Successful Performercast by Kris Sheppard | Successful Performer Cast | Weekly Interviews with Professional Entertainers | Show Business, Showbiz, Performer, Magic, Magician, Juggler, Comedian, Musician

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Syndication

In this episode, I talk to corporate magician and mind reader Kevin Viner. We talk about his career in magic and numerous other topics including some insight into his internet marketing strategy. He gives some great practical advice that we can plug into our own marketing efforts! Seriously, this episode is packed! Kevin Viner is a corporate magician and mentalist. Starting young, he learned his craft and by the tender age of 14 started performing at the world famous Magic Castle. Within a year of that, Qualcomm hired him for his first corporate gig, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Kevin’s been recognized by his peers with numerous awards including First Place at the Las Vegas World Magic Seminar, he received a Comedy award from International Brotherhood of Magicians, and was awarded 1st Place at the Magic Castle Strolling Magic Olympics. He’s appeared numerous times on television on the program Masters of Illusion, on Johnny Carson’s American Masters Biopic, and on Japan’s SuperDrama TV. When it comes to corporate engagements, Kevin boasts 90% of his work coming from corporate presentations and trade show work for clients like Conoco Phillips, GE, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, PBS, SONY, Walt Disney, and Warner Bros. Just to name a few. And as if he’s not busy enough, in his spare time, he’s also a singer/songwriter composing for both piano and guitar, and somehow found time to train for and run his first marathon last year.  

Success Quote:

Knowledge and not doing are equal to not knowing at all. — fortune cookie  

A Moment of Failure:

Trying to get to the top of DIGG using some questionable means…  

Favorite Success:

Kevin's favorite success is being so busy with gigs he's able to travel the country doing what he loves.  

What's been Kevin's biggest challenge?

He learns and implements so much in his business, he has a hard time measuring the results of his efforts.  

Getting to the top of Google Searches

Kevin gives us some basic steps you can use to increase your organic google listings. Let's say, for example, Kevin wanted to  to get to the top of the searches for "Tulsa Oklahoma Magician." Here's what he would do: • On your website, create a title tag of no more than 70 characters that has those keywords and your name. Example: "Tulsa Oklahoma Magician - Kevin Viner" • Have "Tulsa Oklahoma Magician" a few times in the body copy and possibly in some H1 tags. (But don't keyword stuff!) • Find a couple online directories that are reputable and are local to Tulsa, link to them on you site and ask them to link back to you from their site. If you do any college shows, try to have them link to your website, as "edu" domains are more reputable. • Establish a Google+ page local listing, and get on Yelp for your city. • It also wouldn't hurt to go out and get a gigmasters or gig salad page to link back to your site for a little more "link juice" as Kevin puts it.  

Other Topics Covered

• If we feel stuck, it's because we're not doing the next thing that we're supposed to do. • Talks about taking constructive criticism. • Why it's important to "change it up"with your show when presenting for corporate clients. • Making sure you have a quality show. • Asking for referrals: "Can you introduce me to three of four people you think might be able to use this [my show]? • Describes his workflow when it comes to emails and how he gets to the ever elusive "Inbox Zero." • The psychology of shooting high. • Using correct grammar and being concise in your communications. • Recording your phone calls and re-scripting your dialogue for future use. • Maintaining confidence without boosting your ego. • Mastering skills  

Parting advice:

Don't do magic the way everyone else does it. Find a way to make it different.  

Recommended books and resources:

Note: Many of the links in this section are affiliate links, meaning we earn a small portion of any sales. If you're enjoying our podcast and decide to purchase one of the recommended resources or books, please consider using our affiliate links to help support the work we're doing here at the Successful Performercast. Thanks!

Kevin shared a small fortune of resources with us in this episode! Here they all are, organized for your clicking pleasure. :)

GMail Plugins
Boomerang for Gmail

Internet Resources
Adobe Creative Cloud - creative design software
iContact - Email marketing
Lynda.com - online instruction
moz.com - inbound marketing software
Omnifocus - Task management for Mac, iPad, and iPhone

Google Rankings and Adwords Resources
Advanced Google Adwords by Brad Geddes
Flying Solo: How Smart Solopreneurs Make Money Online by Josh London
Google Adwords for Dummies
Perry Marshall's Adwords Products
SEO for Dummies Google's own SEO Starter Guide

Business Books
4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.
Getting Things Done by David Allen
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Creativity Books 
Thinker Toys by Michael Michalko
Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech

How the Mind Works
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Magic & Performance Books
13 Steps to Mentalism by Corinda
Absolute Magic by Derren Brown Designing Miracles by Darwin Ortiz [Printed or Audio]  

Where can we find Kevin Viner?

Kevin's Website Facebook | Twitter @kevinviner | LinkedIn | Email

Direct download: SPC_028_Kevin_Viner-Corporate_Magician.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

In this episode, I talk to bizarre magician Christian Cagigal. We talk about his career and numerous topics including leaving a long-lasting immersion on his audiences and how he gets people through the door of his shows.

Christian Cagigal is an actor, writer, and magician out of and around the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s one of “Ten Bay Area artists on their way to becoming icons” as dictated by the San Francisco Weekly and was voted Best of the Bay, for the second time, by the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Has performed his unique brand of “slightly creepy,” and I’d add “mildly disturbing” magic as an artist in residence at two theaters: San Francisco's EXIT Theatre, and Quebec’s “Beyond the Mountain."

He’s Produced a number of his own shows: 

The 13 Steps, The Pandora Experiment, the long running OBSCURA, The Collection, and the show Now and at the Hour which he’s currently working on a performance film of and that is being directed by internationally recognized San Francisco filmmaker H.P. Mendoza.

Finally, he’s also consulted for a number of theater companies such as A.C.T.'s MFA program, Crowded Fire Theatre Company, The Traveling Jewish Theater Company, Marin Shakespeare Company, EXIT Theatre DIVAfest and The San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour.

Direct download: SPC_027_Christian_Cagigal-Bizarre_Magical_Theatre.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am PDT

In this episode, I talk to Los Angeles magician Micah Cover. We talk about his career in magic and how a little bit of humanity can go a long way.

Also, Micah has agreed to give a free copy of his 73-page lecture notes, "From the Trenches: The Pros & Cons of Being a Family Magic Entertainer," to all of our listeners. Listen at the end of the episode to find out how to get yours!

Micah Cover is a magician that spends his time performing all around Los Angels and has been a professional magician since 1995!

With a background in theater, improv and street magic, he brings his highly interactive magic shows everywhere from birthday parties, restaurants, large and small events, and a variety of different venues including the world famous Hollywood Magic Castle. It’s there where he produces the annual Night of the Raven, a yearly charity event for the Academy of Magical Arts.

In addition to performing magic, he also writes, lectures, and consults on the art of magic. You may have seen his work on TV on CNN and on the show 1,000 Ways to Die. Finally, he’s also an actor who’s appeared on Days of Our Lives and in a recurring roll on Dawson’s Creek.

As stated by the Magic Castle, Micah is an innovative performer with mind-boggling talent. His extraordinary effects will rock the room!

Direct download: SPC_026_Micah_Cover-Magician.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

In this episode, I talk to Alex Ramon about his magic career covering such topics as building a tribe, engaging on social media and list building!

Alex Ramon is a magician who has accomplished so much in so little time, it makes my head spin!

Alex has toured around the world with Disney Live! Mickey’s Magic Show, performing more than 650 shows and for more than a million people, even performing his show in different languages.

He became the second youngest ringmaster and the very first magician in history to be the Star of The Greatest Show on Earth, in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Circus show, Zing, Zang, Zoom.

For over 2 years, his show “Illusion Fusion” was the number one rated show in Lake Tahoe on both Yelp and Trip Advisor and Alex can now be seen touring his new show NewMagic.

As for professional acknowledgements, he’s been presented with the Lance Burton Award, Society of American Magicians Presidents Award, International Brotherhood of Magicians Presidential Citation, was named “National Stage Magic Champion” at the World Magic Seminar, and most recently became the youngest ever recipient of the Milbourne Christopher Illusionist award.

The most amazing part is most of this was accomplished by the time he was 23.

Direct download: SPC_025_Alex_Ramon-Magician_Prodigy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

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