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Mikael Eriksson Inner circle None of your business 1064 Posts |
As a general rule, would you say that it's a good or a bad idea to show the price when you advertise yourself as a children's magician?
I had a discussion with a candy store owner who said that more people would call if they saw the price from the beginning. He said that many don't dare to call and ask the price themselves. |
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Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7563 Posts |
The answer is, "It depends".
It depends on the way you want to run your own personal business, what your marketing/promotional stategies are, and also what your pricing is. - Donald
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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trixy Veteran user sweden 320 Posts |
I never put out the price. The price depends on what the booker wants. Sometime its so many children that I need my PA, and that costs extra. Or if the booker wants me to do little mingle with the children before the show...That costs extra..
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jakeg Inner circle 1741 Posts |
I believe that advertising your price creates business and weeds out the curiosity seekers. Almost every high end product from cars to cruises do it. Why re-invent the wheel? They've done all of the research for you.
State it something like: A complete show starting at $$$$$. This gives you the flexibility to move up in your pricing. If someone just wants the basic show, you're still happy. |
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Julian Franklin Regular user Houston, TX 139 Posts |
Using the method Jakeg stated, you also avoid dealing with droves of calls from people seeking the absolute cheapest price in town. If you sell based on price then maybe this might not be of value, but if you sell based on who you are, then posting your price weeds out those who don't care about who you are and only want the rock-bottom price.
I post my prices on my website as well as in all my marketing materials (except brochures that might be used over many years in which case I use the brochure to direct them to my website). |
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KC Cameron Inner circle Raleigh, North Carolina 1944 Posts |
I use advertising as bait to get them to call me. Once they call me they usually book. I have found that many, by default, search by price because they think all magicians are the same. When I get them on the phone, I can usually convince them to spend more. I had an ad in a paper that ran for a year and produced very little. I took out the price for the same ad, and the result was astounding.
Still, I plan to be putting price on my ads soon, because I think many wealthy judge quality by price too, and if my price is high enough, the party could actually book easier. That and I am not getting enough price resistance now. I hope having several shows will cater to a wider audience too. |
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Mikael Eriksson Inner circle None of your business 1064 Posts |
Thanks for your views on this. I'll try to put my price in my advertising and see if there is any difference.
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Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7563 Posts |
The thing to do, is to track it both ways.
- Donald
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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Wanlu Inner circle Manila, Philippines 3058 Posts |
I put my price in my website...I figured clients will only call me if they agree to the price.
So when I ask where they got my number and they say from my website, then I know that the price is not a problem to that particular client
"The Old Path"
www.angdatingdaan.org Wanlu's Affordable Puppets http://wanlu.net/ventpuppets.html Wanlu and his Puppets http://wanlu.net |
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jondark445 Special user 716 Posts |
I never put my price, because I want to speak to them. When they call to ask the price it gives me yet another opportunity to sell the show to them.
--Jon |
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TroyRoark Loyal user Springfield IL 282 Posts |
I've been biting my lip on this one. I feel like all I do is respond to these types of threads, but I can't keep my mouth shut. It's a problem
I have one golden rule when it comes to booking shows: You should make it as easy as possible for someone to book you. The more steps there are in the booking process, the less likely you are to book the show. If I can eliminate any step along the way, I'm going to book more shows. I get very few "on the fence" calls because when people call me, they have already made an informed decision based on the material I have sent them. It's just a matter of scheduling the date. I'm still waiting for soneone to give me a good reason why publishing your rates is a bad idea. I haven't heard one yet. |
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todd75 Inner circle 1277 Posts |
I NEVER PUT MY PRICES ANYWHERE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! Not saying that it is bad to do so, I just think that you are giving the client an easy way of saying no and then they are more likely to keep price shopping for "the cheap guy!"
Look at it this way....how many clients call and say, "how much do you charge?" right off the bat? They usually base their entire decision to hire someone based on $$$ rather than the quality of the show. I may be a lot higher than most other people they talk to but....I know that if I can get them on the phone and paint a mental picture of my show / programs to them that they are going to look at my price as a "great deal" because now they know what it is that I do and I can justify my price. Putting a price on your website, ad, marketing materials tells them how much you charge but nothing about what you do. Just my 2 cents worth... |
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TroyRoark Loyal user Springfield IL 282 Posts |
I hope that I didn't make it seem like my promo materials said "Troy Roark, $375!" Of course my materials tell what I do, and I think they do a very good job of it. I have a very short blurb about myself, one full paragraph about the show, several testimonials, and my rates. I book between 225 and 250 shows a year. I think the method works.
I will say that my market may be different than others. I work strictly schools and libraries. I wouldn't be caught dead doing tricks for Joey's 7th B-day party. My audience is primarily school principals, who have absolutely no time to make phone calls for assemblies. They want to make a knowledgable decision quickly. Making phone calls and playing phone tag is not in their daily schedule. I think publishing rates to schools and libraries makes a lot of sense. If you're doing family shows/birthday parties, you might need to do more personal touch selling. I don't know. It's never been something I've done. |
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Smoke & Mirrors Special user 506 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-07-06 22:44, TroyRoark wrote: Ouch! |
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Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7563 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-07-06 22:44, TroyRoark wrote: I'm confused, Troy. In this other post from only a couple of months ago, you say that you do 100 shows per year. Can you please clarify? Was the 100 only for school shows? Do you actually do 125-150 library shows per year (to make the total you are now stating), or are you also including your festival / event shows (to make your grand total you are now stating)? - Donald P.S. I firmly believe that as your rates increase, you encounter more price resistence, but when you talk with them on the phone, you can sell them on the benefits of spending a little more. Just because there is price resistence, doesn't mean they are unqualified prospects. That is one reason to not quote rates in mailings. BTW, to clarify my viewpoint, my school shows are currently more than $500 per show (and then travel, if applicable). It's a different thing to quote $375 for a school show in a mailing. There will be less price resistence.
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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MrFye Regular user 119 Posts |
I don't put my price because I like to find the right show for my client first and then price it accordingly. I have a system of ten questions that I ask that helps me to tailor a show to their needs. I live in a city with a lot of low income families and if I sense that they can't afford it then I make sure I sell the lowest priced show that I can afford to do. I also live only 25 miles from Boston and those people I want to sell my high end show. I really want to perform more than I want to get paid. I don't ever want to miss giving some child, especially the poor ones, a chance to see my magic in person. If I posted my bottom price than I'd probably end up selling myself short.
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jakeg Inner circle 1741 Posts |
In every form of advertising, all of the most competitive product ads list their prices. Automobiles, department stores, real estate, super markets, etc. etc. Once they get you in the place, you may, (or may not), spend a lot more money. If you do not list your prices, there may also be the perception that you don't list them because you don't want your high prices to turn them off, even though you might even say, 'a show for every budget'.
The only way to know for sure is to track it both ways, but if I were a betting man, my money would be on Troy's method of booking. It seems like every library in Illinois has his show featured on their website. |
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Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7563 Posts |
Again, I'd love to read testimonials from some performers who charge more money (higher than $250-$375 for a 45-60 minute school / library show), yet still put their prices in their advertising with successful marketing outcomes.
- Donald
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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Julian Franklin Regular user Houston, TX 139 Posts |
I charge a minimum of $525 to show up for a school show and my prices are posted on line.
I will contend that I might lose a few people who I could convince to pay the extra if I could just get them on the phone. But for me it is a question of how best to spend my time. I would rather be PERFORMING than talking on the phone trying to convince someone to hire me to perform. I suppose there is some sort of "tipping point" that one reaches where the additional time needed to deal with all the calls asking for quotes overrides the additional benefit provided from selling on the phone. If I found myself sitting at home for long stretches of time with no shows on the books I might remove my price and hope that it stimulated more calls, but right now, this is a very efficient way for me to run my business. --Julian Franklin |
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AndyComic Loyal user 211 Posts |
I put all my prices for kids shows in my website.
For other shows (corporate and school), they need to phone me and I just quote a price depending on what I can get away with. |
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