Paul Richards
CONNECT
  • Home
  • Book Paul
  • Magicians Only
  • Lecture
  • Schedule
  • Blog
  • Contact

Selfless Promotion

8/31/2018

0 Comments

 
The first tricks I ever created and sold had no information listing who made them.

Not my name, no company name, no logo, no address – nothing.

This was back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Back then, I believed if I was standing in front of a magician, demonstrating a product with my own name on it, there would be no way for them to give me an honest reaction. Obviously, it’s hard to deliver real criticism to a creator when you’re looking them straight in the eyes. So I thought the best way to get real feedback was to stay anonymous.

I learned a lot from that approach. Sometimes, more than I bargained for.

I discovered what people really thought of my ideas. It was a great way to learn what people liked and disliked, while working directly in the trenches. 

I also learned it made the products easy targets for getting lifted. I’d show up at a convention one year with a new item – only to see it sitting on other dealers tables the next. This was way before I was making products available wholesale. Yet, there they were – same tricks, same plastic bags, with horribly photocopied instructions. 

But over the years I’ve come to learn the most important lesson from this approach. It was the other reason I didn’t include my name on those early products.

Fear.

Putting your work out there means that you can be the recipient of praise and accolades. 

Keeping it anonymous means you can deflect the disapproval and rejection.

As time went on, I changed my approach but I’ve always been shy about self-promotion. I’ve tried to get better at it but to this day it often feels painfully uncomfortable. Someone once said, “If you’re not branding yourself, you can be sure that others are doing it for you.” That’s a great line. It’s too bad no one seems to remember who said it first.

We live in a noisy and crowded world. Often the only voice available to sing your praises will be your own. Don’t be afraid to.
0 Comments

    Author

    I'm the guy from the homepage. You probably already know that.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed