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mindpunisher
Inner circle
6132 Posts
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Posted: Oct 13, 2013 12:17 am
0
Quote: On 2013-10-11 11:47, Scott Soloff wrote:
Sorry guys...
What a bunch of ********!
Quoting John Riggs: "One of the most persistent de-motivators is the recurring thought, 'There's no market here!' There's always a market... You must keep your motivation high! The secret of marketing any field, if such a secret exists, is to find your market and work it.
And to quote me, "Persistence alone is omnipotent".
If you want to work, you'll make work. Some of the best times for live entertainment is a poor economy. Four walling it has been around forever and will continue to be one of the best ways to make a living (Busking is the poor man's four walling).
You can sit on you rear and argue all day on the forums. Or, you can go out and work. It is that simple. Anyone who says otherwise (fill in the blank for yourself)...
Best wishes,
Scott
the biggest demotivator for me is working for peanuts. "The secret is to find your market". I am finding my market now unfortunately its not performing. Sometimes you have to let go and admit when something is no longer working. I need to pay bills. I know what I am worth if I can't get it performing I will find something else. that's what I am doing. I WAS persistent for years, I am MORE persistent today than I ever was I'm just not putting that focus and energy into performing because the opportunities just aren't there anymore at this time. In my location. I am putting my focus into creating a future where I don't have to keep finding gig after gig just to keep a roof over my head. I can't do that anymore anyway.
I don't know about where you live but my experience is that live entertainment doesn't excel in tough times it sinks. I haven't tried booking the types of venues I used to for a while.
Perhaps a more accurate term is that "the market is there its just hibernating at the moment". For those that manage to perform through this good luck to you.
Mindpro said "but as an industry it's gone and you must understand, respect and follow the trends to compete in this market."
I would agree but take it a step further and say ANY MARKET. as one market descends another ascends sometimes you have to go after another entirely different market...
But finding a market is always better than trying to create one.
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Bard
Loyal user
223 Posts
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Posted: Oct 13, 2013 02:31 pm
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I will point one thing out that is common in most communities; during times of uncertainty two industries see a big raise in social popularity -- Gambling and most anything of a spiritual nature such as doing Readings or, in the case of some, becoming a preacher (several magicians have, in the past decade, become ordained ministers. . . in around the same time their mil a year income started to dip and working the casinos started to flounder).
Having worked in some of the same markets these guys live in I've seen where the general interest in things like Psychic Readings & counseling not only saw a general increase (especially group Readings, thanks to TV psychic types) when it came to public support but Reader's were able to ask a higher dollar rate vs. just 5 or six years previous. While this isn't true everywhere, it is something I saw first hand in the Nashville area as well as Chicago and St. Louis.
While it is a touchy topic, Mentalists have done Readings during hard times for generations. It's up to the individual however, and their ability to run a clean operation and not give in to the temptation of easy money.
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Trickstar
Regular user
New Zealand
154 Posts
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Posted: Oct 13, 2013 09:36 pm
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Richard Webster has a great little book about making money as a psychic entertainer in small/tight markets its called King of the Small Towns. It gives awesome practical advice about many of the ideas mentioned above. Its my bible at the moment.
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Bard
Loyal user
223 Posts
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Posted: Oct 14, 2013 03:24 pm
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Quote: On 2013-10-13 17:36, Trickstar wrote:
Richard Webster has a great little book about making money as a psychic entertainer in small/tight markets its called King of the Small Towns. It gives awesome practical advice about many of the ideas mentioned above. Its my bible at the moment.
In today's environment this should be a bible of sorts along with some of Richard's other "business" related books. . . Lady's Night is a big draw that my buddy Jon Stetson has been using with great success this past year. Another of Richard's compositions that is great is HOW TO MAKE MONEY GIVING FREE TALKS and too, there is USING YOUR INTUITIVE EDGE FOR FUN & PROFIT.
I have most all of Richard's early books and find them to be priceless. I strongly encourage people that are having booking issues presently, to invest into his stuff. If you are comfortable in doing Readings Richard's HOW TO BUILD A PSYCHIC PRACTICE DOING FULL-LENGTH READINGS is priceless in and of itself; right up there with Ron Martin's TAROT READER'S NOTEBOOK.
As I posted elsewhere, times are terrible for everyone and people simply aren't spending money; especially on "the frivolous" i.e. Entertainment. That means we need to create something they either want to be a part of or "need" -- private parties seem harmless enough and paying a few bucks to help cover the finger food and guest speaker's costs (that would be you) isn't such a big deal a.k.a. a Home PSI Party...
Hustling is what we must do, nothing is going to change that for a very long time yet.
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DrTodd
Inner circle
1976 Posts
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Posted: Oct 14, 2013 08:17 pm
0
These accounts are hauntingly familiar....
Work over here is good. This month has been good so far...corporate work, three stage shows, and some promo work...
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Mind illusionist
Special user
Australia
949 Posts
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Posted: Oct 15, 2013 01:32 pm
0
Quote: On 2013-10-10 19:00, mindpunisher wrote:
I earned good money for a number of years with hotels and bars that had "function rooms". However I never had a residency in any of them. I would set up 10 gigs at a time like a mini tour. This is how I started and maintained hypnosis/mentalism in between the bigger gigs. The first thing I know about this country is they will never put money into anything that's not proven to make them a profit. So forget that Idea. It just won't happen. The key really back then was to find venues hotels and bars with large function rooms that people already go to for entertainment. You need to get yourself in the stream of traffic from an established place of entertainment.Where people already associate the venue with entertainment, You will be really struggling and throwing money down the drain or wasting your time if you don't do this. I used to research and look for pubs clubs and hotels that advertised entertainment. bands comedians karaoke nights etc. If they were advertizing they were making an effort and they were probably paying an agent a high fee for the act... I used to approach them and asak them if they had free nights they hadn't filled. I would offer my services at no risk. I provide posters tickets etc, All they had to do was sell the tickets behind the bar. They got the drink money I got the ticket money. If it didn't work out then no one owed me anything. I found the best places were the out of the way venues where nothing much was going on. small towns villages all over scotland. People go your hotels for business Franklin you need to find venues where people go for entertainment. You are in the wrong venue. Things are tougher obviously because of the recession peoples habits are changing. So I don't know how well it would work at this moment. I used to really well. UK is different to the US in so many ways.
At least you now have the internet to find out who is offering entertainment in your area and surrounding areas.
you also need to set up each venue six weeks in advance. They need six weeks to sell tickets. These types of venues will work hard to sell tickets for you. Because they want the custom. And they appreciate not taking the risk going through an agent.
This is the best advice I've heard in a long time. Thanks very much for sharing!!
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Mind illusionist
Special user
Australia
949 Posts
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Posted: Oct 15, 2013 01:32 pm
0
Quote: On 2013-10-10 19:00, mindpunisher wrote:
I earned good money for a number of years with hotels and bars that had "function rooms". However I never had a residency in any of them. I would set up 10 gigs at a time like a mini tour. This is how I started and maintained hypnosis/mentalism in between the bigger gigs. The first thing I know about this country is they will never put money into anything that's not proven to make them a profit. So forget that Idea. It just won't happen. The key really back then was to find venues hotels and bars with large function rooms that people already go to for entertainment. You need to get yourself in the stream of traffic from an established place of entertainment.Where people already associate the venue with entertainment, You will be really struggling and throwing money down the drain or wasting your time if you don't do this. I used to research and look for pubs clubs and hotels that advertised entertainment. bands comedians karaoke nights etc. If they were advertizing they were making an effort and they were probably paying an agent a high fee for the act... I used to approach them and asak them if they had free nights they hadn't filled. I would offer my services at no risk. I provide posters tickets etc, All they had to do was sell the tickets behind the bar. They got the drink money I got the ticket money. If it didn't work out then no one owed me anything. I found the best places were the out of the way venues where nothing much was going on. small towns villages all over scotland. People go your hotels for business Franklin you need to find venues where people go for entertainment. You are in the wrong venue. Things are tougher obviously because of the recession peoples habits are changing. So I don't know how well it would work at this moment. I used to really well. UK is different to the US in so many ways.
At least you now have the internet to find out who is offering entertainment in your area and surrounding areas.
you also need to set up each venue six weeks in advance. They need six weeks to sell tickets. These types of venues will work hard to sell tickets for you. Because they want the custom. And they appreciate not taking the risk going through an agent.
This is the best advice I've heard in a long time. Thanks very much for sharing!!
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Mind illusionist
Special user
Australia
949 Posts
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Posted: Oct 15, 2013 01:33 pm
0
Quote: On 2013-10-10 19:00, mindpunisher wrote:
I earned good money for a number of years with hotels and bars that had "function rooms". However I never had a residency in any of them. I would set up 10 gigs at a time like a mini tour. This is how I started and maintained hypnosis/mentalism in between the bigger gigs. The first thing I know about this country is they will never put money into anything that's not proven to make them a profit. So forget that Idea. It just won't happen. The key really back then was to find venues hotels and bars with large function rooms that people already go to for entertainment. You need to get yourself in the stream of traffic from an established place of entertainment.Where people already associate the venue with entertainment, You will be really struggling and throwing money down the drain or wasting your time if you don't do this. I used to research and look for pubs clubs and hotels that advertised entertainment. bands comedians karaoke nights etc. If they were advertizing they were making an effort and they were probably paying an agent a high fee for the act... I used to approach them and asak them if they had free nights they hadn't filled. I would offer my services at no risk. I provide posters tickets etc, All they had to do was sell the tickets behind the bar. They got the drink money I got the ticket money. If it didn't work out then no one owed me anything. I found the best places were the out of the way venues where nothing much was going on. small towns villages all over scotland. People go your hotels for business Franklin you need to find venues where people go for entertainment. You are in the wrong venue. Things are tougher obviously because of the recession peoples habits are changing. So I don't know how well it would work at this moment. I used to really well. UK is different to the US in so many ways.
At least you now have the internet to find out who is offering entertainment in your area and surrounding areas.
you also need to set up each venue six weeks in advance. They need six weeks to sell tickets. These types of venues will work hard to sell tickets for you. Because they want the custom. And they appreciate not taking the risk going through an agent.
This is the best advice I've heard in a long time. Thanks very much for sharing!!
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