Hello my friend!
Remember the first time you saw a magic trick?
Chances are, you were a young child at the time and were convinced that magic was real. Can you remember that incredible feeling of being well and truly astounded by something?
People love to be fooled. It takes them right back to these memories and feelings of being a kid.
One of the first principles of starting a magic business and becoming a professional magician is to have a deep driving desire to perform magic.
What I love about magic is that it gives you an insight into what people are really like; once you’ve blown their socks off with some magic they drop any persona or social facade they have on, and they become their real self with you. I love that, and I think many magicians feel the same way.
In this article, we’re planning to explore how professional magicians can get more gigs, boost their brand, and generally run a more successful business.
We’re also pushing an incredible platform that will help magicians get booked. We believe it’s going to grow very fast and now is the time to get your ‘foot in the door,’ so if you want to find out more click HERE
Step 1: Start With Why
Discovering your “why” is a foundational step for anyone aspiring to become a professional magician and run their own magic business.
Simon Sinek, in his groundbreaking work, emphasises the significance of understanding your purpose, cause, or belief that inspires you to do what you do.
For magicians, this is especially crucial for two main reasons…
1: Passion Over Profit. When you’re clear about your “why,” your passion for magic becomes the driving force, not just the potential earnings. This genuine enthusiasm is palpable to your audience and can set you apart in a saturated market.
2: Resilience in Challenges. The journey to becoming a successful magician is filled with challenges, from mastering tricks to handling business logistics. Knowing your “why” provides the motivation to persevere through these obstacles, ensuring you stay on course even when the going gets tough.
By anchoring your magic career to a deeper purpose, you not only enhance your personal fulfilment but also create a more meaningful connection with your audience.
Your “why” becomes the magic behind the magic.
Step 2: Become A Professional Magician
If you’re interested in becoming a professional magician, chances are you’re already an amateur magician with a few years experience (If not, stop reading and check out our full guide on How To Learn Magic Tricks and then come back to this article)!
If that’s the case you’ll want a resource that provides you with…
- Personal mentorship ✔️
- Full courses ✔️
- Effects totalling $1000+ ✔️
- Mindset training ✔️
- A vibrant community ✔️
- And MUCH MORE! ✔️
…and thankfully I’ve already done the hard work for you!
This membership is for people who want to give their best to magic, who care about the craft, and who are willing to be in it for the long run!
Who runs the show?
Three people who jumped on a call with a crazy idea…
They were:
- The Daily Magician (who run the largest independent newsletter in magic!)
- Steven Bridges (a famous YouTuber and lifelong performer!)
- Danny Goldsmith (the greatest coin magician alive!)
The idea was this – what if we came together, combined forces, and created the GREATEST magic membership ever?
Now after MONTHS of painstaking work: we think that we’ve done just that!
But this membership isn’t for everyone.
We want people who think like us and here’s why…
The content we’re giving you here is cutting edge.
Our best secrets.
Our best material.
So much of our energy goes to making this one of the most innovative communities in magic.
We don’t take that lightly, and we don’t want to give it out freely to people that simply misuse the membership.
You may have seen some magic sites market themselves as a ‘streaming service’.
There’s nothing wrong with that AT ALL, but we just want you to know – this isn’t that!
(but if that’s what you want, feel free to sign up for them!)
Here, we know our members by name. We call many of you friends. We don’t WANT to be a streaming service.
We want to carve out a corner of the magic space that’s completely safe and in line with how we believe magic should be – and we want you to be a part of it!
That being said, here are the three pillars that make up Magic Mastery…
(if any of them sound appealing to you, you can know for sure you’re the right fit for this membership!)
1. The Community
Our community features:
-2 weekly meetings that will happen WITHOUT fail (featuring anything from a casual jam to a lecture from Steven Bridge’s on gimmicked stage magic.)
–A secret Facebook page where you can make friends with like-minded magicians, share your discoveries, and get personal tutorship from some of the greatest magicians alive.
-Regular discounts on products from the biggest magic brands and independent artists (such as Vanishing Inc or Danny Goldsmith).
2. The Methods (Effects, Sleights, Routines and Courses!)
In terms of methods – you’re in for a treat!
Wherever you are in your magic journey we have a place for you!
We won’t just throw effects at you, but help you on your path.
From The Daily Magician (focused on the memorised deck – the greatest tool in card magic!)
Here’s just a small part of everything you’ll be getting from them…
- ‘The Babylon Secret’ (2-hour and 51-minute video course that will open a whole new world of magic, and make every effect you currently perform…instantly stronger!)
- A growing library of ORIGINAL memorised deck effects (such as a master class on A.C.A.A.N. and a course on weighing the cards!)
- Besides the memorised deck, a huge range of contributions from magicians such as Andrew Frost, Christian Grace, Ollie Mealing, and more…
And MUCH MORE!
From Steven Bridges (card, mentalism and coin routines that have been tried and tested on the streets, casinos and more!)
Here’s just a small part of everything you’ll be getting from them…
- Option 100 – Steven’s signature mentalism effect that leading UK mentalist, Ken Dyne said was, “… a brilliant, disarming and totally fair-looking selection method.”
- The Victory Shuffle – Steven’s best-selling release of all time. A false overhand shuffle that looks just like the real thing.
- The Overhand Shuffle Sleights Course – A full, half an hour course giving a deep dive on overhand shuffle sleights. (Including a tiny pinky adjustment that will help with almost every overhand shuffle sleight you use)
- Skip Track (a routine he kept hidden FOR YEARS, that magicians all over the world have started using as their killer opener!)
And MUCH MORE!
From Danny Goldsmith (everything you could need to pick up coin magic, or continue your advancement!)
Here’s just a small part of everything you’ll be getting from them…
- An exclusive beginner’s coin magic course (which he described as the SINGLE BEST WAY for any magician to start coin magic!)
- An exclusive advanced coin magic course (for coin magicians who want to take their work to the next level)
- Countless original moves and sleights such as the ‘M&M change’ a fun visual change that you can do with M&M’s, coins, and rings!
- Danny’s first-ever formal contributions to card magic (coming soon!)
And MUCH MORE!
* We know and ‘MUCH MORE’ is super overused in sales copy, but for real, there are around 100 total effects, routines, and sleights we left out of the bullets because it would take up WAY too much space.
You’ll just have to see for yourself on the inside!
3. The Mindset
As Dai Vernon said:
“Want to be an interesting magician? Become an interesting person!”
As part of Magic Mastery and our most private inner circle, we want to invite you to join in our deepest thoughts and exploration!
Every Friday, we send you a ‘Thinking Differently Essay’ as part of your weekly email.
The ‘Thinking Differently Essay’ will highlight a dazzling insight we picked up during our studies during the week.
It might be something we learned from $2000-a-ticket value marketing seminars, something we picked up from the autobiography of a world leader, or perhaps even something one of our own ‘in-house’ Inner Circle members sent in!
Either way, we want to give you a new philosophy for approaching magic (and life) that could potentially 10x your magic skills and understanding.
And for reference, along with the essay each weekly email you receive as a member will also more or less feature:
- 1 Piece of Theory Training (including audio training, essays, video breakdowns, and more!)
- 1 Effect, Sleight, Course, or Routine (from Steven, The Daily Magician, Danny, or one of our friends such as Ollie Mealing)
- 1 ‘Thinking Differently essay’ (an essay where we take a lesson from outside of magic and explain how it can apply and improve your skillsets in life and performance!)
- Community Updates (learn how your fellow members are doing, and join in their discussion!)
- 1 ‘Deal of the Week’ (claim your discounts on desperately sought-after magic!)
As you can see there’s a lot on offer.
We could have made this upwards of $50 like many other memberships have done.
But instead, it’s just $24 a month, or $0.80 a day!
(that’s much less than a good cup of coffee…)
Plus, as with everything we do, if after 30 days you haven’t enjoyed your experience, simply drop us a email and we’ll refund you your money!
But we highly doubt that will be the case…
All this being said – sign up here:
Step 3: Build a Website
If you’re a working magician that wants to get booked, your first step is to build a website. Your website needs to be easy to understand and include a clear ‘call to action’ encouraging the visitor to book you for their event.
1: Business Name: Choose a memorable and unique name for your magic business.
2: Logo and Branding: Design a logo and establish a brand identity (colours, fonts, style).
3: Domain Name: Purchase a domain name that reflects your business name or the services you offer.
4: Website Building: Use platforms like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace to create your website.
5: Content: Include an about page, services offered, and testimonials and a contact page. Build up your portfolio. Show videos and pictures of your performances!
Rory Adams, founder of One Ahead, once asked a talent booker what details professional magicians
need on their website.
This is what they had to say…
(btw, 9/10 magician websites Rory checked do not have all of this info on their site).
- Full Performing Name
- High-Quality Headshot Photo
- Multiple Performance Photos (w/reactions)
- Performing Style
- Events You Cater To
- Primary Location
- Additional Performing Locations
- Price Point Anchor
- Client Testimonials (Logos if Corporate)
- Contact Details
One extra crucial detail is that your email name, signature or address should include your full performing name and the word “magic” or “magician”. This makes it easier for clients to find you in their emails.
But the truth is, building the website is the EASY part when it comes to making money as a magician. The hard part is getting people to SEE your website!
Step 4: How To Get Booked
If you’re a magician that wants to get booked more often, these two words are how…
Traffic + conversion.
Sounds technical, what does it mean?
It’s really quite simple.
If you’re a professional magician, clients likely find you by visiting your website and hitting the button that says something like ‘book now’ or ‘get a quote’.
If you want to get booked more often, you have two ‘levers’ that you can play with to boost your results. You can either increase both number of prospective clients that visit your website or the percentage of those visitors that hit the button—or both.
The number of visitors to your site is your ‘traffic’, and the percentage of those visitors that book you is your ‘conversion’.
Hence, the simplest way to become more successful as a working magician is to increase either your
traffic, conversion, or both.
How can you do that?
Social Media and Online Presence.
Create profiles on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. Share videos, behind-the-scenes content, and engage with followers. When we started The Daily Magician nearly 5 years ago, we began by posting daily magic videos on our Instagram and now we’re on YouTube!
Online Presence Tips…
Optimise SEO. This can be used to help your website appear more prominently when people in your area search for magicians or entertainers for their events. I’d suggest starting with Google My Business. Set up a profile to appear in Google Map search results for local searches.
If starting a website sounds too intimidating there’s an incredible platform that will help magicians get booked. We believe it’s going to grow very fast and now is the time to get your ‘foot in the door,’ so if you want to find out more click here…
Step 5: Finding Gigs
While you’re waiting to get booked I’d recommend finding gigs.
“Getting booked” is more about clients seeking you out, while “finding gigs” is about you seeking out opportunities. Over time, as your reputation grows, you may find yourself getting booked more often than having to search for gigs.
How to find gigs…
- Start Locally: Offer to perform at local events, parties, schools, or businesses.
- Online Platforms: Register on gig-finding platforms like GigSalad or Thumbtack.
- Collaborate: Partner with local businesses or event planners who might need entertainment for their events.
Remember, even if you find a gig, it doesn’t mean you’re confirmed for it. You might still need to audition, negotiate terms, or compete with others for the spot!
Step 6: Networking
Networking has helped our business tremendously over the years!
Building strong relationships with fellow magicians, event organizers, and industry professionals can open doors to invaluable opportunities. Through networking, you not only gain exposure to potential gigs but also access to mentorship, collaborative ventures, and industry insights.
Tip 1: Join Magic Communities & Forums: I’d recommend joining MagicCafe and Magic Mastery as I mentioned previously.
Tip 2: Local Networking: Attend local events, business meetups, and other gatherings to showcase your skills and hand out business cards.
Tip 3: Magic Conventions: Attend workshops and magic conventions to learn new tricks and network with other magicians…
Step 7: Performing ‘Contagious’ Magic
Scared of crowds?
Here’s what to do…
Ok.
Let’s talk about a simple way you can ‘warm up’ your audiences when working events. When table hopping or doing walk-around, there will usually be some groups that look more open and receptive to your magic than others.
Our advice is to start by looking for those people and getting some ‘early wins’ with them.
These already-interested groups will likely react well to your magic, and their reactions will make other groups nearby curious and receptive to seeing your work.
You keep on repeating this process, slowly working your way through the event.
We first heard this advice from Bao Magic, who described it in a single sentence:
“You read the room, you see the more fun groups to approach and then eventually they’ll be more contagious because people will hear the screaming laughing and then it’ll get people curious and then it’s a lot more easy to, to approach the, the rest of the groups around.”
It’s all about building credibility in the eyes of the audience.
Credibility is so important for working magicians.
The more credible you are, the higher fees your clients will be willing to pay, and the more receptive they’ll be to your magic.
P.S.
There’s a name that has become somewhat controversial in the magic scene:
Julius Dein.
And to be honest, when you scroll down his Instagram feed—it’s not very hard to see why.
The combination of flexing his extravagant lifestyle and heavily gimmicked magic isn’t exactly
most magicians’ ‘cup of tea.’
Despite that however, Julius Dein has performed magic for some insane names—from sports superstars like Lionel Messi and Novak Djokovic to pop-culture stars like Drake, Gary V and Tony Hawk. (and even other world-class magicians, including David Blaine.)
So whatever you think of him—with 65 million followers across the internet, he’s one of the world’s most influential magicians. And fair play to him—he’s clearly doing something right.
Today we’re going to explore just one aspect of WHY he keeps growing and getting booked for huge
events despite not being the world’s most technically skilled magician.
Here it is:
He’s Julius Dein.
Yup, shocking right?
But one of the biggest things magicians tend to forget is that magic is more often than not 80% about the performer 20% about the magic. (especially when it comes to corporate gigs)
Think about all the biggest names in the world right now:
- David Copperfield
- David Blaine
- Derren Brown
- Chris Angel
- Penn & Teller
They all have a personality and level of showmanship that’s so unique, it’s unforgettable.
(As Luke Oseland once said, Derren Brown could pour water on stage for 10,000 people and utterly captivate them)
Julius Dein is well known and has a strongly defined performance persona, which means he keeps getting booked.
Now we’re not telling you that you need to get 65 million followers in order to get booked yourself (or perform more impactful magic.)
But remember that magic is a performance art.
Meaning how you hold yourself as a performer and how you make the people feel around you is incredibly important—and we would argue, far more important than the magic itself.
From what we’ve seen of his work, Julius Dein makes people feel like they’re with a famous magician who can do almost anything.
And it works.
It’s not always about the magic, it’s about what people think of you.
Call To Action:
I appreciate this is a lot of information to take in at once so I’m going to give you a couple of simple tasks to get you going in the right direction…
1: Join Magic Mastery (and start building up you’re skills and network)! ✔️
2: Join bookamagician.com (or set up your website) to regularly get booked! ✔️
3: Start building up you’re social media presence (I’d start with instagram and then link out to either bookamagician.com or your website)! ✔️
Good luck!
Did you know?
This article was created, in part, by compiling 7 days worth of emails we sent to our mailing list on the topic of running a professional magic business!
Every week at The Daily Magician, we explore a new idea within magic—and our readers come along for the journey.
Whether we’re pulling apart the science of creativity, brainstorming methods with world-class magicians, or discovering what card tricks look like in Vietnam, we’ll take you ‘behind the curtain’ with us.
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