Get $10,000 More Magic Bookings this Year
I just interviewed One Ahead's founder on my podcast, Discourse in Magic (the episode goes live today). Now, I’m here with a special article for One Ahead's readers to teach how magicians can book $10,000 more gigs this holiday season. The best part is that all of these tactics make use of assets magicians already own.
Let’s start by going back a few years. Do you remember when you used to play video games as a kid? You might still do. Tony Hawk? Guitar Hero? Space Invaders?
Well, those video games usually have a fun feature when the lights start flashing, and suddenly, you may get 2x, 3x, or 4x bonus points.
That’s what the last three months of the year are like for professional magicians. There are more inquiries, more events, bigger budgets, and everybody is more responsive.
In this article, I’ll teach the seven tactics professional magicians like me are using to book more gigs this holiday season. All of these tactics work throughout the year, but they work even better during the final few months!
Now, if you're reading this as you happen to be a hobbyist magician, that's great. I hope that this article will remain engaging as I pull back the curtain on some professional magician business secrets, and I'm confident you'll be able to take at least half of these tactics and adapt them to help boost your careers, too.
Let's Talk Money
Let's assume a working magician charges $1,000 per gig. In this case, adding $10,000 to your revenue this year involves adding just ten more gigs that you didn't already have in your schedule.
On average, the more professional magicians charge, the fewer people might say yes; the less a magician charges, the more people might say yes. So if a magician charges $2,500, they only need to book four more gigs, and if they charge $500, then they'll need to book 20.
You get the idea!
But why should you care about the tactics I'm about to share? Well, I am a full-time performer and a professional magic business coach. I’ve helped 27 magicians hit the 100k per year mark and beyond (that's $2.7 million+ total every year).
Every tactic you see here has been battle-tested – and they work.
From here out, I'll be writing with professional magicians in mind...
Tactic #1 - Past Clients
The hardest part of any magic business is finding new leads. But you have a list of leads that have tested your product, and assuming you’re good at magic (wild assumption - I know), they've already enjoyed hiring you before. SCORE!
It’s time to reach out to all of your past clients. No matter if you’ve done five gigs or 5,000 gigs, contacting previous clients is one easy thing you can do - that will bring in some business.
They haven’t heard from you in months or years, and they have no idea what you do now! Send them a message and remind them.
Case Study: I just started working with a magician named Gerald last week. He was making about $30k/ year from magic. He emailed his past clients and booked three gigs, one of which was with a museum at 3x his rate from the previous year. By emailing his past clients, he added nearly $2,000 in bookings.
Tactic #2 - No’s and Maybe’s
You can also send a message to all of the people who inquired but didn’t book. You were a good enough option to reach out to, and you may be a good enough option to book now!
You’ve got a graveyard of people who never booked you, but they likely have an event they’re planning this month.
Most of the time, the reason they didn’t book you has nothing to do with you. If you run ads or use gig sites to get leads, then you’ve already paid for the lead. You might as well use it!
Send an email; it costs nothing, and you may get a gig or two out of it!
Case Study: A magician named Cody I’ve been working with who does well over 100k/ year emails his “No’s and Maybe’s” four times per year and routinely books $1k-$5k bookings from each email blast.
Tactic #3 - Other Magicians
It’s time to help each other.
There are probably other magicians in your city that are busy - really busy. Every single year, there are calendar dates in November and December that get booked up months earlier. These magicians get inquiries but are already booked. Most of the time, they decline the client and tell them no. Now is your chance.
Reach out to 3-5 popular magicians in your area. Ask if they have overflow gigs you’d love to get referred to. Offer them a commission (I'll offer them whatever commission they want).
Give them your good promo material, videos, and web pages to use, and see what happens. I promise there are people in your city who can’t take gigs.
And - if you’re nice enough and offer them something great in return ($$$), they might be happy to send the booking to you instead!
Case Study: I work with a kids' magician in LA who has a long list of magicians to whom she gives her overflow gigs. She takes a cut, and it’s become a great additional revenue stream for her, which generates revenue even on the dates she's working elsewhere!
Tactic #4 - Gig Sites
We all hate gig sites like Bark, GigSalad, The Bash, and Thumbtack. But you can win on gig sites if you keep a few things in mind.
- There are lots of gigs in the busy season. In the last few months of the year, people begin to panic for entertainment, and they usually turn to gig sites, which market themselves as a faster way to connect with performers. Be there, and you’ll book gigs, but keep in mind not every inquiry is valuable.
- Only apply for the gigs that apply to you. If you only do company parties, only apply for company party gigs. If you only do house parties, apply for those only. Some gig sites charge per lead, so be picky. When considering gig sites, think less about the total number of gigs you see on there compared with the ones you get, and focus on how many of the gigs you land compared to the number you apply for – apply wisely.
- You either win on quality or price. On gig sites, people are looking for the best option fast. To some, that means the cheapest, and to others, it means the best-looking promo material. Pick the option you can be best at and win.
Case Study: Mike, a Midwest Magician I work with, closes about 1 in every 6 Bark leads he purchases. On average, it costs him about $100-$200 per booking. He’s got the best promo video in the region and charges about $2,500 per show, which makes the effort and cost to book them more than worthwhile.
Tactic #5 - Social Media: Long Posts
Certain types of posts on social media blow up: rants, big announcements, votes for this or that. Make a long post, and make it readable and interesting. Make sure it’s in some way, shape, or form about you doing magic gigs!
Why share long posts on social media? Well - when the post does well in your market (which it should do if it’s interesting or controversial enough), you get a free way to remind your followers that you’re a magician booking holiday events.
When I needed to sell more tickets to my singles magic show, I shared a long post about the fact that only women were buying tickets.
Men started to purchase tickets, too.
When I needed to get a few more bookings back in virtual times, I shared a long post explaining how even though I’m sad about the pandemic, virtual shows have let me perform all over the world in a way that was exciting for me.
When I needed to get more corporate holiday gigs, I shared a long post telling a story of how a trick went wrong at my first corporate gig and how I saved it.
Write something, make it interesting, and make sure that the fact you are a magician who books events is the central theme. Magicians do not always come to mind to people when they are organizing events, so you have to gently remind people in your market that you exist and are ready to get booked for events.
It might not happen the first time you share a long post, but keep going; it'll be good to learn the power of storytelling and how to talk about yourself to potential clients. Keep going because you'll be surprised at how much work these can generate if they're interesting, relevant to your market, and sell who you are.
Case Study: Cole, a magician I work with, shared a long post about living in a different city for a few months. From that one post, he booked over $5k in shows.
Tactic #6 - Social Media: Short Posts
This tactic is a killer. Whoever you want to hire, make a short post on social media looking for them directly:
“Do I know anybody who works in HR?”
“Do I know anybody who organizes holiday events for schools?”
“Do I know anybody who throws holiday house parties?”
“Do I know anybody who is an Office Manager?”
Not only will Facebook and LinkedIn automatically present this post more often to the people it applies to, but people will also reach out, tag their friends, and even send you a direct message when they see it.
These are what we call "warm" leads—amazing people to call and present an offer to because they already know you and are connected to you. So, get on the phone - learn about what they do, and tell them what you can do for them.
Case Study: I sold six extra tickets to my lecture in Pittsburgh because I posted on Facebook, asking, “Do I know any magicians in Pittsburgh?”
Tactic #7 - More of What’s Working
In the run-up to the holidays, more events are getting planned, and more leads are out there, so everything works better. If you were running ads, double your ad spend. If you were sending cold emails, double your outreach. If you were doing SEO - double the number of blog posts you're putting out.
Everything is going to work twice as well, so this is your time to start pushing. So whatever you were doing - try to do more of it.
Case Study: Every professional magician I work with gets recommended to double their ad spend and cold emails starting in August. That’s when all the leads start pouring in. Do the same.
Pick one of these tactics and spend an hour running it today. I share more advice on my Discourse in Magic podcast, and if you know you want personalized help with your magic business, this is the best time to start. You can email me, and I'll walk you through what working together looks like.
