I know that the thread is about magic show price packaging, but if a performer is going to only rely on the website package price to book a show, the marketing strategy is doomed to fail.

My best marketing decision was building the bus and participating in the parades and expos in the area; after all it’s the families in my area that I want to know about me. When I’m driving the bus around town, I drive as if I am competing for the “friendliest driver of the year award” people love the look of the bus, wave at me and I always wave back.

When I’m parked families come up to the bus and love looking at the rabbit in the window, the farmer and chicken do their routine and at the same time pick up my flyers; if I’m at the bus, I always show the kids a simple trick.

Beginning March I am going to hand out fortune cookies containing a fortunes-discount coupon, with copy wording that will predict a birthday magic show for the kids this year.

As I said in an earlier post here; I am not the most talented performer on the Café, but my marketing, a friendly personality and salesmanship while talking face to face and on the telephone has worked very well for me and is just as important as website pricing and a polished routine.

I have, in fact, priced my basic package a bit below market price exactly as you have surmised. This is my reasoning:

We all know there are cheap magicians offering very low prices. We also know there are many, many families on a tight budget. This is my attempt to capture SOME of that market. If I could count on 6 shows every weekend my strategy would change, but that is not the case. I believe I should be able to convince the many people who are willing to spend $150 to $200 on a magic show that a top-notch professional (as I like to think and market myself) is worth $225. And maybe, just maybe, with my add-ons I can entice them to spend a little more.

Now, for all of those people in which money is not so important, I have a package and add-ons for them too. $500 birthday parties are not uncommon for me.

So, this is the real advantage to package marketing. You can capture a larger percentage of market and maximize your average show price.

Howie,

Sounds to me like it is time to really develop, define and offer that higher priced packlage. I think if you do, you may actually find folks wanting it and paying you for it. I would set that up this year.

Gerry: In my method, I never low-ball. My method for packages is that it is price tiered. At first I do it for when 1) I am in a new location or have moved and want to define the price point or 2) once I find the price point, the packages and prices are situated in such a way to work form a psychological standpoint of offering something for everyone and also aiming at getting folks to go with the higher priced shows. the lower priced shows are not low-ball prices or crazy low. That I never do.

Michael: yes indeed. You stated it nicely with what I also was trying to get Gerry to understand. It is set up as a means in which to get folks seeing the value in the higher range packages. As you stated, I never list any package price so low just for making it a low price. It is set at a competitive price based on factual information and what I am comfortable offering.

Kameron: I would suggest doing and trying a 2 package offering. set your prices as you have stated and see and track who goes with what. tracking it will tell you what folks are most heading towards and allow you to get more gigs and find the best price point for it.

I offer two different rate structures depending on when they book. I have a "weekday rate" and a "nights/weekends rate." I don't really know if you'd call what I offer "packages", but I offer...

1. 30 Minute Magic Show
2. 30 Minute Magic Show with Balloons
3. 60 Minute Magic Show
4. 60 Minute Magic Show with Balloons

Keep it simple I guess...

Yes, keeping it simple is the key as well as making sure you list clearly what comes with each package you offer. This way they can see the differences easily and make a better and more informed decision.

Kyle

Kyle is correct,

Christopher I know you know this and this is for the benefit of the new guys reading the thread.

Parents don’t understand that it takes more than a few seconds to make a balloon animal, if you don’t explain clearly what comes with each package you offer you may be expected to perform a show and make balloons animals for fifty kids in a sixty minute birthday party

I offer three packages.
Silver - an hour of magic/puppets, with balloon animals for all (75 minutes)
Gold - Two hours, including magic/puppets, balloons, face-painting and games (120 minutes) priced to be attractive.
Platinum - Full party, including all the above and costumed characters, lead the birthday singing, etc (180 minutes)

I also offer a discount on weekdays.

For years the silver was the norm. Now I am getting many two hour parties. The three hour option has been booked twice in three years, so is coming off the website next month.

I might replace it with a forty minute 'recession-buster' magic show, no frills, for a very good price.

Tony: I might not take off that 180 minute option. 1) some folks may pay you for it and 2) it tends to make your second option more pleasing. Just something to think about.

Kyle

I offer three packages.

http://www.magicalmichael.com/kids.html

Very Nice website Michael

Thanks, Howie,

Simplify simplify. KISS Keep It Simple Silly.

while I don't advertise birthday parties any more I still do several each month. I have done thousands over the years.

what I have found is having 2 packages with the upsale of my sam sandler magic sets for each kid. (goodie bags)

potential clients want to shop around and see what is offered and then pick what they like. think about that. Verizon offers multiple packages or bundles so that you can get the bundle that suits your needs.

with a magic show I don't think I want to throw out a ton of options for the potential client. I would rather have them see my show or see my website and what is offered and then contact me. I don't list prices. 2 reasons. 1 I want them to contact me. I can sell ice to an Eskimo! so I know that once I have them on the phone or in an email conversation that I will get them to take the package I am offering.
2 my prices are well above those in my area. I want to speak with them because I then have the chance to book that price shopper. although 95% of the calls are from people wanting to book me regardless of the prices.

you see it is not about the packages themselves it is the BENEFITS they offer. we need to understand we are really selling Benefits to the client.

a longer show means MOM can rest longer, Magic set for the birthday child only lets mom Know you care about her kid.

so with packages more then 2 can get confusing to your potential clients. a restaurant has 2 menus lunch and dinner. I recently saw an episode of restaurant Impossible and one place had 7 menus because they kept adding dishes. the first thing chef Roberts did was get rid off all menus!
I want to say it was Jay Marshall but I might be wrong. the story goes some thing like this. a kid tells him that he performs 100 tricks and ask Jay how many do you perform. jay replies I know 7 but I know them well. the point here is that we need to know out shows and know them well. my fear is that when offering several packages that include different tricks or options such as ballooning etc. that if we are not performing them all the time then they wont be as polished when you present them in your show.

as far as back drop and sound system - I use the sam sandler ultimate back drop system in every show! the system fits every situation! and yes I mean every situation. in 10,000 shows I have yet to find a spot that it did not save my life!!
I also carry the fender passport 150 for any show with less then 200 people. including all my birthday parties.

this is a hidden page on my website instead I have a page asking the potential client to email me for details. again the idea is to get them to contact me! and it works.
http://samsandler.com/birthday_party.htm

I forgot to mention on thing earlier in this post.
my platinum package while expensive I offer FREE magic trick and magic wand among other Free stuff. when I reality I have factored that into the price of the package.
to the client they feel that they are getting more benefits and more FREE stuff (and who does not want to get free stuff).

so instead of pushing goodie bags I charge more and offer free magic tricks in the show. I still offer the goodie bags but the client purchasing my top of the line show feels great getting all that FREE stuff. it is a way to market my show to make it more appealing to potential clients.

so KISS you website and packages and have fun.

sam

Sorry for this late response to some of your follow-up comments. I was watching football last night.

I do find this whole subject matter quite interesting.

Here’s a little bit of trivia for you. Who was the first magician to suggest offering show packages? I would say that honor might go to Dave Dee. As far back as I can remember, he was one of the first magic marketing guys to recommend this strategy. That’s certainly not to say “he thought of it first.” Odds are Dave got the idea from Dan Kennedy, which is where he got most of his ideas.

Now back to our regular scheduled channel.

Kyle, with regards to having multiple shows and testing prices in new markets, shouldn’t someone have done their homework first before entering a new market? To me, that’s basic magic marketing 101. Personally I believe folks should already know what the going rate is before even attempting to invade a new market. Again, that’s basic marketing 101.

And, if folks did as you said [testing show prices], in many cases wouldn’t they be charging “below market rates?”

Kyle, please understand I’m certainly not picking on you as I always enjoy your thoughtful comments on the Magic Café. I’m just carrying through with this discussion.

Also, I still tend to think that if your second tier package is the rate you THINK you should get, then your lowest price package is still going to HOVER around the going rate or a rate well below that figure.

Ken, much like Kyle I always enjoy your comments on the Magic Café as well. Whatever I said about pricing was certainly not directed at you. I was just talking about my general observation of other magicians and their show packages.

I think that in a perfect world I would rather folks call me because they have (a) seen my show before or (b) heard good things about my show from other satisfied customers. To me, that’s where I want to be with my marketing efforts. And if that’s the case, then show packages shouldn’t be a concern. They like my show, here’s my price, and thank you for the check.

Once again, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with offering show packages and I can see why others do this. It’s just not for me.

Thanks,

Gerry

Gerry: Good stuff and I do not think you are picking on me at all. Rather enjoy the discussion. Thank you. Let me add in my thoughts about it.

Yes, people should always research markets before entering into them. That is indeed part of running a business effectively. However, it is also safe to say that not always is a person going to know what the going rates are in the areas they are located in. There are a couple reasons for this. 1) you would never know the going rate unless you called fellow entertainers and ask them. Even if they are honest with you, it still may not be the going rate or the rate YOU should be charging. 2) Every entertainer is different. Even if you knew what the going rate was, it does not mean your show and your offerings and services should be that amount and 3) if you are an active style marketer, you should be entering into markets that most people have not even tapped into. These new markets you may not ever know exactly what the proper going rate is from the start. This is where a proper package structure can really work for you.

If you are entering a new market or are located in a new area, a packaged offering can and does help you to ensure that you find out the proper rate for YOUR services faster while not turning away work. It is a common marketing technique that works very well.

Anyone would love folks to call them all the time on word of mouth only. However, relying ONLY on word of mouth as your only means of marketing is asking for problems. If you run your business as a business then you know that proper marketing means the ability to utilize different channels to get your information out there.

Kyle

My policies are a lot simpler that everybody else here. I have a 45 minute show, I can do a 30 minute show, or a 60 minute show for the same 45 minute show price. The tricks I include in my shows depend on the mix of the audience. I will work in the living room, the rec room, in the back yard, in the attic, and in the basement. If it is an at home party there is no limit to the number of guests I will entertain for my same basic price, and I always stay for cake.

I firmly believe in KISS, and I require no deposit.

I agree Kyle. And the more channels you use, statistically you will get more inquiries = book more shows.

This morning I am 4 1/2 hours away from shooting my second birthday party DVD. After the shoot we will be back at my videographer's studio to shoot the explanations part of the DVD where I will be touching base on advertising for the birthday party business. There are SO many ways, free and paid advertising to boost anyone's business.

I myself, just do pay-per-click right now. I get so many shows from exposure, being out there performing all these years, word of mouth etc But for someone starting off, or looking to expand their business, there are just so many ways to get your name out there.

Tommy: yep indeed. I always try and use many multiple avenues for marketing and getting my branding and message out there. To sit around the phone in hopes that it rings is not good active style marketing to me. I want to be the one in control of my own success and so I take that approach. =)

Kyle

Buy A Bus!!!

Agreed as well you need to create that TOP of MIND AWARENESS with potential clients. the key is to be in front of as many people as you can. weather it be your shows, bulk mailings, ads in parent magazines etc. however that being said let me say this - as you grow your biz yes indeed all avenues are important however as you get in front of more and more people you will get more and more word of mouth advertising and get those phone calls. Silly Billy says that 95% of his biz is from word of mouth. from each show he does he get 1-3 shows future booking. I myself would say that about 90-95% of my shows are from word of mouth. however when I went back to the school market last year I did an ad campaign with direct mailing and phone calls. I needed to get my name in front of the schools so that they would know about me.

you need to find out who you are and focus on those types of shows and then get established in that market. as Kyle said create the branding for your show so that when some one thinks of hiring a magician they are thinking of you.

but more on topic of the packages you want to keep them so that it is simple for the client to understand what they are getting and what the real differences are, and what the benefits are for each package.


what ever you do - do it well.

sam

Sam: great stuff my friend. exactly right. keep the packages clear, easy to understand and showcase both the feature and the benefit it is to them.

Kyle