The world of business can be a tough, challenging place sometimes. The potential for competition has never been greater. In times of austerity, when skilled work becomes even more limited, people seek out other forms of income and increasing numbers of small businesses are established.
Magical entertainment is quite clearly my area of business (well I hope its clear) and even though it forms a tiny part of the overall entertainment industry, the number of 'professional' magicians have increased dramatically. Why is that and what does it mean for you? Let us first deal with the why!
There are numerous reasons why there has been a massive growth in the 'magic' industry and I will try to include as many as possible without sending you to sleep. The first reason that comes to mind is that the number of available jobs are limited, well at least there is a definite perception that they are. This can force someone's hand to try something they would not usually do, money is a powerful motivator.
The second reason is the sheer amount of magic that is now performed on TV, seen through social media. I remember as a child being completely in love with watching the Paul Daniels show and despite NEVER being able to actually use anything, I was constantly getting excited about having a magic set at birthdays or Christmas. I must admit that even I watch some of the more recent magic shows and thoroughly enjoy the experience.
The third (and final)reason I want to mention is that magic is one of a very limited number of things that has the potential to make people feel great. Now I am not talking about the people experiencing the magic (although that is why I perform), I am talking about the person performing the magic, the 'magician'. You see magic is the only thing I know of that someone can do badly and it will still impress some people. This happens because many people have never experienced magic 'close-up' so even magic performed badly has the ability to impress (The word impress is not anywhere near the top in a long list of reasons why I perform magic,more on that later). What is worse, people on the whole tend to be very polite, which commonly means that when a 'magician' does perform something badly, people are to polite to say. This does become a vicious circle, the 'magician' never improves and the audiences always experience below standard magic.
What then does it mean for you?
For you, the consumer/customer/client (insert other suitable description) it means that you have difficulty picking an a magician that is competent, its that simple! Having an ever increasing number of people in such a small corner of the entertainment business does mean that there is a lot more advertising, making the decision even harder for you.
There are a number of things that you should look out for, which will give you an indication of which magician to choose.....
1) Check the domain's age.
The domain is the url or website address of the magician. It is common for magicians to say that they have been performing for years because having someone with little experience is not very appealing. You can however check how long they have had their website by clicking this link, typing in the website and searching
https://www.duplichecker.com/domain-age-checker.php
Please do be aware that the magician may have had a previous website address that predates their existing one. Just ask them what it was and they will be happy to help if they had one.
2) The professional fundamentals?
Any professional magician should have a website, custom email address (not a .hotmail / .gmail) , social media platforms and all of those should be updated constantly. I must say that not all magicians do have all of these and some are good magicians, but as a general rule most good magicians will have these.
3) Reviews
Ah the review. Reviews can easily be tampered with and changed to look more impressive. If the magician does not have the ability for you to leave a review/testimonial, chances are that is for a reason, a reason that means you should probably avoid them. Check on my blog on why not all magicians are the same for more info
4) The magicians Marketing
Perhaps my favourite thing to cheer myself up when I am feeling a little under the weather. The ludicrous claims magicians make never fails to astound me. You need to be aware that because someone says they are award winning, it does not mean they actually are. Please do ask them exactly what the award is and you will find in most cases that it is so obscure or silly that you should not consider it.
Please also pay close attention to the way in which they advertise, particularly their language. If their claims of being exceptional, world class or luxury are true, they probably wont be using 'LOL, PMSL, WTF' and other slang terms. Please see the image below to get a visual picture of why it does not make sense.
(If Ferrari ever do this I will eat my hat)
So despite my blog, up until this point, being about just how much competition is out there, the title is why I am not in competition, you must be wondering why? Let me explain...
1) Nobody else can be me!
While it may sound like a statement of over confidence mixed with arrogance, it is really not. I perform magic in a certain way and interact with people in a specific way. I am lucky to have developed those social skills and experience of performing over many years, which is why I am recommended so highly, not just by my clients, but by other magicians too.
2) Magic is not about prestige for me
The purpose of my magic is not to make myself look good or for people to think I am amazing. My magic is about the people I am performing for, plain and simple! It is true that the by product of performing this way is that people like me and enjoy the performance but it is honestly not overly important to me, other than I would like to be booked again.
3) I really love running my own business
Being a professional magician is about so much more than performing. For me its how I interact with people, how helpful they feel I am and about their entire journey with me, from booking to performance and even afterwards. I spend so much time on my magic business because I am constantly learning and enjoy the entire process.
4) In the words of Jessie J 'It's not about the money money money'
Now this does not mean I wish to perform for free all of the time, even though I do regularly perform for charitable events for free (I don't even advertise them, shocking I know).
I often turn down opportunities to perform if the situation is not right. I am lucky in that I do not rely on the money I make from performing magic, so I do not need to go head to head with other magicians in a race to the lowest price.
5) There is enough work for everyone
I think this is largely true. There are enough weddings, parties, celebrations, fun days and more to enable most magicians to be performing regularly, if they put the effort in. Of course that does mean that some people will be hiring below standard magicians but it is inevitable I guess, except for you the reader, now that you are armed with the knowledge in this blog.
What do I offer?
Well I truly believe my fee offers outstanding value for money and if you are the type of person that understands that you get what you pay for then please feel free to get a quick, no obligation quote by clicking here
I offer a 100% money back guarantee so if people are not completely happy, they get their money back so you can have piece of mind when you book.
I have recently changed my website so it is easy to navigate and user friendly. I have also recently introduced the idea of packages for weddings, its a pilot thing but I welcome your feedback.
One last thing, to show good will to fellow magicians, if you would like to see a brutally honest list of the magicians I would recommend, IN ORDER OF WHO I THINK IS BEST, please click here.