It has been a while since we have had a simple list post. Here is one to get you thinking about new skills you could start working on. I am a fan of goals when learning new skills, which is why this is 13 things to learn befor the new year. I would suggest just picking one and mastering it by the new year and then picking another.

1. Juggling- If you already know how, learn a new trick or to juggle something weird.
2. Unicycing- Seriously you can learn this by 2011, but you need to get started soon.
3. Ventriloquism- With some hard work this should be easy to learn and will be a great addition to your act.
4. Card tricks- I am a huge fan of card tricks. I would suggest learning some simple slights and using those instead of buying a bunch of trick decks.
5. Mind reading- Learning mentalism can only help your act as well as teaching you to better read your audience.
6. Stilt walking- Growing four feet overnight is a great attention getter. Plus you don’t have to do much while you are on your stilts, just hang out and wave.
7. Pratfalls- Learning the correct way to fall will save your life, or at least save your knees and elbows.
8. Dance- This one you may not be able to master by 2011 but the increased body awareness will allow you to move in more amusing ways.
9. Gymnastics- This is really a combination of 7 and 8. Learning to tumble will allow you to do crazy stuff and avoid injury.
10. Sewing- Making your own costumes is more satisfying then buying one.
11. Graphic Design- Your marketing materials will get a hundred times better after just one class.
12. Public Speaking- This will make you more comfortable in front of a crowd and teach you the value of projection and planning.
13. Business- Take some time to learn about business so you don’t make the same mistakes you have made in the past.

I would love to hear any other ideas for skill that people should work on before 2011 and what you are going to be working on. The Usable Clown is going to be working on Juggling 5 balls, Idling on his Unicycle and learning the classic palm and back palm with cards.

Todays post comes directly from my starting days. When I first started this was my number one tool to becoming a better clown. You may notice that this one says “New Clown Notebook”, that is because the original one go destroyed when I left it in the yard and the sprinklers got it. This is the one after that, thus it is the new one.

Here is what I have used this notebook for and I suggest you do the same.  The first thing you should do is record all your thoughts about clowning and your clown character(s) in the journal. This is not just limited to writing, in fact a majority of mine is full of drawings. I have about twenty five drawings of potential clown faces and costumes. This may sound silly but it will help you visualize what you are want to look like and what your dream costume is.

Another handy thing about a clown notebook is that it allows you to keep track of where you have found props and supplies online. You can record the prices and what you would order if money was no object.  That way when you do have some money you are able to pick through your clown notebook and choose what will be the best investment for you.

What you need to do is get a notebook that you are comfortable writing in and start using it everyday to record ideas and sketches of whatever strikes your fancy.

A face page from my notebook

A costume page from my notebook

It is finally time to finish this series off. We have covered everything from the importance of simplifying everything, practicing, marketing and planning; now we need to coer the final and most difficult step: Executing the plan! Please go back and reread the previous posts and make sure have completed everything in those posts. The more prepared you are the better this step will go.I will wait here while you do that…

Welcome back. Here we GO!

Get out all of your marketing materials and look at your plan. Where do you want to entertain? Start by making a list of all of the people that you know. Start contacting those people in groups of five or six. Send an email, a post card, call them or meet them in person. You want to turn these people into either customers, investors or advertisers.  Of course you are probably not really looking for investors so instead focus on turning them into customers or advertisers.

Over the long haul it is going to be better to convert these initial people into advertisers. That way they will help you get them jobs. Also converting people into advertisers is as easy as giving them a stack of business cards and then asking if they need more the next time you see them.  Customers have the short term benefit of giving you money, but with a little luck can turn into advertisers. You do this by blowing their minds with your show. That way they tell their friends and spread the word about you. Once again, leave them with a stack of cards.

The next step is going to be making a list of places that you think would benefit from your services and which of your services will help them the most. This is not a list of places where you want to work but a list of places that you should work. Try to keep in mind that their is no guarantee that you are going to convince them that they should hire you, however they now know your name and will hopefully think of you first.

With this list you want to select two or three at a time and focus your energy on them. This is especially important if you are a part time clown. You will also benefit from doing a dress rehearsal of your sales call with a business person that you have done a job for in the past and have a good relationship with. They can provide you with feedback and that feedback can make all the difference in the world.

Here is the most important part of this step. Do it. It is really easy to sit around and talk about how you need to go do this stuff. That will not get you any business. So get off you behind and get to work. Make sure you let me know how the plan works for you, unless you get too busy to come back and visit us.

The Usable Clown is here to beg your forgiveness. He screwed up. He has spent to much time lately worrying about money and decided to try to charge you guys for your email subscription. Talk about a lame plan. Like most plans of this lame-nitude, it has failed. I am giving up on that and want you guys to know that we are going to try and head back to a more regular schedule of postings.  I will continue to have ads on the site and you may have noticed a button on the side of the site that allows you to but me a treat. All I ask is that if you find something on the site that is helpful, please donate some money to the feed the hungry clown. Here is the deal, I will try to update more often and you guys can occasionally buy me a treat. This will help me feed my addiction to slurpees and you guys will continue to become more marketable clowns.

I plan on using the rest of the month of August to clean up any loose ends on the site and we sill start with fresh updates in September.

Check back soon.

As I am sure everyone has noticed, the economy is still in the toilet and as such people are not hiring entertainers with the gusto of previous years. What to do with all this free time? Redesign, Re-invent and Reconnect.

• Redesign- This could be the perfect opportunity to try a new clown face, develop a new character or put together that awesome new costume you have been dreaming about. Or it could be a great time to make that old looking website and make it look more Web 2.0. I am currently working on making my site look more fancy, which will hopefully make me more likely to get jobs. There are thousands of tutorials online on how to make your site look the most cutting edge and with a little practice and a lot of patience anyone can learn to build webpages.
• Re-invent- Is there a part of your act that you are not 100% happy with? I know that I have numerous parts of my act that I wish I could change. Well it is time to stop wishing and start doing. Start practicing again. Use the time that you normally would have used performing on the weekends and run through your act figuring out what needs to be fixed. Not only will this make your act stronger but you will learn something new. Plus you can then offer a new and improved show to your clients.
• Reconnect- Call up some of your older clients and say hi. Let them know that you appreciate their business and see if there is any event that you can help them with. It can’t hurt to let them know that you are still in business, plus everyone likes to be thanked. If it is a client that has hired you numerous times you might offer them a reduced rate to help promote both your businesses.

Well good luck. I am off to juggle.