7 Things About Magic That You Should Have Learned In Business School – #4

#4 – Just because your process is boring to you doesn’t mean the result will be. The details of the process aren’t important to the audience, who only care about the end result. But the process is critically important to you, the producer of the effect. You have to be judicious about which methods are […]

7 Things About Magic That You Should Have Learned In Business School – #3

#3 – If it doesn’t look like magic, it still needs work. The most important thing to your business audience is not how hard you worked on the technique. The most important thing to your audience is not whether your back-office software is the coolest. The most important thing to your audience is not how […]

7 Things About Magic That You Should Have Learned In Business School – #2

#2 – Mystery is valuable. It’s one of the primary rules of magic: don’t reveal the secret of the illusion. If you tell the audience your secrets, then the wonderful moment you created for them only seconds ago will lose a lot of its impact. Mystery, in the context of magic, is not about lying […]

7 Things About Magic That You Should Have Learned In Business School – #1

#1 – Audiences will pay to be amazed. What does magic have to do with business? I mean, David Copperfield is nearly a billionaire, but he’s certainly the exception. Why would anyone think magic has any relationship to business principles? The truth is, the art of magic is loaded with important concepts for sales, marketing, […]

Branding, Acting, and the Given Circumstances

Branding, Acting, and the Given Circumstances Sometimes we talk about the art of acting as if it were somehow dishonorable, and about nothing but lying and ego. But the reality is that great acting is about the truth, and understanding that can affect the way you make decisions about your brand and your real life […]

The Gratis Factor: 5 Tips for Convincing Performers to Donate Shows

The Gratis Factor: 5 Tips for Convincing Speakers or Entertainers to Donate or Discount Fees (Note: The original version of this article appeared in February 2011.) Last week I had the opportunity to be part of a wonderful tradition here in Atlanta. Bert Weiss, host of Q100’s “The Bert Show,” created a foundation (along with […]

Remembering John Calvert

Remembering John Calvert Last Friday the world became a little less magical. John Calvert, a man who was regarded in many entertainment industry circles as “a real-life Indiana Jones,” died on September 27 at the age of 102. Mr. Calvert – despite our friendship, I could never bring myself remotely close to calling him “John” […]

Five Kinds of Amazing, Part 3: Mystery

Five Kinds of Amazing, Part 3: Mystery In our previous articles we’ve established the “5 Kinds of Amazing” model for delivering brand experiences that create audience amazement. We’ve discussed the first two pieces of the model: – Talent/Expertise: relating to open and frequent knowledge sharing – Science/Process: relating to embedding unexpected positive experiences in standard […]

Protecting Your Brand or Industry Image in the Media – Part 2

Protecting Your Brand or Industry Image in the Media, Part 2 More Lessons Learned Last time we discussed some important questions about being ready to join a media conversation when your brand or your industry is under attack or scrutiny. Sometimes that scrutiny is warranted, even if it’s unwelcome. Sometimes it is based on a […]

Protecting Your Brand or Industry Image in the Media – Part 1

Protecting Your Brand or Industry Image in the Media, Part 1 A Brief Case Study, Plus Some Lessons Learned Several weeks ago an online video of a magician doing a levitation stunt in London went viral. After a brief flurry of activity, an opinion piece appeared on a targeted-audience news site in which one of […]