I received a lot of feedback over the last week about my article on “Why Entertainers Can be So Expensive” and there are two responses I got that I really wanted to respond to.
The first question relates to the concept of “Star Power”; or the capacity (to quote the original source) to put butts in seats. The notion that a performer’s worth is really only in his capacity to put butts in seats.
The second question relates to pricing and “special” deals”. It’s a question of interacting with venue owners, individuals who want to hire your services, etc.
#1 Star Power
Star Power is the capacity for performers to put butts in seats. It’s the difference between saying the name Mr. Massado and the name Penn Jillette or if showed you a picture of the chainsaw juggler from the Geico add or Anthony Gatto. If you talk to someone in the industry and say both names chances are both will be recognized. But chances are your doctor has never heard of the man who put Linking Rings back into the public eye or the most technical juggler of our generation.
Star Power works really well when the only reason you are going to the event is to see that person. I would have ticked if John Water’s Christmas special had some other guy up there for 45 minutes of the hour long show. Adam Sandler made a movie a few years ago about Star Power called Funny People that introduced a really strange idea. That if your popular enough for being funny than everyone assumes that what you say is funny even if it really isn’t. It’s sort of the Emperors New Clothes but in reverse. Everyone thinks the clothes are there but the Emperor knows there not.
Star Power isn’t necessarily related to the entertainers actual capacity to entertain (though most of the time it is; google Criss Angel and stooges for more information and internet arguments). Promoters often use Star Power in order to spread the word about an event and bring people in the door. But there is an exception to this.
festivalprose.com/playing-by-the-numbers-part-1-patron-vendor.html
The link is to a blog on venders and ren faires about making actual money at ren faires and discusses techniques to deal with the various problems that come up. But the nitty gritty is this; ren faires don’t actually make enough money from the door sales. They make their money from vendors paying fees in order to set up shop and also attempt to make money. The longer a patron is at a fair; the more likely they are to purchase something.
The purpose of an entertainer at a ren faire is to give the patrons something to do in between shopping trips. Normally this has nothing to do with that entertainers “star power” and everything to do with their capacity to entertain. Occasionally, a ren faire will bring in a special guest star on a weekend to take advantage of “Star Power” but usually that means one “thirty minute- hour set” with another 5-6 hours of time that others have to cover.
Different businesses cover different models. A good entertainer does not need to have “star” power in order to justify his cost. But he does need to know his market and what his market wants. I deal primarily with what I refer to as “Normals”. These are just average run of the mill folks who want to hire an entertainer for something. I also occasionally work out of ren faires, steam punk cons, and some of the associated groups with those. They have a pre-existing reputation and name that I can trade in in order to bring people to my show (though there is another article about dealing with rennies, steam punkers, and associated jaded audiences versus normal people).
Different businesses cover different models. A good entertainer does not need to have “star” power in order to justify his cost. But he does need to know his market and what his market wants. I deal primarily with what I refer to as “Normals”. These are just average run of the mill folks who want to hire an entertainer for something. I also occasionally work out of ren faires, steam punk cons, and some of the associated groups with those. They have a pre-existing reputation and name that I can trade in in order to bring people to my show (though there is another article about dealing with rennies, steam punkers, and associated jaded audiences versus normal people).
The issue frequently is that the justification for some of these events (in my experience ren faires tend to be really fair but fairy fests and steam punk; not so much) for paying me is “How many people can you bring us”. The truth is that this motto is every where. If you don’t believe just think about how many facebook event invites you have had from people trying to bring you in because they are expected to bring people in.
So my response is this, what is your business model and how do you plan on bringing money in. If your model is “ticket sales”, then paying someone more who can bring in 500 guests is more important than paying someone who can bring in 50 guests. But if your model is, say the ren faire model, than the quality and length of entertainment become far more important than just the pizzazz factor (at least in the current steam punk climate) of seeing someone you love for thirty minutes.
So my response is this, what is your business model and how do you plan on bringing money in. If your model is “ticket sales”, then paying someone more who can bring in 500 guests is more important than paying someone who can bring in 50 guests. But if your model is, say the ren faire model, than the quality and length of entertainment become far more important than just the pizzazz factor (at least in the current steam punk climate) of seeing someone you love for thirty minutes.
#2 How Much Does Your Show Cost.
I was asked after writing the previous article, how much I generally charge for my show (which is in many ways a giant social foopah and therefore you should not ask if you are in competing markets so I will not answer again). I rarely actually tell my clients how much I charge. I have in the back my of my head, an idea of how much cash I need to earn before and after taxes. I normally never list this number unless I am explicitly asked. Normally I prefer to be given an offer and if it’s fair and reasonable I will take it (or counter offer).
This idea in my head is pretty much I feel that I am worth, what the customer is capable of paying, and what I would have to do. I translate it into a question of how much time I would spend on this project and therefore think of it as an hourly rate. I don’t normally tell clients that it is an hourly rate unless of course it’s something where I am being left to my own devices for an hour.
Negotiating prices and follow up shows is sort of a like a magic trick where you don’t actually tell your audience what you're going to do until the very end. This gives you more out’s, more options, and more possibilities. If there is a reason they might bring me back or more work that might come out of it and I feel the need to play the "price reduction card" then I can play it. But if there is no need and I do so anyways (because I "want the sale") then I have just limited my options because if you have offered a cheaper sale then I can't go back on that.
A lot of the people you are going to be interacting with will have little appreciation for your talent and a great deal for how much you are going to cost them. So keep that in mind as you negotiate.
