At a loss for words. [Archive] - Mobile Disco Directory Forum

View Full Version : At a loss for words.

DJ Jules

26-02-2010, 08:49 AM

Larry B Entertainment

26-02-2010, 09:00 AM

I have seen worse. I would just leave them to it, not my place to get involved. He may be excellent at what he does but doesnt have much creativity when it comes to designing flyers.

Some people are happy with clipart. Not everyone has Photoshop CS4 or Serif and even if they did they might not have a clue how to do anything better.

soundtracker

26-02-2010, 09:57 AM

Have a chat with the guy, get him on side, see if you can help him improve, allies in this game are always much more useful than enemies.

StarZSoundS

26-02-2010, 10:03 AM

This ad has just turned up on a notice board at the offices where I do my day job. I'm not afraid of a little competition and don't actively market my services at work, but this ad is really bugging me because it's so poor!! Bad use of grammar, spare closing brackets and great use of standard MS word clipart!

7413

The question is, what would you do? Please vote now...

Julian

Lets be honest...even I can see its not great.:eek: :eek:

The guy says he has 27 years experience so that MAY put him in the over
50's bracket.For some of you youngsters I'd like to point out something.When we went to school it was blackboards and Geography and Algebra.

We didn't have the benefit of learning about computers at school.the closest thing to a computer was the Coffee Machine in Assembly.Recently I did a school party for 4-7 year old at a Primary School and there must have been a hundred computers at that school(for that age??).Things that come naturally to chaps in their 20's now....don't come naturally to some of us older ones now!!;) ;)

So the poster ain't great...and he may have used some primitive programme.Maybe we should give him a bit of rope(waits for obvious pun).:eek: :eek: :eek:

yourdj

26-02-2010, 10:04 AM

He may be Good at Djing and just not very good at marketing which surely is a plus point for you?

Everyone deserves a go and its up to the client if they book a rubbish DJ not you.

- as mentioned allies are far better than enemies.
This is highly competitive business and you may get recommendations from him for gigs he cant do for whatever reason?

:)

1st Choice Karaoke

26-02-2010, 10:05 AM

I would put a very well worded, professionally printed poster of my own... who's going to book him then? That has to be one of the worst advertising posters I have ever seen!

Vectis

26-02-2010, 10:36 AM

Put up your own ad and mention that you're ProDub compliant and what this means :)

Jonny Boy

26-02-2010, 10:44 AM

I'd do absolutely nothing. Surely an ad so bad would do more harm than good for discerning clients
I can't imagine that anyone who this advert would appeal to would be in the market you'd serve anyway.

soundtracker

26-02-2010, 10:50 AM

rob1963

26-02-2010, 10:54 AM

I voted for doing nothing as it's none of my business.

If he's not very good at doing posters, what's that got to do with you?

I'd prefer to spend my time improving my own business rather than contacting the competition & telling them how to improve theirs!

:confused:

StarZSoundS

26-02-2010, 11:01 AM

rob1963

26-02-2010, 11:01 AM

Rob....for once ...we agree!!:beer1: :beer1: :beer1:

:thumbsup:

Shaun

26-02-2010, 11:21 AM

Keep this quiet (as it could damage my reputation), but I agree with Rob. :zip:

Excalibur

26-02-2010, 11:28 AM

Well I don't agree with Rob, I'm lining up with Soundtracker. Putting up an immaculately designed poster of your own is not goinbg to be helpful. You've already said you don't actively advertise there, so it's not a market you're too worried about. Having a chat with the guy and offering advice could be a much better tactic. Cowboys in the tent. ;) ;)

rob1963

26-02-2010, 12:22 PM

Keep this quiet (as it could damage my reputation), but I agree with Rob. :zip:

:bowdown: :D

Well I don't agree with Rob, I'm lining up with Soundtracker.

And you're fully entitled to do so.

If someone joins a forum & asks for advice on certain aspects of their business, I'm more than willing to offer my advice.

However, taking it upon yourself to contact a local disco, saying you don't like their poster, something on their website or any other aspect of their business & telling them how you think they SHOULD be doing it is nothing more than poking your nose in where it doesn't belong.

If a local disco contacted ME to say they didn't think my poster or my website was very good & to tell me how they thought I should change it, I'd think they had a damn cheek & would be be seriously :Censored: off.

DazzyD

26-02-2010, 01:10 PM

Gotta say I agree with Rob on this one, too.

If I spent time concerning myself with other peoples make-shift posters then I'd seriously have to consider my lack of a life!

What should I do tonight? Should I spend some quality time with my kids or ring up the local butcher because he's got a notice in his window saying he's doing cheap meat packs and he hasn't used proper capitalisation?? ;)

Penfold42

26-02-2010, 06:59 PM

You sure this is not a wind up?

DJ Jules

26-02-2010, 07:36 PM

You sure this is not a wind up?

Nope, I'm really this odd :D I do stick my nose into other peoples business's if I think I can be of help - as I think I've said before, I prefer people to tell me when I'm doing something which is blatantly wrong (and people have), so like to return the favour.

To give you a bit more context - my day job is in the printing subsidiary of fairly large company, so this poster went up on the notice board in an office block containing about 1200 blue collar workers, right outside an office containing a bunch of graphic designers!! So you can imagine what people were saying about it as they left their office today...

Regardless, I wasn't talking about literally calling the guy and saying "your artwork is rubbish, sort it out", more just introducing myself and mentioning that I'd seen his poster and seeing what he was up to - I do occasionally refer bookings to other DJ's (when I'm double booked, etc) so like to keep a list of people I know who I trust to pass work to, and this guy could be someone with a lot of experience who could help me out. If he asked me what I thought of his advertising... then I'd give him my honest feedback.

The major point for me here is that this guy may have 27yrs experience, and I only have about 18months of commercial experience, so potentially there is a lot I might be able to learn from him - and bearing in mind my day job is at a printing company, I might be able to help him out. Personally, I wouldn't consider networking like this a waste of time.

I appreciate the comment about not everyone (especially the slightly older part of the population) not being able to use graphics programs (and literacy skills having nothing to do with your ability to select tracks, beatmatch, etc) but the problem is that with the availability of computer resources, graphics software, printers, etc these days and the level of computer literacy that a significant proportion of the population has, (and with websites like Vistaprint offering very passable off the shelf designs) the average customer does now have quite a high expectation of the advertising material that they see, regardless of the size of business.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for their responses, it's been really interesting seeing the different attitudes people have to their competition.

Julian

yourdj

26-02-2010, 08:04 PM

a bunch of graphic designers!!

Now as a graphic designer/printer myself that is apauling, but highly amusing considering the business it was posted in.

It looks like a 50 year olds first attempt at DTP.

:p

Penfold42

26-02-2010, 08:08 PM

Because it looked scruffy that why I thought it was a wind up....

DJ Jules

26-02-2010, 09:06 PM

Because it looked scruffy that why I thought it was a wind up....

Nope, genuine poster, as found outside of the design office where I work :D

Julian

soundtracker

26-02-2010, 09:16 PM

:bowdown: :D

And you're fully entitled to do so.

If someone joins a forum & asks for advice on certain aspects of their business, I'm more than willing to offer my advice.

However, taking it upon yourself to contact a local disco, saying you don't like their poster, something on their website or any other aspect of their business & telling them how you think they SHOULD be doing it is nothing more than poking your nose in where it doesn't belong.

If a local disco contacted ME to say they didn't think my poster or my website was very good & to tell me how they thought I should change it, I'd think they had a damn cheek & would be be seriously :Censored: off.

and you think that's what I was suggesting? ever considered a career in the diplomatic corps?

rob1963

26-02-2010, 09:56 PM

Excalibur

26-02-2010, 10:27 PM

and you think that's what I was suggesting? ever considered a career in the diplomatic corps?

Apologies if I mis-understood what you were saying, but having just re-read your post you DID say something along the lines of have a chat with the guy & try to get him to improve.

Maybe you can clarify whether that's what you were saying.

Pete, you hold him, I'll hit him. :boxer2: Rob, you muppet, do you think either of were suggesting ringing him up to say " Your poster is crap, I'll tell you how to do everything right" ? The idea was to network with a possible colleague, rather than declare war without prior warning. Check out the Ronnie Raygun quote about the Cowboys and tents. ;)

And while I'm at it, if anybody else suggests that us Silver Surfers can't design posters, well we can.:p :p Not quickly, and not without lots of invective aimed at the stupid computer, but eventually. :o :o

soundtracker

26-02-2010, 10:38 PM

Pete, you hold him, I'll hit him. :boxer2: Rob, you muppet, do you think either of were suggesting ringing him up to say " Your poster is crap, I'll tell you how to do everything right" ? The idea was to network with a possible colleague, rather than declare war without prior warning. Check out the Ronnie Raygun quote about the Cowboys and tents. ;)

And while I'm at it, if anybody else suggests that us Silver Surfers can't design posters, well we can.:p :p Not quickly, and not without lots of invective aimed at the stupid computer, but eventually. :o :o

Thank you Peter, I know I can be a little tangental at times, but I thought that was quite straightforward! :)

Excalibur

26-02-2010, 11:28 PM

Thank you Peter, I know I can be a little tangental at times, but I thought that was quite straightforward! :)

So did I! Can't see how it could be misinterpreted. :confused:

Charlie Brown

27-02-2010, 01:02 AM

Do you want the truth?

Tough. I'm telling you - every disco/entertainment service I see advertised in a community centre etc, I take down and replace with my own.

StarZSoundS

27-02-2010, 06:40 AM

Do you want the truth?

Tough. I'm telling you - every disco/entertainment service I see advertised in a community centre etc, I take down and replace with my own.

So thats where mine went:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :devil: :devil: :devil: :devil:

soundtracker

27-02-2010, 08:12 AM

Do you want the truth?

Tough. I'm telling you - every disco/entertainment service I see advertised in a community centre etc, I take down and replace with my own.

Serves you right for getting jobs in community centres then!:bang:

Penfold42

27-02-2010, 09:57 AM

Do you want the truth?

Tough. I'm telling you - every disco/entertainment service I see advertised in a community centre etc, I take down and replace with my own.

That's not very sporting but you can keep your community centres. :)

wensleydale

27-02-2010, 10:13 AM

Do you want the truth?

Tough. I'm telling you - every disco/entertainment service I see advertised in a community centre etc, I take down and replace with my own.

Thats not really on Charlie- what right do you have to take down someone elses poster?
Put yours up alonside it but dont touch what isnt yours.

rob1963

27-02-2010, 10:14 AM

Pete, you hold him, I'll hit him. :boxer2: Rob, you muppet, do you think either of were suggesting ringing him up to say "Your poster is crap, I'll tell you how to do everything right" ? The idea was to network with a possible colleague, rather than declare war without prior warning.

I said nothing about declaring war.

I simply said I'd do nothing, as it's none of my business.

Looking at the poll results, hardly anyone has suggested contacting the guy, and the vast majority have actually agreed with ME for once...so I think I need to go and have a lie down!

:eek: :D :D

soundtracker

27-02-2010, 10:34 AM

Looking at the poll results, hardly anyone has suggested contacting the guy, and the vast majority have actually agreed with ME for once...so I think I need to go and have a lie down!

:eek: :D :D

Hitler had a majority in Nazi Germany, so did that make him right?

rob1963

27-02-2010, 10:53 AM

Hitler had a majority in Nazi Germany, so did that make him right?

I didn't say I'm right, though. :confused:

I merely gave my opinion & noted that the majority of people had the same opinion as me...for once!

If people want to contact other disco operators for any reason, that's entirely up to them. I'm not saying it's wrong, just that I wouldn't do it for the reasons I've already given.

soundtracker

27-02-2010, 11:08 AM

I don't see how trying to network with local DJs can do anything but good?

rob1963

27-02-2010, 12:58 PM

I don't see how trying to network with local DJs can do anything but good?

I guess that depends on what you mean by networking.

If it means contacting someone because you don't like their poster, then I think it's bad.

Excalibur

27-02-2010, 02:25 PM

Have a chat with the guy, get him on side, see if you can help him improve, allies in this game are always much more useful than enemies.

I voted for doing nothing as it's none of my business.

If he's not very good at doing posters, what's that got to do with you?

I'd prefer to spend my time improving my own business rather than contacting the competition & telling them how to improve theirs!

:confused:

Well I don't agree with Rob, I'm lining up with Soundtracker. Putting up an immaculately designed poster of your own is not goinbg to be helpful. You've already said you don't actively advertise there, so it's not a market you're too worried about. Having a chat with the guy and offering advice could be a much better tactic. Cowboys in the tent. ;) ;)
This seems to me like being helpful and friendly.

:However, taking it upon yourself to contact a local disco, saying you don't like their poster, something on their website or any other aspect of their business & telling them how you think they SHOULD be doing it is nothing more than poking your nose in where it doesn't belong.
If a local disco contacted ME to say they didn't think my poster or my website was very good & to tell me how they thought I should change it, I'd think they had a damn cheek & would be be seriously :Censored: off.
We suggested having a nice chat, not ringing him up and spending twenty minutes telling him how crap he was.

Pete, you hold him, I'll hit him. :boxer2: Rob, you muppet, do you think either of were suggesting ringing him up to say " Your poster is crap, I'll tell you how to do everything right" ? The idea was to network with a possible colleague, rather than declare war without prior warning. Check out the Ronnie Raygun quote about the Cowboys and tents. ;)

Rob, where did either of us say we didn't like his poster? Please show me. And in case the Reagan reference has gone unnoticed, the gist of it was: " It's better to have a cowboy in the tent urinating outwards, than outside urinating inwards" ;) ;) ;) ;)

soundtracker

27-02-2010, 02:45 PM

Sorry to do this to you Peter but:flog:

rob1963

27-02-2010, 03:06 PM

I've already stated my opinions, and the reasons why I have them.

There's no point in going round in circles, so I'll bow out of this thread now & let the rest of you continue the discussion.

:)

DeckstarDeluxe

27-02-2010, 05:11 PM

i think that ad would attract the lower end of the market so I wouldnt worry about it. I do kidda sing and shout in my day job that Im a dj too so anyone at work wanting a gig I'd be their choice.

Charlie Brown

27-02-2010, 05:20 PM

You asked a question - I told you the truth.

I have done it either once or twice at a Children's party - and noticed mine had done the disappearing act next time I went.

I don't even have a poster...just a small business card.

OllieJames

27-02-2010, 05:38 PM

Ah, my advertising else where didn't work then :( :p

Charlie Brown

27-02-2010, 06:19 PM

:sj:

I'm in the dog house now - I now realise it's not very sporting of me so I promise not do it again. Thinking about it, I wouldn't like someone to do it to me...

Excalibur

27-02-2010, 09:08 PM

Sorry to do this to you Peter but:flog:

That would appear to be the case. :( :( Perhaps Rob was overwhelmed by the support for his views, after all it doesn't happen very often. :D :D :D

DJ Jules

28-02-2010, 08:57 AM

:sj:

I'm in the dog house now - I now realise it's not very sporting of me so I promise not do it again. Thinking about it, I wouldn't like someone to do it to me...

I think that's exactly the point - it can also get you quite a bad name if you do it and you're spotted by the community centre staff/customers/etc.

Ah, my advertising else where didn't work then :( :p

Lol - it took me bloomin' ages to work out that the name "Olly's" came from the guys surname (as he's actually called "Dave!")

Julian

StarZSoundS

28-02-2010, 09:44 AM

I think that's exactly the point - it can also get you quite a bad name if you do it and you're spotted by the community centre staff/customers/etc.

Lol - it took me bloomin' ages to work out that the name "Olly's" came from the guys surname (as he's actually called "Dave!")

Julian

Its Charlie!!!

He's driving from Cambridge to Northampton.....Nicking Ollies posters to put up his own.......Then feeling guilty on the way home....and bobbing down to Bristol to post Ollies posters in Jules workplace.....:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Penfold42

28-02-2010, 02:48 PM

:sj:

I'm in the dog house now - I now realise it's not very sporting of me so I promise not do it again. Thinking about it, I wouldn't like someone to do it to me...

Aim higher Charlie. Put cards there if you want to but what would you prefer to do......work more for less money or work less for more money.

wensleydale

28-02-2010, 02:51 PM

:sj:

I'm in the dog house now - I now realise it's not very sporting of me so I promise not do it again. Thinking about it, I wouldn't like someone to do it to me...

Sporting, professional- you choose which word you use, but also think about whether you need to do that?

If your that desperate for work that you need to take advertising down I'd look at the "bigger picture" for your business.