Going Solo

[DrVornoff]

Alright, to start with, this needs some set-up.  I turn 29 this November and have been struggling since 2007 to make it.  I drifted from day job to day job trying to earn a reputation as a magician.  I did a lot of street shows (busking) and made decent money off that, but then gas prices hit the roof, the economy went into a double-dip and tips dried up.  I ended up stuck with various day jobs that all ended badly, usually due to management hating the fact that I didn't do things exactly their way (usually, I did them better).

 

I recently changed my specialization to mentalism.  My father got me certification to be a speaker for a memory enhancement system, which I've been using myself.  The system creator is a nice guy, but not much help on the business side of things.  Pittsburgh's market and business climate are extremely conservative.  Despite the fact that the city is rapidly changing into a full-blown college town that's actually able to retain young blood rather than scaring them off, established businesses refuse to give up on their good ol' boy mentality.  This makes breaking in extremely difficult.  It's been a grueling summer of soul-crushing cold calling and only getting a couple of gigs booked.

 

Things are made worse by my student loans.  My income is sporadic at best and I've been forced to move back in with family.  The biggest holder on my student loans, Key Bank, are... well to be blunt they're a bunch of shysters.  Their call center is set up in such a way to try and annoy you into hanging up long before you ever get to talk to a live person and I nearly had a stroke when they claimed I owed them $80k.  I spent the entire spring and summer making giant payments just to pay down the interest, only for them to suddenly switch to a completely different collection agency without notifying me, and then send me a threatening letter claiming that they never received payment for the month of May due to the transition.  My brother nearly had the same stroke when he was sent a letter telling him that he also owed $80k.  He persisited, managed to get through to them, and found out that at the beginning of the year Key Bank just decided to conflate both of our loans into one debt since they had the same co-signer.  I apparently was not important enough to be informed of this.

 

Since my brother had fewer deferments than I did, they offered to let him pay $20k and they'd call his loan square.  This would drop my debt with them to about $40k.  Between that and my other 2 students loans, it still adds up to $80k anyway, but at least it's not a 6-figure debt like I spent all summer nearly stressing myself into stomach ulcers over.  This also means less interest, which will make paying it off easier, though I project it will still take about a decade to pay off, assuming I get my income up to scratch.

 

Which brings us to today.  Any help or insight on marketing in the entertainment business would be appreciated.  I've been reading a lot of Seth Godin and Dan Kennedy lately, but progress is agonizingly slow getting booked as a mentalist and/or speaker.  I'm targeting senior centers right now, but most of them are non-profits and can only pay my travel expenses.  The doors it opens will mean the money will come eventually, but that's a way's off yet and he need to pay these debts.

 

My goal is to be pulling down about $3000/month by this time next year.  I've had enough of living in desperate uncertainty of whether or not my dad has to pay my monthly loan payments again, never having any money to spend on myself, having to borrow other people's cars to get to my own gigs, hitting everyone else up for money just to buy a tea when meeting a new potential client at Starbucks, etc.  Time has come to swallow my pride and just plain ask for help.  I need organizations that are desperate for speakers who would be interested in my presentation on improving your memory (and hopefully would be interested in buying the system from me, maybe even signing up for my memory coaching program) and I really want to talk to night clubs about having me do my mind reading shows as part of the evening's entertainment.

 

Any help or advice is appreciated.  Anybody out there who can give me a hand?  Maybe point me in a good direction?

[Guest]

Look into filing for an income-based repayment plan for your student loans.  If you have recent tax information sitting around it should be a reasonable possiblity.  Also, plan on spending hours on the phone.  Loans change hands so many times, you don't always get correct information with the first call.  If you think the numbers you are told are wrong, keep hammering at them.