The Business of Magic

Magic may be an art form, but for many of us it's also a
way of life-and a way to make money. For all you who are
interested in turning magic from a hobby into a career,
there are several things you need to know about the
business side of magic.

Develop a "Hook"

What makes you different from all the other performers out
there?
What is your unique angle? What makes you shine and stand
out from the crowd?

Ideally, your show or your persona should strive, in some
way, to differentiate from everything else that's out
there at the moment.
Now I'm not saying you should go out on a limb and try
something totally crazy and overly ambitious. But it's
smart to give clients even more of a reason to hire you
and not someone else.

So, for example, you could concentrate on one particular
area within magic and cultivate it as a specialty. That
would ultimately allow you to market yourself as, say, "The
Mentalist Magician" or "Merlin the Mind-Reader" (okay, you
can probably come up with something a LOT better, but this is
just to give you an idea of what I mean!).

Give Them What They Want

Yes, it's important to cultivate a show and a career based
upon your own interests. Being passionate about something
is the only true pathway to success.

But at the same time, I see so many magicians who are
going out of their way to do tricks and illusions that
they love-but that audiences hate. Try to steer clear of
wildly unpopular areas of the magic profession or of tricks that
everyone knows the secrets to already.
Instead, pick tricks that are proven to win people over
and that there is great demand for, especially in your
region.