Since Dan Kennedy (whom I'm a big fan of) was mentioned in this thread, I figured I'd quote Dan for this. "When everyone is your customer, no one is your customer."

Marketing products are most useful when they are specific. I love Seth Kramer's, A Modern Trade Show Handbook. It's brilliant. It speaks directly to the concerns of anyone interested in pursuing this market.

I hear great things about James Munton's online course. From what I can tell, he deals primarily with children's entertainment. If I wanted to excel as a children's entertainer, I wouldn't hesitate to invest in his course.

My course targets close-up magicians. I don't target anyone interested in working cruise ships, theaters, or comedy clubs. I'll leave those topics to others who are more experienced in those venues.

I signed up to the MagiciansBusiness website. It's free information. If the information helps my business, I'll be happy. If I don't like what gets offered, I'll unsubscribe. It's not a big deal.

Lou Serrano

I agree with this statement, when it comes to marketing but only when someone is at that point. As I've discussed many times here before, many performers think once their show is ready all they have to do is then market. I think this is wrong. I think there is a business foundation that must first be in place before one is even ready or prepared for any potential results of marketing.

Most will not put in the time, learning and effort to understand this. As for marketing materials, I agree that specialized or specific materials and resources are great once you have your foundational direction, principles and plan in place. Once this is done and direction, target performance markets and a game plan is in place, only then should one move on to marketing.

The problem I see is many are skipping the foundational materials and seeking specialized materials as a shortcut or expedited path, which in the bigger picture becomes both limiting and selective learning, which can stun growth and ultimately can lead to problems in the bigger picture, when they truly require something more all-encompassing first.

Mindpro,


I hear what you're saying. I think business and marketing go hand in hand. One thing that I've found with most marketing and business resources is that most teach both. Very few teach marketing without teaching the business behind it. My course teaches both as well as most of the marketing books, courses, and seminars that I've studied. That's just my observation from the materials I've studied. Your experience may be different.

Respectfully,

Lou Serrano

The word Marketing is such a generic term, Marketing has sub-titles, and the last one is actually getting out and "Selling" the product or service. So the over use of the Marketing means absolutely nothing. Nice to throw the word around, but what are you actually saying.

Lou you are absolutely correct, Business and Marketing go hand in hand, well there would be not business without marketing, formal or informal. Boy, I paid a huge college tuition to learn then that simple idea.

Just wanted to update that Julian did start his site on schedule. It's still in its infancy, but he told me some of his plans for growing it. You can check out the posts and videos at: http://MagicianBusiness.com

Hope this free information it doesn't ruin my reputation! ;-)

Haha!

Tom, I checked out the site last night. Some GREAT nuggets tactics and small things that its typically hard to find information on. Thanks again for posting about this.

Your was ruined the second you had dinner with me. Good luck trying to get it back!

Thanks Danny. I knew licking your plate was a mistake but it's the way I do business.

Hey man a ritual is a ritual I competently understand.

Thanks Tom for posting about magicianbusiness.com, we have been overwhelmed by the positive response so far. We are on our third day and the podcast episode on pricing your show has received 402 downloads. All are welcome and we appreciate any comments and feedback. Ken

The one thing I like about this course is that "It Makes You Think!" I am the least creative person here and I am learning some new stuff. Ok I am off my rant about me. This site has a new look which is clean and crisp. I have had 3 Aha moments and they have not gotten into the details of the topics. The 2 podcasts were very interesting, they were casual in nature and the best part was they were not about if you buy my course you will make a ton of money in 2 weeks. They actually gave some great advice. the YouTube and Put Your Business on Autopilot are simple and easy to implement.

Alot of folks mentioned that they are waiting for a cath. The only thing close to a catch is that they are using affiliate links on the tools they recommend. I honestly believe that you cannot fault them. It just makes good business sense.

This is my opinion only and I am in no way getting paid to say this, nor was I asked to say this. I make no money for saying this. I highly recommend this course!