Calming it down in 2017

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Hi all,

Firstly, I hope you all have a good Christmas and New Year and if you're working as usual, have a good one.
I have another Christmas party tomorrow, Christmas Eve, a wedding on 29th December and then New Years Eve and that's it for the year.
As I am sure some of you know by now, I relocated in the middle of August to Norfolk (lovely little place called Ormesby St Margaret which is 4 miles from Great Yarmouth).

Before I moved to Norfolk, I had every intention of going full steam ahead and I envisaged (and hoped), that I'd be just as busy and successful as I had been in Hampshire. Before I left, I still had a number of bookings to honour down South which included a number of weddings, birthday's and the Christmas season so my thoughts were that I would start to promote myself in the new area in January. I didn't mind the 195 mile each way, 3hr 30m drive to start off with but as time has gone on, especially having to do it for the past 7 weeks, every weekend, it has now really started to do my head in.

My diary for 2017 looks good with 22 weddings and a few other bookings too BUT BUT BUT......`18 of those bookings (weddings), are all down in Hampshire.
Because I have said I'll wait until January to promote myself, I haven't really had enquiries up here as yet so I kind of got myself into a bit of a dilemma.

I recently made the decision that I would no longer be taking on any bookings down there and today it felt really strange saying to an enquirer (came to me via a venue that I am recommended by), that I was no longer operating in that area.
Over the past 2 or 3 years (sorry, can't remember), myself and Daryll have networked very well and will continue to do so. Thanks to Daryll, I have managed to get a number of bookings covered for next year. We have an arrangement and a way of working which works well for both of us and the venues.

So, things are changing for me in 2017 and Shakermaker Promotions.
On 3rd January I am actually getting back into something I did a number of years ago which is courier work. I have secured a well paid role which is Monday to Friday. The whole move and change of scenery has given me a different outlook and I don't want to have to rely on DJing up here when it seems that there are so many people doing the same thing. Because I am unknown at the moment, I am not sure I'll get a look in for a while.

The new job will take the pressure off and also give me time (hours are 8 - 3), and funds to promote myself when the time is right. It could be that I kind of take a year off and just concentrate on the bookings that I have already and settle into the new job.
I am still keeping the majority of my equipment but may have some bits to sell (my RCF subs are currently for sale but I'm not too bothered if I end up keeping them).

Lastly, I think I may enjoy the change but also enjoy the DJing a lot more once it is less frequent and I don't have to rely on it. If I still lived in Hampshire I would still be carrying on as usual but it's simply the drive, week in, week out that is a killer and I've had enough now.
When I registered myself self-employed on 1st February 2005, I said that I would never work for anyone else again.... that has not changed. I am still going to be my own boss. It's a bit like networking in my opinion.

[Excalibur]

Hope it all works well for you Gary, all the best. I know exactly what you mean about not working for anyone else, and agree totally.

Only area we may diverge on is your Southern bookings. Journeys of that length either side of a gig are draining. I don't have any runs that far, I'm topping out around 125 miles each way, but the one thing I've found is that staying overnight in a Travelodge or similar and driving back in daylight, fully refreshed is a far more pleasurable and safer way to do it.

[ckpr2]

DJing can be hard work, gear from house to car, car to gig, gig to car and car to house.
That's why in my last few years of Djing I took on only gigs that interested me.
I am now retired but miss it a bit, well the good nights at least.

[DJ Jules]

If this had been me, I would have started a new brand, website, etc in the area I planned to move to long before I actually moved. From experience it takes time for marketing to take effect and for enquiries to start coming in, plus moving an existing company/brand to a new area is only going to cause confusion for customers in your old and new areas.

I can relate to the travel issues... though not with my disco business. I've been in four different long term, long distance relationships (from Cambridge to York, Carlisle, Toronto and finally Bristol) and I can tell you that the travelling gets boring very quickly - regardless of the incentive for the trip!

Julian

[rth_discos]

If this had been me, I would have started a new brand, website, etc in the area I planned to move to long before I actually moved. From experience it takes time for marketing to take effect and for enquiries to start coming in, plus moving an existing company/brand to a new area is only going to cause confusion for customers in your old and new areas.

I can relate to the travel issues... though not with my disco business. I've been in four different long term, long distance relationships (from Cambridge to York, Carlisle, Toronto and finally Bristol) and I can tell you that the travelling gets boring very quickly - regardless of the incentive for the trip!

Julian

I have just done the same, moving to an area that now involves a ferry crossing to get to my previous area!

So I had to make sure that

1: Any gigs in my old area paid enough to justify ferry crossing and overnight hotel stay
2: That I had enough gigs in my new area

I started planning this 12 months ago, on the basis I needed last year to build up momentum to get gigs booked in to 2017.

And I'm pleased it's worked.

Past March, I have gigs in every month until the end of the summer, and hopefully once I've added in the January/February rush of bookings, I'll have a full time income sorted.

Any gigs I've got in my old area are hand selected as ones I really wanted to do, and I'll be reworking the website to only attract worthwhile bookings for that area (whilst there's a ferry involved, it's only 1 hour drive away once off the ferry)

So it is do-able, but did require a long term plan, lots of marketing, and taking on gigs in the new area as early as possible to build up contacts and a "history" in that area. But it has been a lot of work, getting people to contact you instead of the "usual" contacts they have - so do you need to find a point of difference to stand out.

[musicology]

Like others, I reckon you should've started much earlier, got a good website together and make sure it's easily visible in your new local area by getting the SEO right. That's how the bookings come in these days. Also get on the key directories like NAD and Bark in the new area. I agree this should be started well in advance of moving area and that it be made clear what is happening on the site. You obviously can't do client meetings but not many customers require that. They just want a reliable, professional service at the right price. If I ever move my area I would start to promote a year in advance.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Thanks for the comments and advice.... the thing is, I really don't mean to sound sarcastic here but the clue is in the title really in that I am "calming it down" which means that I am purposely doing it for the time being.
Apologies if what I've written doesn't come across the right way.

I'll try and explain myself a bit better....

With reference to planning and giving myself a year to get things into place, well that wasn't possible.
The whole move thing happened very quickly. We decided we wanted to move in late April, put the house up for sale and it sold in June. We then moved on 15th August.
As I said, I still had a number of bookings in 2016 including Christmas and also many for 2017 in Hampshire before I moved so I knew I would have work and if it meant travelling then so be it. There hasn't really been time to do anything because of the new house and the bookings I have had to travel to do.

With reference to networking and the likes of NAD.... Well, firstly...one of the first things I did in that first week in the new place, was to register with NAD.
I also had a couple of meetings with some other DJ's in the area. In fact (something I totally forgot - my apologies), I emailed a number of suppliers up in Norfolk around 6 weeks before we moved (I think I emailed or spoke to 13 and 8 got back to me).
One of those suppliers has given me 2 jobs up there which I've done already and I have a wedding booked in for him up here in August.

The other thing I did was to register for a darts team as I play darts regularly. This has also meant that I have been giving my cards out to every venue that I have been to. My local pub knows what I do and have asked me to do a number of dates since I've been here but unfortunately I have been booked for every single one of them (typical). It was via the darts team that I met the guy who I will be driving for.

Lastly, back to NAD.... I am getting plenty of enquiries via them and have a booking that has come via the site for 29th December (a wedding).
Just the other day I altered my region settings so that I am just concentrating on the new area.
I also took the Hamphire tags and keywords etc off my website.

So, I HAVE done stuff but the reality is, I want to do something different for a while and not have to rely on DJ work. This is why I will keep most of my equipment because I know that (a) I WILL do as well as I've previously done (when I eventually get back into it), and (b) I will get the itch to do it, probably sooner, rather than later.

I hope that's explained it a bit better. Daryll has been passed some of the bookings for 2017 and will get some more too. I will also pass any enquiries to him that I still get for my old patch. Once Christmas is over I will contact the venues that recommend me or that I work regularly at, and tell them the situation too. All of the venues already know I have moved. I have done bookings at all of them since I moved as I have travelled back to do them.

Ideal scenario for me? To do something different for a while, do as many of the bookings I have booked in as I can and take on new bookings up here as and when they come in.

Right..... Off to my last Christmas party booking down here and then home tonight afterwards.
Have a good one!

[musicology]

Fair enough!

[Imagine]

I'm only just over the border on the Cambridgeshire/Norfolk/Suffolk border if ever you want to meet up/network.

Yarmouth is about 90 mins from me (it's not the easiest of places to get to), but I cover your nearest big city (Norwich) quite a bit.

The wages over there are nothing like Hampshire. You'd have to come over into Cambs to get anywhere near those.

Good luck with quieting it down though. Got to admit after the past couple of weeks, I could do with a rest of several months as well