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I have recently been reading a book in which one of the chapters is talking about entertainers (specifically magicians) cold calling businesses in order to drum up work.
Now I would think this course of action would either be futile or even counter productive.
Firstly I have never met anyone who likes cold callers and secondly the chances that the company is thinking of hiring an entertainer at that time is small too. Yes I know this comes under a brand awareness thing and the call makes the potential client aware of your services but is cold calling the most productive way of doing this?
The book I am reading is by American authors so is this a cultural thing? Or is cold calling a technique any pros here have or would employ?

I have done it. It works but I hate it. I think it all depends on your personality. There are a few rare people in this world who actually like to do it. If this is the case then they should go for it.

When I have done it the person I call doesn't want to talk to me and I don't want to talk to them so ultimately I figured why put us both through the torture.

Interestingly enough I came across a business book the other day which spent pages and pages decrying cold calling and explaining that it was a time consuming and ineffective method.

It was what I wanted to hear but at heart I do know that it IS a good method of marketing if you have the heart for it. I don't and neither do most people.

It is certainly something to consider at the beginning of your career. If you have to do it after a few years then there is something wrong with your act. By then you should be getting so much word of mouth and repeat business that you don't have to do it any more. And of course by then you will have built up quite a few connections through networking with people in the business who can put business your way.

My company offers various forms of entertainment - Discos, Live Bands, Firework Displays and, of course, my mentalism show.

I put together a brochure a few years ago advertising the services that we offer (including equipment rental) and sent it to the entertainments managers of various venues; hotels, health clubs, big businesses and the like.

I must say the return compared to the outlay was pretty good. It cost around £2000 for the entire project, brochures, pictures, cd rom and mailing, which was equivalent to 2 editions of the Yellow Pages.

I am in the process of putting another one together to add in the Totally Mental show that is not in the old ones, and to include a DVD.

Not quite cold calling - but quite effective.

Phone Book Ads are practically worthless and bloody expensive. In today's world having a solid PROFESSIONALLY DONE Web Site is the second most important calling card folks like us can have... I say it is "second" only that our MTv mentality in today's world demands that we have some kind of visual aid for the reading impaired i.e. DVD/Video.

Cold Calling works IF you have these other things in place. That would include a decent brochure that you can either use to prime the pump (your calls being a week to ten days after the mailing) or to send out in follow-up to a conversation if you walk in completely cold.

Any form of marketing/advertising is akin to firing off a shot gun... only a few pellets will be on target and bring about the sell out of the hundreds you send out there. I believe the return ratio is somewhere around 2-3% of the number of contacts you make within a given year.

As has been said folks hate cold callers ON THE PHONE so I recently went about town handing out my brochures for the Halloween holiday and introducing myself. The return on this sort of action will prove greater and in more ways, than direct cold calling in that you are able to create a more personable connection.

This is the side of Show Biz most all of us loathe but without doing this mode of footwork, we don't work.

consider also the timing of cold calling, right about now many companies are planning or at least thinking about their Christmas function... pitch yourself directly at that function... the "perfect addition to your staff xmas party"...

if you're making a cold call, you really do need something tangable to leave behind, a brochure with some teaser info and a web link, a coffee mug with your contact details on it etc.

the other thing you'll need to cold call is a THICK skin.

I have tried virtually every method of marketing known to man. The best by far is word of mouth. It is the cheapest and most effective. However in the beginning you won't have enough of that to keep you going or if you are approaching a new market you will have to do something or other.

I do find the Yellow Pages for certain types of gigs to still have some value. I suspect in the UK it is more useful than in North America. However it really works at it's best for kid show birthday parties. If you don't want to do that then hesitation before commiting oneself to the yellow pages is warranted. Funnily enough I found it a fairly good method of attracting clients for psychic readings. I did put an advert in the astrology section and it worked.

However just like Totally Mental I have found direct mail to be a useful thing. It can be tedious and time consuming unless you hire someone to do it for you but the results are fairly positive if you send the right material and much more importantly to the right list of people. The list is king in direct mail and much more important than any other factor.

However direct mail alone won't earn you a living by itself. In the end you will have to get that word of mouth going. If you can't you may as well not bother.

I agree with Mark and Craig.

I took out an ad in Yellow Pages and it's bought in nothing at all whereas my business cards and web site bring in regular work as does word of mouth.

I'm striking a deal at the moment with a few others at the moment where we will advertise each others services on our web sites and as an example, I have a friend who is a good wedding photographer and another who is a cake maker. We tray to sell each others services for 10% commission.

Also look at things like wedding car hire, disco, hair dressing, dress and suit hire etc. and between you you can put together a complete wedding service, each advertising one another.

I do it all the time.....I do not consider it effective if you are looking at the number of actual performances booked on the spot........however from a persective of saturating the market with your name and services it is very effective.

I would say that if it is done in conjuction with phoned/booked follow ups on leads, other various forms of advertising, etc...then it is a very effective addition to a marketing campaign....done all alone it is likely futile and time consuming for the rare hit you get.

The timing and way you approach it as well.....and I think it was Mr. Lewis (correct me if I am wrong - like you need an invite ) that said it is also about ones personality....and I totally agree!

All forms of marketing are effective, the key is to blend marketing strategies together into a program that will work for you, your potential clients and your personality!

The trouble with "saturating the market" by cold calling is that it leaves a very bad impression. I don't think I would want to "saturate the market" since it is a double edged sword. People remember you certainly but perhaps not quite in the way you want.

Another problem I see with calling people cold is that it puts you in a weak position. You are much better off if they call you. How can you demand big money when you are perceived as a beggar who needs the work so desperately that you have to call people?

Unless you have a skin as thick as a rhinocerous and don't mind pestering people it may indeed be a good method. No doubt all those young twits who do magic in the street will find this method of marketing a suitable one when they grow older since they are already active in annoying people. Of course by that time they will have lost their enthusiasm.

I think it might be a suitable method if you are approaching people who are used to booking entertainment such as agents or resort entertainment managers. However even here it is an uphill battle because they get a ton of callers just like you every day.

If you must suffer this dreadful method of marketing then the best book I have come across for it is by Steven Schiffman. I cannot remember the title but the dreaded words "cold calling" are in it.

One tip from Mr Schiffman amused and appealed to me. No doubt a lot of the time you are going to get the response "send me some literature"
Don't!
Mr Schiffman recommends saying "we don't send out literature. I can do better than that. How about we set up a meeting so I can show you what I do. How about next Tuesday?

I have found that once you actually get in to see the person then the odds of closing the sale are very considerable indeed. I would say you will close 7 sales out of every ten if they agree to an appointment.

However getting them to see you in the first place is the tough part. When I have put myself through the torture of this procedure I have usually arranged 1 appointment out of 10 calls and sold 7 out of 10 of the people I have gone to see.

I gave it up in the end because I couldn't stand the hassle and the time it consumed. However for those of you who are young and hungry it will give you something to do. If it gets you off the street annoying people doing very bad card tricks it will be a service to humanity.

mark lewis wrote:The trouble with "saturating the market" by cold calling is that it leaves a very bad impression. I don't think I would want to "saturate the market" since it is a double edged sword. People remember you certainly but perhaps not quite in the way you want.

I totally agree with what you are saying here......you don't want to be seen as someone begging for shows. However...in a city the size of the one I live in "magical entertainment" is not common....actually not something that is even done - with the exception of large stage shows - by anyone other than myself....so I saturate the market with awareness of the art in mind....creating awareness that magic is an option.

I find that the awareness and basic literature that I saturate the market with doesn't create much interest right away, that is until (for example) I have my picture in the paper performing somewhere or a trade show is advertising me as being there.....then calls start coming from those that I have been in touch with previously on cold calls, etc.....

Different countries accept different ways of doing things. As one example, contrast the way that Mexican Restaurants and shops attract customers to the way it's done in the UK.

In Mexico they're out there in the street smiling and charming but very firmly getting in the way of pedestrians and steering them into their establishment with well practiced phrases and leaving very little option about not going along with the invitation. In the UK you might get a discrete sign in the window and on rare days someone standing just inside the door smiling but none of this approaching stuff - we have to remember the stiff upper lip and all that and it would be rude to approach anyone unless formally introduced by a third party!!

You are totally right mandrake....would depend on culture as well. But even inside of that subculture should be considered. For example certain types of businesses (accountants, laywers, etc) are not something I would cold call as they are usually in very appoinment oriented occupations and not interested in being interupted....however other businesses are more prone to cold calls, etc....a restaurant during non-meal times for example is when they expect most of their sales reps, etc. to call on them.

I'm not advocating hustling, or lying as such, but...

why not either ring yourself, but pretend to be your agent, or get a good friend to do it for you, and say that you recently ate in or drank in whatever the place is called, and you think that your "client" would be fantastic for their environment...he's currently away on a small tour, but will back soon - would you be interested in setting up a meeting?

not tried it, but might be a hustle?!

When I first wanted to move away from the kids shows where I was making my living and wanted to move into performing close up for adults, I spent days plodding around from restaurant to pub to restaurant to pub. It was quite hard work - the main problem being that in some establishments as soon as I mentioned the word "magic" they seemed to imagine that I would be running aroung their establishment wearing a red nose and honking on a humourously large horn.

However introducing a magical service is not like trying to sell double glazing or insurance. The majority of people were genuinly interested when I approached them. I must have cold called at a couple of hundred establishments. At half of them, the manager/owner wasn't available. Out of the remaining 100 I got 2 regular bookings, one of which I still work at. It was at this establishment that I believe I first learned my trade, honing my routines by performing them again and again before different people. I also improved my inter-personel skills 100% which is equally as important.

So cold calling was worth it for me. If you're prepared to trudge around 100 bars/restaurants, take heart from the fact that you should get a couple of regular bookings. And as I read in some motivational book or other, you can't expect miracles to just happen to you. You have to get out there and give them a nudge.

I've found that emailing places has a lower hit rate - perhaps 1 booking for every 100 emails - but it is far easier. Interestingly enough, my Halloween booking this year came from an email I sent out. So it does work.

again, just thinking aloud here - how about sending out, if you can afford it, a dvd with a quick ten minutes worth on it?

Or even mention that you'll give them the back of your business cards as free advertising for them, if they'll leave out yours? get a small run done online...