Dennis Regling is the outstanding Magic Editor for BellaOnline . His energy and creativity is amazing. This is a man who truly cares about Magic in
all of its forms and skill-levels.
Mr. Regling sent along a great tip in his newsletter this week. Great headline: "How to Double Your Income as a Performer."
Any sentence with the words "income" and "double" qualifies as a grabber.
His article on the subject follows through on the great hook.
The problem:
"As a performer, we only have a limited number of days we can perform each
year. We also find that the fees we can charge are sometimes limited by our
market's ability to pay."
The Solution: If you want to be rich and famous like David Copperfield or Paul Daniels, follow their teaching. Before you rush out to buy a new hair-dryer and styling gel (as per David Copperfield), or snappy clothing and a Rolls Royce (like Paul Daniels), please read Mr. Regling's article.
You don't need to look like either multi-millionaire performer. You don't need to have beautiful assistants, aggressive lawyers, truck-loads of props and scenery, or be romantically connected with one of the two most beautiful women in the world.
Nay nay, say we.
The Back of the Room is where the money can be found to turn an average paying gig into one enough to pay for the gasoline necessary to drive to your next average paying gig.
Back of the Room ("BOR") is showbiz talk for selling items related to your show. Mr. Copperfield does it with T-shirts and souvenirs. We've bought DVDs and e-books from Mr. Daniels following his lecture.
If David Blaine ever performed in a room or did a conventional magic show, you can bet he'd have a concession near the only exit out of the theater.
Can you sell goods at your shows? Absolutely. Will the client allow you to sell goods at their venue? Usually.
We imagine the right to sell your wares after a show can be used as a negotiating point. Perhaps the prospective client can't afford your "standard fee."
You may want to offer a compromise where you'll take a lesser payment in exchange for an unobtrusive table to sell DVDs, CD-ROMs, balloon sculptures, T-Shirts, books, and even religious tokens infused with Black Magic Juju.
We've even toyed with selling balloon sculptures of West Indian religious icons brimming with Black Magic Juju.
Mr. Regling has several great ideas for inventory and sales
pitches. He has thought this
through.
He even has a great suggestion for staffing the booth if you
are too exhausted or occupied following your show. We won't give it away here but suffice it to
say, Mr. Regling is a genius.
Check out the article by visiting Bella On-Line here. Whilst at Mr. Regling's web site, be sure to sign-up for his free newsletter subscription service. That's where we get our great information.
Mr. Regling has a link to additional BOR resources but unfortunately all of the follow-on links return a 404 (page not found error). We hope he is able to repair the links in the near future.
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