My blog of things and thoughts

To answer that question in short, to procrastinate. No doubt I would be doing more bookings, earning more money and be further down the path to global stardom if I made a few more phone calls instead.

However, let's take that minor factor out of the equation and look at my "social media presence", why I do it, who it's aimed at, then my thoughts on the whole damn thing.

When I got my current site (http://www.robertbone.co.uk/) developed I already had a (now defunct) WordPress blog. My site has a "News" page, and a separate blog. Both have a purpose and are aimed at different audiences.

The news section is for exactly that. It's the official place for me to announce what wedding fair dates and venues I'll be attending, upcoming public events, press releases and general news. This is objective and tells it like it is, it's not a forum for me to express my opinion on matters, but to inform. I'm sure many may think it's a bit of an ego thing, but it's not. It's a genuinely use to some people, and also great for updating pages, promoting and keeping google happy.

My blog is where I have an opinion on things. This may be about something I'm doing, or something other people are doing. It's not for everyone, but I'm not for everyone. For those that take offence at any comments I make then I suggest you don't bother reading my blog and just accept you don't have the same outlook on life as me, or my sense of humour.

I guess those that have seen me perform will have a lot better idea of who I am, and my perspective on things, and will "get it" a lot better than someone who has never met me and is making snap judgements. These people tend to be amateur magicians who think about the "art of magic", but never had to entertain a group of architects that have been at the free bar since 3:00pm. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the art, but a national architect's p*ss-up isn't the place for it. Those that have been in that situation will no doubt have that slightly jaded outlook and can see my point, even if they don't agree.

Look at it this way, every year on The Apprentice there is a marketing challenge - this year was pet food. One group always tries to cover every angle, but they spread themselves too thin and fail to make an impact on the market. The winning group tends to focus on a target audience and concentrate on hitting their requirements to make a bigger impact, with the view for further expansion once established.

That's why in 2009 I rebranded a Demonstrator of Extra-Sensory Curiosities. The last thing I wanted to be was a "Magician for all occasions" - that's a very crowded marketplace. My look, style and magic is deliberately different to 90% of the other magicians out there. That's why other magicians don't know who I am, because I've been promoting myself to real people, and getting them to know who I am - those are the people that book me after all.

If people want one of those generic 90% then they are welcome to look around and find the cheapest - it's not my marketplace. I am fully aware that some potential bookers look at my site, showreels, blog and twitter and aren't impressed. So what? I'm also aware that some people see these things (normally after seeing me at an event) and see I am different from everyone else, they have a connection with me, they want something different, from someone human. Those are the people that book me, they aren't looking to compare the cheapest generic card-fanner.

Let's group facebook and twitter together. On both sites I have followers that fall into the following categories: friends, family, associates, other magicians, past clients, potential clients, people that have seen me at events, random spammers.

I considered splitting accounts so I didn't send mixed messages. For example, if I tweet another magician about something magic related, or put something funny (but insulting if you don't know the context) on a friend's "wall" I thought this could put off clients. However, these clients are my followers/friends for a reason - there was a two-way agreement for them to see this information, they clicked the "accept" button.

And why would my clients click this "accept" button (and some of them added me, not me add them)? Because they like me, not a generic magician. Often I've performed at their wedding, I've spent a couple of hours with their friends at the biggest day of their lives. I make an impact, I get people talking, people are still talking even after the day is over. These people don't see me as a "product" or "service" or "brand" they purchased, but a human being they reacted too. I feel facebook and twitter gives an almost behind-the-scenes look at my life.

So, who is it all aimed at?

Well, everyone.

This social media is great for keeping up with friends, family and associated I probably would have not spoken to otherwise. It's good for potential clients to see who I am, where I am and give a feel of who I am.

Other magicians, well, your not my market really, I haven't any tricks to sell or lectures to promote. However, it's nice to have "in" jokes with other professionals who can relate to your experiences. Some of my stuff on YouTube was filmed just for this purpose.

I really don't mind amateur magicians reading my blog and website - just as long as they respect that my site and it's content is not for cutting and pasting onto their homemade site...

So, in summary: If you don't like what I say then just don't bother reading it. I don't deliberately go out my way to offend, but if you've seen me performing at a real event you'll see I don't just stick to the standard patter, I read the group and adjust and ad-lib. If I'm with a group of adults who can take a joke I'll be different to how I am with the family group. I can do the same card trick 10 times and it'll be 10 different experiences.

I can't read you, and how you'll react through a computer screen, just as you can't read me.

No idea why I bothered to write this. It was more of a thought-exercise that got out of hand, but then again, it's for posts like this is why I have a blog, so that people can see I'm a real person, and not just a really talented, funny, good looking guy who really should be on TV.