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For more than 20 years, he has endured increasingly diminishing returns as the lowest-ranking member of the media, and now his predecessor’s company has also recently been “downsized.” Communication networkI realized that it was time to stop working for others and start working for the man in the mirror.
Successful entrepreneurs always advise: “Follow your passion.” And so did I. My secret passion? I’ve always wanted to lead history walking tours.
(Yes, shockingly, I’m also super single.)
I’m a big consumer of walking tours. Over the years, I’ve booked countless pavement-pounding adventures the moment the plane’s wheels reach a remote runway. And in every city I visit, I’m always amazed at how these knowledgeable hosts have their patrons in the palm of their hands while providing all sorts of amazing information.from something morbid jack the ripper Take a sweaty stroll through London’s Whitechapel district art deco Heading for a fast drive through Miami Beach Dear Departure On a tour illuminating neighborhoods where celebrities have OD’d (because Los Angeles people only walk red carpets), I chronicled my experiences, the good, the bad, and the ugly, while thinking about how I could have improved on them.
So, with a mission in mind and years of research in mind, I had one big question. So, how does this industry work?
first step
“I think the biggest mistake people make when starting out is thinking this is going to be easy. do not have” says Seth Kamil, President and Founder. Big Onion Walking Tour. There are all sorts of incorporation and insurance considerations, but before that comes the big question of defining what makes a tour different.
Seth established the gold standard for exploring New York in 1991 as a graduate student at Columbia University. His mission is twofold. A) History, architecture, local character, etc. B) Provides real-world experience and much-needed income to other graduate students and recent underfunded Ph.D.s, who are currently the only type of employees he employs. do.
“All of our guides are academically educated and are historians who lead tours. They are not tour guides who dabble in history,” Kamil added.
[Note to self: Google “black-market PhD degrees”.]
“Podcasting can be a lonely business,” says Tom Myers, who, along with Greg Young, has hosted a ridiculously popular mega-show based on New York City history for 15 years. the bowery boys. “But when we were on a walking tour, [an offshoot of their enterprise that began in 2018] We get to interact with our fans and sometimes get ideas for future shows from them!”
“We also have some more geeky tours, like the ‘Jane Jacobs vs. Robert Moses’ walk, which I’m especially proud of because I think it taps into our podcast DNA,” Myers said. say. “I had dreamed of that tour for years and it wasn’t until I finally had the perfect guide, Aaron Schielke, research and write it for me that it became a reality. Now it’s one of our most popular walks. and Aaron is now a tour to the city planner!
(To know me is to know that I was completely helpless when it came to describing that walk.)
“If done right, this could be a dream job,” he says randy walkerbased in New Orleans Writer The person who has primarily hosted ghost adventures in the French Quarter. Ghost history tour, for over 10 years. “Whether it’s a bad night, an exciting night, or both; I never have boring. “
And, of course, if you want to entertain your visitors under the umbrella of a well-established company? Please know a little about this shitty company.
“Our future guides must be good storytellers, passionate about New York history, and have a good sense of humor,” Myers advises. “They have to know about the show too. We haven’t tested them, but they do Get bonus points if you point out something we said in any of the last 430 episodes!”
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Spreading information on the streets
“We relied on word of mouth, print media coverage, and ‘pagers and payphones,'” Kamil recalls. “I We approached Big Onion like a business, leading tours and introducing complete walks even to just one participant. It’s not all about making money in the short term, as building a loyal customer base is more important. ”
Reviews are helpful to me, but I was worried about what was needed further afield, like protecting my website and dealing with online anger.
“These things are scary because you have no power and one insult cancels out hundreds of compliments,” said Walker, an online critic posing as an objective critic. laments. “I liken it to the sketches of running a resort when Adam Sandler was hosting. saturday night live: “If you’re grieving now, you’ll probably grieve there too.”. ” Basically, Yelp was invented by angry white people. ”
added Tom, a real heckler. “It’s common for pedestrians passing by to add their own commentary. Greg and I were once filming something in Seward Park when a woman in her 80s stopped filming and said, ‘What are they doing? If you know, why don’t you know?’ She was probably right, of course.
name game
For the name of my business, for many years composite media Graphic artist/genius, matt smith, you have kindly provided us with the image below and a working title, but what about a permanent name? I’m on the Thirsty History Tour, River Let Die Historical Bar Crawl, Bar Apple Walking Tour, Old Brew York Tour, Pistrical Bar Crawl, or – to put it bluntly – the Historic Big Apple Bar Crawl. It does not mean.
Credit: Matt Smith
As you know, none of my options impressed me unless a site containing one of these words is already available. As anyone who has ever tried to name something knows, the ones you really like have already been adopted. “We got the domain name in his 1990s, so it wasn’t that difficult back then,” Kamil says.
If you think about it? Perhaps you should have kept even the silliest of these candidates to yourself.
legalize (and fund)
Then there’s the part that’s becoming legal. New York has always found new ways to have fun cracking down on all kinds of small businesses, and my category is no exception. Tourist guides, in all their forms, authorized. Therefore, the most difficult requirement for this former C student was to take the local history exam. This quiz consists of his 150 questions and requires at least 97 correct answers. Additionally, there is a non-refundable $50 test fee. (Wow.)
“We are strong supporters of the guide association and only hire people who have passed the official exam,” Myers explains. “But our guides love this test because taking it is like going out to hear trivia at a bar.”
(Thanks, Tom. I’m not at all confident about this test.)
The good news regarding administrative procedures is: Alliance for Downtown New York Walking Tour Incubator Grant Program Funding an entrepreneur to start a walking tour in Lower Manhattan. [Note: If me writing about starting a walking tour in lower Manhattan for Entrepreneur doesn’t get me a grant based on entrepreneurs starting walking tours in lower Manhattan? Well, it’s time to look into the lucrative work that is ditch digging.]
(contains alcohol) expect the unexpected
“When I was hosting a tour at The Bowery, a man came out of the boarding house, approached our group, pulled down his pants and said to the client, ‘You’re the mother of my child. ’” Kamil recalls the 1994 show. “The woman was shocked and her date was angry, but I said I should charge them extra because I would be telling this story forever.”
In Manhattan, you can expect inebriated intruders to jeopardize your employment 24/7, but in The Big Apple, nothing happens in The Big Easy.
“On my first night in front of the bachelorette party, I was nervous and trying to get every word right, and as I was doing so, something like rubber hit my cheek,” Walker said, grimacing. Ta. “Well, they had an inflatable sex doll and decided to rub its dick in my face.”
Tour guides with years of service are also better at picking out freeloaders.
“It’s common for people to try to join a group and think they’re being sneaky,” Myers laughs. “let’s meet!”
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Asphalt experience
Following previous works, I was inadvertently training for this labor of love The Year Inn (via both new york magazine plus video package for maxim), Neil’s (entrepreneur) and heidelberg (The New York Times) Ever since I became an adult.
Yael Bar-tur, social media consultant and co-host of the amazing show ask the Jews Let me premiere my podcast, My Business for Her 40 Recentlyth …Birthdays including *gulp*…30 About her closest friends.
Yael’s feedback was encouraging, but also somewhat insulting. “You had prepared so thoroughly and meticulously that it reminded me of homeless people walking around with stacks of notes muttering to themselves.” But it worked out well enough. So I heard from a friend of a friend of hers that she was wondering if I could lead a follow-up walk for a much easier group of four. answer? yes!
Robin Mean and Nick Mean of the latter wrote a much more kind review, writing, “A riot! Great bar, comfortable pace, crazy history, definitely a fun way to spend an afternoon in the city!” Sent by email.
My most recent endeavors centered around an Emmy Award-winning reporter and two birthdays. drinking history Veterinarian Lauren Sivan.this Sister – I didn’t want to It was just a game until I dressed up as “”sexy alexander hamiltonNot to be outdone, to paraphrase the old adage: Dress for the job you want, not the job you…um…don’t currently have. I was wearing a movie-accurate homage to Daniel Day-Lewis’ 2002 “Bill the Butcher” character. New York gang.aAnnoyingly, Sivan thought I would do this. willy wonka.
Credit: Matt Smith/@FanFanPS
In these three early tours, we worked on: paris cafe (1873), dead rabbit(2013, but the building was built in 1828), francis tavern (debatable 1762), old town bar (1892), pete’s tavern (1864), and indefensible. joey rose (In 2022, mainly due to comedians, Joe DeRosa (has been on Sivan’s tour and owns a joint).
The stop went well and I learned about all the places, but I was nervous about being confused by the curious patrons. As it turns out, this is not a fear specific to me. “All new guides are afraid to answer ‘I don’t know’ to a question,” Walker advises. “The reality is there’s so much history that no one knows it all, and most tourists are there to have a good time while cheering you on.”
No small tours, only small tips
A reporter once asked Yankees great Joe DiMaggio why he played so hard in meaningless games. The Hall of Famer responded: “There were people in the stands today who had never seen me play before and may never see me again.”
During the Big Onion’s early gigs, Seth discovered firsthand the simple truth of why every outing needs to be made in a big way. “I learned this when on a rainy day in 1992, a man showed up and I paid him all $10 for a full walk,” Kamil recalls. His decision not to cancel or give his all was his first big break. “People who were on tour ended up being editors of magazines.” washington post We were then featured on the front page of the Sunday travel section. ”
Positive press is the kind of payment that money can’t buy, but the actual tip is of profit Then this My guys in the game and in NOLA learned this lesson about being cute while demanding a little something in return for their efforts.
“We’re trying different things, and the stupidest thing we’ve ever done was say, ‘Tips and hugs are welcome,'” Walker laughs. “Sure enough, 30 pairs of eyes lit up and hugged me drunkenly, but my wallet wasn’t filled.”
Randy added: “I wouldn’t be happy if I couldn’t make $80 to $100 per tour. There’s no science to it. I don’t know who is a good or bad tipster.”
In the words of the aforementioned Bill the Butcher, “Just don’t do it.” Come in If you come here empty-handed again, you’ll have to pay for the fun you had with me! ”
My three events downtown brought in a little over two grand, but I don’t think that’s an average way of looking at how things go. However, with the increasing number of moving holidays in the lunar calendar, it occurred to him that this might be one of the freelance jobs that AI cannot handle. still.
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