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Twitter For Magicians – 8 Top Tips

by Merchant of Magic Leave a Comment

By Paul Osborne

Twitter for magicians - Top Tips

Paul runs Merchant of Magic’s Twitter account. A former teenage magician, he took a brief 30 years off to pursue drumming and standup comedy. Now back in love with magic, he’s slowly working his way through Royal Road to Card Magic and Bobo‘s Modern Coin Magic.

Firstly, let me say, I’m not some bright young thing with a man bun, smart shoes/no socks, and a degree in marketing and social media. I’m just someone who has used Twitter a lot over the past few years and kept an eye on what works and what doesn’t; looking at which accounts get a lot of followers, and why — and which posts get a lot of retweets.

So I thought I’d put together a few tips to help those magicians — or magic fans — who want to grow a following on social media.

1. You MUST treat Twitter as a SHARING platform.

This is the most important tip. But what do I mean by ‘sharing’? Well, just sitting there sending out a couple of tweets a day about your new magic show is a waste of time. Most people follow a lot of accounts (sometimes thousands). The chances of them seeing your lone tweet in their timeline are nil. I’m not saying don’t send out these tweets, I’m saying you must do lots of other things as well. 

And this is where the sharing bit comes in. Make a list of other magic accounts that you like — ones that tweet interesting stuff about magic, [John Cox @HoudiniWild tweets daily about Houdini, for instance] and regularly retweet them. What often happens is, after a while, people will also start checking out your account because they know you retweet interesting posts. Go through your list every day to check for new posts from these Twitter users. It gives you a more structured way of using Twitter.

Secondly, if someone mentions you in a post [eg, ‘I saw your magic show last night, it was brilliant!’] don’t just hit the ‘like’ button; retweet it as well. It’s a way of saying thank you to the person who left the comment and it’s also a bit more promotion for you. Sharing the love!

And comment on other people’s posts. Add to the conversation if it interests you. It will get your name about.

2. You don’t have to be on Twitter ALL the time, but you do have to use it regularly.

When I first started using Twitter I was often amazed at how certain ‘normal’ people (ie, not celebrities, businesses, etc) would get Twitter followings of 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 people. After a while, I realised that many of these people are, not only, on the platform for hours at a time, but they are also regularly commenting on other people’s posts and retweeting other people’s comments and posts — sharing, you see. And then the circle of people they interact with gradually grows over time — and so does their following.

Now, most busy magicians — or working magic fans — probably haven’t got time to spend hours on Twitter, but a little structured, regular use will help. Effective Twitter for magicians only needs about 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes in the evening? Or put aside some time at weekends. And if you regularly travel by train, then that would be a good time for Twitter sessions on your mobile phone.

And if you’re spending that time retweeting other accounts’ content, then you’ll only be using one hand (either your smartphone scrolling thumb or your mouse if you’re on your laptop) so why not practise a few coin sleights with your other hand? Kill two birds with one stone.

The important thing is that the time needs to be spread out over the day. I spend two hours in the morning on Merchant of Magic’s account, an hour late afternoon, and 30 minutes in the evening. (plus a few stints over the weekend to keep it ticking over.) If I compressed all those hours into just, say, mornings, then I’d miss any engagement/comments posted during the afternoon and evening.

3. As well as retweeting others, post interesting content yourself.

As a magician, you’ve got a skill that ‘normal people don’t have. So make sure you’re regularly posting interesting stuff about magic. It could just be a photo of you performing at that wedding last weekend. Or a photo of the latest trick you’re working on. A show or event coming up. Anything interesting. (eg, The Magic Mod @taylormod posts a Magic Mod Monday trick every week, which is very popular)

Why aren’t you posting some of your thoughts on magic? Sharing clips from YouTube of your favourite magicians? Or asking questions of the magic community, ‘What’s the worst gig you’ve ever done?’ etc. People love getting involved with these sorts of questions because it’s good fun for everyone to chip in.

And, briefly, on the subject of ‘divisive topics’, if you’re just using Twitter to promote yourself as a magician — or you’re a magic fan and want to build a following of other magic fans — then I’d personally steer clear of tweeting about politics, religion, etc, which may put some people off revisiting your site if they don’t share your views. But it’s a personal choice, of course. One way around it would be to have two Twitter accounts – one for your magic tweets and one for politics. But, again, it’s up to you. Tweeting about politics could actually help you build a following of people in your political camp if that’s what you want.

4. Don’t forget to tag in relevant accounts.

Here’s one of the Twitter mistakes I see a lot. Someone will, say, write an interesting blog about a forthcoming magic show, and they’ll just tweet out their blog post, and that’s it. Why haven’t they tagged in the magicians involved? Why haven’t they tagged in the theatre? Theatres often retweet favourable blogs/previews etc because it’s good publicity for them. If you’re writing about Mac King’s show, or you just mention Mac King in a tweet, tag in Mac King! He may retweet it, you never know.

5. Follow people back. 

If someone follows you, follow them back. It’s just a nice thing to do. I’m always amused when I see people who follow no one, and into my head pops the phrase: ‘How incurious of you!’ (Sometimes follow-backs are missed, so if you’re reading this and we haven’t followed you back then give us a nudge!)

6. Make sure you have a good pinned tweet.

Twitter lets you ‘pin’ one tweet — which means that it always sits at the top of your profile. So when someone visits your Twitter site they will see that tweet first. So, if you have a show, event, or just a general tweet about you as a magician that you want people to see, then pin it to your profile. Just google ‘how to pin a tweet’ if you’re unsure how to do it. 

Your whole Twitter for magicians strategy should be about creating an interesting Twitter site that encourages people to check out your account, see your pinned tweet and then check out your timeline.

7. Twitter banner pictures need to look good.

Make sure the photographs at the top of your site look great. A good picture of you performing, for instance, or a posed picture in your stage clothes. (Not in your hoodie drinking a cup of tea — unless that’s your act!) Or how about a photo of a selection of magic tricks? You can get some good photos on free images websites.

And think about the words in your bio. Put yourselves in the shoes of a magic fan checking out your account for the first time. Does it sound professional? It could even be something simple such as ‘Professional magician’ with a link to your website, or ‘Magic fan’. And make sure you double-check the spelling, grammar etc.

8. Getting followers if you’re new to Twitter.

If you’re new to Twitter and have zero followers then, first of all, you need to follow a bunch of people so that a proportion of people follow you back. But beware of visiting a famous magician’s followers and going down the long list hitting ‘follow’. Twitter may think you’re a bot and briefly kick you off. So be a bit selective. It’s probably better to search for the word ‘magician’ or ‘magic fan’ and find other magic enthusiasts to follow that way.

And finally…

Remember, it may take a few months to start building a group of people who regularly interact with you, so be patient — and just enjoy it.

If you have any more tips/ideas, please leave a comment.

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Filed Under: how to do magic tricks, Marketing for Magicians, promotion, Questions and Answers, SEO Tagged With: marketing, Marketing for Magicians, Social Media

An Obsession with Finishing Magic Tricks Clean

by Merchant of Magic 1 Comment

Many of the commercial effects on the market today shout about how they have been designed to ‘finish clean’ or be fully examinable both before and after the performance of the trick. But is insisting on finishing magic tricks clean really that important? Is it just some of the ‘sales spin’ designed to sounds good, whilst not really doing anything to improve your performance?

Here’s some important advice from one of the world’s most respected magicians… Wayne Dobson.

There’s something that really annoys me about magicians – amateurs, it’s never pros. For many years this has really been a bugbear of mine.

So many magicians seem more interested in whether the props can be examined at the end! They seem obsessed with ‘finishing clean’. I think you’ll find that all the best things in human interaction don’t end clean!!!

With just average stage management your spectators should never even consider examining your props. They should be investing in you as the performer and the performance in front of them – not the props for goodness’ sake. Someone famous (it may have been Vernon: it usually is) said words to the effect that when a violinist performs a wonderful sonata, the audience doesn’t rush forward and insist on examining the violin.

You are what they will remember. Look at the stars of today like Derren and Dynamo, do you think the spectator is more interested in their magnetic coins than them?

Do you really think at the end of your cups & balls routine, after you have produced 3 lemons and everybody is sitting there with their mouth wide, it makes any sense to then burst the evocative bubble by inviting them to examine your cups?!

If they reach for the props, you have done something wrong. We need to get away from this sense of some kind of battle between performer and spectator where the latter is hell-bent on finding out how the performer ‘did it’. If your performance, and relationship with your audience, ends in that state, you need to take a long, hard look at yourself.

I can honestly say that in my 40 years of performing I have never been questioned on the props that I used. Just remember Ken Brooke’s and Danny Buckler saying: “The smaller the prop the bigger the performer.” – Wayne Dobson 

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Filed Under: how to do magic tricks, magic advice Tagged With: Famous magicians, performing magic, showmanship

Magician of the Month – October 2021

by Merchant of Magic Leave a Comment

Liam Ying

Congratulations to Liam Ying for winning this months magic competition at the Merchant of Magic shop. On Saturday 26th September, magicians from around the UK visited the shop to show the magic shop team a specific performance routine. This month it was ‘ The Ambitious Card’.  

It was great to see so many magicians traveling down to take part. Judging the winning routine was a difficult task, but Liam did a fantastic job and we are delighted to present him with this award.

 

We asked Liam to share a little about his journey into magic:

How long have you been studying magic?

I’ve been teaching myself magic for nearly 3 years now.

What lead you to discover it, and decide to begin your practice?

It started shortly after my daughter was born, I was suffering from anxiety and I needed something to keep my mind occupied during parental night vigils, and this was perfect to immerse myself in.

I’ve always had a fascination with magic, even from a young age but only until recently did I want to try it myself!

How did you begin to learn?

I started watching some tutorials on YouTube from magicians like Daniel Madison, Alex Pandrea, Xavior Spade, Chris Ramsay and started buying decks of cards in the bucket loads! I love collecting cards, and I’ve amassed quite a collection now! 

It’s quite common for magicians to stumble into magic from Youtube, and many of the channels do a great job of introducing new magicians, but often the content can lack depth or structure… How did you progress your study?

I started reading a lot more books and The Royal Road to Card Magic has been essential for me.
Since then I’ve started performing as a side little trope when I stream on Twitch (under the name Synyster Graves) and I’ve really started to enjoy performing in front of the camera!

So you mainly perform on camera, rather than live in person?

The walk-in at Merchant of Magic shop in Bishop’s Waltham was the first time I’ve performed something in person to someone who wasn’t on twitch, or family! My wife has been very encouraging, helping me learn and critiquing how I do things when I feel I’m ready to perform on stream too!

What advice would you give to someone thinking of beginning to learn magic?

I really believe it’s never too late to begin learning, and it’s turned into a fantastic and fulfilling subject to get really into! I’ve tried to document my journey into it on the YouTube channel Synyster Graves so I can always look back and see how I’ve progressed! But as a tool to help contain my anxiety, it has given back to me more than I ever could have hoped for!

Liam, congratulations once again for winning Magician of the Month. You should definitely look to start performing at live venues and events in the future, and we wish you every success with your magic!.

Want to enter the competition for Magician of the Month – November 2021?

All ages and levels of ability are welcome to enter. Visit the magic shop on Saturday 30th October from 11am-4pm and show us your favourite Halloween themed trick. It can be anything you like, as long as it’s spooky. Everyone that performs their trick will receive a surprise magic gift for taking part, and we’ll pick one magician to win Magician of the Month. Good luck!

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