"Getting started in show business is not as hard as you'd expect," says long-time performer, Millard Grubb. You need to have three things: An act, a market, and a little moxie.

Most would be performers figure they need to go to drama school or take voice lessons or dance lessons. While these things can help you to be a better performer, you don't really need them. If you have a little five minute routine that has a joke or a song or even a good magic trick, you can get started.

How do you know if your routine is good enough? After performing before family and friends who give you genuine positive encouragement, go to a few clubs in your area and ask if you can perform at a luncheon or birthday party. Once, you've done a few of those with positive results, you can move on to find a market.

Let me make a point here. Everyone needs a few places to be "bad" at before they start taking checks. Local functions where people know one another are not as frightful or damaging as a gig where you have been paid a lot of dough to do a lousy job. If you've seen enough television growing up, you KNOW what's good and what's bad. Fortunately, at the local level, you don't have to have the chops that a Broadway or Hollywood has to make good.

There are tons of performers that almost no one has heard of working the local birthday market who make six figures every year. Are they successful?

Compared to who?

If you are making a living doing what you like in the performing business, you're successful on a certain level.

OK, let's say that you've done a number of shows locally and people like you. They are willing to pay you. You are willing to do more shows.

First, You need to determine who is your market.

Suppose you want to participate in the lucrative birthday market. Every child has birthdays. Adults, too. Do you want to work with children or adults?

Let's take children. You can place a simple ad in a parents magazine. Maybe you could put up a website. Wouldn't it be interesting to contact a local pizza joint and offer to be their "Offical Birthday Performer?"

You could go to all the local daycares and do special shows. Once you do that, you can make sure each child gets a gift from you with your name and phone number for birthday parties. Don't stop with daycares, do some after school programs. Make sure each child gets a flyer or word-search that has your contact info on it. In just a short time, you'll get a number of calls for shows. One of my friends in New York, Silly Billy, is booked solid doing just birthday parties. Performing at birthday parties is a lucrative business.

If you are looking for some other type of venue for your performing skills, you need to look for people who hire performers. I am not talking agents. Get to know banquet managers at hotels. Let them know you have a show. You are available. Drop off flyers. Get to know people.

It's all a matter of getting your name out. That's going to take a little moxie, a little brass. No worries, people don't bite. Once you have a few people who have seen you and can vouch for you, it's just a matter of keeping the ball rolling. Just get out there and meet a few folks.©2010 Millard Grubb