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NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
I have a lot of practical marketing experience and know my way around direct marketing, sales and advertising having worked as a pro for many years including a stint as an agent.
However, I am keen to kick my marketing up the next level and I am looking for some good resources either designed for small businesses and/or magicians. That said, I am not after 'systems' not am interested in the Dave Dee style of marketing. I am more interested in practical resources. |
LeeDillingham Loyal user Las Vegas 263 Posts |
Read any of the Guerilla Marketing books. I found them all at my local library.
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HypnotizeAmerica Veteran user 399 Posts |
Nicholas -
Success in Magic has been recommended a lot and I am working my way through it at this point. Long story short, I can't recommend yet but so far I am impressed with what I have recieved. |
Jim Snack Inner circle 1338 Posts |
Nicholas,
Sounds like you need a marketing plan. My first question is: Are you looking to "kick your marketing up to the next level," or "kick your business up to the next level." In other words: Are you are looking to improve your current marketing efforts in order to get more bookings with your current show, at your current level, in the markets you currently serve? or... Are you looking to move your business to a new level, raise your fees, and enter a new market with a new product or service? Your marketing plan depends upon the answer to that question. Jim |
NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
Hi Jim - The first one....
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Jim Snack Inner circle 1338 Posts |
Okay, then the next question is:
What markets do you currently serve? Before formulating a marketing plan, I find it useful to do some general business planning. As I wrote in Volume One of my Success in Magic Course" "Before you can know where you are going, it helps to know where you've been." To get a clear picture of the current state of your business, break down the number of shows you did in the past 12 months according to their type and market. For example: How many shows for children, families, adults? How many: Private parties Libraries Day Care Centers Schools Civic Organizations Association Events Corporate Events Fairs Festivals Theaters Any other category that you find useful. Then, indicate the range of fees received in each category, as well as the average fee received for a show in each category, and an average overall fee received for a date. It helps you get a clear picture of your current business. After reviewing this information, you can set goals for the next 12 months. For example, you might find that fairs and festivals represented 10% of your total business mix, but the average fee received for a fair booking was substantially higher than your overall average fee. If you enjoy working fairs, you might decide that you want to grow your business in that particular market. Or maybe you are getting burned out doing children's shows and you decide to reduce the number of day care centers, instead growing your corporate work with adult audiences. Set a goal for each particular market category for the next twelve months. In the first few years of business, my goal was to double the gross each year. That's much more difficult now! I like to set an overall growth goal of 20-25% each year, then set goals in each particular market category. How any fairs do you want to work in the next twelve months? At what average fee? How many schools? How many corporate events? Write it down. By setting goals, you now have something to shoot for, and now you can start formulating a marketing strategy. In my Kidabra Conference Marketing Day lecture this year, I talked about the Five 'P's of Marketing: Product, Positioning, Packaging, Pricing, and Promotion. You need to make some decisions in each of these areas as you formulate a marketing plan. Product - What are you offering? This is an important consideration. Research your target market carefully, look at the competition, talk to your past clients. Is there something you can offer that is not currently being offered that meets your client's needs? If you choose a product that meets a pressing market need, your chances of success increase dramatically. Positioning - Can you formulate a clear positioning statement that differentiates you from your competition? How do you want to be perceived by your clients? Packaging - How can you package your show to make it attractive to buyers? What is the "look" of your show and promotional materials? For example, what are you color schemes onstage and in your promotional materials? Are they consistent? This is a good time to talk to graphic designers about packaging your show. Pricing - Is your strategy to enter the market at the lowest price level, trying to generate volume so you can become known? Or do you want to enter the market at the highest fee level, doing fewer shows, but for more money? Or maybe you want to be in the middle range? Your pricing strategy will depend upon a number of factors, including how you have packaged your show, the quality of your promotional materials, how well known you are, and how much money you need to earn to sustain and grow your business. Promotion - What will you do in the next twelve months to become better known in your target markets? What strategies will you use? Is direct mail effective for a particular market? How about publicity? Showcasing? Referrals? I saved Promotion for last, but I'll bet it's the first thing most people think about when they think about marketing. If you haven't done the other work first, you aren't ready to think about promotion because you have no clear goals or strategy. Don't go off half-cocked and start making promotion plans or you'll waste a lot of tme, money and energy. Marketing is not rocket science. You can read a number of books on general marketing principles and strategies; then you need to adapt those principles and strategies to the unique demands of the performing business. But the real work involves taking a hard look at the current state of your business, formulating a clear vision of what you want to do in the future (short term and long term), making some decisions about goals and strategies, and then, rolling up your sleeves and getting to work, implementing your plan. At the end of the year, take a look back and ask yourself: What worked? What didn't? What did you enjoy doing? What do you need help with? How can you improve your product, positioning, packaging, pricing and promotion? What are you going to do differently next year? There is no "magic bullet." Do these simple things and watch your business grow. Jim |
magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
I did and used this exact same step that Jim is mentioning and it was a wonder and an eye-opener to me. I saw things that I did not see before and saw markets that I had only touched base on and realized that those markets were the ones I could really explore more. In other words, it really helped me to open my eyes to what I had been doing, where I had been and gave me a clear way to see where I could go.
Aftering doing the exact steps that jim talked about, my wife and I saw that we were doing a lot of b-day parties and mad x amount of money. However we were doing 2-3 festivals/fairs and were making 3-4 times the amount of our b-day parket. Just from doing this exercise, we realized that there was an entirely untapped market out there for us where we could make a lot more income by doing less shows. We would never have seen this if not for taking those business steps and then formulating a marketing plan that worked for us in this new market. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
Jim Snack Inner circle 1338 Posts |
I love it when Kyle jumps in and shares his experiences..real life, not armchair speculation.
I did my first such analysis in 1981 and it opened my eyes also. Like Kyle, after doing the exercise, I saw that I was doing the least amount of work in the market that paid the best and the most amount of work in the market that paid the least. Six months later, I had turned that around and doubled my income. Now, 25 years later, I still do it every year, and this simple planning exercise enables me to set clear business goals for the coming year. You said you want to "kick your marketing into top gear"...think of this exercise as first gear. Second Gear...Once you know what markets you want to focus on, you can formulate marketing strategies. That's where the Five 'P's come into play. What's your Product? How is it Positioned and Packaged? What's your Pricing strategy? How will you Promote your services? All important considerations before you design a brochure, website or other marketing tool. That's Third Gear..Hang on Tight! Fourth (Top?) Gear...Implement the plan, mail those brochures, get that feature story, network, showcase...Faster, Faster, Faster. Overdrive...keep momentum going, fill your date book, raise your fees, keep the gears oiled, stay on the road and enjoy the ride! Jim |
magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Thanks Jim for the kind words. If it was not for you mentioning doing thisin the first place, mywife and I would never have given it a try. Now every year we do a full evaluation using the exact same method described above. It really works and it really helps show us if we met our goals that year, what steps we can take for next year, setting up realistic short term goals and then formulating what markets are working best for us. It really works wonderfully and helps to open your eyes a lot.
Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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