by grabbing so many testimonials that people can't watch them all and recording your performances so people want to see it live.
If you're serious about your business they must have a website. But at the start you might not have the funds to create website. If for some reason you can't spend $100 on a website then use your Facebook as your website. Your Facebook has the ability to keep in contact with people and you can show pictures, video, and create desire for people to hire you. Get a free blog if you can't spend money on a website. Your blog can act as your website and it will be free.
You must understand that your goal is to sell. Don't try to get the perfect video, the perfect website, the perfect business card, the perfect promo packet, or any of the tools you think you need. What you need to do is to sell. You need to get in front of as many people as possible who can hire you and you have a better chance of booking gigs than people who are focusing on building a great business card and promo packet.
The activities you engage in determine the results you produce. So many magicians are focusing on their business card and other tools when they should be focusing on selling. They confuse motion with action. They think that in the long run it will help them out but they don't understand their current reality… they have no gigs. If you want to book gigs, you must be in front of people. That is why hotel crashing is a great start.
Learn to make everything a big deal. When you do anything, you need to think of ways you can use this for more than what it is. If you crash a hotel then it is not enough to just perform for the people, you must grab video testimonials so you can post those online and it will help you book other gigs. Record your shows so your legacy lives on beyond that one event.
If you're not completely broke then by a website, business cards, video camera, and a computer with video editing software (if you buy a Mac then it comes with video editing software). Those four things will feed into each other and allow you to book gigs. But remember, don't focus on getting the best website or business cards at the start because your number one goal is to sell.
You sell your services by showing people what you can do so you must perform for his many people as possible who are in the position to hire you.
Never make an excuse about why you can't do something.
If you can't get a website, and get a free blog site and use your Facebook as your website. If you can't afford business cards then tell people you just got done doing the show and you don't have cards on you but you can write down your information if they're serious. If you can't afford to buy a video camera then use a credit card to purchase it and return the video camera after you used it for the day. If you can't buy a computer, go to the library and use theirs for free. I repeat… never make excuses about why you can't do something.
Use your computer to search for companies and contact these companies to ask about events. You can send them e-mails or call them but you will make thousands upon thousands of calls or e-mails to book a few gigs. If you're not prepared to make 1000 calls to book 1 gig than this business will be tough. At the start, you must focus on selling… you must focus on contacting people (either in person, e-mail, or calls).
The amount of time you invest in yourself and in your business determines your ROI. If you only spend an hour marketing that it will take you a long time to book gigs. But if you wake up at 8 AM and don't finish till 10 PM then you will book gigs a lot faster. This sounds obvious but I guarantee most magicians will not work as hard as they need to in order to get to the level they want. Every successful person has an unbelievable work mentality that does not come across to the public.
Your ROI depends on your activity. Massive activity means massive results. You must learn to do something until you get the results. You must do things even when you're not motivated. Anyone can take action when they're motivated to do so, but the highly successful people take action even when they don't want to.
These are the brutal facts about what you need to invest in yourself before you can expect to book gigs. A lot of people reading this will understand the concept of hard work but very few will do it. If you tell yourself you're going to start marketing next week or next month then you will find it hard to book gigs because you're making an excuse about why you can't do something today. You must start right now. You must contact people at this very second and keep contacting them all day.
The activities you engage in determine the results you produce.
The first and most important thing you need to understand is this is hard work. This is not flash or flavor, it is fact. You want me to be brutally honest with you and I will tell you that most people don't have the discipline to work for themselves. A lot of people understand that you must have a hard-working mentality but they haven't experienced it.
As you're reading this you might be saying to yourself that you understand you need to do hard work. But 10 min. from now you won't be working on booking gigs. You probably go watch TV, surf the Internet, spend an hour eating lunch, and other useless activities that don't move you towards your goal of being a professional. You must take this advice to heart… do nothing which is of no use.
When I say hard work, I mean spending an hour on marketing isn't enough. You must wake up at 8 AM, eat breakfast and get ready, and then start marketing. You must be contacting people and at 12 or 1 PM you take a 15 min. lunch break and start working again. 90% of your activities should be nothing but work. If you're not ready for this then you're not ready to make money running your own business.
So let's imagine that you have this hard-working mentality and you need to know where to start. You can make money in this business with just a computer and video camera. Even if you don't have a computer and a video camera then you can make money without any investment.
If you don't have any money to invest in your business then you need to start out with hotel crashing. You need to wear your best suit and get your best tricks and go out to hotels so you can perform at random events. The number one way people will hire you is from having seen you perform in the first place and that is the purpose of crashing a hotel event.
You walk into an event and start performing for people and you will start making contacts. Let's imagine you don't have any business cards, all you have to do is spend $20 on the business card paper you can get at OfficeMax and when someone ask you for card, you write down your information (tell them you just got done doing a showing you don't have any more cards on you).
Hotel crashing requires no money on your part. If you're serious about it than you will wake up early, go to hotels, and stay out all day. You won't do this for just one day or even one week. You will do this for months and even years if you have to because you're dead serious about booking gigs. Your goal is to meet as many people as possible who host events and what better way to meet them than by going to the event itself.
Let's say you're not completely broke and you have some money to invest. You have a computer and the camera (if you don't have a camera than get one). Whenever you perform for someone, and I mean anyone, you need to use your camera and get a testimonial from them. These video clips of testimonials will help in the long run for social proof. Post these clips everywhere online.
You must have video footage of you performing. People need to see the results you produce and that's what a video does. If you can't spend money on someone to edit your video in a professional way then either do your best or show the full clip of you performing. You can also create a montage of clips where people are reacting to what you're doing because reactions show results that you produce.
Having a video camera will allow you to do a lot. You will create desire by grabbing so many testimonials that people can't watch them all and recording your performances so people want to see it live.
If you're serious about your business they must have a website. But at the start you might not have the funds to create website. If for some reason you can't spend $100 on a website then use your Facebook as your website. Your Facebook has the ability to keep in contact with people and you can show pictures, video, and create desire for people to hire you. Get a free blog if you can't spend money on a website. Your blog can act as your website and it will be free.
You must understand that your goal is to sell. Don't try to get the perfect video, the perfect website, the perfect business card, the perfect promo packet, or any of the tools you think you need. What you need to do is to sell. You need to get in front of as many people as possible who can hire you and you have a better chance of booking gigs than people who are focusing on building a great business card and promo packet.
The activities you engage in determine the results you produce. So many magicians are focusing on their business card and other tools when they should be focusing on selling. They confuse motion with action. They think that in the long run it will help them out but they don't understand their current reality… they have no gigs. If you want to book gigs, you must be in front of people. That is why hotel crashing is a great start.
Learn to make everything a big deal. When you do anything, you need to think of ways you can use this for more than what it is. If you crash a hotel then it is not enough to just perform for the people, you must grab video testimonials so you can post those online and it will help you book other gigs. Record your shows so your legacy lives on beyond that one event.
If you're not completely broke then by a website, business cards, video camera, and a computer with video editing software (if you buy a Mac then it comes with video editing software). Those four things will feed into each other and allow you to book gigs. But remember, don't focus on getting the best website or business cards at the start because your number one goal is to sell.
You sell your services by showing people what you can do so you must perform for his many people as possible who are in the position to hire you.
Never make an excuse about why you can't do something.
If you can't get a website, and get a free blog site and use your Facebook as your website. If you can't afford business cards then tell people you just got done doing the show and you don't have cards on you but you can write down your information if they're serious. If you can't afford to buy a video camera then use a credit card to purchase it and return the video camera after you used it for the day. If you can't buy a computer, go to the library and use theirs for free. I repeat… never make excuses about why you can't do something.
Use your computer to search for companies and contact these companies to ask about events. You can send them e-mails or call them but you will make thousands upon thousands of calls or e-mails to book a few gigs. If you're not prepared to make 1000 calls to book 1 gig than this business will be tough. At the start, you must focus on selling… you must focus on contacting people (either in person, e-mail, or calls).
The amount of time you invest in yourself and in your business determines your ROI. If you only spend an hour marketing that it will take you a long time to book gigs. But if you wake up at 8 AM and don't finish till 10 PM then you will book gigs a lot faster. This sounds obvious but I guarantee most magicians will not work as hard as they need to in order to get to the level they want. Every successful person has an unbelievable work mentality that does not come across to the public.
Your ROI depends on your activity. Massive activity means massive results. You must learn to do something until you get the results. You must do things even when you're not motivated. Anyone can take action when they're motivated to do so, but the highly successful people take action even when they don't want to.
These are the brutal facts about what you need to invest in yourself before you can expect to book gigs. A lot of people reading this will understand the concept of hard work but very few will do it. If you tell yourself you're going to start marketing next week or next month then you will find it hard to book gigs because you're making an excuse about why you can't do something today. You must start right now. You must contact people at this very second and keep contacting them all day.
The activities you engage in determine the results you produce.
