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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Donald,
Great question and I apologize for the confusion in my most recent post. What I meant was that my wife and I have been able to reach that 15k mark, that TC has stated as his goal, and maintained that amount and gone beyond it in the past 10 years. We have been able to do this even though we both work full time. Now the first few years out we had to do a significant number of shows to reach that mark we set out of 15k. This was performing multiple shows every single weekend as well as some week night work. The first year we did not quite make it and fell short a little. However, over the past 5 years now we have been able to reduce the overall number of shows dramatically while still reaching that 15k mark. So my formula early on was to get to a point where I was making the set 15k goal while performing a lot less shows. And, just in the past 3 years we have been able to surpass the 15k mark easily while still maintaining the amount of shows we feel we can handle. This is due a lot in part to repeat clients (relationship building) as well as a higher price for our show offerings each year. We have also recently jumped into a higher market as well with the introduction of our full evening production show that we now use as a fundraiser for schools and organizations. We have done this now for past 3 years and this brings in a much higher income for us and we have been averaging about 2 production show fundraisers a year. Now the first year out I was blown away by the ability to reach that lofty income goal we set out. However, I did not just jump into this full force. Before my wife and I decided to really put forth this effort the first year, we spent a good year and a half really learning, studying, reading and applying the principles and ideas I learned through courses like Jim Snacks and others. I really wanted to not only obsorb the information, but find out how I could apply it to our show and create systems and such before we gave it a try. I am glad I did as it really made a difference for us. Danny: Yes you are right in that being a graphic designer has helped me a great deal. However working for a direct mail marketing aganecy really did not help me as much as some may think. lol I know that sounds crazy but I just never really put the two together because at work I was mainly designing marketing materials but never understood or had the background in what is marketing, the principles of marketing and how to apply these marketing ideas to my magic business. I was really lost in that regard. That was when I decided that in order to be successful for my wife and I, we needed to learn as much as we could about marketing and how we could directly apply that to our magic business. this is when I really started asking the questions, reading the books, talking to people. Yes being a designer helped and yes being in a marketing agency allowed me easier access to this information. However, I strongly feel that anyone can do what my wife and I were able to do if they are determined to take action to do it. You can learn about marketing and the principles of it without having to be a designer or working in the marketing industry. I will say 95% of what I learned and apply today in regards to marketing I learned outside of work. Now I agree working towards full time is not easy. I will absolutely agree with that. However, my simple point is that anyone has the ability to earn 15k a year and still carry a full time job in the process and be able to do so in a matter of a few years if not sooner. It can be done. It is not easy by any means and it takes a ton of hard work but my point is that you can achieve that. Hope this helps a bit. 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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HypnotizeAmerica Veteran user 399 Posts |
Hey guys I was doing some thinking last night and wanted to share some random thoughts about my past year.
I started 2 years ago with Geoff Ronning's programs which worked. I made the mistake of going in the hole buying sound equipment and then doing mailings. I made money but poor money management ****ed most of it away. The result was a large Credit Card debt and a fear to go into debt again. So last year I got out of debt and actually have about 2k in the bank (which through saving I want to turn into 10k this year). This past year I've bought programs and/or talked with the following people: Jim Snack, Wayne Perkins, Jerry Enns, the board here, followed the posting of Blair Robertson, Danny Doyle, The Dean,a few friends in the business etc. I've gotten a ton of great advice and such from all people, all of them different. My goal is to get 15k worth of business but pay cash for everything as I go. I could do a monthly mailing to 1000 schools for about $340 or I could cold call on off peak hours for much less. My main concern is to not go into debt and get the most return for my time and my money. My bigger goal is to turn this full time in 3 years or less so that by the time I am 30 I am working for myself with a year of income saved up and about $50k worth of clients. I collected a ton of info this year but took no action. I talked with people, got fired up about what they said but did nothing and then talked with someone else, got fired up, and did nothing. See a pattern here. So here I sit with a ton of info and no idea who to follow, what to do, where to go, etc. Hope that helps you, it just depresses me. TC |
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Christophercarter Regular user 132 Posts |
Tim,
IMO you have basically the right idea. Stop listening to everybody and start doing. Just don't feel like you have to take only one sort of action. There's no reason you can't do a postcard mailer AND cold call AND contact agents. Since you have a day job, you have the luxury of making some mistakes. There is a point at which even a bad action is better than no action at all, and listening to your frustration it sounds as if you've reached that. However, be sure to take some time out each day to plan tomorrow's work and to re-evaluate the approaches that you've been taking. Finally, the best advice I can give right now is to turn off your computer. Don't even respond to this post. If all the various responses depress you, pull yourself away from it. Work hard for the next three months, then come back and report what you've accomplished. Chances are you will have done a lot of things wrong and a few things right. I still think that's better than doing nothing at all. --Chris |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Well step ione will always be taking action upon yourself to get off your butt and sytart doing something about seeking your own success. If you take no action, then success will certainly not come to you. The second thing then is to educate yourself the best way you can. really learn and listen and read and then apply that information directly to your magic business and track the results.
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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