Sam writes:  'I have decided to write my first mentalism show and I was wondering if you have any tips for getting people to buy tickets?'

It's great to hear that you are working on more than just magic technique and have got to the stage where you want to build a commercial show. Perhaps contact your local theatres and community centres and see if or when they have a space to hire the location for your show.

I would start with a 'one night only' show to test the waters and use the experience as a learning tool before taking it further. Your local theatre will be able to give you information on this. They will charge you for the use of the venue, but you can promote and sell tickets. There are a huge selection of ways to promote your show and get ticket sales. I'll focus on just one that doesn't have a significant financial cost.

Promote a magic show on Facebook

Facebook can be a great way to quickly get the word out about your show and build an audience. However, Facebook pages are no longer effective for promotion since Facebook restricted the reach of posts on 'fan pages'. You would need to spend a significant amount of money to increase your posts reach to more than just a few of the people that have liked your page.

Facebook Events are the route I would recommend. You can use your Facebook Events to announce your magic show, get people interested, and ask fans to share information about your magic show with their friends.

Tips for creating a Facebook Event for your magic show

Have an event image. – People love images and connect far more to content that has an image. Without an image or photo, it's likely that your event will be ignored.

Include all the information about your magic show. – Describe your magic show in detail. Why is this magic show special? What will be the highlights? How can your fans get involved to help promote the event? What sort of magic will be shown?

Remember dates, times, and places. – Double check everything you post so there are no typo's or errors that could really mess things up. Beware of autocomplete!

Link to the venue and/or ticketing page. – Tag the venue, but also include a url for fans to visit the venue website and also the ticket sales page.

'I'm in' isn'’t final. – A promise to attend is not something you can bank on. Focus on getting tickets sold, and don't relie on numbers based on people saything that they may be able to make it.

Give plenty of time. – Don't start a Facebook Event the day before  the magic show. Give people time tomake arrangments to attend and hire babysitters etc. Three weeks seems to be the best time frame to give people the time they need to plan.

Update your Event often. –  Keep active on yourt event, posting new information and engaging with your audience. Keep the energy up, and slowly leak in more exciting news as the date of the event gets closer.