Could you pull a rabbit out of a hat?

[andrestarz]

If you have a great promo picture, then congratulations! Your act is really close to being… no, not hired but your DVD will certainty be watched by a talent buyer.

It is WORTH IT to invest in a great promo picture. An average photo of
yet another juggler, a smiling comedian, a magician with a deck of cards,
etc. will just make the producer think “I’ve already seen this type of act
before” and they will toss your package on the floor.

Go to a professional photographer’s site, study the pictures and learn from them (and by study I don’t mean “copy” or “borrow” ideas). Better yet, hire a professional photographer because they will create the shot that will be unique and represent only you.

Here are some examples of GREAT promo pictures of magicians by a good friend of mine, Richard Faverty.

http://www.beckettstudios.com/images/magicians/magicians.htm

Here are examples of hundreds of BAD promo pictures of magicians created by magicians themselves.

http://badmagicphotos.blogspot.com/2009_11_06_archive.html

Remember, your promotional picture is the FIRST impression everybody gets.

Life is beautiful,

Andre

P.S. You can always visit my blog and read my daily thoughts about
entertainment, life, success, and happiness (plus the video interviews with producers and performers.)

http://www.fantastictalent.com/blog/

[Dynamikemagic]

Thanks, but both links show the same photos.

[gav]

For my mind, those beckett studio pics were classic bad magic photos !!
Apart from the topless chick that is.

[andrestarz]

It's corrected now.

[Doctor Eric]

I'm with gav. So far, your blog posts seem like uninspired, poorly thought out spam.

[le pire]

I agree with Gav. I did all that photoshopping in 2001-2003 before it caught on (and it's still up on my website that is in desperate need of updating) and honestly it all looks so dated now.

What is particularly annoying is the "bad magic photos" blog because looking at them they are mostly dated and taken out of the context of an overall press kit and of course snarky comments are added about each one. Naturally they look awful or even worse then what they were.

Personally, I am disinclined to prefer someone's work because they talk badly about everyone else. On a business note- every one of those performers that you trash talk is obviously in need of new promo, and instead of humiliating them online (for what gain?) you might try marketing to them instead.

In any case, thank you for this because I know see how badly my website and promo needs updating!

etienne

[andrestarz]

Thanks for all your comments. One thing I would like to point out is that most promotional photos have only one purpose - to interest enough talent buyers to watch your video.

I am not trying to promote either Richard or the Bad Magic Photo blog. I have no affiliation with either of them and I was merely using them as an example (and I agree with le pire - there is NO need to trashtalk performers on that blog and it's unfortunate that the owner chooses to do so.)

There are promotional picture "styles" that waaay to many people use. There are also pictures that are unique and show a performer's individuality.

What I liked about Richard Faverty is that he captures the performers' unique individuality and at the same time the photos stand apart from other performers. I agree that it may look "dated" and some of them aren't that great but I would definitely choose to look at a promokit of a performer that has a photo from Richard's site over some average picture.

I do appreciate your input about MY blog posts. I am trying to write advice for performers to truly help them (not spam). I believe that there are a lot of bad habits out there in the entertainment world and I try to provide my insight about that.

One of my goals is to write a post at least every other day based on what I see and read in my life.

Andre

[andrestarz]

Also, I would like to add that i visited your site, le pire, and thought your promotional photos were very good. They show your personality and they are unique.

Andre

PS The only one I wasn't sure about was the one of you and the instrument on the front page. It looks to be quite a bit darker than the rest of the page and doesn't seem to fit the rest of the site. Other than that great job with your overall site!

[Doctor Eric]

The reason I said that they come off as spam is that I've read your blog. None of your posts seem to impart any but the most basic insights into being a working entertainer, and none of it seems to come from you. It sounds like rehashed beginner's advice recycled from places like this one. It looks to me like you have plenty of experience, but your writing has no "meat" to it, therefore it comes off like a search engine bottom scraper. People who write blogs to scrape for clicks to benefit in some other way.

[andrestarz]

Eric,

I appreciate your insight. It's only been two months since I started writing the blog and I am still getting the hang of it. I really enjoy reading Seth Godin's blog and get a lot of inspiration from his writing style.

What's remarkable about his blog is that he has been posting every day for the last few years without missing a singe day. His posts are short, to the point, and often he nudges you in the right direction of thought or a new idea. Of course with that amount of content not ALL of it is great. But there is enough good stuff to keep coming back and subscribe.

True, a lot of my advice is for beginners but you would be amazed at how many entertainers make these simple mistakes. I try to include advice for professional performers as well and that includes video interviews with professionals, having the right mindset, and following new trends.

Once again, I do appreciate your input because it helps me make the blog better.

Andre

[Doctor Eric]

You're welcome.

[martin ewen]

*sniff* Tough love,

I'm realigning my web thingamegimniny. and it's been so long and so much has changed.
I built my website late 90's
It's beyond me now I fear.
Quick question, where can I store large audio files online in a way that people could download or listen to me reading stories from a link [or embedded player] on my site.
Or should I just get a good old storytelling chair and youtube it?

[Rachel Peters]

You could youtube it, but edit in a still picture, so it's only audio.
Otherwise, I'm a dum-dum regarding web.

PS: I wonder if there's a way you (Andre) might be able to adjust your beginner writings to maybe be more obviously directed at beginners and not the community at large, because I felt a bit patronized.
(And I'm not asking to have my photos or website critiqued. Just sayin'.)

[le pire]

off topic / on topic

Off topic:

Martin - you can embed a flash audio player EASILY that can play mp3 files according to a playlist. I found the free player by PremiumBeat to be excellent and used if for this website I did a few years back : Charlie Rafferty

On topic:

Andre, thanks for the compliments and it's obvious you have good intentions. Sometimes the "hardsell" approach comes off a bit obnoxious. I never bought anything from Billy Mays...

etienne

[Rachel Peters]

If Billy Mays had ever sold a beard trimmer I might have bought it.