Is it starting to bite?

[funkymook]

Not DJ related - but through Twitter friends Linda (my other half) has gained several freelance writing jobs that bring in 1k + per month (for a few hours a week work). And through doing live tweets of author events and promoting things like National Book Week she now gets re-tweeted by people like Mark Gatiss - which in turn means she seen her followers increase.

It's an extremely powerful tool - but I think you have to have a certain natural flair for it. If you do it just because everybody else is I think it can easily fall very flat (like blogging).

Personally I find it difficult to tweet interesting, relevant things, so I tend not to bother.

[NKR]

Well first and foremost I have the mindset that there isn't a recession. I see so many Wedding suppliers (particularly photographers) who just blame the recession for their downturn in work however when you get speaking to them they just sit on their backsides and expect the work to just fall onto their lap. I mentioned social media in another thread which is a valuable tool, if you use it correctly.

Get yourself out there and get folks talking about you. I must go on average to 2/3 networking events a week. In fact I run one with two other suppliers which had over 50 people attending at the last one.

Wedding fayres, can't believe some folks say they aren't worth it. Not only do you get to meet B&G's and actually speak to them at length but you get to know the venue, the staff and other suppliers.

Last tip as well is make the most of your time, reduce the noise so to speak. I use to send out so many quotes per day from various third party sources and getting nowhere, which over time makes you question your own worth. Focus purely on your target market.

Thats me off my soap box, but my one tip above all else is maintain a positive mental attitude!

You have said a lot there without saying anything.

How many bookings have you got in for this year? How many came from networking, how many from wedding fayres, how many are organic web based?

That allows people to benchmark against someone who is being successful.

I am trying to see how we sit against those who are not seeing any downturn at all.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

You have said a lot there without saying anything.

How many bookings have you got in for this year? How many came from networking, how many from wedding fayres, how many are organic web based?

That allows people to benchmark against someone who is being successful.

I am trying to see how we sit against those who are not seeing any downturn at all.

Have tried to write to this for the past ten minutes but I'm not 100% happy about posting my stats out there for everyone to see however I can say that just over 50% are from the site alone and the rest is made up of recommendations, social media and networking. Looking back on this time last year there is a slow but steady growth (I had expected more but least I'm heading in the right direction). I can account for two events that have come from networking outside the industry which is the point I think most people are having an issue with here?

My sites are drawing in at least 2 enquires a day since the second week of January.

My point of posting in the thread wasn't really to defend my outlook as such on this but more to ask are you sat there just waiting for stuff to happen or are you trying to make it happen? I tried all sorts last year because I wanted to be busier which included

Linkedin, blogs, youtube, networking (BNI style groups), twitter, google+, facebook pages (and running ad campaigns) & creating a second website.

Not all of these worked, but least I tried them rather than not bothering at all which is what I'm trying to say here.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

As I also said earlier, I thought that it was better to have a presence than to not have one because anything can help.......can't it?

Not being funny but as you said Neil, you've tried them and at least given it a go. I think that maybe some have forgotten that as a business, you are still pretty new to it and fair play for at least trying these different ways of getting new business.

I am surprised though that you haven't had that much success from something that you mention regularly for others to try out. I was expecting more and better results from your reports.

I wrote my reply earlier regarding bookings for this year and where they have come from etc etc but then decided not to post them. I'm not one for sitting there doing nothing but I probably don't do as much as I should or could do to get more work.

Breaking it down, I'd say that 80% of my bookings come from my website. It's not the best website in the world but it gets lots of traffic and does well on Google. I pack it with so much information and one of the main things I do is keep it updated. I have made a concious effort to keep the facebook page up to date too.
The other 20% of my bookings come from either enquiries from elsewhere (other listings), recommendations or residencies.

I do my local twice a month and at christmas every year. I have a residency that gives me around 15 weddings a year as well as other bookings and around 10 - 14 gigs at Christmas each year too.

Taking all of those out of the equation, I currently have 29 bookings for the year which to be honest, is pretty normal for this time of the year for me. I look at my diary just like anyone else and notice the gaps and during my first couple of years in this business, I was worried about that but I am not now. I know the gaps will get filled.

I'm not a big operator and mainly run solo. I am happy working every single weekend of the year with more at Christmas etc and I try to earn as much as I can at those times. I had visions when I first started out but to be honest, I am pretty comfortable doing what I am doing this way without going over the top. Ok, I haven't posted stats as it were but there's an indication anyway.

I never talk prices on the forum because that's my choice but my local pub things twice a month are (as I understand it from others) above average price wise. The residency is less than I charge privately but I often get add-on's which boost the price up and the rest of the bookings have gone up and are a lot more than what I was charging a year or two ago.

[Dynamic Entertainment]

I m in a similar boat....lots of enquiries but very few bookings. I done a wedding fayre last week....nearly all of this years B&Gs had ready sorted their entertainment with sub £150 operators.

[NKR]

Thanks lads that is helpful to benchmark against.

With 50% of Neils bookings from his web site and 80% from Gary's I will have a look at your sites and see what it is that differs from ours. We are about to rebuild the site and as it generate probably 6 maybe 7 jobs out of 60 last year there is some work to do. Keyword phrasing work will be much more pronounced in my text this time.

With 37 booked in for this year I don't feel like I am too far off the mark and its nice to benchmark against operators like Gary - your openness is much appreciated.

Website checking out to commence soon.

Cheers guys.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

No problem at all.
I've just had the perfect scenario which is great. Someone called up at just after 6.30pm saying that they had looked around my website and wanted to know my availability for a Wedding in May at a venue that is in the same group of companies that one of my residencies is at. I quoted them, sent them the email and the guy called back around 20 minutes later confirming that he wants to book.

I personally think that your website and the way you are on the phone or deal with enquiries is the most important thing. It works for me. My website (as you'll see) is not the best in the world but it does the trick for me. It's as simple as that really.

[Ryu]

To offer a little defence to the Twitter advocates...

Whilst the whole notion of using sites like Twitter etc may seem like a whole new fad to get your head round to get the best out of it, the principle is simple and the clue in the name....social networking.

One thing I've looked at recently is creating an affiliates network with other wedding/event suppliers, creating a co-operative of Caterers, Photographers, Cake Makers and offering to promote their business on the condition they do the same back, reciprocal linking on websites etc. Twitter and Facebook offer you the opportunity to do that fairly easily (liking and messaging others business for example). Taking things a step further, you could even look at adding promotional material to any booking confirmations or contracts when mailed out. It's fast to do, fairly straightforward and in a spare half hour, could generate business leads and leave you feeling all great and proactive.

[Excalibur]

From what I can see, due to the conversion rate I'm experiencing at the moment, my most powerful marketing weapon would be to cut my prices by something in the order of 60%.

Apologies for quoting myself, but guess what? I've just got one. I saw an enquiry come in from AmpDJ, specifying phone contact, so rang up, knocked £20 off, and got it. Looks like we can eat next week, now.

PS. It's an 80th birthday. I think my age swung it.

[NKR]

Interesting. Searched Google for Mobile Disco Basingstoke. Shakermaker appears on google maps/places, whatever the heck it is as first one, organic google placement is page 5, way behind a lot of other operators. Are you getting maps/places leads or organics?

Our google maps/places position is also number for our locality, but then its not a big locality.

Not looked at Neil's yet.