I'm going to pull the plug on my NaD subscription. I've had it for over a year now, and it just hasn't worked for me. I had an email reminder this morning about uploading my latest PAT details and I just don't have the motivation to put more effort into something that isn't working for me.
You're not the first person I've heard say that recently Benny.
There's a lot of very established DJs I know at the moment who've had enough of losing out to the lower end of the market DJs that seem to be flooding the system (most of the leads I receive now go out to in excess of 30 people!).
I know Martin's a member on here so won't speak out of turn....but there's now an awful lot of stuff which a lot of people are finding very frustrating with the way in which the system works these days.
I renewed for this year, but seeing my current conversion rate with NaD at the moment (it's gone into single figure percentages lead vs conversion now), then I'm unlikely to renew myself next year.
I've found that it more than pays for itself, even 1 or 2 gigs a year is worth it at my rate.
And the DJ Mark I think looks quite good on the website.
However, my concern is that the site is geared towards the lower end. The DJ Mark is based upon fulfilling some basic criteria, and then just getting good feedback, which when you charge £100 is pretty easy to get - expectations are lower. Whereas when you're charging £600+, you have to work much harder to get that good feedback, and that's not taken in to account.
However, I still think it's the best resource we have as a location for genuine feedback, and whilst there aren't a huge number of high paying leads, the ones that are are worth it to not miss out on. I've had 2 in particular recently that were well paid and in lovely venues that were through NeedADisco.
I love it when DJ's advertise them self as "multi award winners", when all they have done is bought PLI/PAT & submitted a couple of references. But I do agree it looks nice when not used as a main sales pitch.Originally Posted by rth_discos
Perhaps its time to split NAD into two sections.
One for the budget and mid ranged DJ's and one for someone that wants one of the best DJ's in their area and is prepared to book on the company rather than the cheapest price. It may well just be the nature of these systems, that people that want to book premium, would rather to the legwork on google and take time to meet and chat with different suppliers before making a decision. Thats how my business works anyway.
Could be on the same site or perhaps a different one? How will Martin know whether anyone meets the bar is anyones guess, but I could name about 100 people off the top of my head who i would consider to be industry leaders that may be interested. He could easily use his current clients that are good and command a good fee, and split it that way, thus attracting new customers. i tried need a disco for a year and for me it was not worth the hustle of emailing anyone back. I am better off spending the money towards a wedding show. Takes half a day and you get at least 3-10 bookings from it.
So if there was a service for the £500 + premium DJ that commanded results then i would be interested in that.
I do own this site, which will be developed soon, with the £800 we have raised through membership fees.
It is in essence a microcosm of my description above, but is invite only unfortunately.
http://dj-alliance.co.uk
Last edited by yourdj; 02-05-2016 at 03:34 PM.
And that's the hard bit. How do you create a system that determines the best DJs in the area. I don't know the answer to that.
But the current NeedADisco setup very quickly elevates the budget DJs to the "top in the area", and whilst they might be doing a great job at £100 - are they going to cut it when compared to what a £600 DJ delivers (without this turning in to a pricing thread).
It would be nice to differentiate our DJs based on skills, experience and what they deliver against their price - but I don't know how you do that - which is why I've not raised is on the NeedADisco Facebook page. It's probably about as close as it can get.
Who says that £60 Sid isn't the best DJ in his area? He may have shabby lighting and his leads may dangle freely, but that doesn't mean that he couldn't kick any of our asses when it comes to the performance on the night.
How very true , however I get between 5-10 gigs a year from NAD , I am not the most expensive , but I am not cheap either , I get around 3-5 quotes to reply to a day , so I can be a bit picky as far as gigs go ( Stairs ,Distance , type of event etc)
Cheers
Daryll
darylldj.co.uk , serving hampshire , Surrey and sussex
Like any enquiry it’s just an invitation to introduce yourself to the client, NaD doesn’t sell you, you do. With the feedback system on NaD any DJ who regularly disappoints their clients isn’t going to last very long.
No need, Toby. On the site it gives guide prices for budget, mid price, and top flight DJs. If the client gives a budget of £500, he's unlikely to go with a £100 one, I'd think.
Conversely, if the budget's £100, he's unlikely to go for a £500 one.
Martin has all the data to hand, and he'll know what sort of price bracket is winning most leads. The figures may be higher than we suspect. Having said that, I've lost a couple where I put low bids in, and I do get the impression that there may be some new arrivals quoting low.
In many ways I'm like Daryll, I'm ( usually ) mid priced, and I've had clients say that's part of the reason why I got the gig.
Last edited by Excalibur; 02-05-2016 at 04:46 PM.
You could read that wrong...
darylldj.co.uk , serving hampshire , Surrey and sussex
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