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

Learn how to bring the value in this interview where I talk to Dean Hankey, the DEAN of Success! We also talk about testimonials and he gives us some great practical business tips!

Dean Hankey, The Dean of Success, is a magician, public speaker, author, trainer, and marketing expert out of Reno, NV.

This guy has been successful in so much, it’s hard to know where to start! Dean has performed in casino show rooms like Harrah’s, Hilton, Bally’s Grand and Peppermill, corporate engagements for top companies like IBM, Apple, Kodak, and American Express, for famous celebrities like Robin Leach and Bill Cosby, and he’s been featured on a number of TV stations like ABC, NBC, CBS, BBC, Fox News, and CNN.

Through his extensive performance career, he’s gained tremendous insight into business and marketing techniques which he now teaches others to help grow their businesses and generate real world results.  

 

Success Mantra:

1. Never leave the site of a human interaction without creating value.

2. Leverage everything.

3. If you breathe, record it.  

 

Failure Moment:

While he was on tour, he performed a show that he thought just didn't play well with the audience. When the client came back to talk to him he said, "Wow! I can't believe how wild the audience was!"

Perspective is everything.  

 

Favorite Success

Performing in theme parks and casinos. Those are literally "five star" shows to perform for.  

 

Talking About Testimonials

Testimonials are the strongest tool you can do for your outbound marketing.

Script to get a great testimonial: "If you were telling your best friend how much fun you had at my show, what would you tell them to get them to come see my show?"  

 

Business Tips from the Dean of Success

• Build relationships

• We do business with people we know, like, and trust

• What would you do for your best friend that you wouldn't do for a customer? Serve as if you're serving your best friend.

• Make custom videos for your inquiries. With smart phones, we have no excuses not to.  

Other Topics Covered:

• Great ways to add value in our daily interactions.

• Be seen, be good.

• People don't pay for "good magic," they pay to be entertained and transformed.

• Being homeless.

• Relationship marketing.

• Find ways you can serve people and fill needs.

• Present yourself as a solutions provider.

• The barometer of success is not always money.  

 

Extra Value

Success Satisfaction Survey - Word Document - Listen to the show to find out how to use this.

The Dean's List - Facebook Group

 

Parting Advice

• Be mentored and mentor.

• Be of value to others.

• Always be in the learning process and teach what you've learned to someone else within 24 hours.  

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!  

Resource:

Animoto.com  

 

Books:

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

How to Persuade People Who Don't Want to be Persuaded by Joel Bauer

Maximum Entertainment

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh of Zappos  

 

Where can we find Dean Hankey?

The Dean's List - Facebook Group 

ClickButtMarketing.com

Direct download: SPC_041_Dean_Hankey_-_Magician.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Listen in as I talk to magician Shawn Farquhar! He shares with us how and why he only does business with friends and gives us an amazing business card hack that constantly keeps him busy!

Shawn Farquhar is a magician from Canada who spends his time entertaining people around the world.

He’s performed for corporate clients like IBM and Konica, and has been featured on some of the most luxurious cruise lines like Norwegian Star and Radiance of the Seas.

You may have seen his magic on TV shows like the Fringe and Arrow, or movies like Spooky House and The Fly 2.

As for accolades, he really is a Magic Champion, being a two-time winner of the Magician of the Year Award by the Canadian Association of Magicians, Grand Prix D’Honneur from the P C A M, both Stage Magician and Sleight of Hand Magician of the Year by the International Brotherhood of Magicians, and his most prestigious award, Grand Prix World Champion of Magic from the Olympics of Magic in Beijing, China given in 2009.

Shawn also tours giving talks and lectures in the magic community at some of magic’s top conventions and events.  

 

Success Mantra:

I’m a small part of a really big show. - Shawn Farquhar  

 

Failure Moment:

Not asking enough questions about a show and having booking agents correctly represent you.

Hear how Shawn was asked to perform for what was essentially a memorial service without fully knowing what he was getting into. He also tells how he would have changed things in the show had he known from the get go what he was getting into.  

 

Favorite Success

Selling 6.5 million dollars worth of client’s products during a trade show.  

 

What’s Worked Best for Shawn’s Business?

Relationships. Shawn does business with friends.

He also tells us how NOT having a business card has gotten him countless bookings! This is a business hack that he uses all the time.    

 

Biggest Professional Challenge

Time and travel.  

 

Other Topics Covered:

• Being easy to work with and how to not be a PitA act.

• You can learn more from a bad act in what NOT to do.

• Top Ramen and Ketchup. You know what I’m talking about.

• Importance in relationships in business.

• Tells how he gets repeat bookings doing business with friends and fostering relationships.

• How he learns about client’s products and understanding the companies he’s working for.

• How and why he’ll refer clients to other magicians.

• Negotiating with clients.  

 

Parting Advice

Everybody succeds based on TALENT.

Tenacity
Attitude
Likability
Energy
Naturalness
Tenacity  

 

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!  

Resource:

His iPhone which he can run his business from.  

 

Books:

Maximum Entertainment by Ken Weber

Whack to the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie  

 

Where can we find Shawn Farquhar?

Shawn's Official Site

Palmer Magic

facebook | twitter @magichampion | instagram

Direct download: SPC_040_Shawn_Farquhar_-_Magician.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

In this episode I talk to Zach Waldman! We cover a lot of great topics like pricing, adding value, and how Zach overcame debilitating anxiety and depression. This is a good listen.

Zach Waldman is a magician and comedian in and around Los Angeles who caters to high end, corporate clients, and celebrities.

He's performed for the likes of Al Gore, Seth MacFarlane, Pete Carroll, Chris Rock, and Gene Wilder, not to mention his corporate clients which include Microsoft, BusinessWeek, Absolut, and Anheuser-Busch. Zach is also a frequent performer at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood.

More importantly, for us, Zach is a marketing expert with various products that help other entertainers book more gigs and make more money doing what they love.

As one of his clients says, "Zach is an amazing fountain of knowledge that will give you the tools to get booked and be successful."  

 

Success Mantra:

Goals. Writing down your goals and taking responsibility for yourself.

Basically everything in Brian Tracy’s book GOALS! How to get everything you ever wanted in life faster than you ever thought possible.  

 

Failure Moment:

Being too rigid on what he charged for his shows early in his career. Instead, be flexible but for a reason.  

 

Zach Waldman on Pricing

Mentions Dan Kennedy’s book No BS Marketing to the Affluent

• Price isn’t the only thing people are looking for. They’re looking for value and will pay more for it. Example: For a kids show, you might charge $150 but you can charge more if you create an experience and add value. Consider this: 30 minute magic show, balloon animals for each child (special ballon for birthday child that nobody else gets), goodie bags for kids, and they all learn a magic trick. With all this, you’ve created a full experience that you can charge more for, perhaps $300.

• Always add value.

• People also pay for the experience.

• If they flinch at the price, you can always take things away to lower the price. Always have a reason for lowering the price.  

 

How Zach Overcame Anxiety & Depression

This is a very sensitive topic. If you're dealing with anxiety or depression, please seek help from a competent professional.

In this section, Zach talks about how he dealt with debilitating anxiety and depression, ho it effected himself, his shows, and how he overcame it. He went through the course Attacking Anxiety & Depression

• combating negative self talk

• monitor your bad thoughts and replace them with good ones.

• change the things that you think about.

• Exercise and eating right play a huge role in alleviating anxiety & depression.

• Get into therapy. Seeing a therapist helped Zach out tremendously. It’s certainly a good idea to seek out professional help.  

 

Other Topics Covered:

• Sit in your own audience. Assess how other see you.

• When you compete, compete against yourself.

• Be giving and generous.

• Don’t try to please everyone.

• Go to war with the army you have, not the one you wish you had. If you wait for everything to be perfect, you’ll never get started.

• Becoming a self actualized person.

• Learn everything you can, then forget it all and carve your own path.

• Don’t give up, push through the dip.

• Write down your goals.

• Be good to people. It’ll come back to you.  

 

Resourceful books:

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!  

Goals by Brian Tracy

No BS Marketing to the Affluent by Dan Kennedy

The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield

Turning Pro by Stephen Pressfield

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse  

 

Where can we find Zach Waldman?

therestaurantmagician.com

undergroundmagicsecrets.com

zachwaldman.com

facebook | twitter @zachwaldman | youtube

Direct download: SPC_039_Zach_Waldman-Magician_and_Marketing_Expert.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

In this episode I talk to Brian Brushwood!!! We cover a lot of great topics like how he got on the Tonight Show as a guest, passive income, and what really happens when you botch a prediction on live radio!

Brian Brushwood is a magician, TV host, Podcaster, author, and internet celebrity.

Magic-wise, he’s performed his bizarre magic show around the country at colleges and universities. He’s the host of Discovery’s Scam School where he teaches all sorts of magic tricks and bar bets that you can use to score free drinks from your friends at the bar. He’s also authored six books on the subject of magic.

Internet-wise, he’s been featured on a number of shows and podcasts like the NSFW show, Weird Things, Too long Didn’t Listen, Cord Killers, Night Attack, and he’s been a frequent guest on Leo Laporte’s show This Week in Tech. I guess you can say he’s sort of a big deal on the internet.

As if that isn’t enough, he can most recently be seen on TV hosing Nat Geo’s Hacking the System.  

 

Success Mantra:

Fail faster. If you want to double your success rate, double your failure rate.  

 

Failure Moment:

Speaking of failure, Brian tells about a time where his show failed to register and connect with his audience. They really didn't get it or like it and someone even threw fruit at him after his show.

He later in the show talks about a prediction failure that happened to him while being interviewed live on the radio.  

 

Favorite Success:

Being a guest on the Tonight Show. Brian talks about what went into getting there. Spoiler alert: persistence!

 

What's Worked Best for Brian's Business?

Not sitting around waiting for things to happen for him.  

 

Biggest Professional Challenge:

Questioning whether or not he's doing the right thing.  

 

Other Topics Covered:

• Working harder than everyone else.

• How a raise helped him realize what he really wanted to do.

• How he prepared himself for jumping ship still work.

• Persistence.

• We become what we think about most of the time. Earle Nightingale in the strangest secret.

• How he gained a large audience online.

• Being real online.

• Failure is an unpleasant side effect of trying and caring.

• Impostor Syndrome.

• Balancing travel and touring with family.

• His approach to Passive Income.

• Trading time for money vs. creating something and getting paid over and over for it.

• His correspondences with Teller.

• His experience on AGT  

 

Parting Advice:

Try. Don’t be the bitter guy knocking everyone else’s acts.

In life, we exist as trends not individual actions. Trend in the right direction.  

 

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!  

Resources

Audible.com - Audiobooks  

 

Books

Make Art Make Money: Lessons from Jim Henson on Fueling Your Creative Career

Born Standing Up - Steve Martin  

 

Where can we find Brian Brushwood?

brianbrushwood.com

Scam School - Web Show

Night Attack - Podcast

Cord Killers - Podcast

Twitter @shwood

Direct download: SPC_038_Brian_Brushwood-Magician.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

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