Back to the grind

Well folks it's a new year time to get back to work ,marketing,emails ,phone calls ,blogging,not a lot going on the past week or so but starting to lay the ground work for the upcoming months, generally January is kind of slow for me but thanks to good marketing last year things are off to a busy start,regular clients have begun to confirm dates for grad nites ,and some new customers have been added to my growing clientele list. I've booked quite a few new schools as well as some bigger events in the midwest.I'm not a fan of air travel but when the money is right you have to take it.It's nice to be wanted.Now for the flip side of this industry,you;ve all heard me repeat time and again my pet peeve about the lowballers and the skidders,sorry to be repetative ,but they are here to stay ,just like a bad penny they keep showing up .Hey if you're going to put you latest work on u tube at least edit it so it looks like you're a pro,nothing worse than a crap performance with 3 or 4 subjects and no one in the audience,save youself the time make it good or don't bother.Don't get me wrong we've all had a bad one now and again,but please please please refrain from posting it hoping it will get you more work ,ain't gonna happen.Maybe it's time for a nation wide search for the best and worst,it would be like an awards night ,lots of different categories just like the Oscars.The most boring,most over used skit, person most likely to make it,person most likely to fail,best and worst dressed,etc.etc.we can go on and on ,the categories are endless .How else will someone know if they are any good or not unless they are told ,its a good way to cull the herd.Hey don't get me wrong ,I'm not saying I'm the greatest but I don't think I'd still be doing this for 21years if I sucked.I only say this because this brings me to my point, I got a call the other day for a show in upstate N.Y. the booker offered $500.00 plus a room ,it's a 5 hour drive for me, I politely told him I couldn't do it for that amount and gave him my fee, his response was hypnotists are a dime a dozen ,and I said yes they are but not the really good ones!