Does anybody have experience as a Rotarian? They are often looking for entertainment. I have recently done a couple of president handover shows in my local area for them. They are a solid organisation and I can see that working with them would only be beneficial for us. They are great with word-of-mouth referrals and care for their community very well.

I was speaking to an elderly lawyer friend of mine who is a member, and he says it's a "good outfit".
I have been invited to join the local group, however time is an issue with the weekly commitment for the time being. I might consider it in the future.

I know in America if you tried you could make a living if you did enough Rotary functions alone.

Hmm, interesting twist Danny. Jim Snack says that places like the Rotary Clubs are a good place to do FREE shows.

As fars as joining them well, don't know much about them so I can't really speak of them.

Rotary clubs do fund raising for schools, they do award banquets, and LOTS of functions OTHER than just monthly meetings. It is all about the questions you ask.

I see the Rotary Club signs as I enter many small town city limits when traveling. If they are like the Lion's Club, then you have to have a good income to begin with as you are always going to dinner meetings, donating time and sales efforts to their causes.

My advice is to not join such clubs as you then you are expected to join in and donate your skills to their causes. If you magic business is in the 6 figure and above then maybe you can take part in their functions.

I would just keep it on a business relationship if you want to see if you can get some work out of them. That being said, I have never been asked to perform for any Rotary Club and they are very low key organization from my limited experience.

If you want look for work, go after the VFW's and American Legion Halls for shows. I have done several show for these orgianizations and they range from very nice club with spot lights and stages, to Xmas parties for the kids while the adults drink in the other room. Some pay good and some not so much.

I know here its mostly fundraising and they want you to do shows for free also.

Decomp

Today I was hired for a show, from spin-off at a Rotary function I did a couple of months ago. It's for an end of year Indian community function.

It would be wise to give the Rotary clubs a free show, they do a lot for the community and they will appreciate it and give back to you in the future. They are likely to even give you a strong letter of recommendation (ask for that in return).

In Jim Snack's "Success in Magic" ebook, I found these wise words:

"It pays to do a free show if it showcases you in front of people who have the power to hire you."

Rotary is all about social & business networking. Perfect.

This is the key to the Rotory animal isn't it? Each is a different beast and there are no hard fast rules.

Plus remember FREE is a subjective term. There are several ways you can do a "free" performance and still make very good money, in some cases perhaps even more than your normal fee. It's people who accept "free" as having only one meaning that lose.

Explain.

My dealings with Rotary: I really try to perform in smaller market towns. There is much less competition than in the big city. I will try and get a spot with the local Rotary to pitch the show I am doing, as well as perform for them at one of their lunches. I do a parlor act, show the promo video for the show that is coming, and get to pitch "Ticket books" that they can buy and hand out to their clients (Most rotarians are business owners and such) If you can get the prominent business owners in the local community to back you then you are set up for success. They may post flyers for you, get free press in the local papers, buy a bunch of tickets, share the information with their patrons, ect. I have fared far better in small towns with Rotary support than I have in large city's without it.

Anderson,

Nice idea! Keep up the hard work!

My first "gig' was at a Rotery club in Kennilworth, in the UK. Out of it came a referral for another gig. I did charge for the show. The hook was that I gave them my full price quote, and then stated that because I was a supporter of the local charities that they were promoting at the time, that I would be very pleased to offer 50% of my performance fee to their charity.

It worked out well. I did a good deed, got a rather nice dinner before the show, and learned a lot during that first performance.

I'm back in California and am now getting ready to start the process again from scratch.

The Rotary, Elks, Lions club etc., will be the first point of call for me.

I speak at Rotary clubs all the time to gain speaking experience and exposure and they don't pay their weekly speakers. However many have invited me back to entertain at their holiday party etc. and have had a small but respectable budget for this kind of thing. So... if you are trying to be their weekly speaker/presenter I would not expect much if anything in the way of compensation other than a hot meal and another coffee mug or plaque with the Rotary Creed on it (see attached pic) but yes they will pay for other events.

http://www.LifeIsMagical.com
http://www.DenverMotivationalSpeaker.com (partially still under construction)

Click here to view attached image.

I haven't done a Rotary club since lunch today! Does that answer the question?

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander