- How many shows do you want to do in the next 12 months?
I made the decision to pursue more performances in May of 2006, so it's been about a year since I started actively promoting myself. Since then, I've done about 80 shows. A couple were volunteer when I was putting the show together and most of the paying gigs were lower-paying shows, so I wasn't making a full-time living wage from magic last year, but I've been able leverage the experience and income into really improving myself as a performer. To be honest, I still have about a year to go before I am able to move into this full-time. So, let's say I would like to do 150 - 200 shows in a 12-month period.
- How much money do you want to make (gross) in the next year from shows?
My intermediate income goal is to gross about $50,000 a year from performing. This would be between $250 and $350 per show - a very doable amount, but more than I charge now. However, to keep things in perspective, my rates now are set to get experience until I feel justified in setting higher fees. This could be a good point to discuss later - What would be the difference between a $100, $500, and a $1000 show?
- How far are you willing to travel?
At this point, I need to stay somewhat close to home, but in May or June of next year I will be able and willing to travel just about anywhere. One of the things that appeals to me about being a performer is to have a chance to get paid to visit other places. Consiquently, my long-term goal is to have a world-class show for cruise venues.
- What kind of show(s) do you do, and what is your primary audience. I think I know this, but I want to hear your answer anyway.
This is actually a more complicated question than it first appears. In order to get as much experience as possible, I chose to pursue smaller shows - birthdays, picnics, and parties. These are not my dream gigs, but I have been able to book then fairly easily. I really picture myself as a comic magician in the style of Roy Benson or Billy McComb (not to say I have the skills and talent of these exceptional performer, but they are role models I aspire to match). However, there are some constants between what I want to become and what I am doing now - I love classic magic, friendly comedy (Though I think he is very funny and entertaining, I don't think I could ever pull off an act like The Amazing Jonathan for example), a high degree of technical skill, and family-friendly material.
To get to a world-class level, I believe I really have to come to terms with a strong sense of character in my act, but this has been a real stumbling block for me - but that is another discussion. My favorite audiences are family audiences - not just kids and not just adults, but parents and children together.
- If things were perfect, how would you describe a week of your life?
I won't go into a lot of detail here because I could probably write pages about this, but I can briefly say I would like a lot of private time to study, read, and write (I would have made a good medieval monk :) ) As a performer, my dream gig would be a long-term theater venue gig with a few shows per week. My major stumbling block in my business now is my dislike of one-on-one comunications with people. I don't like talking on the phone and I don't like meetings with only one or two people. I've often said, I am vastly more comfortable and happy when I am in front of a theater full of people than I am having a cup of coffee with one or two friends.
Anyway, thanks Troy for asking the questions. They gave me a lot to think about. I look forward to hear what you have to say.
1 comment:
Thanks for answering the questions. One thing that is extremely important in building a Buiness Plan is having measurable, written goals. What you have said is 1) You want to gross $50,000 in the next 12 months. You would like to charge upwards $350 per show, and you would like to keep it semi-local.
Let's break that down. $50,000 divided by $350 per show is 143 shows in 12 month. Thats 12 shows a month, 3 shows a week! That sounds very do-able to me.
Now the question is: How do we go about booking 3 shows a week?
There are several ways to book shows, but first we need to figure out who we want to work for. You mentioned that you would like to do primarily family/kid events. I think that is a good venue considering 1) its the right price range, and 2) there are a ton of places to work.
I would consider spending a majority of my time/money trying to book places that want magicians, and would book you more than once. Corporate events are great, but they tend to want something different every year. You'll book once, and then never go back. Spending a lot of money and time trying to book those shows may not be the best option.
My suggestion is booking to schools (K-6) during the school year, and libraries during the summer months. They are looking for assemblies all of the time, they aren't going anywhere, and many towns have more than one. Why try to book anywhere else?
The way that I have had the best luck booking school and library shows has been to get a list of every grade school and library in the state (that's Illinois for me) through their respective state associations. Put together a flyer (some of my best responses have come from black and white photocopies) and send out my flyer every eight weeks to the specific areas that I would like to work.
Like I said, I would spend a majority of time booking to these groups, because they are where the shows are. There are other ways you should market also, but I've got to save that for the next post. I need to go show some houses and then get to sleep. I have a 12 hour round trip to do some shows up in Iowa tomarrow.
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