Michael Jackson and Me...

I was a 9 year old boy living in Los Angeles. My parents had just gotten divorced and my Mom was dating a new guy that was soon to be my evil stepfather.

Mom came to me and my brothers with news that we were going to Las Vegas for some wild fun.

Back then Vegas was different. It wasn't as family friendly as it is now. It was a different world.

I was excited about seeing the flash and dazzle of Vegas. We drove for about five hours and, then, in the middle of desert, the sky was completely lit up.

I imagined the Pleasure Island that was portrayed in Pinocchio. Adventure, games, and a bit of mischief was just over the horizon.

We arrived and checked into the hotel. Within minutes, my Mom and soon-to-be step dad hustled us out of the room, took us down the elevator, and introduced us to a small room in the basement of the hotel.

This was the room that all the parents left their kids while Mom & Dad gambled.

My brothers and I spent three days, off and on, in that playroom. It was fun, but it certainly wasn't what I had imagined.

After three days, we were in our hotel room and my Mom and "soon-to-be" walked in. They were giggly and laughy and broke the news to us. The "soon to be" was now a real live step dad.

They had married late that night.

I was shocked and confused and happy and sad and jealous and angry and excited all at once.

That night they broke some other news to us. News that I didn't realize at the time, would affect me just as profoundly.

To celebrate the new nuptials, we were gonna see this group called The Jackson Five. I didn't know who they were (heck, I was nine). I didn't know who Michael Jackson was. I had never been to a concert. I had never even seen the inside of a Vegas showroom before. THIS WAS EXCITING.

I was told to put on my best clothes. They led us down that same elevator. But this time, we walked through the casino. Lights, slots, money jingling, people cheering.

We walked into the showroom. Everybody was dressed to the nines. We sat in a luxurious red velvet booth that sat our whole family. We all ordered drinks. I had my first Rob Roy (like a Shirley Temple for boys). I felt like the prince of Las Vegas.

There was a full band. Drums, electric guitars, keyboards, strings, the whole magilla.

Then the music started. I don't know if it was the sugar from the Rob Roy or whether it really was as amazing as I imagined. But, there, unfolding right in front of my very eyes, was the most spectacular thing I had ever seen.

Four guys, doing things that I never imagined. Singing, dancing, fun, funny, flash and dazzle.

Then the big voice came over the loud speaker "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome, little Michael Jackson". The crowd went wild.

Out came a fourteen year old Michael. Singing songs that I KNEW! Songs I had heard on the radio. I'll Be There, ABC, Rockin' Robin. Moving in ways that I didn't know was possible. He humbled the talent of the rest of his family.

For the next two hours I was transfixed. Every problem, concern, worry and every bit of uncertainty melted away. For those two hours there was nothing else in the world that mattered.

At the end of the performance I knew. I knew that there was nothing else in the world that would be worthy of doing. I knew that I had to be an entertainer. I had to do what they were doing.

Well, life went on. The guy my Mom married turned into a nightmare. I moved out to live with my real Dad and my brothers moved away to live my grandparents.

But I never forgot that one night. The night that Michael Jackson made me feel safe and secure in knowing my own future.

I can only hope that someday a child will see my own show, be inspired and walk out secure in their own future.

-John
Rebel Entertainer

Lucky Schmucky!

"Shallow people believe in luck. Wise & strong people believe in cause and effect"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

After a 3-show day, I was at a party talking to a friend of mine that was (and sometimes still is) a drummer in a band. He’d never made his living as a musician and settled for working landscaping to pay his bills. I’ll get to that in a minute.

He remembered that a couple of years ago I was writing a course on “How to make money performing”. He asked how it was going.

Well, I told him that I finished it a while back and that there are a number folks finally making their living performing when they thought it was impossible.

I also told him that these people were realizing that anybody with a little talent and a commitment to succeed could make their living in their art. All they needed was the marketing to it.

Then he said something that just pissed me off….

He said “Yeah, but didn’t you just get lucky?”

He was referring to my Animal Magic Show. He was suggesting that I just “got lucky” when I put it together and starting making MY living as an entertainer.

I thought to myself Yeah…

It was lucky that I put together a show that kids and parents love.

It was lucky that I studied all the great marketers for hours on end (and still do) to try and figure out how to sell my show.

It was lucky that I put an ad in the yellow pages (no internet back then) that booked tons of gigs.
It was lucky that I created a direct mail campaign that helped me dominate market after market.

It was lucky that I created another show just as successful as Animal Magic for a completely different market.

It was lucky that I created 2 completely separate websites that booked way more shows!

All of these steps were obviously some stroke of luck that just happen to bring me success.

Bulls#&t!

Luck is getting discovered at the cash register of a Piggly Wiggly and hired to star in a major motion picture.

Making your living as an entertainer is a matter of dedication, smart marketing and a strong will to succeed (with a little talent mixed in). That’s it.

How bad do YOU want it? Ya see, my drummer friend was never that committed. He never believed it was possible. He never learned to “work smart”. He never learned the real business of the business.

And here's the funniest thing. When I told him a brief summary of how the system works, his comment was "Isn't that selling out". No my friend. Selling out is continuing to work a job that you hate when the answer is right in front of you.

You on the other hand, have already made the commitment by joining Rebel Entertainers and reading this blog.

If you’d like to see every step I took in creating a hugely successful performing business, the steps that got me “lucky”, you can find them in the Rebel Entertainers’ Success System.

Not only is it an entire manual of marketing 101, but it has every marketing piece that I’ve used to build my business. And you get the rights to simply change the documents to your information and be booking shows almost overnight.

If you already have it, congrats.

Here’s the link: John's "Lucky" Success System

-John

Rebel Entertainer and Lucky Schmuck

Children's Entertainer Horror Story - The Angry Paranoid Guy

This was so bizarre, I just had to tell you about it.

So, last week I was driving to a school show in Glendora (Ca). I got off the freeway just like I always do. I followed my mapquest turn by turn like I always do. I pulled up to the curb in front of the church/school like I always do.

I took a look at the school and noticed that it'd be easier to load in if I moved forward about 20 feet. I did.

I also noticed that I was about 10 minutes too early to load in. So I grabbed my cell phone and starting checking my messages.

Well, suddenly there's a guy knocking on my driver's side car window. He was a medium sized dude, about 35 years old, with a work shirt on that read "something" Heating & Cooling.

I rolled down the window slightly (it is L.A. after all) and asked "Can I help you?".

The guy seemed really agitated and said "Why are you following me!?"

I said "What?"

A bit more agitated, he asked again "Why are you following me!?"

I said "I wasn't following you."

He said "Then what are doing here!?"

It suddenly struck me that he probably got off the freeway where I did (in front of me), and probably made every single turn I did. I hadn't even noticed his car. I was too busy trying to figure out where the hell I was going.

I said "I'm doing a magic show for this school. It's now 8:20 and I had an extra few minutes before I had to load in, so I'm listening to my messages."

So he said "You're telling me that you followed me all the way from the freeway and you JUST COINCIDENTALLY parked right behind me. We just coincidentally were driving to the same place."

I said "Yah. Here's the contract with the name of the school and the time and the date. I'm doing a magic show at this school in about a half an hour".
He said “Well that’s awfully coincidental, don’t ya think!?”

At that point in time I looked forward and noticed that he had a kid in his car. I realized that he was implying that I had some evil ulterior motive. That I had concocted a complex plot to do some rotten thing. That I figured out who the contact at the school was, created a fake contract, got dressed up in a magicians costume, loaded all sorts of critters in the car, followed him to that particular spot, and was ready to make my move.

I said “Yah, it is awfully coincidental”

He said “Who’s your contact?”

I looked on the contract and told him who my contact was. Then I asked if he knew who she was.
He said he did.

And then he tagged one more time “It’s just a coincidence. I find that hard to believe!”

And said he was going to find out what was really going on.

I said “Fine.”

Well, of course, I made a beeline to the school office and explained the situation to my contact.

The man took his child to her class and was walking out when I was walking with my contact to the venue to set up the show.

I said “Did you find out that I’m here to do a show?”

He said “Yah. But I had to protect my child.”

No apology. No “Gee, sorry for the misunderstanding”. No “Have fun”. Nothing. In fact, he seemed ready to get into some crazy physical altercation.

Turns out he had questioned the teacher. “What’s he here for? How long has he been doing this? Have you ever seen him before?....”

This was the fifth year in a row I had performed at this school.

He just stormed off still pissed that I was even in the vicinity.

So I took my boot and kicked him right in the groin. As he laid on the ground I laughed maniacally and pointed at him ... Ok. I made up that part. I just wanted to make sure you were still paying attention.

But he really did leave still all angry. Angry at me, at the world, at him for making an ass of himself.

The Big Lesson

Now I have complete confidence in the human race. I believe that 99% of world’s population are pretty logical and pretty cool. But there are still those crazy 1% that are paranoid and illogically thinking that the world is somehow out to get them.

I don’t pretend to know what was going through this guy’s head. Maybe he was going through a divorce and being followed by a private eye. Maybe he had prior experience with his child be kidnapped. I don’t know.

But I do know this. As children’s entertainers we need to keep an eye out for anything that we do that can be PERCEIVED as dangerous or lascivious in any way.

We are here to make children happy and to make their parents feel secure in knowing that they are taken care of. That’s our job.

- John
Rebel Entertainer and Guy that’s just trying to do my job
www.RebelEntertainer.com

Another Brilliant Marketing Strategy for Variety Artists

You must read this entire post to understand the BRILLIANCE of this strategy. Here we go...

The owner of the Yardhouse restaurant chain spoke at a high-end charity function on Sunday night.

He made a very special offer to the crowd at hand. He was offering 200 gift card opportunities for his restaurant. The cards were worth $25.00 each towards food at the Yardhouse. You had to commit to a year's worth (12 gift cards, total $300.00). You could buy them all in a batch or commit to one a month.

But here's the spin. All the money he received for the gift cards would be DONATED TO THE CHARITY (a wonderful children's fund).

He was only offering them that night until 9:30. So we had to act fast.

Well, to me this was a no-brainer. I'm giving $25.00 a month to a really cool charity and getting $25.00 worth of good food. Plus it'll get my butt out of the house once a month.

From a marketing standpoint I thought "What? Is this guy stupid? He's selling gift cards but he's giving away all his profits from the transaction".

Then I started thinking about it. Here's what he really did:

1.) Let's face it, if you go to the Yardhouse you'll be spending a helluva lot more than 25 bucks. I have a wife and kids. I imagine my bill will be closer to the hundred dollar mark. Twelve separate times. Even with the gift card, that's $75.00 profit X 12 months. That's a brand new customer that's going to spend $900.00 a year at one of his restaurants.

2.) Less than 50% of gift certificates are actually redeemed. So even if you did go to the restaurant and only spend the $25.00, his exposure is minimal.

3.) Chances are I'm not gonna go every month. But it's likely that I'll give the card to a friend if I'm not using it. There's another new customer.

4.) If he sells all 200 opportunities, that's $6,000 he's giving to a charity. That's gotta make he and the charity feel pretty good. I'm sure he's using that as a promotional tool "Yardhouse donates $6000.00 to children's charity." Heck, might even make the news.

5.) How much money has come out of his pocket? Zero! Ok, maybe the price to print the cards. A small price to pay.

6.) Lastly, guess who's going to be telling everybody that the Yardhouse donated $6000 to their charity? Answer: The Charity. They will definitely be the restaurant's own personal viral cheering section.

So, let's review. They donated $6000.00 to a good charity. They've brought in a ton of new customers. They've made a huge profit for every card redeemed. If they played their cards right, they got great press for it. Their exposure was minimal. And it cost them nothing.

WOW!

Now, how can you use this info? The obvious answer is to create a gift card or gift certificate. But there are a few rules.

First, the gift card must be in an amount that is less than your services cost. 25% is a good start. For example, if you normally charge $400.00 for an event, make the gift card for $100.00. That way when someone does redeem it, they will have to pay you 75% of your normal fee. Hint: Write on the gift card "Can not be combined with other gift cards or other offers"

Secondly, you can certainly put them on your website individually, but the best way to sell them is in bulk at a discounted rate. For example, sell them to real estate agents. Offer ten $100.00 gift certificates at a discounted rate of only $50.00 each. They can then give them to their clients.

Lastly, the press comes with the charity. You can do this with or without giving the money to the charity of your choice. But that's where the free publicity comes in.

Final note: I've donated many of these types of gift certificates in silent auctions and such, always with the stipulation that the client put me in the program as a sponsor AND that the gift certificate is used to increase the value of an already existing gift or gift basket.

Nobody has ever redeemed one. I'm convinced that either I suck really bad, or, more likely, when someone buys the gift basket, my certificate isn't the thing that they had they're heart set on.

That's a tons of free advertising!

But don't limit yourself to that scenario. Be creative with your gifts. Remember, they are gifts.

-John
Rebel Entertainer and Gift Giver
www.RebelEntertainers.com

Learning from Wango Tango

Let's Take Advantage Of the Big Brains!

Last Saturday I took Lily and two of her little friends to see the KIIS FM concert Wango Tango. The line up was… get this: Jamie Fox, The Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Clarkson, Lady GaGa, Flo Rida, All American Rejects, Soulja Boy, and many more.

You may or may not have heard of all these folks, but believe me, they are all huge names in the current hip hop and pop rock world. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were put into this concert.

From an entertainer’s marketing eye, I took a look at what the promoters did before, during and after the show, and have broken it down for you. Ways you can use these same techniques in promoting your own stuff and making more money.

Here we go:

1.) Tickets ran from about $85.00 to about $800.00. The 15,000 seat venue was sold out. If you don’t think that there’s money available in this tough economy, take a look at that. If it’s something people want, they’ll pay.

2.) Even at that price, I don’t think ticket sales were enough to pay all 12 big name bands. They had sponsors, and a lot of them. Have you thought about going after some sponsors for your show?

3.) Outside the stadium, before the concert, they had all kinds of food and merchandise booths set up. Thousands were made before you even walked into the concert. What can you sell before your event even starts?

4.) Unadvertised bonus! They had a small stage set up outside the stadium that had smaller acts playing as you waited. One of them was Mitchell Musso (the sidekick on the Hannah Montana show). This was the highlight of Lily’s day. This was something above and beyond what was advertised. What extra service are giving that you don’t even mention in your sales pitch? One that will thrill your customer.

5.) Every single band mentioned that they were about to release a new album or that you could download the song you just heard on ITunes. Are you promoting your products or services during your show? If now, why not?

6.) Throughout the show, an airplane flew over the stadium a bunch of times promoting different bands’ new albums with lights on the wings and body of the plane. Ok. This one is insanely over the top. But it adds to the whole event.

7.) On each side of the stage, there were 50 foot signs with the pictures of all the acts appearing. Do you have a sign with your name and website visible when you’re performing? It doesn’t have to be 50 feet tall. It just needs to be visible.

8.) A local car dealership had a raffle for a free Prius. Maybe you can’t give away a car, but what are you giving for free?

Too many more lessons to list all here. But if you ever get a chance to go to a major concert, keep your Rebel Entertainer’s marketing eyes open.

- John
Rebel Entertainer and Wango Tango-er
www.RebelEntertainer.com

Why Susan Boyle?

How Can You Do What Susan Boyle Did?

If you haven't heard of Susan Boyle yet, you've been living under a rock. She's the lady that sang on Britain's got talent and has one of the most viral videos of all time.

More people have viewed her singing debut than watched the Superbowl last year.

But why did this video go so viral. What made it so amazing? Wouldn't you love to use a bit of what she used (even if she didn't know it) in your own performances.
Well, here ya go...

It can be broken down into an emotional state called "Elevation".

Psychologist Lynne Johnson defines this emotional state as: "Characterized by a warm, glowing feeling that we get when someone TRANSCENDS OUR EXPECTATION."

That's it.

When Susan Boyle first came on stage, everybody expected her to fail. She wasn't great looking. She was a bit older. Her appearance certainly wasn't that of the next Britain Idol. But then she transcended everyone's expectations and blew everybody away.

There are two glaring truths about this.

First, if she was super hot looking, people may have loved her, but she wouldn't have put everybody in that elevated state.

Secondly, her looks and character (and of course her talent) worked FOR her in a dramatic way.

As variety artists, we can use this "Elevation" every time we perform.

Let's face it. When most people hire a clown, twister, mime, magician (unless it's corporate), storyteller or juggler, they have certain expectations. Most of the general public thinks that we're all the same.

We can use that expectation to our advantage.

When I first started performing for kids, I used that expectation to my advantage. In fact, my first USP was "Exceeding Your Expectations". I used that because I knew that a lot of children's entertainers in my area had acts that were all the same.

Whether they were clowns, magicians, or disney type characters, they all did the big parachute thing, the broken magic wand, the candy out of the dove pan, and a few easy balloon animals.

Now all these activities are fine and dandy and fun for the kids. And my guess is that I'm offending some folks that are reading this and are still doing those activities.

But, when I arrived at that same party, made a chinchilla appear out of fire, turned a fake snake into a live one, and had the kids and the parents laughing harder than they ever have, I completely "transcended their expectations".

This original presentation - way different than anything anybody had ever seen - booked me more referrals than I could count.

They expected one thing, and were blown away to discover there was something much much more available.

Now, I'm not telling you all this to brag. And I'm not suggesting that you do magic with live animals. I'm telling you this because I want you to be creating original presentations that will "Transcend Everybody's Expectations".

What is everybody else doing? Do it better and more original than everyone in your market, and you are guaranteed to be successful.

- John
Rebel Entertainer and Guy That Wishes He Had the Talent of Susan Boyle
www.RebelEntertainers.com

Bathroom Marketing

How a guy let ten dollar bills just fly on by!

I was driving to a couple of school shows last Friday. The school was in the middle of the desert and I'd been driving for about an hour and half.

I had to go to the bathroom and I thought it'd be wise to stop before I got to the school. That way I wouldn't have to run in and say "Hi, I'm John and I gotta pee!".

So, on the side of the road was something called a trading post. It was the only thing within about 40 miles. Basically, it looked like two shops next to each other. One had Indian rugs and such, and the other was more like a liquor store: Beer, sandwiches, water, sodas etc... They were obviously owned by the same person.

So, I walked up to the front and asked the trading post guy who looked like the manager/owner "Do you have a bathroom?" He fumbled for an answer for a second and then said "Are you a customer?"

Now he didn't know if I was a customer or not. He didn't know whether or not I had a hundred dollar bill burning a hole in my pocket to spend on his rugs, water and beer. All he knew is that he didn't want anybody using his bathroom that wasn't spending money FIRST.

So, of course he said, "No. This is not a public bathroom!" with a bit of a bad attitude.

I crossed my legs, grumbled a bit, got back in my car and went to the school and said "Hi, I'm John Abrams, can I use your bathroom before I get started?"

Well, I used the restroom, set up the shows, shows went great, I packed up and was ready to take the long drive home.

Here's something trading post man didn't plan on. After my shows, I was starving! And I was thirsty. I had run out of water bottles (which I always keep in my car).

The trading post was literally two minutes from the school. I drove by and thought, I'm friggin' hungry and thirsty. And there's a trading post up ahead.

Oh, wait a minute. I'm not a customer! I can't stop there and buy their food or water or anything. So I drove about 40 miles to the next pit stop and fed and watered.

I only spent about ten bucks. But that's ten bucks that the trading post guy DIDN'T GET OUT ME.

There are thousands of cars driving by that stretch of road every day. How many people has trading post man pissed off (pardon the pun)? How many ten dollar bills has he let just pass on by?

Grabbing all those ten spots out of thin air sounds like an easy job to me.

How 'bout a sign that says "Driving long? Free bathroom break with every cup o' coffee." or "Thirsty? Make a pit stop and quench your thirst"

Heck, he's the only market within miles. People will stop!

But nope. He's satisfied with a bad attitude and terrible customer service and a dying business. There's a reason that the only stop for miles on a busy highway was COMPLETELY EMPTY!

Now it's time to take a look at your own business.

Are you bending over backwards to give your customers the best service possible? Are you offering something extra for free, or of amazing value? Or are you holding out, or giving an attitude, or doing things that don't necessarily promote your business in the perfect light?

What else can you do to make sure when people visit your trading post, they'll come back again and again?

- John
Rebel Entertainer and Guy Who Can't Hold His Bladder More Than 2 Hours
www.rebelentertainers.com