Business Cards – - A low cost, but effective marketing tool
I apologize that it’s been so long since my last post. Special thanks to Dave Schwensen, of the Cleveland Improv Comedy Club, for the opportunity to be a part of the showcase on January 25th. I really enjoyed performing and watching the other comedians.
This will be the first of several posts on the subject of marketing your entertainment services. As Dave says in his book, “How To be A Working Comic” It’s not called “Show Art” – - It’s called “Show Business”. You’re in the entertainment business – - and marketing is an important part of any business.
Today, I will address the importance of business cards. If you don’t have them, you’re missing out on many opportunities – When you tell people what you do (and you should be telling everyone), they will ask for if you have a card – - Not having a business card will cost you an opportunity and cause you to look unprofessional.
You can get 1,000 cards for a fraction of what you will make at one gig – - Never, ever go anywhere without them! – - And, don’t horde them – - They don’t belong to you. They belong to your business – - Give them to friends, relatives, co-workers (if you have a day job), strangers (in line at grocery store, restaurants, post office) – - At restaurants, leave them on the table with your tip or give them to the cashier when you pay for your meal (Or, do both). – - Every person you meet is a potential client – - Give each person two cards – - One to keep and one to give away – - The more cards you give away, the busier you will be – -
Set a goal to run (but order more before you do) out of business cards in two months or less – - What’s that I hear you say? – - Buying new business cards every couple of months can get expensive – - Think about this – - The more people out there with your business card, the more business you will get – - You can also purchase your business cards in bulk – - I just ordered 5,000 with my picture on both sides (so people don’t confuse my card with that of their accountant or their insurance agent) online from a company called “Gotprint” for $130.00 including shipping – - Sounds expensive, I hear you gasp – - Actually, it works out to just over 2-1/2 cents per card. Which would you prefer: A nice, full box of business cards or a calendar full of gigs? By the time you give out 5,000 business cards, your phone should be ringing on a regular basis. Good luck. And, good gigs.
Read MoreFree Agency – - The Art of Creating Your Own Performance and Recording Opportunities
Greetings! My talented colleagues in the live entertainment business: during this week’s blog posts, I have offered two alternatives to paying comedy (and music, poetry, etc.) clubs for stage time (and pimping out your friends to pack the house for the club owner/managers) and/or waiting for bookers (for cruise ships, night clubs, lounges, hotels, casinos, etc.) to respond to your promotional packet and, maybe, give you an opportunity to perform and earn some money. So far, I have suggested 1) Performing at retirement centers (for free or for a small fee) in order to get plenty of stage time (to work on your material and timing), and 2) Getting together with other entertainers and offering to perform comedy showcases or variety shows for restaurants, bars, etc. on their slow nights.
Today, I have a third alternative to share with you. I call this option “Free agency.” This option involves working together with your fellow performers (stand-up comedians, jugglers, Illusionists, stage hypnotists, mimes, comedy magicians, ventriloquists, singers, musicians, pantomime artists, etc.) to rent out venues and produce your own live, stage shows. A lot of fraternal/service organizations have halls which are available for rent, often at a reasonable rate. The halls have decent acoustics (they’re often rented by country and rock bands). If the lodge has a bar and the organization is willing to help advertise the show, you will probably get some of the lodge “regulars” to attend the performance. If the lodge has a kitchen and a ladies’ auxiliary (forgive my sexism), you may also be able to offer dinner and a show to your audience and share the proceeds with the lodge.
You and your fellow entertainers will need to be willing to share expenses (hall rental, advertising), setting up (chairs, tables, etc.) and putting away down chores, and the proceeds. As I mentioned in yesterdays blog post, you can also take turns being the opening act, master of ceremonies, middle act, and feature act. You could also rotate set-up and tear down assignments. This way, the same people aren’t always lumbered with the most difficult and most boring grunt work.
Once you and your friends have made some money, you can rent an actual theater and record a live performance. Then you will have a CD or DVD to sell at future performances and on your respective web sites.
I will be implementing this plan in the Columbus, Ohio area along with several performers I have met through meetup.org. Anyone else who would like to join us, please contact me by telephone at 614-891-7393 or send me an email via this web site.
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Entertainers: You Can Accept the Comedy Club/Booking Agent Status Quo – - – Or Create Your Own Destiny
Attention: comedians, musicians, ventriloquists, comedy magicians, variety performers, mimes, stage hypnotists, singers, jugglers, pantomime artists, and all other stage entertainers! Are you tired of submitting you promo package (demo, pictures, one sheet, references, etc.) to countless entertainment bookers and never hearing back. And when you call to follow up, are they always “in a meeting? Have you had enough of the “open mic” (stand-up comedy, poetry, music, sketch comedy, etc.) scene? Are you sick and tired of paying five to ten dollars for every three to five minutes of stage time the club owners/managers see fit to dole out to you? Have you worn out or alienated all of your friends because the “open mic” clubs won’t let you onstage unless you bring at least five paying customers every time you pay to perform? If any of all of this sounds familiar, then, perhaps you would be willing to consider an alternative.
No, I am not selling anything. I’m not plugging any book, CD, DVD, or other source of wisdom guaranteed to make you rich and famous. What I would like to do is offer some free (my favorite four letter word) advice to anyone out there who is as fed up with the status quo re: booking agents, club owners, etc. Take a look back in history. What did our great grand parents do when they were finally fed up with the working conditions in the sweat shop factories, coal mines, and other work places of their time period? First, they organized. Then they seized control of the means of production. You can do the same. Please understand, I am not advocating strikes and boycotts (although they, too can be effective). What I am suggesting (and will also be doing) is that you take control of your means of production (your collective talents) and offer them to those who would appreciate and respect your abilities. Start by assembling enough entertainers of differing skills to put on your own variety shows. Stop thinking of other stage performers as competitors whom you should avoid at all costs. They are your colleagues in the entertainment business. You can help each other succeed.
Once you and your fellow entertainers are organized, start approaching local restaurants, bars, etc. and offering to present a comedy showcase or variety show on a night that is usually slow for that particular restaurants or bar. Why not try and negotiate a small fee or free (there’s that word, again) food and drinks for you and your talented colleagues? It doesn’t cost anything to ask, and you’d be surprised what some restaurant/bar owners or managers will give if you can attract a crowd on a slow night. You can all take turns be the opening act, the master of ceremonies, the feature act, etc. This will enhance each person’s performing experience and you just might make some good friends along the way. Some of you may even decide to perform onstage as a team. Successful comic actor Fred Willard (Everybody Loves Raymond, Back to You, Fernwood Tonight, America Tonight, Rosanne) started out as part of a four person sketch comedy troupe which was known as the Ace Trucking Company.
Tomorrow, I will offer yet another alternative to the so-called “tried and true” methods of booking performances.
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Pay to Perform – - Bringer Shows – - What’s the Next Change on the Club Scene?
I belong to several Linkedin groups (Comedy Depreciation Society, Stand-up Comedy group, LinkedEnEntertainers, Night Club/concert Entertainers, Crusie Ship Entertainment, Entertainment Recruiters, etc.) which are specific to comedians/entertainers. I also host a page called Entertainers at Large on Meetup.org. I find these groups helpful in keeping my ear to the ground and staying up to speed with the latest information and topics of interest with the comedy and overall entertainment communities.
The most recent buzz seems to be the fact that clubs (whether music, poetry, comedy, or whatever) are charging “budding artists” (anyone who isn’t famous) for stage time. Five dollars for five minutes onstage is what I’m seeing, hearing a lot. If 12 people each pay $5 for five minutes of stage time, the club makes $60.00 for an hour, plus whatever they make on food and drinks. That’s all well and good, but some clubs have taken things a step further. They are now requiring performers to “bring guests” (usually 4 to 6) as an additional condition to get stage time. For example, my local(Columbus, Ohio) ”Funny Bone” expects you to pay a $5 cover charge and bring five friends who also pay a $5 cover charge plus order drinks and food (if you want to call it food). That usually amounts to about $100 for each comic who gets five minutes of stage time ($20 per minute or $1,200 per hour per open mic performer). And that’s if you actually get a full five minutes. If a lot of comics (say, twenty) show up, pay the $5 cover, and bring their five friends, the club makes a lot more money than usual. But, each performer only gets three minutes of stage time.
I usually tell my friends when and where I am performing, but I don’t expect them to come to every performance (they have jobs, families, and lives). I resent being expected to use my friends in order to help “pack the house” just to save some club owner the cost of advertising. And, if you think about it, there are alternatives. As an example, retirement communities everywhere are always looking for people to come and entertain their residents. You may have to contact them unless you are well known in your area, or you advertise), but they offer some advantages which make them an attractive alternative to the clubs. 1) You can negotiate a date and time that meets your schedule. 2) You get more time to perform – - usually at least 30 minutes. 3) You don’t have to pay to perform or pimp out your friends to fill the seats. 4) They might even pay you $50 or $75. That’s not a fortune, but, it’s better than paying a dollar per minute to a club and having to bring five or six friends just to get five minutes onstage. Most semi-urban area have at least 100 retirement communities within a 50 mile radius. Theoretically, you could perform at two communities per week for and year and then go back to the top of your list and start over. That’s 52 hours of stage time. At five minutes a pop, you would need to do 624 “open mics” per year to get the same amount of stage time. And how many friends would you have left by the end of the year?
Tomorrow, I will share another alternative.
Read MoreStand-up Comedy is Alive and Well in Central Ohio
Last night, my beautiful wife, Cheryl, and I ventured from our home in Westerville, Ohio to the nearby metropolis of Delaware, Ohio. The reason for this sojourn was to enjoy dinner and a live comedy show at the Delaware Moose Lodge on Sandusky Street. After chowing down on fried chicken(everyone received exactly one half a chicken), baked beans, cabbage slaw, a roll, and cake, we sat back to enjoy the three Ohio comedians who had come to entertain us.
The opening act, Mary Miller from Johnstown, Ohio performed wonderfully original, interactive, observational comedy about women and men and then played the guitar and sang a number of hilarious parodies of old songs like the Bonanza theme song. She can actually play the guitar, has an excellent singing voice and is insanely funny. We will be seeing and hearing more from the multi-talented Mary Miller.
The middle act was a bit weak. A forty-something comic (whose name I can’t remember) from Akron who would have been more suited for a college age audience. He spoke so fast that, at one point, I almost asked if he had a bus to catch. Not necessarily a bad comedian. But, not a good fit for last night’s audience.
The headliner, Mike Conley may have been 50 years old, heavy (okay, he’s fat), bald and only 5’4″, but, as my fifth grade teacher used to say, “never judge a book by it’s cover.” From the moment he took the stage the comedic energy he exuded was like nothing I had ever seen before. Earlier this year, I saw Lewis Black in concert in Eric, Pennsylvania and, I have to say, Mike Conley was not only funnier, but much more animated. There were several times, during his performance, when I was actually laughing so hard that I couldn’t breathe. My wife said she hasn’t seen me laugh that hard in a very long time. And she’s right. The comedy gods have given us a very special gift in Mike Conley. His perfect comedic timing, his voice inflections and facial contortions, the energy of a young Don Rickles, his impressive physical and verbal improvisation were something to see. He is truly a comedian’s comedian. I would gladly have paid the whole ticket price just to see Mike Conley.
Cheryl and I had a wonderful time. After the great meal and superb stand-up comedy, we laughed and farted all the way home.
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