I am trying to build my magic business and I changed my name from Professor Bumblemore to The Wacky Wizard to make it easier for kids to remember. I now have signs on my van. I set up a web site at http://www.wackywizardmagic.com and I also had 10,000 valpak coupons sent out to homes in the area this week. All of my magic shows have been by word of mouth until I sent out the coupons. The question I have is when people call I ask them to view my videos on my website to see my style with children. The problem is I have had three inquires and no return calls. I was wondering if my video content makes sense. I show portions of the show and I don't know if the possible clients don't like the videos. Please watch them and help me.
Thank you very much in advance. Mike

I'm a newbie, so please take this with a grain of salt.
I like the videos, but I REALLY like the photos/slide show. The photos are absolutely charming - they capture the cutest kids having the time of their lives! You might consider putting the photos on your site's front page.

Anyway, because the videos (especially the second, inside one) are taken from some distance, it's hard to see just how 'warm' your performance is. Also, as far as I could tell, the videos don't show an effect all the way through. That makes your performance and the kids' reactions seem a bit 'frenetic'. While it's clear from the videos that you're great with kids and that they're having a great time, without seeing the pacing that a trick provides, things seem a bit chaotic. And while parents of young kids do expect a certain degree of chaos (I have two), they also enjoy seeing the kids engaged in the arc of a story, event or trick.
Again, please take this as a newbie opinion. Regardless, I'd certainly hire you for my kids!

Good luck,

Larry

Larry,

I appreciate your thoughts. I am going to edit the videos again on my computer and download them again to youtube. I think I am going to shorten the videos because I did find a place on the little darlings for videos and most of them were shorter. It seems people have shorter attention spans and I think the videos should be around 2 minutes each. I wish I could add photos to the main page, however it is a godaddy web site and I am limited to what I can do on it. I appreciate you looking at the photos and your kind words. Mike

Mike -

If you have a "hot" lead on the phone, asking about your shows, are you really asking them to go away and watch a video before you give them show information and ask for the sale?

- Donald

Hi Donald,

I do give them information about the price of the show, the length, that I give the birthday child a special gift, all the kids get prizes, and the misers dream money the children get to keep. I think you may be right that I made a mistake by asking them to view the videos because after they saw the video I don't get a call.

Thanks,
Mike

One common mistake that some sales people make, is that they don't ask for the sale. After you give them the information, do you ask if they'd like to book a show?

There are even subtle ways of doing that, such as asking them which package they'd like of two choices, or asking them which show time to choose from two choices. This is called the alternate advance method.

Yes, sometimes a customer will tell you they want to book, but often you have to ask for the sale outright, or proceed like it's assumed, or do something to move forward (like alternate advance).

Also, you should be able to describe your performing style in a phone conversation, without having to let them go away to view your website.

People want a hassle-free booking experience. If you put extra steps into it (such as going away to view a video before making a decision), you are making it more complicated for them.

- Donald

Donald,

You are right. I don't ask for the sale and ask them which show they want.
That is a big mistake on my part. I do describe everything that I do and they really seem to like everything I tell them. I didn't think about making it hassle free like you mentioned. I won't ask people to go to my website anymore. I will ask for the sale.

Donald, thank you so much! I will use your advice and not chase potential customers away.

Mike

I agree with the above posters. Those videos don't look good out of context with your show. They show a back-light, you hear a baby crying and you look a little frantic. As someone trying to portray a professional image, on a professional site - You cannot have amateur video camera footage as your main sales promotion.
I would put together a slide show with a nice piece of music instead.

Other things:

You have a single paragraph for adult cabaret and close-up lost amongst a site for children's entertainment. They are out-of-place and I doubt you will ever get work because everyone looking at the site sees you as a children's entertainer only. Those activities require their own page, if not their own website.

None of your props have your name on them. With so many pictures being taken by your wife, a photo is a memory they will keep and look after, but your flyer will just get thrown away. If you had a name badge on, or a banner over your box, then it would be seen in the photo and the clients would know how to contact you again.

You have a navigation bar at the top of the page which doesn't work, and isn't filled in (other than the Home button). Can you fix that. I know its a free site, which is okay. But in general, I suggest 'Google sites' for free sites. They have superb templates, easy functions and no advertisements like with what you have at the bottom of each page. It gives a more professional look.

All the text is in upper case. This is known as SHOUTING! You need to go through your site and use sentence case. Also Green font is hard to read against white and you feature it next to red font. Many people are colour blind to these colours. You then have blue and brown text which just makes things to hectic and difficult to pay attention to.

You don't have an e-mail address listed as a form of contact. I will say that about a third of all my bookings are started by e-mail nowadays.

that's it for now. Good luck with the site.

Steve

You have some fantastic advise above....but I will add what I would do...
I am no expert...but hope this helps.

As mentioned above, focus on the one venue for this page, kid's parties.

Combine the two videos to 1 min promo video (max), grab the best moments and
advertise. If you can't do this yourself find someone who can.

Bring some of those awesome pictures of the kids having a good time to
the front page.

I found that with my little bit of experience, that your page has to say
FUN. This can be done with exciting pictures (that you have) and
potentially a video. The first page has to grab their attention and give
your leads a way to contact you. I don't think a lot of people will
navigate around the site (except us ).

Add some testimonials from your previous events and if they tie with the
pictures the better...

Hope this helps and thanks for sharing your show, pictures, and site...there
are fantastic...

I think your clips are much too long, and need serious editing. Remember that moms will let their kids watch your clips, and though there is a lot of fun being had, most kids will just think: "I've seen all that before". Try to present some more unusual stuff, or a tleast edit up the clips so you don't see the whole routine (something I need to address with many of the clips available to my clients). Here is my website: http://www.pottythepirate.com ... you have a video autoplaying as soon as you go there.
You can build a great website at: http://www.webeden.co.uk and many other places. Using their templates, you can include pretty much anything you want on your website.
It's a good start, though - if you get yourself an editing package (I recommend Pinnacle Studio 12 for a basic, yet very creative package), there's no reason why you can't take those clips you have and make them into a great show-reel. For now. You should try to acquire more footage, and add it as and when you can to your show-reel.
Potty

I appreciate all your comments and suggestions. I do need to shorten my videos and have the photos on the opening page. I buit this ste myself and I need to get a program to help me improve my site. I did advertise using valpak coupons and I made a mistake having people go to my website when I should just ask for the sale when I had them on the phone. I have much to learn. However, I do a quality show and word of mouth has been great, but I want to move it to the next level and with your advice I hope to improve my business.

Thanks again to everyone,
Mike