From: Grego <grego-AT-gregoland.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:36:54 +0900
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Puppet cart


I can remember reading, maybe twenty years ago, maybe in Life  
magazine, that the Rolling Stones made zero profit from ticket sales  
for their massive stadium sell-out shows. High overhead for big  
touring, you know. Nonetheless there was some juicy booty to be had  
from merchandising. I mentioned this to some buskers in my area a few  
years ago. One of the leading-edge guys tried it out, and now  
everyone has a "free dvd present" for people who put in $10 or more,  
and the jugglers are all pushing kits of balls and balloons.
Hobey, you're ideally situated to experiment with mixtures of  
performing and sales. Goods for sale gives you a nice cash angle on  
small, close-up street work, on the job training while you pinch the  
gig to see if it's ripe. From there you can step up to larger stuff  
that works for bigger crowds, which is where you'll find the good  
tips. The good news for tip earners is that even when people run out  
of real shopping money and event production funds, they always have a  
dollar in their pocket, and there are ways of shaking it loose.  
Meanwhile, you're getting paid to advertise your show and experiment  
with pricing and types of goods that you might be able to put on an  
info/products table at some of your ligit gigs as well. The great  
news for merchandisers is that $10 bills add up, curiously enough, 10  
times faster than $1 bills.
For the last 20 years half of my income and a good many ligit gigs  
have come from working the streets of Asia and Europe.
What works: people love to be stroked, coddled, reassured, charmed,  
inspired, and pacified. You can get a lot of smiles and make some  
very nice friends appealing to hearts and minds. But for tangible  
results aim lower. Smiles, lovely as they are, will not impress your  
landlord on the first of the month. To get money out of the common  
citizenry, jib, jab, poke, thrill, excite them. Altitude, attitude,  
guilt, sex, danger, slick manipulative con, these are the strings you  
pull to move the hand toward the pocket.
My guess is that you won't go on to master the dark arts and become  
one of the big-time tip hustlers, so best of luck with your  
merchandising.
-G

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