I'm currently taking a holiday break from my regularly scheduled episodes, so for the next few weeks, I'm running my six most downloaded episodes. I'll be back on the first of the year with brand new episodes! In the mean time, enjoy these "Best of" episodes. Lou Serrano's interview is my second most downloaded episode. In this episode, we talk about Lou's career, how he's always working, and we also talk a little about his public speaking ventures and his thoughts on that. Lou Serrano is a professional magician and a frequent performer at the Hollywood magic castle, a corporate entertainer, keynote speaker, and author, Lou is also a marketing expert and consultant who has helped countless other magicians and entertainers go after their chosen markets and kill it! It’s certainly no question as to why he’s been referred to as “the magician who is always working.”   Success Quote: A lobster, when left high and dry among the rock, does not have the sense enough to work his way back to the sea, but waits for the sea to come to him. If it does not come, he remains where he is and dies, although the slightest effort would enable him to reach the waves, which are perhaps within a yard of him. The world is full of human lobsters; people stranded on the rocks of indecision and procrastination, who, instead of putting forth their own energies, are waiting for some grand billow of good fortune to set them afloat. — Orison Swett Marden   Lou on Public Speaking Lou is currently working on stepping into public and keynote speaking. He gives some of his insights on breaking into this market. • Talks about the two ways to approach public speaking • Tells about his topic, The Magic of Communication or How to Command the Attention of an Audience, and how he decided upon that topic. • Talks about some of the lessons he's learned so far in this journey. • Tells how he connects a topic points to a magical effects and gives an example.     A Moment of Failure: A $9,000 infomercial that ultimately flopped. It yielded absolutely no results. Find out what he learned.     Biggest success: Releasing his Steel Ball Routine which sold like hot cakes and ultimately helped him get through The Great Recession.     How does he differentiate himself? Lou differentiates himself from others in his genre by how he performs and how he does business. He ultimately wats his clients to get the best, even if that means he needs to hire someone else to fill their needs.     Has he "made it?" Yes. He "made it" the moment he started moving toward his goal of becoming a professional magician.     What's working for him business-wise? Keeping a database of clients & prospects and keeping in touch with them. Answers the question: "What if I only have a handful of people on my list?"     Is there anything he would have done differently up to this point? He would have been wiser with money early on. He wouldn't have been as careless with it as he had been at the beginning.     Other topics touched upon: • Lou brings us into his incredible journey of finding himself in music, then in magic, and how he'd actually hit rock bottom, finding himself without any real marketable skills and having to get a job driving that paid $5 an hour at the time. Find out how he got out and was able to transition into performing full time. • The importance of having a list of clients and prospects and keeping in touch with them. • How the Magic Castle has helped him in his career. • Tells about why he gives a 20% commission to people that refer him shows and how effective it has been for him.     Parting advice: Treat your art as a business if you want to be successful. It's never too late to start. People to study: Jeff Walker - Product Launch Formula Brendan Burchard - Experts Academy Dan Kennedy -