|
|
mota Inner circle 1658 Posts |
The Complete How to Get Agents to Book You System and Newsletter Licensing Kit: Review
2 audio CD’s, 1 computer form CD, 2 plastic-bound sets of instructions, forms and scripts...$277 from http://www.stagehypnosiscenter.com/ . Earlier I reviewed Geoff Ronning’s Stage Hypnotism Home Study Course…I thought (and still think) it is an excellent way for someone who wants to learn stage hypnotism and avoid many embarrassing and costly mistakes. I felt qualified to give my opinion on this because of my experience as a stage hypnotist. This is a bit different…. You see, as a marketer I’ve always been a hack…no clear goals or plan. I knew others were getting consistent bookings through agents but never could quite put it together. I have worked with several agents, one has treated me very well, but for the most part my experiences have led me to the impression that an agent is someone not honest enough to be a politician. As a result, I was very interested to see what Geoff Ronning had to say. After all, this is going after the big corporate bucks…I’ve always wanted a big, happy pile of money from that market. So, let’s look at what he does…. He starts off with a very good point…it takes the same energy to sell yourself to a client for a show as it does to sell yourself to an agent. The agent, though, will produce multiple shows from that same amount of effort. I had never considered an aggressive marketing plan to agents. Here is how he goes about it…. First, he gives you scripts to use…what do you say when you call an agent? What if they already have a hypnotist they use? His approach is very good and would result in the agent wanting your material, all you have to do is follow the script. I am serious, I am a great believer in planning what to say…he provides the exact words to use, you literally follow the script and flow chart. Once you have their attention, the marketing starts. You get 12 newsletters, with reproduction rights. The computer form CD has these newsletter templates designed so you can put in your personal information. You send these newsletters to the agents. These newsletters are powerful sales tools. Early on he mentions there are several language structures built into the newsletters that will help book shows, erase competition, and build agent loyalty. I’ve heard that type of thing before, so I went through the newsletters…I saw a few things I recognized but didn’t get it until I listened to his explanations. The fact is these newsletters are works of marketing genius…the persuasion techniques built into these newsletters were so subtle I didn’t notice them. Unlike other “subtle” persuasion, I can see how well this would work. As he explained things I found that he was totally on…these newsletters are mental seduction of the agent to get you to bookings (my phrase, not his). It is obvious there is a lot of experience and testing that went on before I saw the final product. He goes into several things to do with agents, both before the show and after. This section could be titled, “The Care and Feeding of Agents”. Among many small but important details he covers he talks about what to do when you have a bad show. This has always been a concern for me…believe it or not I have had a bad show now and then. I never felt comfortable about this, when I talked to Ford Kross he told me if you never have a bad show it means you are doing way too few shows. I understand this, but what do you do with your agent? This section was priceless. As far as my negative experiences with agents mentioned above I found out why. There is a big difference between professional agents and bedroom agents. You do deal with bedroom agents with his system but the $ seem to come from the professional agents. Bedroom agents also seem to be the type that figure hypnotist A = hypnotist B and shop on price. Professional agents are far more concerned about quality. My problems have always been with bedroom agents, my good experiences with professional agents. That’s not to say you can’t do well with bedroom agents, but they can be interesting experiences. He gives you the tools to deal with these agents throughout the audio. Geoff Ronning says he gets about 70% (my memory isn’t exact here) of his shows from agents…you want the big paying corporate gigs, this is the way to go. After going through his material I went back to the web site to see if his advertising was accurate. It is. He fulfills every promise he makes in his ad. Does this work? Obviously I haven’t tested it yet, I just got the program and actually will be moving to another part of the country soon. Once there, I will use this system. There are other indications this is good in the real world, though. First, I have seen other posts here about his marketing material. Summarized they say it is plug-and-play and works well. Digging around in these forums will pop a few of those comments. Secondly, I recently saw a post on his forum. In this post a fella says he started doing this according to the instructions and was quite surprised to find it works faster and better than advertised. I understand his feelings…we’ve all bought many things hyped and been disappointed. No matter how well something reads, it is still a surprise when it actually works. Third, I’m voting with my wallet. I will do this system when we settle in. I also liked this agent’s system so much I chiseled open my wallet and ordered his big marketing course. I’m not going to review that here, you’ve probably heard enough from me for now on his stuff. If it is bad I will post, I do get on a bit of a rant when I don’t like something. Still, don’t sit up nights waiting for those negative comments…everything I’ve received from him has been super practical. I doubt his quality will suddenly go down the crapper. In short, if you have a good hypnotism show this product is a very practical way to go after the big bucks and large numbers of bookings you can get from a professional agent. I think the only thing that could stop you is your own, “I can’t do this because…” beliefs. Now I must go…I’m going over the stage hypnotism course a second time and my wife and I will be absorbing his marketing material together. I’m a happy man! |
Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
He must be a good marketer, look at what this info costs!
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
mdspark Special user 784 Posts |
Is there a way to get the same info, newsletters, etc. at a much lower price?
|
mota Inner circle 1658 Posts |
It is copyrighted material and owned by Geoff Ronning. You could e-mail him from his site and see if he is doing a sale at any time however. In December he had a sale with reduced prices.
I imagine anyone passing around his stuff (stealing) would receive a great deal of attention from him. |
cheesewrestler Inner circle Chicago 1157 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-01-18 12:43, mota wrote: OK, I'm having a hard time "getting" that. I don't want to steal the guy's stuff, but if there's 12 newsletters' worth of such techniques maybe you could give us one example? Because this does sound interesting, but .... |
mota Inner circle 1658 Posts |
This uses hypnotic language patterns based on the Ericksonian approach...any google search will show these. These patterns are worked into established influence techniques along the lines of Cialdini's book, "Influence". It's a powerful combination.
Normally I don't give these subtle techniques much validity...this is different. When these were explained in the audio I realized they did work on me and did what they were meant to do. In a way I got lucky by reading the newsletters first, wondering what the big deal was...then listening to the explanations and realizing I had been influenced in the same way the agents would be. I believed they were my own thoughts but when he explained things I realized where these ideas came from. He calls it stealth marketing and that is a good description. One example is a language pattern that has the effect of canceling out the competition, without actually mentioning yourself or the competition. Another thing to notice is the use of headlines...a well written headline will sell the agent on reading your newsletters. One headline example I will share is "How to Solve All Your Client Emergencies"...that will get an agents attention and no, it isn't "hire me" as the solution, but real solutions for agents with a problem. Can you come up with 12 tested headlines and the appropriate subject matter in just a few hours? I can't. You could write newsletters yourself and after trial and error come up with something, assuming you understand how to write advertising copy and were willing to test, invest, and evaluate, then rewrite as needed. You are buying a finished product...maybe you could figure out on your own but I doubt it could be done before you spent far more than the cost of this program. Can you write something so the agent's look forward to your newsletters, know they are from you the moment they come, and keep them instead of throwing them away? If your time is worth $20/hour you would have to figure this all out in less than 15 hours and that doesn't include the costs of mistakes. If you are even doing kid's birthday parties your time is worth far more than that. This isn't the only way to do this...down the line someone will come up with something even better, that's just the way things are. It certainly isn't the only way to work with agents. Others have made good money with agents with other approaches. This is just an approach that has produced very well for others and is basically turn-key if you follow the instructions. This isn't all there is to the program...as I mentioned, there is much on what I call the care and feeding of agents and the scripts for dealing with agents are pure gold. If you are just curious it would be a mistake to buy these...if you jump from dream to dream, two weeks on a project and getting frustrated, then going to the next dream it would not be good to get these. This isn't to sound judgemental, I've been there, believe me...but still if you a dreamer that's a lot of money. If you have a hypnotism show and want to get extremely serious about making money with agents this program will produce for you as it has for others. This is serious stuff, not entry level hypnotism shows. If you are just starting you won't be ready for corporate but if you have goals, intelligence, and work at it there is no reason you can't succeed in this market. As I mentioned above I will be moving soon to another part of the country...once in the new area I will be doing this program. I'll be putting my money where my mouth is. If I hadn't promised a friend I would review these two products (the stage hypnotism course and the agent's package) I really would have kept them to myself. Notice I won't be reviewing the big marketing course (unless it is bad, I do get real excited about getting ripped off)...I haven't promised a review to everyone. This isn't get rich quick...it's a full year marketing plan. Still, I know some who have used this exact program are doing over six figures a year and if you worked this hard you could possibly see this kind of money by the end of the year. No one can guarantee this, everyone is different but remember,corporate hypnotism shows are big bucks. That's quite a motivator. Another thought I had for this was with some adaptation this approach would also work well for selling mentalism shows and possibly many other types of entertainment by using the agent handling advice and adapting the newsletters and scripts...as there are a zillion marketing plans for those markets though it would be difficult to compare. I don't know enough about other magic/mentalism marketing to say this is the best for those markets...I just haven't seen everything. Hope this helps somewhat...you aren't going to get a "lump"...the mark-up on this is probably enough to make a Ferengi blush. But, what's in it for me? Plenty... |
Brian Turntime Special user 671 Posts |
Question on this info: could the same marketing patterns, the same kind of persuasion, be applied for other purposes... does it transfer well to mentalism or magic shows? Could the lessons be used for direct selling to clients or is it very specific to agents and publicists?
Thanks. In other words, will this help "fund a mentalist"?
------
Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died. - Steven Wright |
nalu_magic Loyal user Paradise 297 Posts |
Let me chime in here with my own opinion. Geoff's Agent System is amazing. Like mota mentioned, this system is a turn key solution to developing deep relationships with agents and positioning yourself as the go to guy.
The key to the whole system are the newsletters. They are embedded with hypnotic language and written to benefit the client - the agent - while keeping you top of mind! It covertly postions you as a expert and peer as opposed to a low level performer begging for work. The principles of the newsletters could definitely be applied successfully in other markets. After going through the whole system, you'll understand whole extremely valuable this product really is. I truly feel that this is probably one of the top 2 products that Geoff has come out with. But be aware that this the system alone will not help if you don't have the other necessities in place (i.e. solid show, promo material, etc.). It is merely the vehicle to help you network effectively with agents. If you are at that stage in your career where agent work would be beneficial, then this is definitely for you! I've said it before and I'll say it again, I used to be one of those guys who'd look at the price of Geoff's products and shake my head while muttering under my breath how expensive they are. But IF YOU ARE SERIOUS about learning stage hypnosis, or more importantly sound marketing techniques that will sky rocket your career, learn from Geoff. He's a great hypnotist, but an even better businessman. Aloha! |
Brent Allan Elite user Chicago 415 Posts |
I wanted to chime in on this old thread, as I just bought Ronning's Home Study Course.
If you get these newsletter templates and send htem out verbatim, to take advantage of the great headlines and hypnotic language and such, aren't you just peddling the same thing osmeone else is? I mean, what if I send these materials ot an agent, who has already receieved them form 3 other hypnotists? Doesn't it make us all look like hacks, if we are all using the very same materials. These days, by looking at various performers' websites, I can usually tell who has read Dave Dee's materials, because they all have a very similar feel to them. However, many use the exact same verbage that Dave provided in his courses, which just makes them look like clones. Having not seent his course, I may be way off on all this. This is not meant as an attack on Mr. Ronning, Mr. Dee, or anyone else. I am just voicing a concern I have. Opinions and feedback are appreciated.
Turn your business card into a relentless salesperson that brings you business!
http://www.TransformYourBusinesscard.com |
Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Sending out things verbatim REALLY is hack.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
HypnotizeAmerica Veteran user 399 Posts |
Brent -
What are the chances that there are 3 people in your area doing the exact same thing as you? I know for a fact there are guys who buy his stuff and NEVER use it. Hell it took me a year to use a program that cost me $1450!! I wouldn't worry about it. If it doesn't work then switch it up a little. I used Geoff's on the radio program as is (changing my name from his of course), sent it out and was on the radio within a week. I like his stuff because I am pretty lazy and I like the turnkey aspect. I would say this since I've seen or bought most of Geoff's stuff. Get a big package like his marketing package, follow the steps, and tailor it to the market and you'd be ok. He really just rehashes most of the main concepts but just for different markets. Oh and I don't get a dime from Geoff and A LOT of his stuff is from Dan Kennedy but tailored to the hypnosis field. Hope that helps. |
Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
According to that logic, as long as nobody in your area is doing Mac King's show, well then what would it hurt to do it?
Verbatim is a bad idea.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
ns Loyal user Canada 238 Posts |
So I guess the question is who is using this system and getting big money as a result? To me it seems that sending promo every month to an agent, no matter if it's stealth marketing, may be too much. I was in an agents office once and saw a monthly newsletter and heard the agent say "not more *&^%ing email from him!"
I am also afraid of sending the same promo as everyone else as mentioned above. I try to be different and to be seen as different - so why should I send agents the same thing as everyone else? |
HypnotizeAmerica Veteran user 399 Posts |
NS -
If you had his program you'd understand how it is used and why it isn't a bother for agents to get his information. Also, I used his on the air program with a few exceptions (like changing my name, and making my own bio) and was on the air the next week. I guess some people like to reinvent the wheel. Oh and I've never had a single person say "Hey we got the exact same postcard from another guy." Most people who buy the stuff never use. Plus with a few very minor changes each postcard can be different. |
Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
You are VERY right about not sending the same thing to the same people.
I will say that a way to write things is fine. BUT word for word? Guess what the agent does with most of that sutff? They get hundreds of things a DAY from people. If you send the agent copies of thigs exactly, do you think that will impress them? As for reinventing the wheel, yep if you are an entertainer I would propose that by definition that is really your job. I find it funny how people claim to be unique and all this, all the while sending out word for word copy! It is the very definition of ironic. Agents are NOT STUPID. Plus you only get one chance to make a first impression. Why waste it with someone elses impression? Don't you want people to be thrilled with YOU and YOUR show?
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
ns Loyal user Canada 238 Posts |
HypnotizeAmerica -
I have the program. And no, owning it doesn't make me understand. Owning it makes me think that it's a bad idea to send the letters out verbatim. I'm with DannyDolye all the way on this one. |
mindpunisher Inner circle 6132 Posts |
I work with companies to help them differentiate themselves from competition.The funniest thing is they ALL say they are different. The only way to be different is well....to be different.
You need to develop your own style that relates to you personally. One of the things I get flooding into my e-mail are relationship building e-mails. And the more common they become the less effective they become. To send out "templates" word for word is really a stupid idea. You are better investing in some marketing courses that teach you how to market anything then apply it to your circumstances. |
Lee Darrow V.I.P. Chicago, IL USA 3588 Posts |
An agent is an order taker. They do not, generally speaking "sell" the cleint on any specific act, the client comes to the agent seeking to book a specific kind of act - a magician, a balloon bender, a hypnotist...
The agent then sells the client the act that he (or she) can get the most money booking. Plain and simple. Of course, there are other considerations - the act must be reliable - they must show up, do a reasonably good show and not annoy the client in any way, for openers... But, in general, agents are order takers. The days of a front man (which is what it seems he's describing -= someone who goes out and pushes your act to new venues) is pretty much over. You have to hire someone to do that for you these days - at least in my experience. Or you have to do it yourself. Which is what 98% or so of most acts do. That's not to say that you shouldn't get your name out to the agents - not at all, but don't expect them to PUSH your act over others. They won't. They are there to fill the requests of their clients. And to book gigs - for anybody in their portfolio that fits the needs of their clients. Not just you. So an agent will not try to sell you to a client that comes to them looking for a mentalist or a magician or a tarot reader, regardless of how good your NLP selling skills are. Because THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT in their eyes. Respectfully, Lee Darrow, C.H.
http://www.leedarrow.com
<BR>"Because NICE Matters!" |
mindpunisher Inner circle 6132 Posts |
You are so right LEE.
You need to promote yourself. Then once your name gets around people will ask agents for you. I never got great gigs from Agents. The good lucrative ones always came from me.. Often agents are not even concerned with quality but keeping all acts within a certain price range |
Lee Darrow V.I.P. Chicago, IL USA 3588 Posts |
Thanks for the kind words, Pun. I appreciate them.
Agents can be very useful for bolstering one's income, but to rely on them FOR one's income is to invite starvation. However, once an agent has decided that you are reliable and put out a good product (which can take quite a while with many of them), they will often suggest your act over the "rest of the pack" when someone comes in the door looking for someone who does what you do... But screw up just ONCE and you are dead meat - and these people talk to each other... a lot! Lee Darrow, C.H.
http://www.leedarrow.com
<BR>"Because NICE Matters!" |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » You are getting sleepy...very sleepy... » » One more review: The Ronning Agents Marketing System (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.08 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |