So I have been reading alot about magic. Everything from Bobo's book, Giobbi's, and getting into some NLP and other social books to polish things out. I want to be a REAL performer. Not one of those wanna-be's with a few tricks. I've been developing my ideas and working on my routines, but I have hit a major snag. Style and character. Now I don't want to reveal too much of what I am doing, but there is one aspect I am worried about. I have thought of incorperating the world wide web not into my act, persay, but into my social interactions with my audience. Have my facebook page on my business card, maybe have a vlog on youtube, something to that effect.

This wouldn't seem so complicated, but I kinda wanted professionals reactions to things like YouTube, both good and bad. We all know about the plethora of secrets out on youtube that makes magicians miserable. Should I let that tarnish my idea? Ultimately, I want my style to reflect not just me as a performer, but me as a core. And I do use youtube. Not to reveal anything, but perhaps to show "clips" of what I am doing.

Once again, I am looking for professionals opinions. Anyone with enough insight is welcome to comment, but I'd like to hear thoughts from people who actually get paid for their act and may have good insight as to why I should or shouldn't include Digital Social Networking.

-ArchAngel_G

I think Facebook pages and others are great for getting your name out, however I shy away from YouTube for business purposes because I feel as though it looks unprofessional to a client. You could just as easily have YOUR website with embedded video, and it keeps all of your media in a place where your clients can access it. However, putting a demo or two up to get your name out to the MASSIVE YouTube audience could be good. Publicity is rarely a bad thing.

So really I just said nothing and it's up to you! Best of luck.

-JT

I had thought of my own website, but that costs money. Perhaps when I can afford it it would be preferable to YoutTube. Ultimately I know this is up to me as this helps me decide what direction I will go with my character/style. Ultimately no one can tell me what I should do. I was just looking more for thoughts on the pros and cons. Like for example. Say I do go the internet route and upload a few things into my channel. It's nothing from my routine and essentially would stand on it's own. It's possible it would detract from my performance. Or if I did include small chunks of my routine, people could watch the videos over and over again to try and solve the technique. Or when those segments of my routine came up they would elicit boredom as some would have seen it before killing any suspense and drama.

Part of me thinks that I am over thinking it. That in MOST cases people won't addictively watch the videos as it's a waste of time or energy. Or people may figure something out, but then over time forget about it as it was trivial information to them. Or that the number of people that it would affect who see my show would be a much smaller percentage than those who haven't.

It's both a good thing and a bad thing. I am just trying to weigh the pros and cons.

Clients do not care about other magicians on youtube and whether they're good or bad. Clients care about the entertainer they are hiring and if they haven't seen you personally then they will google your name. This google search will show them videos of you from youtube and if you overwhelm them with videos then they will hire you because you "have" to be good since you have so much information.

Youtube is the second largest search engine on the internet (Google being number one). If you don't use Youtube then you lose out on so many business opportunities. You can use Youtube to be number one in google searches by making videos and typing "(insert your city here) Magician." So when people search for your city and magician then you will be number one.

Youtube can be used to for SEO marketing, branding, an online promo kit, and more.

It sounds like you are leaning more towards using youtube as a performance tool rather than a business tool. If you want to use it as a business tool then not only should you put videos up but you should create TONS of videos.

Let me give you an idea of what I send to companies and associations that need more information about me. First I will mail them a hard copy of my promo kit and then I send them an online version of my promo kit and all of this:
--
I attached my promotional kit for you to take a look at. You can also get a lot of information on my website http://www.BenjiBruce.com

Send me an email if you would like me to show more videos of the interactive mind reading entertainment that you can also share with friends and colleagues that make the decision about hiring entertainment for events.

And below are some youtube links to a couple of videos.

The Charming Mentalist Demo...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibmn6lpiaLQ


Reviews...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elhJXr7L3gw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TodTfa-t_28

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA8J9ku2slo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCb2uJQKjYE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CLMe7i3BBs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RShMQiIhADo


Benji Bruce guesses a name thought of by a random guest...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t59eTPr9I_M


Mind Reading on the radio...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDXXJDRhDOY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nFvqN3X8og


Fox news...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnH-n7_REu8





Take care,


Benji




Benji Bruce is an entertainer and speaker for Fortune 500 companies, colleges, and celebrities across the nation. Find out why companies like Hilton, Edward Jones, and Intel hire Benji when they want to make an impression at their event.


Benji Bruce
xxx.xxx.xxxx
http://www.BenjiBruce.com
Mentalist, Stage Hypnotist, Motivational Speaker
Demo Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibmn6lpiaLQ

Thank you Benji for the sound advice.

Yea no problem. And an idea I had (but never tried) is to make several videos titled "coin bend revealed" "disappearing card trick revealed" etc. It has to be a trick that you perform a lot and one that people ask "how did you do that"

The video consists of you talking to the camera about how you knew they would want the secret of your trick so you made this video for them. You go on to say, "The way I bend coins is....I drink a lot of milk. If you drink tons of milk and add spinach then you can bend quarters too."

The reason for these fake revelation videos is because you occasionally get people who will google/youtube your tricks. And it would be very funny if they typed in "coin bend revealed" only to have a video of you pop up saying that you knew they would want the secret so you're going to tell them. And then give a ridiculous explanation. The next time they see you, they will say something about how funny it was.

So thats an idea I had for youtube but never tested it. Feel free to try it.