Hi all,

I was contacted by someone who employs "Shopping Presenters" on cruise lines, who give presentations about specific products.

It seems like a really great job, and part of the application is to make a 5 minute demo video "selling" a product (of my choice).

I have no experience mixing magic and sales, does anybody have any advice, or suggestions on what product I could "sell" and how to go about it?

Thanks!

HMM interesting--
Pretend to sell old valuable coins... and you could do tricks with them

I considered that, or pretending to sell jewelry while doing magic with a ring (I have a really solid ring magic routine), but I'm still uncertain how to present it. The goal is to sell the product, but my "typical" presentation for magic is that the objects have some special attributes. Like if I'm doing a spellbound, or a 3-fly, or whatever with the coins I'm trying to sell, how would I fit that in with a sales pitch? Same applies to my finger ring problem, if I'm doing magical things with the ring while selling it, it could come across that I'm implying they're buying a magical prop or something

Strat1227 wrote;

Don't.

This is not at a trade show gig and this job is not about gathering a crowd, establishing leads or showcasing your magic. What's more if you get the job you will likely be doing your presentations on a theatre stage in a room that seats up to 1000 people so small magic stuff would anyway be too small. (but that's neither here nor there because it's not appropriate)

If you really want a chance at getting this job keep your magic as a hobby and focus on pitching a product that the cruise ship recommended shops program is likely to be selling and do it in a way that they are likely to want you to pitch it.

If you go for something like Del-Sol products that change colour in the sun, say a range of their T-shirts, or jewellery from Diamonds International, or leather coats from some Italian outlet it will show them that you are already up to speed on the type of thing they are involved in selling.

Find out about the shopping program's guarantee that comes as part of buying from a recommended store and include that in your pitch. Include the other advantages that comes with buying at their recommended stores such as piece of mind in knowing the store has been checked out, you're not going to be sold counterfeit goods, there's a follow up service after you've left port, the VIP discount cards, personal service from individuals known to the cruise company and the presenter etc.

Be confident, bright, ebullient and enthusiastic in your presentation and save your magic for the crew bar after you've got the job.

This is a hustling high pressure job, be prepared to represent companies, retailers, destinations and locations you may not specifically care for or that you know that may not provide the best value, but provide the best kickback to to the cruise line and commission to you. You are also responsible for contacting said companies and setting up marketing and sales plans also. Do Your research.

Thanks for the info guys, anybody else have any tips/ideas/thoughts?

Tboehniein wrote;

This is hardly the case. The shopping talks are programmed and advertised and people turn up to the presentations if they are interested. There's no selling of any merchandise at the information talks the Shopping Presenters give so there's no hustling or high pressure. In fact it's about as low pressure, hustle free as you can get.

None of the cruise lines have anything to gain by promoting stores that sell goods and provide a service that is sub standard. They are looking to make money by providing a service and that service needs to have value if it is to work long term. The cruse ships have had these programs in place since the early 80s so they've had plenty of time to get them working well. I have yet to come across any that promote shops that have products that aren't to a good standard.

Certainly the shops they promote might not sell the cheapest version of whatever the product is, but they usually point this out during their presentation when they pitch the peace of mind that shopping from a recommended store can provide the passengers.

Personally I have never seen the need to look out a recommended shop to make a purchase of anything in port but some people like to be guided in their decision making when in an unfamiliar country.

Well the job description mentions that a lot of your pay is commissions-based, so maybe there is a bit of pressure and hustle. Though it doesn't appear to be a whole lot.

I should also mention that it was the CEO of this company that happened to be at one of my magic shows when he approached me about this. He didn't specifically say if he wanted me to include magic in the job in any way, he just said he had a job he thought I would be great for, and later emailed me a link to the webpage about the position.

I definitely think Sealegs is correct about reserving the magic to specific situations, for the stage presentations it hardly seems appropriate, but the job also seems to incorporate a certain amount of "schmoozing", with passengers on the cruises, with shop owners, with locals, etc. So using it in those situations might be beneficial for me.

But @Sealegs, your suggestion is to not use it at all in my audition video at all?


EDIT: I'd also like to add my thanks for all the information and advice you've shared, I hope my continuing questions aren't too much of a hassle

It seems like you have a lot of experience with these types of things, and this is a job I'd certainly like to get, so your help here is invaluable.

Your pay will certainly be largely based on the sales you produce through the promoting you do but it's hard to hustle when you aren't involved with the actual point of sale. Certainly there are good and bad shopping presenters but the main things that increase sales is giving an interesting engaging and entertaining presentation that emphasises the benefits of buying through the shops that are being pitched. Outside of your presentation there's not too much you can do to push your products. (the shops)

Ensuring that your talks are well advertised in the daily programs and announced (if allowed) on the ships PA system... and seeing the guests off the ship for the first rush to get ashore in port... and handing out maps and vip discount vouchers... and making your presence known on the ship by being amenable, sociable and available will also help.

I suspect the CEO that saw you saw someone engaging and interesting and that is more likely to have prompted them to get you to apply than the magic which I don't believe will be any direct use to you at all. I would be very wary about putting any magic into an audition video unless there is a requirement in the audition to tell them something about yourself. If the video is just to show how you would present your talk then I think it would be a mistake to include any magic. I think that if you put magic into your audition video as part of your presentation it is more likely to harm your chances than benefit them. If they suspect that your goal is in anyway to use these talks as a vehicle to show off your magic I believe that could count against you.

However if there's a bit in the audition video where you are describing yourself and who you are a quick visual magic trick might catch their eye but other than this I can't see it has a place.

But please understand though, that I do not have any direct experience with the shopping program on any ships... I have though worked as a comedy magic act on ships since 1985 so I understand something about what the job entails through many social associations with those that do this for a living.

I believe my advice is sound but it's up to you what value to attribute to it. Best of luck.

Ok, that all makes sense

The application says "Please prepare a five-minute audition video. Introduce yourself and give a brief description of why you should be considered as a potential Port & Shopping Presenter."

So in introducing myself I may just do a coin vanish or something of the like.

Thanks again for the advice, I'll post here again once I apply

On the cruise ship I was on, people had to buy the coupon book at the presentation.

s

This is a sales gig, not a magic gig. Keep that in mind.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Just trying to be a unique applicant

Does the application also say, "part of the application is to make a 5 minute demo video "selling" a product." as in your opening post? ... because this is a different task from, "Please prepare a five-minute audition video. Introduce yourself and give a brief description of why you should be considered as a potential Port & Shopping Presenter."

Either way Danny's succinct advice to remember that this is a sales job not a magic job is spot on.

Best of luck.

The full description of the video I have to make is as follows:

"Please prepare a five-minute audition video. Introduce yourself and give a brief description of why you should be considered as a potential Port & Shopping Presenter. Then “sell” us a product. The majority of your video should focus on your ability to sell. Sample items include, but are not limited to:

Lipstick
Manolo Blahnik shoes
Rum cakes
Turkish rugs
Diamonds or gemstones
Camera or other electronics"


So yeah, 5 minutes to introduce myself, give some background, and convincingly sell a product will be tough :/

5 minutes is longer than you think...
Listen to Sealegs, he performs on ships for a living (as do I)

Sales presentations (guise of entertainment) is a big market right now. Good luck with this Stratt.

"introduce myself, give some background" These can be done in 3 sentences. If you're good at the selling they don't care about your background. If you're bad, no background will help.