ProPerformances5

Profitable Performances JULY '06 Newsletter

(View this online at www.ProfitablePerformances.com )

In this Issue: (This issue is so big you may want to print it out.)
#1- Make $ with Affiliate Programs. Go to
Performing - Training your audience with your Introduction. Go to
Marketing - Get customers working for you. Go to
Fun - An excellent site packed with optical illusions. Go to
MagicBase - Find out if you're paying too much for advertising. Go to
Sponsor this month: BMI ProWeb Services

#1 - Big Tip: "Money For Nothing and the Clicks for Free!"
   Do you have a web site?
If not: Why not? Too much work? Too much money?
Are you trying to promote your performing business?
   Did you know that you can get a domain name and host your web page, an entire year, for less than your customers pay you for one little restaurant job, or half of one birthday party?
(If you don't believe me, then see the link at the bottom of this website:
http://www.BobMillerMagic.biz)
   So, if you get only one job in the entire year because of your web page, then it's paid for.
On the other hand, How many shows are you losing because you don't have a web page?
   Now, I'm not saying this to pile on, make you feel bad, and tell you something that you already know. I just want to introduce the real topic of this tip: Affiliate Programs.
  An Affiliate Program is simply a way for you to get paid for what you do anyway. We have many very satisfied MagicBase customers. Naturally, if they like the program, they will tell their friends about it, right? What if you could get paid everytime that you recommend a product to someone and they buy it because of you? You would generate some extra cash, right?
   Well, an Affiliate Program is even easier than that: just put a link on your website.
Now, when your guests click the link and go to the recommended site and buy, you'd automatically get money sent to you!
   Just this month, I had someone tell me that they didn't want to sign up for my affiliate program because it was too much of a hassle/confusing/etc. I explained that it was actually the opposite: After filling out one application, all of the marketing materials are GIVEN to you, ready-made. All that you do is put them on your website. If you can spare a tiny space on your website, it could be generating money for you automatically.
  Many eStores and online sellers have affiliate programs. Find a few that you like, and that relate to your industry or website, and sign up for them. Post the links on your site and see what happens.
   Warning: Don't pay any sign-up fees to become an affiliate. There are many free AP out there. Also, don't expect to get rich. (I'm not saying you CAN'T make a lot of money through APs, just that to make the BIG MONEY, you'd have to work at it hard.)
   And the best thing about it is that it doesn't cost you anything to put an affiliate link on your site. So, if someone clicks through and buys you get the cash for FREE!
  To learn about the new MagicBase Affiliate Program, go to
http://www.magicbase.biz/demos-downloads.html

Performing Tip:   Make your Audience give you applause!
    Since we're on the topic of other people talking about you this month, let's discuss INTRODUCTIONS.
   How do you start your show? Does someone introduce you? What do they say? Do you always start your shows with applause from the audience?
   I hate it when I get a bad introduction: there's no applause; no real announcement that the show is starting. I'm not just interested in ego-stroking here. An introduction that encourages your audience to applaud is a way to train your audience that they need to be involved in the show by expressing their appreciation.
   If you did the exact same show to the exact same audience but only received applause in one of the shows, which show would the audience feel like was the best? The one where they participated with applause, of course!
   So, your introduction is extremely important. Don't leave it to chance. Always carry a written introduction with you. Write it out on a 4x6 postcard, and give it to the person who will introduce you. My written introductions even include instructions to the person doing the intro.
    At the beginning of the intro it says, "(First, get the audience's attention.)" -- There have been numerous times when a poor announcer starts talking before the audience is paying attention to him. This ruins the intro and, most likely, the beginning of your act.
   My introduction also instructs the announcer to start the applause. The last line says something like "Please welcome Bob Miller..." (APPLAUSE). This isn't just to make me feel good; it is for the audience to become part of the show. It's audience training.
   Usually, at these organization dinners or events, there is someone who can act as your introducer. Live is always best. But, if there isn't anyone to introduce you, then you should have a recorded introduction available with your music.
   But, live or recorded, any type of introduction is better than nothing. It helps you to set the right tone for your act, and helps your audience to enjoy your show more.

Marketing Tip:   Make your customers recommend you!
   Create your own "Affiliate Program" with your performance customers:
People are always asking their friends, "Do you know where I can hire a ______?" (clown, magician, juggler, Elvis impersonator, etc.) And their friends freely give out whatever information they have. Your name may or may not be mentioned in the friend's recommendations.
   But, what if you could increase the number of times your name is shared with friends? Would that be worth any money to you? How much would you be willing to pay someone else if you get a job because of their recommendation?
   Do you think that it's true that the more money that you pay people who recommend your services (your "affiliates"), the more often they will promote you? I think it's true. I know a car dealer who will send $100 to anyone who brings in a friend who buys a car. Do you think people pay attention to that? Sure!
   But how do you know how much money to pay? Here's one idea: Divide the amount of money that you've made as a direct result of Yellow Pages advertising (or whatever- but something you can track) by the number of shows you booked. For example, if you've paid $200/yr for an ad, and you got 20 shows booked directly from that ad, then you've paid $10 for each "referral."
   So, why not pay the same amount to your living ads, the people that are recommending you? I think that they'll promote you more often. Who knows, you may be able to completely replace that old Yellow Pages ad with living, breathing advertising... And book more shows in the process!

Cool Optical Illusions: This one is worth the click: http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/

TELL A FRIEND: You may freely forward this email to anyone. In fact, you can even print this out and give it away.

Note to non-MagicBase owners: You should read the MagicBase tip. It will get you thinking about how to analyze your advertising expenses.

MagicBase News:
  Well, if you read the #1 Tip section, you already know that the MagicBase Affiliate Program is ready! You can promote MagicBase and make some $$!
   A few details about it:
• It's free.
• You can get 35% of each sale ($36.75).
• We do everything: process and ship the order. Track your click-throughs and sales.
  For more information, go to the MagicBase Demos & Downloads page on the MagicBase site: www.magicbase.biz .

MagicBase Tip: Are you spending too much on your advertising? Find out!
   In the Marketing Tips section, I suggested that you track how many shows you got booked because of YP advertising. Now I'll show you how to do it with MagicBase.
   There are some preliminary steps that need to be done in order to accurately print an income report based on YP referrals. Whenever you book a show, you need to ask your customers where they heard of you from. There is a 'Referral' field in the top right corner of the Customers Screen. Type the referral source into that field. Always spell the same way. Don't put 'yellow pages' one time and then 'YP' the next time or the search won't find them all.
    This is why it's a good idea to use the drop down menus. Edit them to say what you want, then you can just select the appropriate referral source. BTW, click on the 'Secondary' button and select the 'Referrals' field. There you'll see a list of definable Referral sources.
   So, presuming that you've done a good job of accurately recording how people heard of you, you can use that info to find out if your yellow pages ad is making money for you.

How to do it:

1. 
        Since we want to find an exact spelling of our search term, Click on the 'Secondary' button to switch to the Secondary Contacts Screen. 

      2. Select the 'Referrals' drop down menu and copy the term that you want to search. For example, 'Yellow Pages'.

      3. Go back to the 'Primary' Contact Screen.  

       4. Click on the 'FIND' button to go into FIND mode.

      5. Click into the 'Referrals' field and paste your search term into it. 

      6. You'll also need to select the 'Booked' radio button in the 'Booking Status' field, because you're only interested in customers who actually hired you, not just the ones that inquired.

      7. Click out of the field and hit the 'Return' key to start the search. MagicBase will find all Booked customer records that were a result of Yellow Pages advertising.

      8. Click on the 'Reports' button (in the bookshelf) to go to the Reports Screen. You'll notice that the center information box says 'Action Set' and has a number next to it. That is the number of Booked customers that were found with 'Yellow Pages' in the 'Referral' field. In other words, the number of customers that hired you because of Yellow Pages listing. But they may not all be from this year. 

      9. Click on the 'Annual Income Summary' button to see a report listing your Yellow Pages income according to each year. Or, select the 'Income Detail' button to see which customers actually hired you from the Yellow Pages. You may print the report if you choose.

  What can you learn from this? Well, I was considering dropping my Yellow Pages advertising because I thought that no one used it anymore. But I discovered that I earned more income in 2005 than I had guessed from the Yellow Pages. And I earned much more than I'd spent on Yellow Pages. So, initially, it looked like this was good advertising for me- until I examined my advertising cost/show.
  How much did I pay for my ads? I'd spent about $1500 in 2005 on Yellow Pages ads. I earned $5950, as a direct result, from my YP ads. That means that every dollar I earned through YPs cost me $0.25.
  That means that I paid $100 for a $400 show. Wow! That seems high to me. That means that I could start to replace my high priced YP advertising with some lower priced Affiliate payments. If I paid my magic show affiliates 12.5% of every show they get me, then I'd cut my advertising fees in half. But I'd still be paying my affiliates a highly motivating referral rate. That means that I'd pay $50 for every $400 show that I get. I think that my Affiliates would really be happy with that kind of referral fee and they'd probably look for every opportunity to earn another $50 from me.
   So, the final result is that, through MagicBase, I was able to discover costly advertising and make plans to reduce it. MagicBase saved me money again!

If you're looking for more detailed lessons on using MagicBase, then subscribe to the MagicBase Power eCourse.
Go to www.MagicBase.biz to subscribe.

P.S.
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or go to www.BobMillerMagic.biz