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Why Your Magicians Business Cards May Not Be Working

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.

Making a Magicians Showreel – Filming Your Magic Tricks at a Gig

by Merchant of Magic 3 Comments

Do you ever film your magic when you are doing a magic show? If you haven’t considered doing this, it may be worth looking at why this can be a valuable asset for making a magicians showreel.

When it comes to keeping a video record of a magic show, stage magicians have it easy! They can set up a camera and film each show they do, getting a great deal of material to use for their marketing. What about us close up magicians? How do we get footage to be used for making a magicians showreel and promotional material? Let’s look at the best way to fix this:

When you attend a magic gig, we recommend taking a good video camera with you. Many smartphones have excellent video capability now, so it’s worth investing in a smartphone that can capture HD video.

Getting Permission to film

Steve writes:

‘I wonder if the clients who have paid good money for magic at their event, will [see videos filmed at their event] and wonder what their magician is doing whist being paid to entertain THEIR guests…?!’

If you keep pulling out your camera and taking shots or video, your clients may not like it. You’re supposed to be there to entertain. You’re on THEIR time, not yours. It’s vital that you get permission to film, not just from the client but also from the venue. You should also pick the times and places you film carefully.

When you, or your agent take a booking, ask the client if it would be OK for you to film a few short clips of the magic. Offer to give them a copy too. Explain that you are keeping a video diary of your magic which helps you improve, and also helps your business grow.

If you don’t want to film your performance, you could explain to the client that you will only film, during parts of the evening when you can’t perform, such as during the speeches or awards, or before and after your booking time. That’s a good time to film some testimonials or a short talk about your services as a magician. You will find that most clients don’t have any objection to this. If they do, then there is no need to push the point. You don’t need to film at every gig, just enough of them, over time, to build up your footage.

Get it in writing.

It’s important that you include a section in your booking contract giving you permission to film and to be allowed to use the footage commercially. A quick Google search will bring up several template contracts for ‘signing off’ permissions that you can use.

Having a spectator film for you.

If you are with a group of spectators and have established a good relationship with them, ask one of them to film the next magic trick you perform. Hand your phone to one of them and prompt them to capture the reactions of everyone going crazy over what’s about to happen. That gets a laugh, and the person filming will enjoy the process. You can tell them that you plan to email a copy to the host of the evening as a souvenir.

You will find that many of the spectators will also ask for a copy, so it’s a great time to capture their email address’s so you can forward it to them later with your details.

Quality.

The footage will tend to be quite raw. The idea of live filming like this is to create something REAL, in the moment, and live. The footage will have terrible production values, but it’s of great value for that very reason. It’s valuable to include material like this when making a magicians showreel. Here’s an example filmed at a gig by professional magician Mike Fairall.

The footage you capture doesn’t need to be perfectly shot. You want something live, fresh and REAL. You can edit the footage and cut sections in and out later, if you want to use some of the footage for a professional showreel. The main aim of live video, is to build up a series of short videos, that capture your energy and how much fun the spectators are having.

The best time to film for making a magicians showreel.

Before you start the gig, whilst the guests are still in their meeting, or the wedding service is still going on.
Outside the venue, before you arrive.
During the speeches, presentations or awards.
After the gig, when you have packed up.
Build it into a magic trick

It’s a good idea to arrive early at your gigs. It gives you a perfect opportunity to check out the venue and record a short video about your services.

Think about how you could ask a spectator to film a trick and the footage become part of the trick itself. Could an extra revelation or magical event happen when the footage is played back to them?

Testimonials.

Asking a few spectators to record a short testimonial is very valuable to you. You can do this after you finish for the night. A great place to capture this, is outside the venue, where people gather for a break. Also, you might sound out the client when they thank you at the end of the gig, and see if they would find it fun to record something for you.

Remember your audience when making a magicians showreel

When you film, bear in mind who you are filming this for. The footage is NOT for other magicians. It’s not about how successful you are. The footage should be aimed at your target audience. As a magician, your target is the host of a magic event. The problem they need a solution for, is how their guests will be kept entertained and happy.

Your footage should show themwhy you are a solution to this problem. Your technical competency as a magician can be assumed. The focus of the footage should be on spectators having a great time and being entertained, NOT how well you can perform a sleight or flourish.

Recording footage of your magic to use in making a magicians showreel isn’t hard to do, as long as you get permission and don’t press people to take part. It shouldn’t get in the way for your show or your services.

NEXT: Creating a Magicians Brand

Magicians Names – How to Choose a Stage Name For Your Magic

by Merchant of Magic 12 Comments

How to choose your stage name?

Derek asks the Merchant of Magic team:

‘When it comes to magicians names what is the best route for coming up with one?

My initial thought is take my inspirations and use those to form a name, for example, my son’s name as the first name, and then maybe someone who has inspired me with their performance or dedication to magic for the surname (Wayne Dobson or Jeff McBride for example).’

What should you call yourself as a magician? That’s a tough question to answer. Do you keep your own name or try to pick another as your magicians stage name?

Reasons to use a magicians stage name

The most crucial factor is that YOU are happy with the name you choose to use for your magic. Answer these questions:

Do you currently feel uncomfortable saying your name when you introduce yourself before performing, and at the end of your show?
Are people spelling your name incorrectly when they write it down or search for it online?
Is your name so common that you don’t come up on the first page of Google when people search for it like this: ‘your name magician’?
Is your name already being used by another entertainer?
Do you want to have a strong distinction between your personal life and your professional life online and in the media?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, then you may want to consider using a magicians stage name. Here’s a few tips:

Is your magicians name memorable?

A magicians stage name needs to be memorable. After all, it’s the most valuable thing you want your audience to remember once you have impressed them. If you have a particularly common name, it may be worth changing one part of it, to something easy to remember. Picking words that have a clear visual association can improve this. For example, surnames like Diamond, London, Paris, Star, Black all provide strong visual cues to memory.

Spelling mistakes.

Can any of the words in your magicians name be misspelled or pronounced easily? Are there variations on how they are written? You need to make it easy for people to type your magicians name correctly into Google when they search for you.

Short or long magicians names?
This doesn’t matter too much. Think about Engelbert Humperdinck (Arnold George Dorsey). Short names tend to be more common, so less unique, but a long name runs a greater risk of being mistyped more often.

Using another magician or entertainers name.

There are exceptions, but generally this is not a good idea. There was a trend in the last century to add a ‘dini’ after magicians names in honor of Houdini, but doing that can add a preconception about you and your magic that may work against you. Be unique. It’s OK to take a name from another aspect of your life or interests, but suggesting a comparison between you and a famous magician, suggests you are a clone, rather than something unique in your own right. Try to stay out of someones shadow.

Magic Stan, Magic Colin, Magic Mark…..

Hmm. The easy option, and tempting as it defines what you do. However, it depends on your target market. For close-up magicians, it can come across as a little ‘cheap’. For children’s entertainers, these names work well as they are uncomplicated and easy to remember, and you only compete in a local market. But do you truly want to be one of 20 other people using the same name.

It’s all about search.

It’s vital that you search Google to check out your new name. Look for a name that has little competition. An unusual name will make it easy for you to be the number one search result when people type in your name. That’s incredibly valuable to your magicians advertising!

Simplify your existing name.

For a magicians stage name, you could try simplifying your current name.

Yves Saint Laurent (Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent)
Rudolph Valentino (Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina D’Antonguolla)

Anglicize your magicians name.

This is controversial, but many entertainers decide to change their name to market towards a western audience. To do this, they edit any ethnic or hard to pronounce words into shorter and easy to remember versions.

Freddie Mercury (Farrokh Bulsara)
Charlie Sheen (Carlos Irwin Estevez)
Anthony Quinn (Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca)
Raquel Welch (Jo Raquel Tejada)

Use a single name.

This worked well for Dynamo. A good memorable single name can be extremely powerful. Single names run a risk of sounding contrived, so it’s essential that they do match you. Dynamo defused this by having a nice back story about how he was given the ‘nickname’ by a famous spectator that saw him perform. This communicates that he originally used his own name, and the tag was pushed onto him. This prevents him seeming egotistical, which would damage, his ‘up from the streets through hard work’ persona.

Morphing your magicians name to an image.

You could choose a magicians name that relates to the scene or culture you want to be identified with. For example, the name Carrot Top provides a decidedly different impression and image than Marilyn Manson.

Pick a negative word to feature in your magicians name.

For some personas, such as dark magic or mentalism, you could communicate an intimidating or dark persona. Using a word like “Night” or “Black” in your magicians name may do this.