Thank you, Luca. I appreciate those words. And it was wonderful finally seeing you perform at MindVention.

David

Sounds like very valuable material, David. Thanks for sharing this with the Mind Reading and Magic Community. I plan to order this e-book very soon.

Jonathan

This isn't a post to "bump" the thread. It's a post to say "thank you" to each person who has ordered this book. I woke up this morning and found orders from all over the world that came in overnight. Thank you most sincerely.

It feels a little presumptuous to write a book, to be honest. And each time I send one out into the community I sort of hold my breath and wait for the emails to come in, or reviews to be posted...so that I'll know if the project I've released is hitting the mark and helping people or not. So far, The Marketing Minded Mentalist has only resulted in happy people.

Here's the thing: IF you purchased the book...and you use the techniques I suggest for just three months and they haven't worked, let me know and I'll make it right. That's my promise to you.

Some of you guys know me. My motivation in writing this book isn't the fourteen million dollars I'm going to make from the sales, movie rights and foreign distribution deals. ( ) My reason is to provide a little help each performer get to where they want to be in their career.

Mentalism is a beautiful art. The people who perform it, care about it and work hard to do it justice are beautiful as well. They deserve to move forward.

But there are a lot of very good performers who don't understand the BUSINESS end of what they do. That's what this book is about.

So thank you to each one who has given The Marketing Minded Mentalist a chance. I truly wish you all wild successes, more bookings and a steady advancement of your art.

David

Man, I love this guy. A class act all the way.

Yep!

I just sent David payment via his web site with PayPal and received his confirmation of receipt of payment, an thoughtful note of encouragement AND the Ebook --all within ten minutes! Now THAT's great customer service!

I look forward to gaining insights and further encouragement in the weeks to come from reading and thinking about this very valuable material.

Thank you David!

For those that wish to read a synapse of the book and even read a motivational sample page as a Free gift from David, click on the link below!
http://www.magicpendulums.com/the-market......ist.html

Jonathan

Umm... meant "synopsis", not synapse. But you knew that!

This sounds like exactly what I need! I'll be ordering it today!

David is right on! I don't have the book but what he posts above about it is exactly correct. Activity activity activity. Same time each day. Same amount of time. Reach the tipping point and never go back.

Just read through your Marketing Minded Mentalist materials. Very inspiring and insightful. Thank you David.

...Now I need to set up, organize and actually "use" my database system, so that I am no longer a fallen tree in the woods that no one hears, but (instead) "out there" beating the drum!

Jonathan

Ordered mine just now, after reading the The Last Rest Step. Really timely advice for me!!

//Klas

Thanks for the comments about "The Last Rest Stop," Klas. It's very kind of you. It keeps me from feeling like I'm talking to myself.

The strange thing is that I finished the first draft nearly three months ago. But I couldn't think of a good way to end the book that DIDN'T feel forced, preachy or...well...unfinished. And I didn't want to send it out until I had one.

Here's the thing: I don't like marketing or selling. It's my least favorite aspect of doing this for a living. So I needed to do two things. I needed to figure out how to do it more efficiently so that every minute would be well used. AND I had to come up with a way to make it fun.

Why fun? Because if it's not "fun" I know myself well enough to be sure that there's no way I am going to continue doing it long-term. How many projects have I started and then abandoned because they got to be too unpleasant? Lots.

The other aspect, as John observed, is that selling and marketing are things that need to be done EVERY DAY. When you do this for a living (or part of a living) your career always has to be moving forward. (Previously, when I was solidly sold for the foreseeable future -- my tendency was to put my feet up and concentrate on "fun" stuff. Of course eventually, it bit me in the butt because the work got done and I'd find myself scrambling again. Which sucked. Actually...it SUPER sucked.)

The ONLY solution -- for me anyway -- was to be active in marketing every day. To prevent myself from procrastinating I set aside the times of 9-11 to focus solely on marketing. And it works for me. This means that I can relax and know that the sales work is done well and constantly moving forward. I can do whatever I want for the rest of the day.

I got the idea for avoiding the Last Rest Stop from there.

So put the pedal to the "mental," Klas. I expect I'll see you somewhere on the highway.

David

Yeah I know about all the times when I have done the same. You know I put my feet up and did NOTHING for too long, just thinking that everything would be okey. And it kinda was until the banking crisis of 2008. Things have been a struggle since and I truly want to find a way to market myself in a fun and productive way.

David, did you send me a copy? Or do I download it from your site?

I hear you, Klas.

The first year I went full-time was 1990. I'd spent a lot of time getting everything ready to make the leap to full time. I had marketing materials, contracts and a list of clients I'd done "no charge" shows for over the previous three years. There was no internet back then...so I took a HFP ("Huge Fricking Pile") of paper to the printer.

I left with a BOX of copy and that's what I used as sales material for the next couple of years. (No internet in the olden days.)

The first year got off to a shaky start. Despite my careful planning, I'd gone from being grossly over-paid as a radio reporter to needing to live off of my savings. I really hadn't considered ALL the costs I needed to cover in my day to day life. It was tight but manageable. I plugged along and eventually things picked up. By the start of the next year I was really flying with as many bookings as I wanted for the next four or five months.

My reaction?

"This is easy," thought I. "I have now weathered the storm, paid my dues and am now a full time performer. Whoopee for me."

I was young and stupid and was too busy patting myself on my back to see what was coming. I what I wanted to do. I performed shows, took in money and spent my time on "fun" stuff: learning new effects, playing around with new props etc. I didn't work at marketing. I didn't work at selling...and I didn't notice that weeks were going by without anything new appearing on the horizon.

Anyone in Alberta will tell you how utterly dependent we are on oil prices...and this province hit the first bump in a very nasty up and down ride in 1991. Before I knew it, I was out of contracts, having not yet heard the show biz saying that "as soon as you finish a show, you're out of work again."

I had a pile of bills coming in and for the first time in my life I didn't have the money to pay them. Baaaaaad feeling.

It was either go back to the radio industry on my knees or put the pedal to the metal. That's what I did. I worked HARDER that year than any other time in my life. I honed my marketing materials until they were razor sharp. I cut every cost possible without letting it look like I was cost cutting. I was on the phone for six to seven hours a day. I was doing EVERYTHING from kids birthday parties to shopping mall promotions -- but I always kept my eye fixed on the corporate market, because that's where I'd decided I was going.

The upshot? In 1992 I was close to sold out again. By then some other performers were giving up and going back to their old jobs or grousing about how the market was killing them etc. But I learned the real ropes of show business in 1991...how hard I had to work and how tough, determined and DELIBERATE I had to be in everything I did.

I can honestly say I've never forgotten that lesson...which is why I developed the routine of two hours of marketing a day, every Monday to Friday...and why I built databases so I didn't forget anyone...and why I sat down and really thought through goals etc.

There was so much more to doing this for a living -- or even a part time living -- than I thought there would be.

Ah well. Live and learn, huh?

Thank you for your comments, Klas. I expect that the book I sent previously is floating around in cyberspace somewhere. I've already sent it to you again. Can you let me know when you get it?

Thank you for your patience.

David

Thanks for sharing David, I truly appreciate hearing about both your ups and downs.
I have been working full-time as an entertainer in some shape or form since 1998, and I am determined to do so in the future.
Even more so when I hear your story.

Got the book alright and I am looking forward to reading it.

Thanks yet again!

//Klas

Just ordered

David-

Love your PDF and I am still absorbing the wealth of great ideas and strategies within it. Great stuff! Very helpful!

Question:

Many booking agents request that you provide them with "unbranded" links to sample photos, videos, pricing and other info about you as a performer.

I would like to hear whether you in fact have either an "unbranded" web site or unbranded marketing materials that many agents seek.

I am currently having my web designer create a separate unbranded domain set aside just for booking agents and their potential clients to view my stuff. Also I will be setting up an on screen calendar so booking people can see at a glance my performance schedule without having to call or email me first for availability.

If you do offer such "unbranded" links or sites etc, cam you please elaborate a little on how you use them and the contents?

Thanks.

Hi, Brett...

Glad you're enjoying the book.

I don't have unbranded websites. I DO have unbranded sales packages -- the same packages I sent to corporate clients...with my direct contact information removed. These packages include:

* What they can expect to see in my show
* Testimonials and references
* Performance clip LINKS. I don't embed performance videos in my package because they take too long to download...which irritates some clients. (I have found irritating clients to be a bad thing.)
* Pictures -- both posed and performing

Each of the agents I work with regularly have one of these packages available to them for emailing to clients.

Two of the agents that I work with on a fairly regular basis have packages with THEIR contact information.

In all cases, I have an agreement with agents that:

* If the client wants to talk directly to me, that I will ONLY reference the agent as the selling body

* That I will send them email updates or contact them by phone after each conversation or contact with the client they referred to me

* That any further sales that are made to or through that client, will go through the agency and not me

In return, the agents agree to tell me when they've sent a package out to a client. This is in their interests as well -- because if the client contacts me directly (sees my package and finds me on the internet) I'll know only discuss my show with them, but refer them back to the agent to make the booking.

I don't have a publicly available calendar anywhere. I ALWAYS want to talk to someone who is interested in booking me, whether I'm available for the date they want or not. Here's why: If I have an interested client who looks at my calendar and sees that I'm not available on the day they wanted to book me, they simply go away and very likely forget about me.

But if they have to contact me, I can get their information, add them to my database, get to know them a little, send them a package and hopefully get a booking on another date from them. In the first scenario, I walk away with nothing. In the second I have a new potential client. (A client who calls YOU is usually worth five clients YOU have to call.)

The idea, from my perspective, is to retain as much control and awareness of who is looking at my materials as possible.

Hope this is useful to you, Brett.

David

David, this book is great. I sincerely mean that, it's a wonderful book. I would love to have this on my bookshelf next to Maximum Entertainment 😄

I Agree.