How to Create and Sell Magic Products Just Like the Pros!

Do you have any awesome and clever magic ideas that you think other magicians could benefit from learning? Believe it or not, selling and distributing magic is simple to do if you know where to look! In this video, magician Michael O’Brien will teach you how to create, publish, and distribute magic instructional videos and products to help get your name out there and even earn some extra cash! Check it out!

How to Create and Sell Magic Products Just Like the Pros!

As a professional magician there are several ways to make money; Street performances, private events, parties, etc. One of my main sources of income as a professional magician however is creating magic and selling it to other magicians! You may be wondering how can it really be that easy to do? I mean… Don’t you have to “know the right people” and what not to get into this business? Though it is true that if you want to get sponsored by a big name magic distribution company you will need to go through certain channels, it is still possible to publish and sell material on many of these big name magic websites and even get your products distributed to magic shops and clubs all over the world! But before we talk about that, lets talk a

Creating Magic

Before we talk about how to start distributing your product, we need to talk about how to create one. There are typically two primary types of magic products on the market; Physical Products and Downloadable Content. Physical Products usually consist of DVDs, books, accessories, and gimmicks. Downloadable Content consists of any type of written or video instruction that people can download onto their computers. When it comes to creating magic, whether it be Physical Products or Downloadable Content, we need to check on a few things.

-Originality and Credits
-Practicality
-Start-up Cost
-Equipment and Tools
-Performance and Instruction
-Pricing

1. Originality and Credits: Before publishing anything you need to do your research and make sure that your idea is not already published somewhere else. Believe it or not your groundbreaking idea that you have been working on for years may have actually been created by another magician you have never even heard of! A good place to start is a simple google search describing the idea you are looking for. Something may pop up and give you a routine name to look for and do even further research. Or try asking other magicians on magic related forums if they have ever heard of anything like it before. Just be careful not to give too many details away. It would be a shame to have your idea stolen and published before you can get to put it out. If your idea is based on something else you saw, be sure to credit the source by including their name, the name of the effect or method, and if possible where to find it (i.e. the book and page number it is found in.)
2. Practicality: This term falls under two categories; Practicality for manufacturing and practicality for performance. Make sure that your product will be easy or affordable to manufacture so that you can provide the best quality material at affordable prices for your consumers. Also, be sure that the product itself is practical in use during performance. High prices and impractical magic are two major deal breakers for most consumers. Most people buying your products will be hobbyists who want something affordable and easy to perform.
3. Start-up Cost: Along with practicality, take into consideration the start-up cost to create, produce, or manufacture your content. Sometimes you need to invest in larger bulk quantities to save money and make your initial run worth it. For example if you created an awesome design for a pack of playing cards, you will more than likely need to buy them in the thousands to make it worth the price. Finding investors is the easiest way to raise the start-up capital you need to afford it! Sites like “Kick Starter,” or “Go Fund Me” are great ways to find investors to help get your project rolling!
4. Equipment and Tools: Make sure you have the necessary equipment or tools to produce your content. If you are interested in creating a video tutorial for example, make sure that you have proper filming equipment; HD camera, lighting, proper backdrop, etc. If you are going to create a gimmick or tool, make sure that you are able to gather the necessary materials, or outsource the labor from a third party manufacturer. For example if you wanted to distribute DVDs, you may either want to invest in a DVD printing machine, or simply outsource DVD duplication from a third party vendor.
5. Performance and Instruction: Their are two different ways to create instruction; Video instruction and written instruction. Either way, your performance and explanations should be easy to follow and understand. You may be able to perform you effect without even thinking about it during a live show, however when it comes to the instruction, you need to start breaking it down move by move so that you can properly teach the effect without skipping any steps, or rambling on incoherently about something that the audience won’t be able to follow. I suggest generating a script for both the performance AND the explanation so that you will have an easier time teaching your idea.
6. Pricing: The cost to manufacture and produce your product will have an impact on how much you will sell your product for, however it is a good idea to do some research and find out what other products similar to yours retail for. Overpriced products will not sell, however underpriced products may not generate any profit for you, so it is important to make sure that you will be able to produce content for an affordable price before you begin the manufacturing process.

Please stay tuned for more information on how to publish books, DVDs, and other content. For now we will move on to publishing content!

Publishing Content

Let’s say you have already created your idea and you are ready to start selling it to the masses! This will take a bit of communicating between different magic companies as well as submitting your ideas for review. If the magic company in question likes your idea, they will more than likely be happy to carry your product.

1. Personal Website: One of the first things you should do is set up your own online store. Create a website that will allow you to carry magic products like Wix, Weebly, or Wordpress. Most of these website creators have an online store built in, however you can also set up your products using websites like Square, PayPal, and Vinted. Simply put in links to these platforms or even create buttons and an online shopping cart using these third party websites! Please feel free to take a look at my Online Magic Shop which is powered using both Weebly and PayPal.
2. Murphy’s Magic Supplies (MMS): MMS is a magic distribution company that sells magic products to different magic shops and online stores all over the world! Benefits to partnering with MMS is that you can sell directly to them and they will take care of marketing, distribution, and selling your products for you! This is perfect for distributing Physical Products that may be harder to sell to magic shops directly. The only downsides to going through MMS is that you will need to sell your products to them for VERY CHEAP because they will be the middle man between you and the magic shops, which ALSO need to profit. For example, My DVD may retail for $30, however for example, I will sell my product to MMS for $8, who will sell it to the magic shop for $15 who will sell it to the consumer for $30. The other drawback is the NET 30 payment plan, which means you will need to front all of the costs, then get paid 30 days later. This is the distributor I go through to sell all of my books, DVDs and accessories. Visit Murphy’s Magic supplies Website HERE.
3. Theory 11’s Marketplace (T11): T11 offers a place for community creators to sell their Downloadable Content. T11 will take 40% of any sale that is made. Posting to the T11 Marketplace is a very simple process and the staff is extremely helpful! Simply create two videos (a performance video and an explanation video) and upload them to the “submit” page. Then fill in the other fields with information; Effect Name, Price, Influences, Short Description, and Full description. Submit the effect and wait for it to be reviewed. They will check for originality, quality, and professionalism. So make sure that the content is original and properly credited, that the video is HD quality and well taught, and you are maintaining a professional atmosphere (no foul language or obscene references…duh..) Once approved they will send you an email letting you know, then simply click the “publish” button to make it go live. You will receive a royalty in the check on the 11th of every month as long as your total earned amount was at least $50. Visit Theory 11’s Marketplace HERE.
4. Penguin Partner Program (PPP): The PPP is very similar to T11’s Marketplace, however you can submit both physical products AND downloadable content. Penguin will take 40% of any sale that is made, or 35% if you agree not to sell or publish anywhere else. Just like T11, you will submit two videos (a performance video and an explanation video) and upload them to the “submit” page. Then fill in the other fields with information; Effect Name, Price, Influences, Short Description, and Full description. Submit the effect and wait for it to be reviewed. The content will also be reviewed. If you are sending in a physical product, you will need to send in 1 demo copy of the product for them to review.  Unlike T11, Penguin will save your royalties in a bank and you can choose to cash out at any time. You must have a minimum of $50 in the bank in order to cash it out! Of the two, I have noticed that Penguin Magic has a much larger audience, therefore I sell more products on the PPP then both the T11 Marketplace and my website combined! Visit Penguin Magic’s Website HERE.
5. Lecture: The last place I typically sell my magic products is doing live lectures at the local magic shop or magic club. Usually the shop or club will not pay you to be there and you will make your money from selling your products to the attendees. Sometimes the shop or club will split a door fee with you. Either way, it is a great way to generate some hype and get your products out there for the public to see and purchase from you directly! I like to offer a small discount on products at my lecture to make it seem more exclusive! Visit my Live Lecture Schedule HERE.

There you have it! I hope that this video has inspired you to go out and start selling your creations! Please be sure to stay tuned for more detailed videos on specifics of creating magic content coming soon! If you have any questions or know of any other easy ways to sell and market your products, please feel free to do so in the comment section below!

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