Now how many of these are available in your market? More then you can
ever work... there are literally thousands available in my market!

Where you are located may be different, but rest assured that wherever
you are located, there is an abundant amount of business. And, because
the corporate market has a need for quality entertainment, you will find
that travel expenses are a common necessity they are willing to absorb
for your high quality show. Travel will take you outside your local
market and introduce you to even more business. So your local market is
only the beginning, your starting point.

So here you are thinking (or at least you should start to realize) every
group, be it an association or company, has a potential need for your
services. Think about it. Open up the phone book and begin to understand
how much potential business is out there. It is staggering how much
business there is available to you, and for the most part, your
prospects are required to purchase entertainment. Your service is not
optional, it is required!

What is needed to be successful in corporate entertainment is to have a
system in place to work this market correctly.

The first step is to size up your competitors, the other types of
entertainment available to the corporate world. Don't get discouraged
when you do this! Remember, the uniqueness of your hypnotic show makes
it attractive for many corporate groups.

Your main competitors for the headline entertainment will be magicians,
comedians, murder mysteries, bands and casino nights.

Let's look at these competitors more closely. Please understand I love
all artists and appreciate others talents, but I'm talking about how to
service the customer and obtain the booking. You will need to understand
your strengths and weakness as well as those of each of your
competitors.

Below are the general thumbnail views of prospective meeting planners.
These comments are based on thousands of conversations I have had with
clients and prospective event planners over the years. Remember, these
our the general feelings by your prospective clients about the following
competitors you have.

1. Magicians are passé. Magic is often times viewed as "children's"
entertainment by many corporations. I know this is not true, but it is
many prospects perception. In addition, many corporations have had
numerous magicians in the past and want something different! That is
you.

The strength of magicians is they are safe entertainment.

Please understand I'm not voicing my opinion, but that of your
prospective client. Personally, I enjoy magic .

2. Comedians are risky. That is the perception of many corporations
because unfortunately for the comedians, and fortunately for us, some
ignorant comedians have taught them that! Comedians are a different
group. The pros understand the business but there are so many amateurs
and they work so cheap that they hurt their own market. The corporate
market is not where you want to be doing any racial or sexist material.
They require clean, non- offensive entertainment!

The strength of comedians is everybody enjoys laughing.

3. Murder mysteries are unique. In my experience with clients, the
murder mystery sounds like a lot of fun and is an attractive option for
their entertainment. Unfortunately though, smaller groups are typically
not satisfied with the murder mystery and end up sorry if they go with
it . The basic concept is great! But sometimes delivering on the concept
is difficult.

The strength of murder mysteries are they are unique, novel.

4. Bands are loud and not diverse enough. That is the general attitude.
Many corporations feel "safer" with a DJ Besides that bands have less
repertoire then a DJ. DJ's can play a variety of music, interact, get
people participating and keep the evening on course and they don't
typically take breaks.

The strength of bands is they can be a marquee name that their audience
is familiar with.

5. Casino nights are making a comeback, but very similar to the murder
mysteries, the results are often disappointing to the clients. Many grow
bored gambling, particularly with money that is not real. More
importantly there is no coherent group experience.

The strength of casino nights is they can be exciting and novel.

Those will be your main competitors, now lets look at what your
offering.

Your Hypnosis Show

Now, a Hypnosis Show is unique! You are providing an audience
participation show that will have their entire audience laughing and
enjoying their program. They will be able to watch their friends, family
and co-workers up on stage. There is no other type of entertainment that
is as exciting or intriguing to watch! Everybody will enjoy your type of
entertainment!

Look at the above strengths of each of your prospective competitors.
Most all of their strengths is a strength of your act! You have the
majority of them all covered plus much more.

You are so far ahead of the others that as long as you have a system in
place to generate interest you will have a full schedule of gigs! We
know, corporate entertainment is where the bulk of our business comes
from.

About 2 years ago we relocated from Nevada. We basically had to restart
our business in this market and have been very successful doing so. We
are now the premier stage hypnotist in the market and we are making an
executive living with the system we put into place. It relies on a
systematic approach that we have used for years, one that has benefited
from constantly tweaking and testing to increase its booking power. If
your not constantly testing your methods consider starting, it will
increase your business.
So, let's get down to the exciting fun and talk about the steps
necessary to book the corporate gigs. These are the steps from beginning
to end we use.

1) Create prospects list. You need to determine specifically who your
prospects are. By this I mean you must create a list of companies, their
addresses, company size and the contact person who hires entertainment
that potentially will book your show. There are many ways to do this
including:

a) cultivating leads from the phone book
b) purchasing a corporate event planners list
c) getting a copy of your states directory from American Business
Directories
d) getting a specialty lists from a list provider
e) referrals from previous shows
2) Create interest in your Hypnotic Show.

There are 5 ways to create interest in your service from your corporate
prospect:
a) phone
b) mail
c) advertising
d) internet
e) fax
Each has its benefits and its weaknesses.

3) Provide documents that sell your program.
a) brochure
b) sales sheets
c) video

These do the job of representing your show. If you know how to create
them, your business will explode.

4) Book your show.
a) follow up
b) professional courtesy
c) Service and Sale. There is no room for pushy manipulation techniques
when dealing with corporations. The service and consulting approach will
book the shows.
5) Paperwork.
a) send out the agreement immediately
b) bank the deposit and enjoy the benefits from proper investing!

6) Performance
a) work the show
b) create at event spin-off business.
Experiment with techniques to create the spin-off business at your
completed shows. The main technique we now utilize is very powerful, the
people we have taught this to have tripled their referrals! This is so
good....my wife even was caught off guard with it the first few times I
used it. A friend, a stage hypnotist from Cleveland attended 4 of our
shows in June of this year and could not believe the leads we generated.
He had learned the technique in our booking corporate programs but had
not put it into play. He is now!
7) Thank You's
a) follow up and demonstrate your professionalism and
b) creates after event referrals

Those are the steps. If you follow them logically you will have more
business than you know what to do with.

Next issue we will look at the specifics of finding your prospects. We
will talk about the different techniques, different roadblocks, costs
and the numerous options you have at your disposal. But don't wait till
next issue. Follow the above steps and go out and get booking!

The Holiday season is booking up now and you can fill your calendar
using the above steps in no time! Print the steps out and follow them
logically.

Go get those corporate holiday shows! Write me with your success
stories. I would love to hear from you.
 

For more information about the business of Stage Hypnosis including
promoting, booking, increasing your business, pro issues and a free
Stage Hypnosis E-Zine visit:

http://www.stagehypnosiscenter.com

Boost your Business and have the good fun,

Geoffrey Ronning