I am a great believer in self-motivation. After all, if you can’t motivate yourself, who will motivate you? I always enjoyed listening to Zig Zigler, a wonderful speaker who always had great words of encouragement and business savvy. Zig’s most memorable statement to me was “be a meaningful specific instead of a wandering generality!”. These are words to live by and I’ll explain why.
As ventriloquists we sometimes think we can do it all. We THINK we can serve all markets equally, but I am not convinced that is true. The person who advertises they do anything from birthday parties to adult shows all on the same business card is only fooling him or herself. By advertising they can do anything, they really are saying I am desperate to perform and will take any and all shows coming my way. Possible clients start to worry if one area will spill over into another with disastrous results.
Now there are some shows that overlap. Your family show that can please both adults and kids and can be adapted to do a banquet for adults. Likewise your school show can be turned into a library show by putting in the components of books and reading. A themed show can always be modified. This works because it is in the same vein of performing. But the person who does a school show during the day and then do a VERY adult show in the evening is serving two masters.
Be good at your specialty. If you like working for kids, explore all the aspects of the various kids’ markets. If you like working for primarily adult groups go after that market and try to specialize. You’ll feel much more comfortable, your material will be better suited, and you feel the satisfaction of being in your element.
Be a “meaningful specific” in your line of vent work. If you are getting started you may have to experiment a bit to find what works for you. But once you do, give it all you’ve got! Be the BEST in the marketplace for your line of vent work!
To contact Mark Wade: kidshowvent@gmail.com
