"Smooth" in a good way or in a bad way? I don't quite know what you're saying.

But what I do know is that the world could use a few more ron0s.

Smooth is good..smooth is helping a cause with honor.ron0

Actually, I was okay with it, it just seemed to be steering in the wrong direction, hence why I said we should just agree to disagree before any heat really got going. I try to stay out of that. Thanks for your kind words, though, in your post.

If all magicians waited until they could get paid before performing, I doubt there would be many magicians. I generally agree that performers should be paid for performing, after all, magic props cost money and the training is long and hard. But, if you want to play in the Super Bowl, chances are you are going to have to first play High School football for free.

My experience when it comes to "charity/non-profit" shows is that rich folk will come if it's a big name like Copperfield, and only if they'll be paying big bucks to sit amongst other rich folk. Like $1000/plate dinners.

However, when it comes to your average run-of-the-mill charity events, rich folk send in their donations and that's it. They don't show up to the events. Those events are not for them. There is very little chance that you are going to book any gigs because of doing a charity show. Because most likely your charity is going to attract crowds that otherwise wouldn't be affording to bring their children to a show. Wrong clientelle for you. Private entertainment is for middle to upper class people. Not "Underprivilidged".

Though you will get a name amongst volunteers (there are people that volunteer for a living and will work with multiple organizations) as someone who works for free. This will lead to who knows how many requests for free shows from every non-profit imagineable.

And you are not going to get publicity. Either from the charity, or the media as you are not the star of their event. The charity is. You're just hired/volunteered entertainment.

Watch your local media for these events, and see really how much time is spent talking about the charity enterainers. You'll be lucky if you are even mentioned by name, rather than a "we have a magician here today so come on down!!!". It's not about you, it's about their event.

Even think about grand-opening publicity events. Open till noon. Hotdogs and balloon animals / magician / whatever for the kids. You'll never hear their name.

So if you're going to do charity work, make sure you do it for the right reasons (goodness of your heart), and expect nothing in return.

Working for free is never a good starting-point. Especially if you are thinking about it in terms of a business. What new business starting would give their product out for free as a viable business plan? Product samples perhaps, but not the entire product. Even working for discounted pricing. When you have a product worth something, you are only cheapening it, and cheapening the competition by giving it away. You don't win, and anyone else in the industry loses.

The only good way to get your name out there, is to charge what you are worth, and DELIVER on it.

That sounds great in theory, however in my neck of the woods there is NO competition. Still isn't today. However being I was not the legal age to work, I was not a business, I was an artist/hobbyist. So in a sense I was providing a "sample" of my future business, which is very successful today mind you. My product was still in the process of being refined, so therefore it was not complete.

Once I was the legal age to work, it was then complete and I knew what I could start charging for it. I only did free show mostly for family and friends, not businesses.