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RideorDie99 New user 80 Posts |
What items should I include in a promotional package for corporate events?
Promo Video DVD? Brochure? Photos? How do I make one any ideas? Thanks
STOP DROP SHUT THEM DOWN AND OPEN UP SHOP
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suspectacts Elite user Boston 493 Posts |
If you have all of these you will be doing fine.
Just get them done and then get them out there. |
icentertainment Inner circle 1429 Posts |
Good question.
This is what I send out Business Card Sales Letters on letterheads Promo CD with video highlights. The sales letters contain a small brake down of each show package Also benefits of using me as apposed to anyone else.- ie what I bring to the event. Promo CD Is a customized Label CD- I use Lightscribe Drive to literaaly burn a personalised label onto the disk with full photo- for example if I am sending the CD to Jane smith- It has To or dear Jane smith on the CD. The Format I used successfully for years was a program called Flip Album found at http://www.flipalbum.com A pretty nice program which allows easy links to any file including Movies. Nowadays I have upgraded to a Flash Promotional CD, with Links to a Photo Gallery that they can pull images off for their own use. It plays in Windows & Mac. It plays all my movie highlights in Flash but the quality is Mpeg 1. which is good enough for computers. How did I get filming??? First filming was I got my brother to come into a Nice hotel and we asked the manager if we could perform and tape- The boss said yes.- I still use that footage today to sell- It's about 3 years old but I look the same and it really cooks. After appearing on TV I got copies and converted them to Flash whenever I am at a trade show I always have a camera to video. I know what you are saying- I can't afford a camera- either could I but Iat the time I worked bars & Hotels- I saved up for a second hand one. As For Photos I got a mate to stand in front of me and take photos of me in different poses. we took about 100 Photos and got 3 really good and userble photos which I use saving my self over $500. There are people on this site which will say "oh how bad- always go to an expert" - Honestly- You don't have to go. Experts are people that 1: Learned a skill and 2: have the props A Pro Photographer has a really good camera and has experience taking photos- they also have good lighting, and makeup as well but If you take 100 photos your probably gonna get 2 or 3 good ones. - Really - why not try it out- If it doens't work- then go to a pro. Video editing I use Ulead Video studio 6 and a program that came with my computer called Sony Movie shaker. I will be upgrading to a pinaccle soon as they have a technology like Blue screens in Star wars so I can pretty much make my own backgrounds I think they call it Chroma. Photo Editing I use adobe Photo Shop elements and Microsoft Picture it.-- Both are pretty easy- Photo shop will take you a little more time. I usually create flyers and images in Picture it and save as a Tiff file- then move it to Photoshop for exact sizing and touch ups. The Flash Program I use is Swish Max and swish video- which is a good video converter. http://www.swishzone.com It doesn't have a steep learning curve and is only about $100. On the CD I also have an HTML version for really bad and slow computers designed in Front Page 2000 As for video content and what to place and where basically you are selling from an audience point of view- not yours so Lots and lots of Audience reaction shots- You can have a bit on your card skills but I would stick to flourishes. and Get to the point with your tricks if you do a (for example) sponge ball in the hands thing- Put a ball in the spectators hands- then go into the vanish straight away so they can see the magic. Make sure your brother (or camera man) knows your act and concentrates on The Audience a good shot is Their face, with their hands in the frame- with you to the side. I put my video together with info from the Randy Charak PDF Book ( sorry -whatever his name is) and I would suggest you look into that as well- cos If you invest the time in learning and buying the software- you may as welldo it as good as you can. I also include client comments and a short bit on past clients. anyway I hope it helps David Welzman |
templemagic Elite user Sunderland, North-East England 420 Posts |
Check out Dave Dee's stuff. He explains it all in reasonable detail in the UIS course along with how to get people to order these.
Cheers, TM |
RideorDie99 New user 80 Posts |
WOW ICE MAN!!! Thanks for the great advice. I'll be working on my promo package soon.
STOP DROP SHUT THEM DOWN AND OPEN UP SHOP
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Shawn Farquhar V.I.P. Canada 760 Posts |
I think the secret to a good promo package is to actually mail it to a client. I have seen some really awesome packages sitting on the desk of the performer. I would rather have an inexpensive package that I can afford to mail to even the coldest client in the attempt to book a gig than a really expensive package I can only mail to clients who call me and ask...
Just a thought ... I just send a DVD ... no vhs, no card, no letters, no gifts or gags ... Most times I don't even send them the DVD I refer them to a secret site I have to view the DVD online...if they can't afford dsl internet...they probably can't afford me either! Cheers, Shawn |
icentertainment Inner circle 1429 Posts |
RideorDie99
Glad I could help and I'll say 1 more thing Start working on it now not soon. there is a very big difference. Depending on your show package later you may want to design a Poster that you can send to the client after a sale so they can put it up on their social notice board for say a Xmas party. On the topic of Promotional DVD's and CD's and this is very big. Agencies 90% chance will not send out your CD if your contact details are all over it. So I would suggest that you don't put your web site or contact details on the CD- I know it sounds strange but it is true (in Australia anyway) Also the light scribe technoogy or any CD printing technology allows you to custom print a Label for an agent so the XYZ Agency has at the top XYZ Prenets the Magic of RideorDie99 or what ever and also include their company logo- they do like that kind of stuff as you become their product not just someone they know. Cheers Oops XYZ Presents |
Tim Ellis V.I.P. Melbourne, Australia 1234 Posts |
Shawn, I only have dial up internet! There goes my hope of bringing you to Australia, now I KNOW I can't afford you! *g*
We now only send out DVDs too. I love the format of DVD. We have about 8 chapters on the DVD so if someone wants to book us for strolling, we send the DVD and say "Watch the strolling section". That way, if they are short of time, they just see what they need to. Usually, they end up watching the whole thing, and realise that we do more than just strolling and often book a bigger show or use us several times. We used to send out CD Rom because the decision-makers could view it right there on their computers. But that was two years ago and now most computers have a DVD drive. However, if you are an Australian working internationally, the USA and Japan have NTSC DVD format while the rest of the world has PAL format. The rest of the world tends to have DVD players that will play both NTSC and PAL, but the USA and Japan have DVD players that will ONLY play NTSC. Why? No idea. But it means that we have to send CD Roms to the USA, or go to incredible expense having our DVDs converted to NTSC. Just something to keep in mind. TIM ELLIS
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www.timellismagic.com Visit our online shop for instant downloads and ebooks https://shop.timellismagic.com/ Blog - www.magicunlimited.typepad.com |
Scott Xavier Inner circle 3672 Posts |
Hey Tim, it's great to see you on the board. Love the Wonderland lecture notes!
Anyways, brown nosing aside, DVD burners are relatively cheap and can burn a full DVD after transcoding in less then 10 minutes depending on size. Transcoding can be made so that the disc can be played by both formatted dvd's ntsc and pal, or so the instruction booklet says. I'm still experimenting, but as I learn Ill let you know. ALSO!!!! If you are playing for bigger audiences, the "board" or those in charge may want to show you off before making a decision. The problem with cd-rom is that 16 people will be sitting around a monitor. With a DVD they can sit around a GiNormous big screen if need be. TTFN, |
Tim Ellis V.I.P. Melbourne, Australia 1234 Posts |
Thanks for the compliments on the notes (have you seen the accompanying DVD yet??) *g*
Shameless plugging aside, the company who produced our 'WONDERLAND' and '24 YEARS' and 'RUNAROUND SUE' DVDs (oops, more plugging!) have DVD burners with such formatting capabilities... however, as we discovered, they don't always do what they say they can do. Best suggestion is do what we did. Burn a few NTSC versions and send them to friends in the USA to test out. (Then you'll also encounter the -R or +R or RW puzzle too if you do home burned versions as opposed to pressed copies). If you are already in the USA, don't worry about it, just send out NTSC discs and we can play them. For example, a few days ago I bought the 3 Disc Wrestlemania 21 set. It wasn't until I tried to screen cap it that I discovered it was NTSC. It used to be that NTSC DVDs would be clearly labelled in Aussie stores, now (because most of our players are multi-format) that don't even tell you. If only the USA and Japan got into the multi-format scene too it would make life so much easier. But I agree, DVD is a better way to present yourself. I just use CD Rom in rare cases now. TIM
www.MagicUnlimited.com
www.timellismagic.com Visit our online shop for instant downloads and ebooks https://shop.timellismagic.com/ Blog - www.magicunlimited.typepad.com |
Shawn Farquhar V.I.P. Canada 760 Posts |
Hey Tim,
Bummer about not being invited to Oz...always hoped to get there. I too use dial up, no I really do. I am only home a few weeks a year and to pay a yearly rate for something I can't use doesn't make sense...that's why my video will play on dial up ... even my fast clip promo on the site will play .. ok it takes a long time ... but it will play. I too think DVD is the way, but there are some folks who still don't have the players...in fact I know a major cruise line entertainment director who just mails DVD's back with a note...please send VHS or include a DVD player the next time you mail! My newest DVD had an enitre DVD Rom section with press photo's, press releases, technical riders, biography, etc. It is truly amazing. as for the US and Japan issue..we in Canada are the same...I believe it is so we won't go to foriegn countries to buy product at a cheaper rate...or maybe not. Cheers, Shawn (actually on land as I'm off to IBM ...) |
Tim Ellis V.I.P. Melbourne, Australia 1234 Posts |
Shawn,
I'm saving up as we speak... we'll get you here sooner or later!!!! DVD players are so cheap nowdays, I'd LOVE to send a DVD and a player to that cruise director. I don't want a job on the line, but I'd love to see his face! Here in Australia one music shop is offering "Buy 4 DVD movies and get a player for free".... times change so fast! TIM
www.MagicUnlimited.com
www.timellismagic.com Visit our online shop for instant downloads and ebooks https://shop.timellismagic.com/ Blog - www.magicunlimited.typepad.com |
Flying Magus Loyal user 286 Posts |
Part of the NTSC/PAL problem is that NTSC is an inferior format. The information contained in PAL format is too much for NTSC to handle. So PAL can play NTSC but not the other way around. In rough terms at least.
Magically yours, Michel Fouche P.S. Tim,when are you coming to Perth?
Magically yours,
Michel Fouché Believe in the Impossible |
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