Want to know how much do magicians make performing magic? The the true profits may shock you..

It’s an exciting step to take when you start performing magic for a fee. It could just be a side income for you, or the start of a jump into making magic your living. However, there’s something you should always remember:
Performing magic as a paid performer means you are starting a BUSINESS.

The money you receive isn’t all income. It’s revenue, rather than profit. Only a part of the fee is clear profit for you to spend. The rest needs to be treated with care…

Feeling rich as a magician.

When I first started performing, I was a student. I’d go out in the evening, perform at an event, and come back to my rooms, with a few hundred pounds. It seemed too good to be true. Especially when I watched my friends working five days a week to make the same as I banked in a few hours. I didn’t see the full picture. I thought all the fee was just profit, and mine to spend.

Over time, I realised that the fee you get as a magician needs to be treated as your BUSINESS income. Only a proportion of that should be viewed as your own ’salary’. The rest needs to be spent on maintaining and growing your business.

The business has many overheads.
Rent
Computer, Printer, Paper, Ink
Business cards, flyers
Tax
Advertising
Insurance
Society membership
Exhibition fees
Travel costs
Props
Consumables ( playing cards, Sharpies, etc.)
Business Phone
Costumes and Clothing
Dry cleaning
Backdrops
Website hosting and design
Sustenance
Business growth fund
etc etc

Basically, there is a tonne of costs involved in delivering a ‘magician’ as a product. Those costs need to be accounted for out of the money you receive from performing. All those costs; your clothing, consumables, props, travel… need to be added up, and their projected total divided by the number of bookings you get through an average year. Once you know the REAL cost of being a working magician, you will see how much of your fee is used to provide your service, and how much is actual profit.

Only a small portion of your fee is profit

The magic secret is to put your income from magic in an account, away from your personal account. All your expenses relating to your magic business come out of THAT account. What’s left, is your salary… Unless you keep that money separate from your personal income, it’s very hard to know how much you are TRULY making from your magic, and how much is left for you to grow your business.

Once you start doing this, how you view how much to charge for a magic show will change dramatically.

After costs, your fee only generates a fraction of its value as profit to you.

The hours you forget about

Now, calculate the average number of hours you spend practising, replying to emails, working on marketing, attending exhibitions or networking, travelling… You may charge several hundred pounds per hour when performing, but after expenses and the ‘admin hours’ you put in to run the business, your hourly rate is probably quite modest.

You’re not always busy

You may not get a consistent amount of bookings each month through the year, so you need to account for some months that will be quiet, but the costs of running your business and your need for a ’salary’ will still be there.

I don’t mean to be negative here. Performing magic can be highly profitable, and immensely fun. However, in order to understand how much do magicians make in relation to their earning, you NEED to see exactly how much it costs for a magician to run their business. You need to make sure your activity is as profitable as you think, and you have the budget to make it grow.

How to Find an Audience for Your Magic Tricks

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

Richard writes: 'I've been practicing magic for a few years, but only performing to my family. How do I find an audience for my magic tricks?'

Nice work Richard! You've been practicing your magic over the long term, and that shows a real commitment to develop as a magician. Like many people, you have reached the point where you have run out of new people to see your tricks. After all, magic needs fresh eyes because a magic trick is never as strong when it's repeated to the same person. Lets look at some ways you can start performing to a wider audience.

Dominic Reyes recorded a short video in which he talks about finding an audience for your magic tricks:

In a nutshell, it's all about reaching out to the community. You already have an audience that would love to see your magic. It doesn't have to be a commercial transaction as the real value for you initially is experience. Start looking for an audience for your magic tricks amongst the charity and support sector. Study the 'what's on' guide to look for events that might like to 'bolt on' some close up magic. Advertised events may be at a stage where they have already arranged the entertainment, but that should not stop you. The goal is to make contact with the organisers and introduce yourself. When the best season of events start to be planned, you can recontact and be at the front of their minds, when they are doing serious planning.

The secret is to MAKE CONTACT. The world will not come to you, all by itself.

Introduce yourself and become known in those circles. If you make an effort to put yourself out there as a possible entertainment choice, you will land some gigs sooner or later.

Remember to be active in the magic community. Join a local magic club and be INVOLVED. You will have fun, learn, and develop an understanding of your local areas market for magicians.

Why Your Magicians Business Cards May Not Be Working

by Merchant of Magic 1 Comment

How to use magicians business cards better

‘I am struggling to get people to hire me as a magician, I give out my magicians business cards, but they never seem to call back.‘ – Sam

Sam.. sounds like your being smart and giving out your business cards as much as possible. That’s really half the battle. So many close up magicians fail to do this. We all get a batch of magicians business cards printed, but then hesitate to give them out as we feel it seems to be touting for work.

As you know from many of the other articles on magicians business cards on the Magic blog, we suggest every magician gets cards printed and hands them out as much as possible. You are doing it right, but you don’t seem to be getting the results you would like back from them. Let’s look as some of the ways we can improve the effectiveness of your magicians business cards.

Check your worth contacting.
Firstly, are people enjoying your performance? Are you getting good feedback from your shows? It doesn’t matter how much you hand out your magicians business cards if you are not offering a product people want.

Have someone film your act and ask for critical feedback. Ask other magicians to review your act. Some magic shops like The Merchant of Magic offer a paid service where magicians can have their live act privately reviewed by a team of trained professional magicians. Getting third party feedback can help you identify weak spots in your act that you may be blind too.

Call them instead.
It’s good business practice to give out your magicians business cards, but that’s just part of the process. If someone asks for your card, they are making a direct move to start engaging with you. Don’t leave that just to them. Give them a card and ask for their email address so you can email them a brochure. Always try to capture THEIR details. Starting a communication process with a prospect is more important to YOU than them.

Where you hand out your cards.
Everywhere! During walk around magic, at the tables, whenever you talk to someone about magic. Don’t assume the person may not be in the position to book you. Magicians business cards are like the social share buttons on a web page. People pass on details to others and can recommend you. Months may go past, then someone mentions to that person that they have an event. If the people that met you can’t remember you, they can’t recommend you.

The business cards you use.
Plain and simple magicians business cards are usually better, unless you have your business cards professionally made. Avoid cliche images of playing cards, rabbits, and top hats unless that’s exactly what you offer. The card should look expensive, clean and free of clutter.

Unless you are very attractive and that’s one of your unique selling points, don’t include a headshot image. If someone has been passed the business card and hasn’t met you, have your website communicate the impression of you, not a small headshot photo.

Remember to include your website address and a telephone number.

Working with the client.
Before you leave your magic gig, be sure to give the client who books you, some of your magicians business cards. They will often be complimented about how great the magician was, or asked about how they found you.

If you’re at the event through an agent, make sure you hand out the agents cards (with your name on) instead of your own.

It’s a numbers game.
Magicians business cards are adverts just as much as they are your contact information. They are subject to the same statistical probabilities as any other form of advert. Some business cards are highly targeted, given to ‘leads’ that are ready to convert. Others are simple ‘spray ads’ distributed around in the hope that one finds its way to an interested person who contacts you and becomes a ‘lead’.

The only useless business card is the one that’s still in your pocket.

The 10-3-1 Rule.
There is a general rule of thumb in sales called the 10-3-1 Rule:

For every 10 calls you make, three will turn into prospects, and 1 of those three will lead to a sale.

The more conversations with clients you can start, the more bookings you will get. You may have a better or worse ‘conversion rate’ than 10-3-1, but it’s still statistically predictable over time, and there will be a degree of consistency. Your business cards are the gateway to starting each of these conversations with your prospects. The number prospects that will convert into clients are directly proportionate to the number of cards you distribute.

Use a magic trick to link your business cards to your website.

One way you can increase the number of people who recontact you from your magicians business card is to give them an added reason to reach out to you, by building in some magic.

Perform a magic tricks and bring it to climax. Give out your card and explain that there’s something special on your website, just for them. Your website can be built to have a section where another revelation happens. Perhaps a secret word they ‘chose themselves’ is revealed to them. Maybe the card they ‘picked’ is found in a photo on your site.

When you bring a prospect to your site from a magicians business card, you give them an extra special magic experience. The prospect also receives an invite to receive your brochure, or a quote. You impress them with your magic, right at the moment that they can find out about booking you. That’s a very powerful moment to convert them.

DO THIS: It’s vital that you are pro-active rather than reactive in your use of your magicians business cards. It doesn’t matter how well designed your magicians business cards may be, if you simply hand them out when asked and then wait for the phone to ring, you will not get the quantity of work from them you could be getting. Make sure YOU make contact with anyone who is interested in finding out more about your services.

Capture THEIR details and follow up as soon as you possibly can. If you can’t get their details, give them a compelling reason to visit your website or get in contact. Don’t leave your marketing to chance, and you will find that your cards are the best tool you have to getting more and higher paid work as a magician.

How Much do Magicians Make?