The Genii Forum

Hello all,
Soon (Febuary) I will be moving to orlando Florida, and am looking to perform Close-up/Strolling down their. Now what I am looking to do is go down their as ready as I can be to jump out and start selling my self. This way I have as little dead time as possible. My best friend allready lives down their and is scouting out the area for posible resturants and what not that may be interested. What else can I do to be better prepared? I am working on a pitch, photo, and a ppage of benifits. Any ideas at all are more then welcome.

Originally posted by Mike Brown:
I am working on a pitch, photo, and a ppage of benifits.

Don't give anyone a "ppage of benifits" without having it proofread by someone who can spell.

I'm not trying to be snide here -- the more polished and professional you appear to a potential client, the better chance you stand.

I am so sorry I accidently typer 2 p's in my post and thank you ever so much for the great advice. Who should I send all my post to to be proofread to so that it never happens again,,, not to be sarcastic but I don't proofread my post often, I do have people proofread all profesional material I put out, since it is obvious I can't spell, and am human which cause me to ocasionally make a mistake. Sorry :(

Working a new market is fairly easy if you have a good act. Since no one knows who you are you need to use the power of endorsement to get some gigs.

Either get to know some local performers or get to know some people in your target market. If you do banquet shows, get to know some meeting planners or caterers...set up a joint venture...offer to do a show where the caterer gets a big fee for the first time only for a trial....once you are in good with them...book more shows....

You could also offer a reduced fee show with a sales letter proclaiming that you are offering this price as a "get aquainted" sale.

Anything you could do to get in front of influencial people is of benefit.

Hope this helps,

Millard W. Grubb
"More shows with less sales sweat"
www.bookingmagicshows.com

Along with some good proofreading you should work on your verbal ability since many times the two mirror each other.

Another suggestion is to pre-sell yourself to the new area. Why wait until you are there? Use the web, mail and telephone to book yourself. Then when you get there you can immediately start inviting people to see you and growing your territory.

If your 'best friend' is not an agent you might do better handling the business yourself. No disrespect to your friend but until these places meet you, your friend is you.

Originally posted by Mike Brown:
Soon (Febuary) I will be moving to orlando Florida, and am looking to perform Close-up/Strolling down there.

Mike,

There are lots of things you can do to grease the skids for yourself before you get there.

1. Get a copy of the Yellow Pages for Orlando, Florida. This will cost you but will be worth it. Your local phone company can order it for you. Get some Orlando maps and start making a visual aid in the form of locations for potential clients, etc.

2. Contact the Better Business Bureau and Chamber of Commerce for all the cities near Orlando and for the city of Orlando, itself. Ask each them for a list of their top 50 businesses. Explain why. Also, ask them to send you membership information for both organizations.

3. Draft a letter of introduction that would be suitable for your desired work. As Millard Grubb has advised, use references and perhaps include a few photos as inserts, not part of the letter. Make the letter short and to the point without gushing. Pretend that you are a CEO, company president or manager of a company and you are receiving your own letter. Think about what would make you look forward to meeting or contacting the magician who sent you the letter and use that in your own letter.

4. Start mailing postcards with a "hook" for getting potential clients to call you. Obtain a toll free number that you later keep in Orlando for people to reply to your post card. This is not nearly as expensive as you might think and will get you lots of business later.

5. Make a few phone calls to variety talent booking agents, theatrical agents and musical agents. Explain that you are moving to Orlando and are looking for potential agency representation. Make appointments to visit them in February and bring your portfolio along.

6. If you don't already have one, develop a portfolio with lots of pictures and endorsements. When a client tells you they were very happy, ask them to send you a note on their letterhead to that effect as a favor. About half will do so.

7. If you know what area of Orlando will be home, either obtain a US Post Office mailbox or one from a nearby Mail Boxes, Etc. place and have some advance business cards made up. If you have obtained that toll free number, so much the better. You can put it on your card. Even without a mailing address, customers will see you as a professional should you present a professional business card.

These are just a few of the things you can do. Some of these are available on-line in one form or another but you won't regret having paper to look at.

Good luck on your move and best wishes for success in your business of magic and on your performances in the new area.

Best,
Ray

Ray,

It's nice to see your posts here on this forum. I have given up looking at alt.magic because of all of the electro-excrement that collects there.

Unfortunately your posts and Mr. Pendragons' were the only ones I enjoyed. Since both seemed to appear less and less...

By the way my wife & I hosted a fellow Australian here in Texas about a year ago. I wondered if you knew him. Charles Gauci. He evidently works the French Rivirea a lot.

Best regards,

Pete Mills