Yeah, I'll probably order that and "Bookkeeping for Dummies" at the beginning of the month, when the SS comes in. Unlike "Marketing for Dummies," "Bookkeeping" starts with the premise that I know NOTHING about bookkeeping, and takes me through the different steps slowly.

Ed, soak it all up. They say you can tell a lot about a person by the size of their library.

Enjoy the reading.

Tom

Tajrung,

If you will message me your shipping address I will be happy to send you some books that may be of help.

Tom

Are you sure?

Yes

Tom

Ok, so I read through (skimmed, really) looking for answers to the Original thread and saw how fast things went off the rails.

As A guy who was a full-time entertainer but, due to medical issues, had to go back to his previous life (As a Marketing Consultant, Coach, and Full-Stack Marketer), I figured I would share some of my favorite Marketing / Business Books.

In doing that, let me explain something. Focusing on a NICHE expert in a NON-Niche market will put your thinking in a box and limit your ability to grow.
If you only read marketing advice from other entertainers, you can only grow to the height others have reached.

So let me start by sharing this.
A Friend I used to work with in an advanced Certification program and I started to write this for the program.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1......=sharing

it is incomplete, but was a part of a 30k certification program in Marketing. (I really should call Russ up and finish/update this for my new company)

Books not on the list.

1. Marketer as Philosopher: Flint McGlaughlin
2. Pre-Suasion: Robert Cialdini
3. Predictably Irrational: Dan Ariely
4. Built to Sell: John Warrillow
5. Hooked: Nir Eyal
6. The Shallows: Nicholas Carr
7. Extreme Ownership: Jocko Willink
8. How to Fight a Hydra: Josh Kaufman
9. Nudge: Richard H. Thaler
10. Wink and Grow Rish: Roger Hamilton

Some of you know me and have seen me around for years; others are new and have no clue.
So let me just say I post here occasionally not to sell ANYTHING, as I don't market to this industry, nor will I in the future.
When I give marketing advice or start leading you on a journey, understand that I do this with business owners DAILY.

The spreadsheet I posted was designed to help marketers think about the persuasion architecture they are building in sales copy, and most of the marketing books I focus on are in the same mindset with a HEAVY focus on Conversion and building to the conversion.

I have been accused of being an SEO guy, but while I have that skill set and can teach it, and have taught it, my focus is CONVERSION.
I see SEO as a WRENCH in a very large toolbox with MANY other tools. My philosophy of Digital Marketing is simple. Approach it like a Master Mechanic and not a wrench. Sometimes you need the wrench, sometimes ya don't

Hey Mike, good to see you back here. Thanks for sharing.

I completely agree that it is so easy for a magician to get caught up in the magic bubble that they are afraid to step out into the real world and listen to real-world people. If you are marketing to other magicians things would be different, but most are marketing to those that know nothing about magic. They speak a different language.

Tom

Another good business book that I noticed on my bookshelf is “Inside the Magic Kingdom: Seven Keys to Disney's Success”
By Tom Connellan

The book is mainly about customer service, but that alone can set your business apart from all the rest.
Highly recommended for any business owner.

Tom

How about what would be good for a complete beginner? Going in, knowing nothing?

That kind of depends what you're going into, generally I would
suggest the "tricky business" forum.

one suggestion for restaurants specifically is "how to make a living as a professional magician"
i wrote a review for it here, https://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/view......746488#0

it's not great, but it's cheap, I think you might be better off searching or asking specific
things here.

Oh I bet you already know more than you think Ed.

There is a ‘Dummies guide to starting your own business book.
But I don’t think you will find it all in one book.

Assuming you have a good product/service to offer, getting started is
simple, just buy yourself a few television commercials, a billboard on the
side of the road, and maybe some newspaper advertisements, and wait
for the phone to ring. LOL.

But seriously and if its a magic business, just ask Joe The Magician what he does
to get shows and start doing some of that. Then you can hop from one show to the
next learning and improving as you go.

Fedora said it well above, just ask away here in this section.
There is no such thing as a stupid question in the beginning,
and the only way to get answers is to ask.

Tom