I do mostly birthday parties and restaurant work. I would like to market to the companies for the holiday season? What's the best way to get company shows? Other than advertising, have you guys tried direct mailing and phoning them? I will really appreciate it if someone can share some successful stories.

Thank you!

First things first.

Do you have a suitable act for that market / venue?

- Donald

Hi Donald, by suitable act do you mean a themed Christmas show? I have a Children's Show as well as an Adult Show, they are not the best yet but I would say decent. You have to start somewhere, right? What do you do to get it started with the holiday season? I don't like to be passive and wait for customers to call you.

Jiayi, whereabouts are you in Canada?

Forgive me if I sound blunt, but by your answers, you don't appear ready for holiday corporate parties. Honestly is really is kinda late in the game to get into the company holiday party market for this year. These are major gigs and nothing to wet your feet with.

Your best bet right now is to get involved with a local clown company. They will already have repeat clients. You can suggest to them to add you into the packages. This will gain you valuable experience in this market and you will be able to see if your act is suitable.

Bill is dead on, good advice Bill

True that. You gotta walk before you can run.

Very well said Bill, you verbalized my thoughts exactly after reading his post. Yes, everyone has to start somewhere but corporate is an entirely different animal from kids and family shows. They are also less forgiving. You can do more damage if you are not truly ready for the corporate marketplace. Many people seem to only focus on the fact that there can be greater money in corporate gigs, but they are also professionals who have much higher expectations and are less forgiving.

Hmm...good advice that is a good eye opener for me! I do not see anything wrong with a newbie marketing magician to try and perform at local holiday events. You should find any and all possible events that would be a good fit for you act. You can do this by visiting your local library and looking in the weekender section. Search out and make a list of events catagorized by month that you would like to appear at. Being well ahead of time giving them a call and telling them what you do. Have something that you can immediately get sent out in the mail to them. Send it out...wait and then follow up with phone call. Let them take over from there and use your good listening skills. Create a service that is catered to their needs. Even if you don't get the booking use the call as a learning experience and take note of the call details.

I understand that having a good show is a must doing work professionaly and doing top corporate gigs. A bad show = bad reputation and spreads like wildfire.

Try building a reputation locally and use this pitch

Let them know that you are still starting out and would like to perform at their holiday party. Also let them know that because you are trying to grow your business and customer relationships that the price is lower than usual and you would love to ad their testimonial.

I know...I hate doing free gigs...it seems they never fully appreciate it, and they expect a lot in return for so little payment. The benefit is you get experience from it.

Also, consider really honing your act for that particular market. Work on it solid for a few months until you have it down. Maintain a regular job for capitol while honing the act.