Quiet times?

[Imagine]

Very, very quiet over here, and I know lots of other people around the country that I speak to on a regular basis are saying the same thing.
In fact, even watching Facebook on a Saturday night at the moment there are virtually none of the usual "my office for the night"/"what do you think of my setup"/"I've got an empty dance floor -help" type of posts.

What I have noticed is that the ones that ARE going out regularly at the moment (again, these are people I actually know and talk to) are at the cheaper end of the fees scale. I've also noticed the customer budgets (not that I take a blind bit of notice of them) on NaD going through the floor at the moment. Maybe there just isn't the money around at the moment...

That said, all of the bookings I do have are at my normal fee....so there's money around somewhere thankfully

I'm sure it'll turn around. I've got a very busy summer ahead of me with not many available dates between 1st April and the end of August (again...September at the moment is barren!). It's a funny old game sometimes.

[Imagine]

However, the number one way to get gigs is through your own website, and a proper marketing system put in place. Speak to a professional and you'll soon discover why you've been missing out on so much, because you've not positioned yourself correctly online and not got in front of the right people.

When online marketing is done correctly, you create a "tap" of enquiries that you turn on and off whenever you need more bookings.

I look forward to all the gory details in a couple of week's time Gavin

[ukpartydj]

It's a quiet March for me, I didn't have any bookings for March until 6 weeks ago so it's not a shock. I'm down by about £800 from last year which is a bit annoying!

I've did a tonne of seo on my new DorsetDJ site and it's paid off massively already. My traffic has doubled and enquiries tripled! Somehow my income hasn't... Least not yet.... Hmmm!

[ppentertainments]

Beginning of the year has been the worst since I went full time, with March alone looking to be £2500 down on last year

Looking ahead, the rest of the year looks ok and speaking to other similar DJs they are finding it a quiet year as a whole. One big difference is that I am getting a lot more bookings with add-ons which is a bit of a bonus.

Problem is, without bookings I am busier than when I have bookings which seems very common in business

[Benny Smyth]

Problem is, without bookings I am busier than when I have bookings which seems very common in business

It's all that boring paperwork that we didn't really sign up for as DJs, but have to do. When you have more time, it can't keep dropping down the list of stuff to do.

Ugh. I hate paperwork.

[rth_discos]

I look forward to all the gory details in a couple of week's time Gavin

Thanks - I didn't want to provide a link to promote it for fear of breaking any rules

[ppentertainments]

It's all that boring paperwork that we didn't really sign up for as DJs, but have to do. When you have more time, it can't keep dropping down the list of stuff to do.

Ugh. I hate paperwork.

Oh yes, and the wedding fayres, network meetings and having to leave the house and talk to people

I think about 80% of my business came as a surprise to me if I am honest lol

[musicology]

Paperwork?

[ukpartydj]

Paperwork?

Child: "What are you doing dad?"
Dad: "Paperwork"
Child: "Why haven't you got any paper?"
Dad: "Um, err..."

[yourdj]

All good this end, busiest year so far. With 2 babies I am happy not being mental busy!!!

Best quick way to get work Imo is wedding fairs or networking with another DJ(s). i find all the online stuff (unless your cheap) is a waste of time. All of my Facebook marketing has gone know here, but as mentioned I am sure done promo-rly that would work. Sod Bark or NAD etc. Rather spend time maintaining venue relationships. Aditional to that I have improved my extras and am pushing them a bit harder so the average spend has increased.

I think the average DJ can now build their own website (thanks to Wordpress) and make themselves look great. Most DJ's dont use or need agents anymore, so the market is full of competition that can actually show off what they can do now rather than the crap websites 8-9 years back. There is also much more communication and learning than their used to be through Facebook and places like here, so the average DJ knows how to market and may also be charging more money so can afford to pay for SEO and website development.

Only one answer - like yester-year, the average DJ now needs to think one step ahead and not get comfortable with loads of lead through something that works as that will date quickly. Person to person and maintaining relationships also seems to be every more important now, client meetings, be nice to hotel staff and do the best job ever (or differently to any DJ they have seen) would be my advice.