Marketing is For Laymen

Marketing is For LaymenMarch 18th . . . a red-letter day in the Stone family. That’s the day, in 1948, that my father was born. On what would have been his 63rd birthday (he passed away in 2005), I served in my son’s school under the Watch D.O.G.S. program. At the beginning of the day they had me announce my name over the intercom. I mentioned that I was a magician over the intercom. During the day, my job was to be at certain places at certain times and just “help out.”

Every where I went, I was mobbed by kids who wanted to see magic. I only brought with me 2 deck of cards . . . that’s it. Suddenly I found myself regretting that I mentioned I was a magician. I really thought that I’d end up doing a trick or two and that’s it . . . I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I ended up performing about 100 effects (or the same one 100 times) for hundreds and hundreds of students. I’d say that of the 100 ish times that I did a trick, half of those times, I simply did a double lift to show one card, then magically changed it to another. The kids were screaming and freaking out. The other half of the time I performed the effect Triptych from Gemstones, which is basically the same double lift done twice. It’s the free trick of the month for March 2008 in case you want to learn it. Same effect . . . kids freakin’ out in excitement and disbelief. It was such a rush.

I performed the same thing for the teachers . . . same reaction.

The point is this . . . we perform for lay people, people who have no idea what a double lift is, people who (for the most part) love a good (operative word: good) magic trick. That’s who we market to folks. No event planner or restaurant owner cares that you spent the last 24 months mastering the Clip Shift so that you can do it better than Chad Nelson. Nobody cares about that stuff. What they care about is whether or not you can make their event better, more fun, more exciting, etc.

Remember, No Stone Left Unturned is all about the business of magic . . . helping you to get more clients, manage your books better, be more successful in running your business. That being said, it is critical to remember who is hiring you. It’s not magicians (unless you’re lecturing). It’s laypeople. When it comes to getting clients and who you talk to, Marketing is For Laymen.

Until Next Month . . .

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