Right. I learned this watching TV in the 60's!

"Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of many mistakes."---Batman

Holy truth Ken! Better words have never been spoken.

Yea life experience is a horrible teacher. It always gives the tests first and then the lessons.

Good thing for Google and You Tube (it's the only way I can keep up with you guys). I just watched this episode. This quote is at the 4:55 mark of episode #42.

Say what??? LOL You had to check?

B

Blair...it's Batman! Of course I researched it. LOL. Ken remembered this quote for decades(actually quite a few of them), it made a real impact on him I bet. If I had just read his post and went on with my day, I would have forgotten it by now. Because I got to actually see Batman deliver the line to Robin, I will now never forget it either. I mean, this wasn't just Gilligan or something else stupid from the 60's, it was Batman.

Gilligan's Island stupid? Shame on you. It was a social significant experiment of co-existance with each of the characters based on archetypes for each of the characters from the "seven deadly sins. Same on you Mr. Checkers.

Btw, it was Mary Ann for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kulDi5oTiQE

Yup, 4:55. Good work Charlie! The Boy Wonder was lucky to have a mentor like Batman!

I didn’t think this was true because Gilligan was a pretty straight shooter. Then I remembered his love for marijuana!

Mindpro, you're killing me...now I have to research the deep meaning behind Gilligan's Island and how it relates to life today. And to think, I always thought it was a silly show that was not worth more than a few seconds of my time. Well, as Batman said, "Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of many mistakes". My bad.

Absolutely!

I find this hilarious. Sherwood Schwartz was a friend of mine as are Adam West and Burt Ward, so I find this fun, that's all. Man could I tell you some stores but that would create more work for you.

No question.

Now how about:
Billie Jo, Bobby Jo, or Betty Jo?
(Your choice of Billies and Bobbies.)

Bazinga!

Wow! this thread derailed a while back. I would appreciate it if we could stay on topic gentlemen. Thank you.

Well...there's been a lot of good stuff posted in this thread. Thanks Mr. Eaton.

Sorry for not taking the time to comb back through this thread to give appropriate to each point I may address.

I too have talked with Michael a couple of times and do find he is insightful as to the business of magic. I agree with one post in that the quality of what he produces will stand on it's own merits. I don't mind at all another "guru" entering the market. TRUTH is something that needs to be restated and repackaged over and over. Not everyone will connect in the same manner to one author vs. another....even though the essence of what they may communicate may be the same.

To Mindpro and a couple of others that I don't recall....I'm just now starting to experience what you are saying about growing to where your show does it's own marketing. It's taken four years but now a larger percentage of my bookings are coming from spin off shows and referrals, etc. I'm starting to see the light here.

Again, I welcome another well written marketing program. I've bought some before and gained something from them all. However...IMHO there is no want of marketing knowledge to be found within the pages of this valuable site. Thanks to the Magic Café for the wealth of knowledge that it shares....that YOU share. Thanks to each and every one of you who contribute to the value that exists herein. But here's the thing. There is a huge difference between knowledge and wisdom.

Some are content to amass knowledge and feel confident and wise in their ability to articulate tomes of information on marketing and magic history, etc. However, knowledge is not the same as wisdom! Wisdom is the discipline to appropriately ACT on the information that we have gained.

The magnitude of what we do with what we know is what will determine the heights we attain in our most wondrous art.

Hence, the formula for attaining my marketing goals is, knowledge + motivation + action....massive action.

I tried one those marketing gimmicks...Living Social...as some of you may recall. It was about a year ago. I did result in a lot of bookings. However the most valuable thing that I got from it was how well it exposed the weaknesses in my "systems" as this thread has labeled them. I faced with the critical need to find a more efficient way of booking gigs and following up on them....closing the sale...rebooking a year later...etc.

A big piece of the solution for that for me came in subscribing to Showbiz ( https://www.showbizcrm.com/?amigosid=5 ) to help automate much of the paperwork. But that's not a magic bullet. It's just a component in my system of doing business. Yes...that is an affiliate link for the sake of full disclosure.

truer words have never been spoken
:stuckinbag:

So where do I find out more about his system Mike?

The project was discussed with my friend Tommy. He has a background in social media marketing and currently specializes in customer acquisition and retention for several large companies. Again, he IS NOT a magician. He loves magic and when having a discussion on why many magicians aren't succeeding with their magic, he spent a couple days researching several of their websites, social media pages, etc and found that a LOT of them are set up COMPLETELY wrong.

I design custom Facebook fans for both magicians and small businesses. He and I approach these businesses together and sell them on marketing packages that include everything from social media to Google places and even mobile marketing.

We were eating dinner not too long ago and he saw my coins and asked me how much a good set of coins would run. I told him that if he were to want a GOOD set, he could easily spend over a $1000. He paused for a second and asked me, "So why is it that magicians will spend $1000 on some gimmicked coins but won't invest that into a nice website or appropriate marketing services?" It was indeed a VERY thought-provoking question and that was one of the reasons we talked about doing a course or some type of "magic marketing" project.

In terms of when it is set to come out I can honestly tell you that I have NO idea. The entire focus of this thread was to engage magicians as to what their own reasoning was as to WHY they are not succeeding with their magic or what it holding them back from doing so. I mean, one would obviously need to know certain areas that magicians struggle in, in order to help them.

I think it is important to have a good web site and social media skills, but for me, business did not start taking off until I pro-actively "beat the bushes". There has been the comment made that you have to have a really good show too, and I have found that to be true as well. Today I booked, or rebooked I should say, a client who made me realize this. When she called me, her only question was regarding my availability. She had already decided she wanted to book me in July and was hoping I would be available. I asked her if my performance should be keyed to any specific theme or message and she said: "Do whatever you want because we know whatever you do will be outstanding!" Yes, it was a nice compliment, but more importantly it told me that one of the major reasons she re-booked me was because I have a show she thinks is outstanding. So, my successes have been from "beating the bushes" and having a good show.

Charlie

While I can appreciate your interests and what you're trying to discover, I believe you may not get the true answers you are seeking. It is my own beliefs and findings that magicians, entertainers, as well as most small business owners do not truly know or understand what they need or why they are not succeeding. They may think they know from based on what they they think, but it's my opinion that they truly do not know why they're not succeeding or what it takes to succeed.

Te default answer which is "I need to improve my marketing to result in more bookings" is what most THINK or BELIEVE they need to succeed, but in reality it is something much larger than this that they do not understand. So I expect most will say "marketing" to get "bookings", which is more than likely the answer you and other marketing people want to hear and have them believe since that is the area in which you can offer assistance.

While I'm sure most everyone can always use some improvement in their marketing, I challenge everyone to look at he larger picture.

B-I-N-G-O Brother MindPro!

Maybe many strive to add more to over-all tools collection in our toolbox, and I agree that growing and adding skills and tools IS a good thing, “BUT” merely having the 'tools' does in no way make us an expert much less a success... does it?

Much like mearly “having the tools” automatically makes us an expert craftsman. (Carpenter, Surgeon, Sculptor, Chef, Magician... etc)

It seams to me that it is the years of action doing and mistakes and learning, dedication, talent, experienced insights, developed maturity and mindset (and more) that reveal the on-growing experience, expertise and eventual success.

I’m ok with getting more tools and adding to our skill path to give credit to THE TOOLS alone is like saying a chisel all by itself created the statue of (Michael Angelo’s) David… isn’t it?

As I See It… Tools Don’t Make The Artist Work. (Though They May HELP To Make The Job Easier or Effective) Artists Make The Tools Work.

Our Tools (On and Off Stage) are like a hammer…

Just about ANYONE can swing one… It certainly ‘can’ be used to create something magnificent ‘OR’ it can be used to destroy something beautiful. - - It’s the experience and skill with which it is wheedled that determine it’s destiny, NOT the other way around.

And I also agree that having and entire toolbox FULL of tools (As apposed to JUST a Hammer alone) can make building something spectacular more effective and elegant outcome as each tool has it’s most effective application and use when used properly… just try not to stick the screwdriver into a live socket. – Ha!

Just one guys .02 cents worth.

Awesome conversation ya’all!

I am at Your Service and In HIS Service,
~ Deano (Not Good With A Power Drill) in Reno
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