Inside this Issue:  Goals, Marketing and Designing Your Life!

Hi

Ho, Ho, Ho!  What a blast this Holiday was here.  My kids

are at that age that all of their toys are so much fun to play

with!  I was up late playing Hot Wheels.  How cool is that?

I pray your Holiday was fun too and we are going to get down

to business here.

For the next few days, I will be sharing with you some killer

strategies for making 2008 the absolute best year ever!!!

These are things that have worked for me and others and have

afforded me a life that I anticipate every day- Living our dreams. 

That’s what this is all about.

Tonight is our BIG Mastermind call where we’ll be discussing

our marketing/goal calendars for the year to come.  This will

be incredible and will really set the pace for the action ahead. 

Another cool thing I like to do every year is offer some incredible

deals on some of the things I use the most throughout the year. 

It’s a great way to get started on the right foot.  I’ve uploaded

a special page for you, my loyal readers: 

Please don’t share this with anyone not on the subscriber list. 

These are really big deals and I’m feeling overly generous and

blessed this season.  Enjoy!

Off to the topic of the day…

What follows is a re-print of an article I wrote years ago on my

semi-annual process.  I still do it today and it is the life-blood

of all I do professionally and personally. 

I’ll share some additional tips tomorrow and some ways

I’ve enhanced this whole process.  So print this out, it will

be worth staying close the next few days, I promise…

The Marketing Calendar:

(Or, How To Keep Your Calendar Full Year-Round…)

This is the life-blood of my business.  Without it, I’d

be lost.  It is so easy to get engaged in the busy season

and not do any marketing because you don’t “have the

time”.  Suddenly, you find yourself show-less, with

nothing on the horizon.  Don’t let this happen to you.

My marketing calendar is pretty simple.  I’m a very

visual person, as most of us magicians are, and I bought

one of those big, laminated wall calendars that you can

use dry erase marker on.  All of my marketing campaigns

are listed there by the date they are to go out. 

Here are some highlights…

Hot Prospects:

 I have a list of the finest prospects in my area.  These

are agents, banquet and convention planners, radio,

newspaper and TV people and other “high” profile

people in the community that I like working for or

would like to work for.

It’s important to keep your name in front of these

people.  They are the ones that have occasions to use

my services and most of the times, the money to afford

me.  I mail them something every 45 days.  It may be a

holiday card or postcard, a free trick, flowers, a seed

packet, candy, a newspaper article on me or whatever. 

My aim is to be the only magician that comes to mind

when they think of entertainment for their next function. 

And it works!

So, after you do your initial “hit” on this group, simply

mark an “HP” with marker on your calendar every 45

days and you’ll know something needs to go out.

Past Clients:

This is your largest source of income!  Assuming you

have been doing a great job, your past clients will

continue to hire you and recommend you to their

friends.  But, people are busy and they have other

things on their minds. 

Again, you need to stay in touch with these folks too!

I do this in a couple different ways.  One that has been

fabulous for me is the 3-month out reminder.  Three

months before they had me perform last I send them a

letter thanking them for being such a great customer

and reminding them that their event is coming up and

to call me before I book their date. 

This gives them not only a friendly reminder but a real

sense of urgency!  I have people calling me the moment

they open these letters to make sure they can still get me. 

I love it because it’s an easy booking.  I already know

the situation and how to best accommodate them and

they love it because they are all set for their event with

someone they like and can count on.  It’s a win-win!

These letters go out on the first of every month and are

generated automatically through my database.  I use

ACT2007 for my database and it can be very easily

adapted to our business.  So, on your calendar, mark

“April” in January 1^st, May in February 1^st and so on. 

For example, on January 1^st I will mail everyone that

has ever hired me in the month of April for the past

five years.

Another thing I do for past clients is newsletters. 

These are great tools to keep your clients posted on

what’s happening with you and the new services you

are offering.  I get into this in great detail in my course,

“How To Become Your Area’s TOP Children’s

Entertainer!”  It can be a little costly and I have gone

down to two a year now because my client list is so large.

To supplement this I use postcards.  They are very

inexpensive and sometimes you’ll get an even better

response.  There’s no envelope to open and even the

mailman gets to read about you.  My standard now is

two postcards and two newsletters every year to all my

past clients in addition to the 3-month reminder.

New Clients:

This is the real meat of the calendar.  I strongly believe

in Dave Dee’s three-step mail campaigns and I have been

using them very successfully for years now.  If you don’t

have his course, shame on you!  It’s awesome stuff! 

Plus he’s a good guy to boot!

There are events that happen every year at the same

time.  It’s pretty easy to figure out when they are. 

For instance, summer camps happen in the summer,

Holiday Banquets are in December and Schools need

assemblies during the school year.

All you have to do is figure out what events you

want to perform at, figure out when they are, who

the contact is and mail them a compelling offer three

to six months out, depending on the venue.

I know it sounds too simple, but it really is.  A great

source is the newspapers.  They all have weekend

sections or a “What’s Happening” guide.  Start

collecting these and do some research to find out

who, what & where.  You may have to make some

phone calls in some cases, but it will be worth it. 

My secretary does mine for me Put these folks in

your database arranged in categories such as summer

camps, spring/summer fests, elementary schools,

corporations, etc.  Now, put each one of these

categories on your marketing calendar and mail them

when the time comes up.

Vacation:

This is actually the heading I begin with every

November 1^st when I’m planning my year to come. 

I figured you might think I was crazy if I started this

essay with it.  It is however, very, very important!!!

You need to block time off when you will absolutely

NOT take any shows.  We all need a break.  We need

something to look forward to also.  Don’t forget, if

you put this off, you may find yourself with a day

here or a day there off.  That’s really not enough. 

Your whole act will suffer in the long run.

I always take off the last week of August and into the

first week in September, Christmas eve through January

3^rd, and a five-day break in April to enjoy the spring in

the Northeast.  Sure, I get some other time off throughout

the year but these are solid and I will not accept anything.

Wrap-Up:

I know this all seems over-simplified.  But it really is simple. 

Just plan your year out in advance and you’ll have much more

peace-of-mind knowing where your income is coming from. 

I am very blessed to have a full calendar and this is a big

part of it.  The other part is studying marketing techniques

from magicians and non-magicians alike.  But that’s the

subject of another essay.

Yours in success,

Eric Paul     

P.S.  Cris Johnson’s GREAT tele-seminar is still online

I would certainly recommend you listen in!

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