I am looking for a promoter to help us on a few projects we are mounting....how have you guys found promoters in the past? Im having a really hard time finding promoters...simple internet searches don't seem to turn up anything of any value, either.
Any advice?

I never use promoters as I have found the best promoter to simply be myself. there is no one that knows my show more then I do and I save myself a bumndle by handling it the way I do. Of course there is a LOT of work andknowledge involved in promotiing your own show but if you research and so it the right way you cna have a lot of great success with it.

Kyle

I think you need to provide a bit more inforation.

Are you seeking someone to book your show in a public venue for a fee, then promote it in hopes of making a profit?

Are you looking to partner with someone in order to produce a public show?

Or are you looking for a publicist to help you get noticed by the press?

As Kyle points out, you will most likely promote your own show, until you get to a level where it is profitable to hire someone else to do the promotion. Regardless, you need to know how to promote your projects or you risk paying someone a lot of money without knowing if they are doing the job you need done.

Jim

Let me tell you a little bit more about our situation.
In February of 07 we are going on a tour of theatres we are four-walling. It isn't a huge tour, but decently sized. We are able to square away a lot of the details ourselves, but there is still a lot that isn't able to get taken care of. We need someone who can help w/ a lot of details: securing the venues, finding sponsors, actually promoting the show in each area, etc. Like I said, we are able to get a lot done ourselves, but when you are dealing w/ multiple locations, it gets very difficult, time consuming, and stressful to say the least.

Knowing more about our situaiton, is there any advice you guys have?

What kind of budget do you have for the promoter?

Do you want to trust someone to do it for a flat fee, not concerned about the success of your venture? I don't think so.

So, you can either:

1) hire someone to do it for you and keep it "in house," or

2) try to find an outside promoter to do it for a piece of the action, i.e. more money,less control and less oversight.

You have a bit of a problem, in that you haven't secured the venues yet. You should plan a lot more lead time, 6 months to a year. Furthermore, I suggest you try to partner with the theaters instead of four walling it, particularly since you don't have the staff in place to do the promotion.

But if you are bent on doing it, and given that you are running out of time - you only have about 16 weeks - I suggest you hire someone to do it for you and keep it "in house."

You are going to work your tail off, but that's show business.


Jim

I very much agree with Jim on this one. Brian, you know me and I wouldn't think about steering you wrong. You have a lot of passion for your magic and you are in the right track. Because of this I feel strongly that your best bet is to learn to promote the show yourself.

No one knows that show better then you do. No one can sell the show better then you. It takes a,little bit of work, but once the systems are in place (which I can help you with), the show promotes itself and is fairly manageable to do. Kelly and I promote every theater show we perform at and I can tell you that every single theater show to date for the past 3 years we have set record attendance. It can be done and we can teach you how to do the exact same thing.

You will be much happier with the results doing it yourself. You will know it is getting done and you save yourself a bundle in the cost it would take to hire someone who has no idea what you do or how you do it. Trust me on this one. If I can do it successfully, you can as well. I know you can.

Getting a promoter at this late stage would be very hard to do. By the time it takes you to land the venues and get them up to speed on who you are and how best to promote you, you could already be doing a lot of the promotions yourself and be way ahead of the game.

Now another solution, as Jim pointed out, is to find someone you trust who knows you and who knows your show. This could be a family member, relative etc. It must be someone you trust who really knows you and what you do. Then you work with them on the promotion and marketing of the show. This way it is kept in house, you gain control but you also can let that person do some opf the work for you as you work out other issues you need to address.

I hope I did not come across as being mean-spirited as that is not my intention at all. I just feel so strongly that you can do this in-house, save yourself money and be very successful at it. I was once exactly where you are right now and if I can do it you can to.

Listen to the advice that Jim is offering you. He knows what he is talking about. He has helped me in more ways then many may know and really lit a spark inside of me to be as successful as I want to be. Part of that success was an understanding that I am my own best promoter. I market my show better then anyone else can.

Go out there and be successful.

Kyle