How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

How to Design a Magicians Website and Promote Yourself

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Magicians Website and Promotion Advice

Martin wants to create a magicians website and turn his magic hobby into an income. He’s not sure about the first step..

Martin write:

‘Hi everyone at Merchant of Magic. The reason for my email is I have been doing magic for quite a few years, and I am really struggling in knowing how I can make my hobby into a career. I have studied a lot of sleight of hand over the years and also purchased so many gimmicked tricks I can’t even count them, but I am struggling to get myself out there. I want to get myself a magicians website made up and start performing. I think I need a bit of help as I’m not great on a computer for a start, and I am not sure the best way to go about getting paid work.

I have contacted a few magicians in Leicester to see if they could mentor me and help me get comfortable performing in front of a crowd as I think that is one of my weak points at this moment in time because of my confidence, but I have had no luck at all and I didn’t know if you could recommend anyone who might be able to help me or if you could give me any advice on were to go from here. Sorry for the long essay it’s just magic means so much to me and I spend so much time, money and effort into it I just want my dream job to come true, thanks for reading this and I hope you can help. – Thank you, Martin.‘

 

We are often asked for advice by hobbyist wanting to become professional magicians. There is no easy way. Risk is always involved when making a transition like this. However, we can help by listing a few things you should be doing to make that move as smooth and pain-free as possible.

Here are some quick pointers to aim you in the right direction. For more information on turning professional feel free to search our blog here, there are tonnes of great articles that can help.

Magicians Website

If you wish to be professional it is important to have a website, unless you have bookings coming out of your ears (which you may do in time) but as you start out it is important to have a base for all the information about you. It is a great way for people to see you and what your performance is about without meeting up face to face. Your website is worth spending some time and money on. To try to make one yourself with no experience would be a mistake, it would look exactly like that, inexperienced. Your magicians website will reflect on your image as a performer, a clear and organised website that is well put together will in turn make you look organised and professional yourself. Also with regards to the photos, try to have performing photos, not just photos of you with a fan of cards and springing the cards. You want the website to show you as a competent performer, and stylish promo shots can only look good if they are accompanied by great performing shots. The most important point of any magicians website is to clearly display your contact details on every page with a clear call to action running throughout your website. Visitors should be prompted to contact you to find out more and to receive a quote.

Magicians promotional material

This is worth spending some money on the design and look. Business cards and any other branded promo material should all match so that you look like a cohesive brand, this will say you are professional without saying so.

Spend a bit of money on some postcard size flyers to hand out at wedding fairs and other events where you promote yourself. These sorts of things can become part of a promotional pack you can mail people should they wish to have more information about you. You should also have a promotional pack that matches your website design etc that you can email potential clients, again with cohesive branding throughout, so it looks like a brand and not some mish mash of photos and magician’s blurb.

Confidence

Confidence is something everyone should work on unless it comes naturally. The only way to become a more confident magician is to constantly put yourself in uncomfortable situations where you do not feel at ease. You will learn that even a fail is not that bad, and you will begin to not fear them as much. Slowly, over time you will begin to gain positive experiences from these moments of discomfort. Everyone goes wrong at some point; every magician has tricks that fail at some time sooner or later. If you were to speak to any professional magician who makes their living doing magic that said they had never failed in front of many people at some point, they would be lying. You have to realise that things will go wrong, and people will sometimes figure out what you are doing; it is all part and parcel of this career I’m afraid. You do not know what people already know. Maybe one of the spectators is an amateur magician; maybe they have a sibling who has learned and exposed some magic to them. These things happen, sometimes spectators are deliberately difficult, it is all about how you handle the situation, be polite, friendly and have fun and then your spectators will too.

Getting bookings

A good way to start getting bookings is to do as much magic in social situations as possible. For example, if you are out for a drink with friends make sure you show them the magic and look out for anyone else who is trying to see what is going on. Give them a nod and go and show them some magic afterwards. Most people ask if this is what you do for a job, simply say “yes”. Hand out business cards to everyone you perform for. Most people have a friend who is getting married or who has some event coming up, and you will be surprised as to how many people ask.

Learning more about marketing and promotion for magicians

This blog is full of ideas and tips for promoting yourself as a professional magician, however you may want to read a complete system for marketing yourself as a performer, where all the information is in order, and you get templates and a road plan for putting it into practice. It’s worth reading the ebook Highway to Success for a complete guide.

 

 

How to Get Magic Gigs

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how to get magic gigs

"If you have been considering making the jump into part-time or full-time pro status, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of Highway to Success by Elliott Smith and Ian Quick… 

This is simply one of the best expositions of this type of material that I have ever read.  Whatever your performing area, you'll find information that will move you toward your goals… best book on the nuts-and-bolts of entertaining as a profession that have been published in recent times. Highly recommended." – MAGIC Magazine – Micheal Close

The book originally sold for over £40 and repeatedly sold out. It's not been available for some time now, but because the advice and practical tips are perfectly in line with what we teach here on the blog, the Merchant of Magic has done a deal with the publisher directly, so you can download Highway to Success as a full ebook for just £12.99

Download your copy here

The complete guide to the business of being an entertainer.

Highway to success is the essential business system for any magician or independent entertainer.

HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS was written specifically for entertainers whether you are a magician, clown, juggler or any other type of performing artist. This common sense system will equip you with the knowledge to successfully set up, operate and thrive as a part-time or full-time professional entertainer. Highway to Success will teach you how to get magic gigs.

From basic business structures to legalities, from advertising to closing the sale, this system will refine your business practices and increase clientele, putting more money in your pocket. Based on tried methods and practical experience, this effective system will work!

How to get magic gigs

With over 45 years of combined experience as professional entertainers and businessmen, Elliott Smith and Ian Quick have put together for you an effective business system that works. Based on tried methods and practical experience, this common sense approach will equip you with the knowledge to successfully operate your business.

When you purchase "Highway to Success," you are automatically eligible to receive your Secret Password to access the "Extended Warranty" page including practical, easy-to-use, ready to use business forms and samples in word, excel and .pdf formats.  These include: 

  • Performance Contracts 
  • Entertainment Agreements 
  • Letters of Introduction 
  • Invoices 
  • Business Cards 
  • Sponsorship Agreements 
  • Telephone Scripts 
  • Daily, weekly, and monthly Activity Checklists 
  • Call Tracking Form 
  • Sales Forecasting Form 
  • Expense and Budget Worksheet 
  • Spreadsheets (Excel format):   Call Tracking – Sales Forecasting – Expense and Budget  

Click here to download Highway to Success

How Many Magicians Can Perform at a Wedding Fayre?

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How many magicians at a wedding fayre?

By Dominic Reyes

Should magicians make sure they are the only performer at a wedding fayre?
 

A funny thing happened to me at a wedding fayre I attended recently. I was booked as the only magician to attend, but when I arrived, I found that I had been placed right next to another company that also had a magician on the stand. I wasn't very impressed..

Now, I've no problem performing at a large wedding fayre that has more than one magician as I'm confident in selling my unique features and my price range tends to be a lot higher, so it's very much a different product.. But, I would normally know that in advance and would have made sure that the venue and footfall was large enough to cope with several magicians. Here's how I handled the situation:

I recommend that magicians performing at wedding fayres only choose events that have one magician attending. Magic is a small catagory and it's easy to 'over kill' that catagory within a show. However, large wedding fayres that have several rooms or floors can usually cope with more than one magician, providing they have a different style and service proposition.

If you find yourself working with another magician in a wedding exhibition it's important that you are polite and friendly. Chat with the magician and arrange to perform different tricks. Check fee's to make sure you are both on the same page. Try to position your stand away fromthe other performer, ideally in a spot there the flow of traffic goes in another direction. That way, you get half the new traffic and the other performer has their own half.

If you find that a stand has added a magician without the organisers permission, it's fine to talk to the organiser and ask that the other organiser is asked not to feature the magician. If you have agreed to be the only magician attending, then that's what should take place. Remember to be polite and friendly when you sort the issue out.