The Working Magician: A Performer and a Product

"Advertising may be described as the science of arresting human intelligence long enough to get money from it." - Stephen Leacock

The most effective promotion and advertising is a direct expression of your performing character. Ideally, promotion serves as a compelling bridge between your craft and your target market. Every tiny detail of this information bridge should reflect your character. This includes the font of the text, promotional slogans, corporate quotes, letters of recommendation and above all else, your photos and the colors of your promo package. More than any other aspect of your promotional package, these images and colors will establish the all-important tone of your marketing.

Is your market young children? College students? Middle-aged corporate executives? Paranoid Swiss plumbers? You must know the answers to these questions before you even begin putting together a package. It is essential that you not only make these decisions regarding your image, style and target audience, but also that you fully commit to those decisions.

In our fear of missing a potential market, we all too often try to appeal to an overly broad spectrum of markets and end up appealing to nobody in particular. This kind of commitment phobia results from imagining dozens of doors closing rather than focusing on the handful of doors that will swing wide open if only we will have the courage to market ourselves in a decisive fashion.

In my early twenties, I worked as a copywriter in an advertising agency. I read voraciously, wanting to learn everything I could about the fascinating field of compelling communication. One of the first important ideas I encountered is called the AIDA principle (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action). This idea is that first you must catch peoples attention. Without that you have nothing. Getting this attention applies to every instance of communication you can imagine, from phoning a restaurant owner to asking a bus driver to stop and let you off.

Next, to promote yourself you must inspire interest. After all, any idiot can stand naked on a chair and shout at the top of his lungs "I love salami! I love salami!" and though he will surely get peoples attention, he will also merely annoy them. Interest is inspired only if it is something that people sincerely care about.

Then comes desire, the fuel behind action. People only reach toward a thing or try to make it happen if it is something they desire. Without desire, they will not act. And action is the end goal of the entire process. In this case, you want to inspire them to book you! Ultimately, you must align your need to be booked with the unique needs of your target market. Only when you are able to effectively communicate the interdependence of these needs will you be able to sell yourself to that market.

Another powerful idea I learned during my days in advertising is something called the "unique selling point" (often referred to as the USP.) This is especially relevant to the marketing of performers in an industry where brand loyalty is very weak. People tend to think of magicians as somewhat all the same, but with the USP approach, you can market yourself in a way that directly combats that assumption. You must ask yourself, "What is unique about what I have to offer?" This unique quality must also have evident value for your target market.

If your first thought is, "There is nothing particularly unique about what I do. I do some card tricks and coin tricks and I'm a nice guy," don't be discouraged. I can guarantee you that you are wrong. You have many unique qualities, you just have to shift your perspective! Do not just consider obvious things like your "look" and performance style. Instead, sit down and write out everything you can think about yourself. Your age, educational background, employment history, cultural background, everything!

Do you do charity work? Do you speak a second language? Are you athletic? All of these not only differentiate you from your competitors (other magicians), but can even guide you into entirely new markets that you would have never considered. For example, if you once worked as a manager in a store, you can promote yourself to corporations as "the magician who really understands the corporate environment."

If you were on the basketball team at college, why not try marketing your services to a string of sporting stores or even a large sporting goods manufacturer? If you have three children, consider promoting yourself to the birthday party market as "the magician with kids of his own."

Obviously these are broad strokes that need to be refined so that they perfectly express what it is you have to offer and what it is your target market will find of value. Look for that all-important overlap between your experiences, qualities and skill set and the needs of your target market.

Then express those two things as simply and as dramatically as possible through your promotional package. The great thing about this approach is that your package will not be filled with run-of-the-mill magic endorsements that any magician could use. Those may generate a little business, but in the long term it is business suicide.

Finally, our present society is very impressed with information and education. Given that, one of the easiest ways to add something of substance to your "marketing mix" is to take a handful of courses at your nearest college. Having a marketing or business course under your belt will appeal to potential corporate clients, just as a course on childhood education would appeal to the birthday party market. Is this absolutely necessary? No, but if you are serious about making your living through magic, you must be prepared to invest more time and money than just making your weekly trip to the magic shop.
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