KEH 024: Breaking Into the Kids Entertaining Market
Breaking Into the Kids Entertaining Market
The Hanson Family’s Story of Persistence, Planning and a Vision for Their Future
Having world records for juggling and unicycling proved of little value in breaking into the kids entertainment market compared to learning basic comedy, kids psychology and good marketing techniques.
Join the Hanson Family Circus Troupe as they discuss highs and lows, insights and revelations that come from taking on the Library Show market.
In this episode we discuss:
– Who is the Hanson family troupe
– How the family got into juggling, unicycling, and breaking world records
– How understanding the psychology of children helped build their confidence as performers and made their act better
– How they found the right audience in library shows
– What learnings they picked from David Kaye’s Seriously Silly book (e.g., the Look, Don’t See technique) and Julian’s Build Your Magic Show course
– The difference between being a show-off and being an entertainer
– What triggered them to study kid psychology
– How scripting your show can make you more bookable
– How they find gigs and market themselves, particularly to librarians (hint: word-of-mouth works wonderfully)
– How audiences love a family act
– The elements that gets clients clicking through your website and booking you
– How to get client video testimonials that help build massive credibility
Who is the Hanson Family:
Mark: Taught himself to juggle at 16. Set two Guinness World Records for three-ball speed juggling at the age of 58.
Christa Faye (The Mom): Set a Guinness World Record by creating the world’s largest paper snowflake at 14 feet 6 inches (4.42 meters) across. She passed her level one unicycle test when she was 7 months pregnant with child number 5!
Christa Berit (21-Year-Old Daughter): Taught herself to unicycle at age 7. Became a North American Unicycle champion at age 8. Can skip rope on a five-foot giraffe unicycle and is building up to skip rope on a seven-foot unicycle.
The Four Other Hanson Kids: Anna (19), Matthew (17), Luke (15) and Caleb (12) have twice performed a pregame and halftime juggling and unicycle show with their dad and sister Christa Berit for the world famous Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. The Hanson family has been invited to perform again for the Globetrotters in 2016.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Seriously Silly by David Kaye
Hanson Family Globetrotter Pre-Game Show
Hanson Family Globetrotter Half-Time Show
Our sponsors are…
Spectator Party Art: A custom caricatured logo (that’s a cartoon for us non techie types) by Spectator Party Art puts a colourful and exciting version of you – the entertainer – front and centre in your customers mind.
Custom Magic Kits: Customised magic kits branded with your name and photo and website are the perfect way for you to get an extra stream of income from your kids entertaining business.
Add a little bit of inspiration with all that perspiration
In 1986, Julian Mather’s grandmother gave him a book of handwritten quotes and proverbs and ideas to help guide his life’s compass. Each week on the podcast Julian opens up this book and shares one of them with us….
Now it’s your turn!
What did you think of this episode? Please share your comments below. Thanks for listening.
