Zack,

If in fact you do have a show for children and you are serious about getting into the birthday business, then you need to visit some of the daycare centers in your area. But if you don't have an age appropriate show then forget it. It won't work. By the time kids are old enough to understand card tricks, etc, most are no longer interested in having a magician at their party. So to have any success at all in the birthday business, you going to have to 'target' the younger kids. You need a good age appropriate show and you need to become THE local magician. And the only way to become THE local magician is by getting your name out there. You need kids and parents talking about you. When they think of magic or party they need to think of you.

The best place to cause talk about kid activities is in the Daycare Centers. I call em the lead headquarters for getting birthday shows, simply because that's where all the mom's gather everyday and talk, talk, talk, and talk some more. Trust me, there you can find out what kids do on the weekend, where they do it, and what color mom had her nails done.

Getting to know the director and teachers at a local daycare center should be on top of your list of things to do. EVERY child there is going to have a birthday. And the odds are good that the parent will be talking to the teacher about the party. Their friends are there and they will be inviting them to come to the party.

Actually, to get a better understanding of the daycare business and how it's run, you need to read my book The Daycare Magician. But don't be afraid to just drop by your local center early one morning with a dozen doughnuts for the teachers, or if it's later in the day, take a bag of cookies. Introduce yourself as the 'local' magician and leave a few cards/flyers for them to hand out.

Use your drawing box idea there, Or simply ask the director to pass out the forms to the children/parents to take home.

Anyway, good luck with it and if I can be of help, just let me know.

Tom

Tom's book on Daycare Magic is great. I recommend it.

I don't think is about sneaking information out of people. People know that when they enter the drawing, they will be added to a mailing list. It is a trade-off for them. If they want to win, the give up their information. If people do not want to give up their information, it is their choice not to enter the drawing.
You could even put a disclosure that says you will use their information for future advertising, and I doubt it would affect the number of entries.


On another note, I like Tom's idea of holding the drawing at a daycare. That is the perfect audience. Also, I think it was Donald who said to offer all entries a discount. But be sure to have an expiration date on it.

I did this at a recent city-wide event. Got lotsa responses. Gave away four free birthday shows, and discounts to anyone else who entered. Contacted everyone who won and almost everyone else.

Nothing -- nada -- zip!! Not even the free people bit.

Your mileage may vary.
Ed

Ed -

Are you saying the people who won the free birthday magic shows, didn't call and book them before the offer expired? That's strange.

When I gave away a free birthday magic show with my draw, years ago, I gave away the free show within the 12 months. I also got a tip at the show itself, as well as spin off work.

I also remember offering the option of upgrading the show that they won, for an extra fee, and one customer did that. I offer 2 bday packages, but only gave away the standard show package in the draw.

Did you contact the winners by phone and then mail?

Did you contact the other entrants, with the coupon offer, by mail or email? I ask this, because it's very easy to ignore an email if they haven't had any from you previously. Mail would have more impact.

- Donald

Phone and email. Didn't get mailing addresses. Got a lot "Oh thank you! I'll contact you when it's time." Not.

Ed

When I gave away the birthday party packages, I called to tell them that they won. Then I mailed a physical certificate / page with the show description, prize value, and conditions of the prize ("dates are booked first come first served, so book early", "must be used for a birthday party with less than 15 kids", "must be a birthday show in the Victoria area", "birthday shows are best for the birthday child aged 4-10, and their friends", "this certificate expires on January 25, 2014 -- must be used within 12 months", etc.) This was often sent on my letterhead. I'm sure if I hadn't mailed the certificates / page, the parent wouldn't have remembered it later on.

Again, I personally wouldn't have done this by email. I don't think it has the same impact.

I wouldn't have even sent it as an email attachment for the parent to print off. Too easy to get deleted, forgotten about, not printed off, etc.

- Donald

I agree that email is not the best way to do business with strangers.

I can see where putting a box out on the street just anywhere probably wouldn't do a lot of good. But if it's targeted at the right audience, just the publicity alone would be worth the effort. It's not that often you get to display your name and what you do right in the middle of qualified prospects. Picture the display sitting on a front desk with parents seeing it everyday for a week or more. Sure some would register more than once, and you would have to sort those out, but that only proves they are interested.

Anyway, looks like Zack lost interest in the idea and moved on. I do wish him well with whatever he does to get leads.

Tom

I don't know how you guys do it.

Mind you this I do not mean in a bad way. The idea of finding new prospects constantly just seems quite a daunting task to me. It seems SO time consuming and VERY tough to do!

This is EXACTLY why I have concentrated my whole career on long term deals. Things that last for YEARS on end! This is how I have always done it. I can't imagine how much work goes into this type of thing. It would wear me out!

Again I mean that in a "geeze you guys work hard!" sort of way. Not in any sort of bad way.

Zack -

I have given info about the suggested form (asking for child's ages and birthdays but not their names, etc.), prizes, etc. on one of the links I provided. Posts I made several years ago on another thread.

We've talked above, about how to follow up with the winners. Phone and then mail a certificate. And the idea of upselling, etc.

In my opinion, you only have to send 2 pieces of mail to the other entrants.

One right after the draw, to send them the coupon (and possibly the other, smaller prize -- I mentioned wands with instruction sheets because it's one of my more popular BOR items -- not every performer has those to give away in a mailing). Maybe also let them know who the winner of the grand prize was.

And then contact them again with some basic birthday show information (and maybe even the gift of a party tips booklet), about a month or two before their child's birthday. You can even do a mention of the initial draw / coupon in that second letter, so they can remember how you got their contact information -- they gave it to you willingly.

You don't have to send them the coupon again. You don't have to give the discount if they don't have the coupon, if they haven't kept it from your first mailing. That's your personal decision.

Again, none of this is done by email. Snail mail has more impact. And wait for them to contact you to inquire about a show or to book a show. If they don't contact you, don't sweat it. You have lots of leads.

Because you are contacting parents at home, and they aren't really a prospect or customer (yet), you don't have a strong rapport with them. So, I personally wouldn't call them at all (unless they ask you to), and also not send too much mail (no newsletters, no sequencial mailings, etc.) There is a difference as to how you should handle suspects, prospects, customers, and clients.

- Donald

P.S. Danny referred to long term deals. The only types of opportunities I can think of for children's entertainers or family entertainers, are things like amusement parks, resorts, cruise ships, sponsored shows, becoming a Ronald McDonald magic clown, etc.