Marketing for 2011

[Charlie Brown]

What are you're plans for 2011?

There appears to be an increase in 'decent' websites so I'm/we are, going to have to start thinking outside of the box.

Will you be doing anything different? I've included a poll in the thread to see how much you're planning on spending.

I know some members aren't spending any money on advertising at all next year!

[Charlie Brown]

It would be nice if people explained their reasoning?

I opted for the £250 budget which TBH is unrealistic.

Totting everything up (including websites, wedding fayres, leaflets/business cards and on line directory's) I came up to £1600ish. A lot more than I thought. :confused:

[leelive]

I had to click under £500 but my usual advertising budget is £3,000 - £4,000.
Lee

[soundtracker]

I opted for the £250 budget because it is totally realistic, the areas that bring me the most business, i.e referrals from previous clients and venues cost me very little, my website costs me practically zilch - my main outgoing is UK disco, which I may well axe as it has been totally ineffective this year.

[Charlie Brown]

I had to click under £500 but my usual advertising budget is £3,000 - £4,000.
Lee

Wow!

That's a lot.

What are you spending it on?

Perhaps a mod could change the poll to accommodate the larger budgets? Just shows how clued up I am with my figures. :o

[Daryll]

The main reason I voted for the £100 option , is because I intent to fade away from this at the end of 2011 , so I can concentrate on other pursuits.

Daryll

[Silver]

Don't need a website, don't want a website, why waste the money? My financial outlay will be about £70 for 500 business cards. I'm already booked for 2 - 3 gigs a week on average. All down to recommendations.

[Charlie Brown]

Don't need a website, don't want a website, why waste the money? My financial outlay will be about £70 for 500 business cards. I'm already booked for 2 - 3 gigs a week on average. All down to recommendations.

Well that's very good. You should be proud. :beer1:

[NKR]

Not a lot. My web site and getting to do 5 wedding fayres for nothing by offering free sound and light for the catwalk and having Kev do some free singing and dual compere service.

Have spent about £80 with Vistaprint on some banners and the like so hoping for a couple of bookings from that.

So under £500, but as a hobby that is suffice.

[leelive]

Wow!

That's a lot.

What are you spending it on?

Perhaps a mod could change the poll to accommodate the larger budgets? Just shows how clued up I am with my figures. :o

I have just had a look at my accounts back to 1st July 2005. I have spent £19,352.31 since then on Marketing. So that is an average of £3518.54 per year.

It is spent on the usual stuff.... Wedding Magazines, internet adverts, adwords, wedding fairs, mail-shots, websites, printing, brochures, pens, Banners etc.

2 of the wedding fairs that I doper year cost £500 each. So there is £1000 gone. I'll spend another £200 on mail-shots to the people attending those wedding fairs.

I had to spend near £4000 in the year that I was banned by Google.

I have stopped advertising in Yellow Pages and the Phone Books so that is saving some money.

Still I am averaging less than 14% of income on advertising - which is not bad.
Generally I will try most adversting/marketing forms once. If they don't yield at least a 600% return then I don't do them again.
I always budget around £2,500 per year... but it always creeps higher.

I suppose I could save £400 a year by not having Lee Live pens.... but I like them. I didn't send Christmas cards this year so that saved £100.

Lee

[Charlie Brown]

Thanks for sharing Lee.

I found that interesting. Why an earth where you banned from Google?

[leelive]

Thanks for sharing Lee.

I found that interesting. Why an earth where you banned from Google?

I got banned for "cloaking". That is when you buy a domain name that has your keywords (ie. mobilediscoinedinburgh.net) and redirect it to your main site. Nothing wrong in that - only if you then promote that domain name as if it is a real website. I made the matter worse by buying over 10 domain names that I then re-directed to my main website. I promoted each domain name on all the free classified sites to start with..... I really wish I didn't.

I wasn't even on page 40 of Google even when searching for my own name!!

It was 12months after I un-picked all the damage that I got back onto Google. Meanwhile I had had to spend a fortune paying for links to all the sites that were on page 1 for my keywords. To solve the problem I had to build a new website and re-direct all the offending domain names to that one.

Lee

[Tom Lovick]

Hi guys,

Anyone thought of making calenders for clients as a marketing tool?

Just thinking of what to do in the way of marketing for 2011.

[Charlie Brown]

Hi guys,

Anyone thought of making calenders for clients as a marketing tool?

Just thinking of what to do in the way of marketing for 2011.

Who are you going to give the calenders too?

Is it really a cost effective way of making money?

What pictures are going to go in the calender?

[NKR]

Who are you going to give the calenders too?

Is it really a cost effective way of making money?

What pictures are going to go in the calender?

Why would anyone want a DJ calender?

[Charlie Brown]

Why would anyone want a DJ calender?

Exactly!

Not a wise idea Tom.

[Tom Lovick]

Exactly!

Not a wise idea Tom.


Ok.

What marketing tools is everyone using this year?

[juicylucy]

It could be a winner if your a sexy looking DJ. ;)

[Charlie Brown]

It could be a winner if your a sexy looking DJ. ;)

:lol:

It could.

I don't want to encourage him....

....but Toby will take 12 shots of himself topless and start flogging them at wedding fayres.

:sofa:

[yourdj]

About £500.

This includes a couple of wedding fairs, my web hosting (£300) business cards and flyers. I don't do much advertising outside of the sites. Most of the stuff I have done has been a waste of time.

A print trade account helps however as I spend Vista print money on quality print.

[Silver Bullet]

I clicked the not a penny button.
In the past I have advertised in various ways, and gained almost no work from them.
I have a few cards if anyone asks me for my number, but that is it.
I find the best way of getting buisness is free. "Word Of Mouth"

[Vectis]

I clicked the not a penny button.
In the past I have advertised in various ways, and gained almost no work from them.
I have a few cards if anyone asks me for my number, but that is it.
I find the best way of getting buisness is free. "Word Of Mouth"

Any chance you could qualify this with a bit more detail?

eg - solo op, multi-op. Number of gigs. Average rate. Typical costs.

Otherwise the above statement is meaningless. You might only do 1 gig a year for your mate the landlord. Or you might be fielding thousands. We've no idea, therefore can't judge the effectiveness of your advertising policy. :beer1:

[Leicester Ben]

I'll probably spend under £1,000, need some new brochures, business cards, uniforms etc ordered but thats it.

I havent done any paid advertising as such for months and its been great, just having the websites doing well on google keeps us busy enough!

[soundtracker]

I'll probably spend under £1,000, need some new brochures, business cards, uniforms etc ordered but thats it.

I havent done any paid advertising as such for months and its been great, just having the websites doing well on google keeps us busy enough!

So the NEC Wedding fair thing didn't work then?

[Leicester Ben]

So the NEC Wedding fair thing didn't work then?

Actually completely the opposite, it has more than paid for itself. However we are lucky to be in a situation where its a struggle to keep on top of all the work that we already have on let alone going out there and paying to find more.

If we get any busier I will need to employ a second person and as the first guy only started with us in August I dont want to grow to fast too soon!

[surround sounds]

For Me Just over a £1000.
it includes website,yell.com and cards but its paid for its self easy

[Charlie Brown]

If we get any busier I will need to employ a second person and as the first guy only started with us in August I dont want to grow to fast too soon!

I find that, pretty incredible.

Your either doing something everybody else isn't or you're a lucky guy with a secret charm? :confused: ;)

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Mine will be under £1000.00.
I will however be writing off January (purposely) to concentrate on getting new business, residencies etc so my main marketing will be done by myself.

[Charlie Brown]

Off topic: Gary, you're avatar is really scary and weird! Makes me shiver. :sj: :o

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Actually completely the opposite, it has more than paid for itself.

I thought you said that nothing had come in and that most people were getting married in 2012?

How has it more than paid for itself Ben - has a load of work come in since you reported on it last time?

What was the outlay for it again?

[Leicester Ben]

I'm not in the office at the minute but off the tip of my head it was around the £2500 mark for the 3 days and in the last month or so we have taken 3 bookings for our ultimate package (£1,500 a day) from people who saw us at the show.

Now is the time when I would expect to be starting to see a return in it anyway, most people there were 2011 and 2012 weddings and so the 2011 brides are now starting to book.

Maybe it's me being cynical but I get the feeling that people on here wanted the NEC wedding fayre to fail as they thought it was a waste of money. It was a big gamble but luckily it's paying off.

Back to marketing in general I've certainly seen more and more of our work coming in from the same people, Paul (Spirits High) for example will make 10 floor bookings alone next year!

I guess I'm lucky that my websites are generally liked by google and so after years of spending thousands on advertising and building a reputation I can cut back more this year.

[Charlie Brown]

Interesting point you made about Paul.

Perhaps my sites 'extras' aren't being used to their full potential. I'll ask Martin for some stats.

Paul - are you selling the extras or are people enquiring about them?

[Wayno]

Interesting point you made about Paul.

Perhaps my sites 'extras' aren't being used to their full potential. I'll ask Martin for some stats.

Paul - are you selling the extras or are people enquiring about them?

Some Secrets are best left just so :)

[Charlie Brown]

Some Secrets are best left just so :)

:confused:

I'm sure Paul can tell me whether he is pushing sales or brides are enquiring about them?

However, you may be right. :)

[Wayno]

Thing is Charlie, All because Pauls approach works for him, it may not work for you as persona, esxperience and confidence play major roles in the clients meetings and I expect he is dynamic in his approach and changes as he sees fit once sat talking to the clients. I'm sure there isn't a one size fits all approach.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

For the 3rd year in a row, I am actually cutting down on my advertising.
By the end of the year I will only have yell.com and my website (which will be re-vamped at some point) to rely on. I will be doing more wedding fayres because despite what others may say, they seem to work (for me).

I have 4 weddings this year during the end of August and middle of September that have all come from one wedding I did in March of this year.

I still say that one of the best forms of advertising is 'word of mouth'. There's nothing better than seeing someone in action for yourself and then you can decide whether to book them or not. I got a very well paid job last week for May which is in London on the Thames that came from another wedding I did in June. I think that when you are first starting out, you need to do various marketing and advertising to get your name out there and on the circuit but once you are established (which I think I am now), then you can start cutting down.

[Charlie Brown]

Thing is Charlie, All because Pauls approach works for him, it may not work for you as persona, esxperience and confidence play major roles in the clients meetings and I expect he is dynamic in his approach and changes as he sees fit once sat talking to the clients. I'm sure there isn't a one size fits all approach.

I'm quite a confident approachable chap! In the pre-event meetings I don't mention the extra services as all the information is on my sites.

I was referring more to Paul's website and the SEO work behind it. I don't know what my Google ranking is like for 'dancefloor hire nottingham' - for example. :)

When I start doing Wedding Fayres etc next year, I'll try and sell them a bit more.

[DB Entertainments]

It could be a winner if your a sexy looking DJ. ;)

Did you wear your Sexy Santa outfit this year for your Crimbo parties Lucy? x

[Tom Lovick]

I'm quite a confident approachable chap! In the pre-event meetings I don't mention the extra services as all the information is on my sites.

I was referring more to Paul's website and the SEO work behind it. I don't know what my Google ranking is like for 'dancefloor hire nottingham' - for example. :)

When I start doing Wedding Fayres etc next year, I'll try and sell them a bit more.

Page 2 of google for 'Dancefloor hire nottingham' ;) :p

[Charlie Brown]

Page 2 of google for 'Dancefloor hire nottingham' ;) :p

Where are you looking? :confused:

I'm no where to be seen!

TBH, it looks like my Google rankings have dropped a fair bit! :eek:

From the top of page one to the middle of page three!!

[Tom Lovick]

Where are you looking? :confused:

I'm no where to be seen!

TBH, it looks like my Google rankings have dropped a fair bit! :eek:

From the top of page one to the middle of page three!!

Just did a google search for 'dancefloor hire nottingham' and you were on page 2. :confused:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=dancefloor+hire+nottingham#q=dancefloor+hire+not tingham&hl=en&prmd=ivns&ei=sJUcTcH_BYeXhQfQ1JC3Dg&start=10&sa=N&fp=1cccc688c869882c

[Charlie Brown]

Just did a google search for 'dancefloor hire nottingham' and you were on page 2. :confused:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=dancefloor+hire+nottingham#q=dancefloor+hire+not tingham&hl=en&prmd=ivns&ei=sJUcTcH_BYeXhQfQ1JC3Dg&start=10&sa=N&fp=1cccc688c869882c

:confused:

Perhaps it fluterates? I dunno. :shrug:

[Shakermaker Promotions]

You mean fluctuates Charlie?

[Charlie Brown]

You mean fluctuates Charlie?

:o

Yup. :beer1:

....Good example of this thread: http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?t=9912&page=9

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

:confused:

Perhaps it fluterates? I dunno. :shrug:

First page, second one down here. :eek: :)

[juicylucy]

Did you wear your Sexy Santa outfit this year for your Crimbo parties Lucy? x

Oh yes Dale, I had some nice comments and handed out a few cards as well. ;)

[mattydinx]

I opted for under £100 although I think that'll be highly optimistic!

My company had a fairly reasonable name for itself and most of my bookings came from word of mouth, however I've lost most repeat bookings after taking a year out.

New website design, hosting, business cards, brochures, flyers.

Thankfully a mate of mine is a graphic designer who's offered to do my re-branding, and another friend works for a printing company - discounts galore (I hope!)

Usual suspects for me, Yellow Pages, Free listing sites, local paper, probably do some mail-shots to local venues and what not to let people know i'm trading again!

[Vectis]

Yellow Pages, Free listing sites, local paper, probably do some mail-shots to local venues and what not to let people know i'm trading again!

Oooooh.... the tyre-kicking £100 brigade are gonna LOVE you!

Are you a monkey by any chance? Because you obviously like working for peanuts...

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Mattydinx - If I were you I wouldn't bother with the mailshots to venues!
Most of the time they don't work!! (in my experience).
It's much better to phone up, arrange meetings with them and sell yourself and your services to them rather than just take the easy option and send out flyers etc because they will just end up in the bin.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Mattydinx - If I were you I wouldn't bother with the mailshots to venues!
Most of the time they don't work!! (in my experience).
It's much better to phone up, arrange meetings with them and sell yourself and your services to them rather than just take the easy option and send out flyers etc because they will just end up in the bin.

Good advice.

[mattydinx]

Oooooh.... the tyre-kicking £100 brigade are gonna LOVE you!

Are you a monkey by any chance? Because you obviously like working for peanuts...

Oddly enough....nah, I kid.

Yellow pages worked for me in the past, don't get me wrong - It was only a free listing, but it still brought in some work.

As i've mentioned before, I'm starting with very little. I'd hardly be able to charge as much as I did first time round, considering my rig is half the size it used to be, and my music collection is a year out of date.

@shakermaker - advice heeded, you're probably right!

[Vectis]

I'm starting with very little. I'd hardly be able to charge as much as I did first time round, considering my rig is half the size it used to be, and my music collection is a year out of date.

Sounds like somebody needs a self-confidence injection :p

The greatest asset you have is you. If you're an effective DJ then, to a certain degree, the other aspects don't matter.

Unless you're into your niche music, spend £30 on the last 3 or 4 NOW!s and you're up to date...


Aim low ... stay low.

[StarZSoundS]

It's much better to phone up, arrange meetings with them and sell yourself and your services to them



Before I established myself I'd pop into the venue and buy a beer.....Then I'd engage myself in conversation with the person who makes the decisions at the venue....


The fact that you've invested in thier business(however small your investment is)puts you on the front foot.;) ;) ;)

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Mattydinx - I would have been trading 6 years in February 2011 so I am relatively new to this business (been DJing since 1988/89 though).

When I first started out, I did the mailshot thing, the yellow pages thing and more. I signed up to places like UK Disco and other sites etc etc etc...

Because I am full time, I monitor every call and email I get because I want to know where it's come from. I soon found out that people looking for 'Cheap and Cheerful' Discos (the ones that say "Are you having a laugh!!??" when you give them your price), would generally come via the Yellow Pages and to be honest, there weren't many of them. The same could be said for UK Disco and other sites like that.

Out of 250 mailshots I sent out, I think I had 2 back that wanted 'one off' Discos or Karaokes and that was it.

When you think about it, it's silly sending out stuff that is just going to get thrown away. When our free paper comes every week, there is lots of spam stuff with it and 99.9% of it will go straight to the bin and not even get looked at. The only things we may keep are takeaway menus and they will go in 'the drawer' (everyone has one) in the kitchen.
It does your head in when you think about the amount of money that is being wasted on that spam stuff. Printing etc is not cheap is it? When you pay out for your own advertising and marketing, you realise how much these things cost and to think that they get chucked straight in the bin is a bit of a bummer.

If you're a C&B Manager at a venue or someone that deals with the entertainment and you already have a supplier and a load of spam stuff comes through the post, you're more likely to chuck it away too. Looking back now...to me, just sitting there sending out stuff is lazy and won't get you anywhere most of the time. You need to get off your backside and go to see the venues...it really is as simple as that. Someone is more likely to listen to you than read something that has been sent to them.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Before I established myself I'd pop into the venue and buy a beer.....Then I'd engage myself in conversation with the person who makes the decisions at the venue....


When I did pubs and those kind of places, that is exactly what I did. You do need a little charisma for that though. ;) :D

[Shaun]

When I did pubs and those kind of places, that is exactly what I did. You do need a little charisma for that though. ;) :D

So when the lack of charisma failed, the fact that you bought a lot of beer got you the job?



:sofa:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

So when the lack of charisma failed, the fact that you bought a lot of beer got you the job?


Are you basing this on personal experience Shaun? :p

[Silver Bullet]

Any chance you could qualify this with a bit more detail?

eg - solo op, multi-op. Number of gigs. Average rate. Typical costs.

Otherwise the above statement is meaningless. You might only do 1 gig a year for your mate the landlord. Or you might be fielding thousands. We've no idea, therefore can't judge the effectiveness of your advertising policy. :beer1:OK, no probs.
I'm a solo op, and it's a paying hobby/second job. I DJ most Saturday nights & some Friday's with the occasional mid week job. Typical mobile DJ stuff, weddings, anniversarys, birthdays etc.
My rates are average for my area, I know there are guys out there cheaper than me & also some more expensive. We all have to justify our charges and my gear is not all singing all dancing state of the art new stuff, just good quality SH.
I used to have an ad in the Yellow Pages, but now only have the free one line entry and I've found no difference.

I have no free Saturdays from now until May and only a handfull of Fridays, so word of mouth is working very well for me.

I can understand that you need to advertise if you are expanding your business, or there is a lot of competition in your area, but doing a good job at a fair price is the best way to get work.

[Shaun]

Are you basing this on personal experience Shaun? :p

Nah...I didn't get the job even after buying beer. :d

[StarZSoundS]

When I did pubs and those kind of places, that is exactly what I did. You do need a little charisma for that though. ;) :D

Maybe not Charisma Darren.....more focus.It seems a natural shortcut for me. I think we were both born with Charisma....its not something you can learn.Focus helps you go through with it tho ;) ;) ;)

[StarZSoundS]

but doing a good job at a fair price is the best way to get work.


:thumbs_up: :beerchug: :bowdown: :agree: :jumping: :clap: :clap2:



Amen.....I've said it 50 times on here!!!

[Corabar Entertainment]

Amen.....I've said it 50 times on here!!!...and you think you're on your own / was the first person to say it / that others disagree with you? :confused:

[StarZSoundS]

...and you think you're on your own / was the first person to say it / that others disagree with you? :confused:



But all the emphasiis here is on Websites(in particular),Flyers,SEO's,AdWords,....etc etc.....;) ;) ;) ;)


Think its the last option for me!!Unless things take a backward step!!

[DAVESOUNDS SERVICES]

Hiya
Im a Solo Operator
ill spent NOTHING on marketing as theres only one of me and im very busy as it is and dont want anymore night work.
More PAT testing in the day would be good but as ive ome across a fair few DJs BUYING PAT LABELS off e bay and sticking em on i really dont think ill get much busier PAT testing
Oh and i DONT have a website!

Cheers and have a great new year!

By the way PENS made me laugh!
i find the key to being busy is a realistic pricing policy
not "Give Aways"

Dave

[Dynamic Entertainment]

OK, no probs.
I'm a solo op, and it's a paying hobby/second job. I DJ most Saturday nights & some Friday's with the occasional mid week job. Typical mobile DJ stuff, weddings, anniversarys, birthdays etc.
My rates are average for my area, I know there are guys out there cheaper than me & also some more expensive. We all have to justify our charges and my gear is not all singing all dancing state of the art new stuff, just good quality SH.
I used to have an ad in the Yellow Pages, but now only have the free one line entry and I've found no difference.

I have no free Saturdays from now until May and only a handfull of Fridays, so word of mouth is working very well for me.

I can understand that you need to advertise if you are expanding your business, or there is a lot of competition in your area, but doing a good job at a fair price is the best way to get work.

Or, if the area that you live isnt your chosen market ;) As you know Workington aint the most affluent part of Cumbria :D

[Corabar Entertainment]

...again - I don't see why some people seem to think it's an 'either / or' situation (yet again). If you get enough referrals to completely fill your diary, then good luck to you. Obviously, you aren't going to spend on advertising.

HOWEVER...

Some people are trying to establish themselves (for whatever reason). In order to get referrals, you have to have jobs in the first place, so you need to advertise.

Some people are looking to expand and attract new clientèle - so need to advertise.

Some people are looking to attract a particular niche in the market. They need to let that market know that they are in it.

IMO, most people will, in reality, have a combination of referrals and be looking to attract new clients by whatever means works for them (hence my favourite comment of why is it that some people seem to always assume it's an either / or answer), and I have to say, making small of people for trying different methods, or coming across as if someone is doing something wrong if they need to advertise at all doesn't sit very well with me.

[Shaun]

...again - I don't see why some people seem to think it's an 'either / or' situation (yet again). If you get enough referrals to completely fill your diary, then good luck to you. Obviously, you aren't going to spend on advertising.

HOWEVER...

Some people are trying to establish themselves (for whatever reason). In order to get referrals, you have to have jobs in the first place, so you need to advertise.

Some people are looking to expand and attract new clientèle - so need to advertise.

Some people are looking to attract a particular niche in the market. They need to let that market know that they are in it.

IMO, most people will, in reality, have a combination of referrals and be looking to attract new clients by whatever means works for them (hence my favourite comment of why is it that some people seem to always assume it's an either / or answer), and I have to say, making small of people for trying different methods, or coming across as if someone is doing something wrong if they need to advertise at all doesn't sit very well with me.

:agree: wholeheartedly.

[leelive]

I though I would add:
Weddings make up 99% of my work. There has only ever been 1 repeat booking - a 1st Anniversay. So I have to re-advertise every year.
The wedding industry is worth paying to be in. With a turnover of over £25k pa. It is not bad for a part-time job.
Lee

[DB Entertainments]

I though I would add:
Weddings make up 99% of my work. There has only ever been 1 repeat booking - a 1st Anniversay. So I have to re-advertise every year.
The wedding industry is worth paying to be in. With a turnover of over £25k pa. It is not bad for a part-time job.
Lee

Hi lee - I turn over around that figure, and have know-where near the outgoings you mention.

[ppentertainments]

Hi lee - I turn over around that figure, and have know-where near the outgoings you mention.

WOW - 140 bookings a year minimum, quite impressive

[leelive]

Hi lee - I turn over around that figure, and have know-where near the outgoings you mention.

Thanks for letting me know.
Looks like it is time for me to cut back on marketing expenditure. I wonder whether the wedding fairs are worth it. I will cancel them any see what happens. That will save me £1200 - £1500 a year.
Lee

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Thanks for letting me know.
Looks like it is time for me to cut back on marketing expenditure. I wonder whether the wedding fairs are worth it. I will cancel them any see what happens. That will save me £1200 - £1500 a year.
Lee


Surely if someone has seen you at wedding fairs then they mention this in the booking process?

If not might be worth asking as you are spending a fair amount and would be useful to see how effective that is?

[leelive]

Surely if someone has seen you at wedding fairs then they mention this in the booking process?

If not might be worth asking as you are spending a fair amount and would be useful to see how effective that is?

Just had a look at the statistics for the last 3 years at the main wedding fair in Edinburgh.

It has cost me an average of £80 per booking that I got from them.

Lee

[Dj Diddy Davies]

I intend to spend up to £1k this year on advertising. More than half of that will be in a new website for the wedding side of the business and setting up a managed service with Martin at VV Web (covers three websites).

Other than that, it will be paper advertising i.e. business cards and flyers and costs for a local wedding fayre.

It's a lot less than when i advertised with Yell.com and Yellow Pages as well as various ads in local mags. To be honest, the only thing i've noticed is that i don't tend to get the "how much for a disco' enquiries so much.

Steve.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

I intend to spend up to £1k this year on advertising. More than half of that will be in a new website for the wedding side of the business and setting up a managed service with Martin at VV Web (covers three websites).

Other than that, it will be paper advertising i.e. business cards and flyers and costs for a local wedding fayre.

It's a lot less than when i advertised with Yell.com and Yellow Pages as well as various ads in local mags. To be honest, the only thing i've noticed is that i don't tend to get the "how much for a disco' enquiries so much.

Steve.

I have found having a well designed site has been the best money that I have spent to gain more work and Martin is a top guy who knows both our industry and web design.

Good way to also gain extra work is networking and seeing as your local to myself and cover my area might be worth popping along to one of my meetings with my guys. We usually just go to a country pub have some grub and see what we can all do for each other. Costs with drinks is about £20 but its a good evening out during the week and even if you just get one gig out of it then its money well spent.

There are of course other local networking events too such as NADJ and their curry club meets.

[RevolutionDiscoNW]

Hi All,

Just a quick one to try and get a handle on all this !!!
we are a two man operation we started begining of 2010 with ZERO bookings so all a fresh by the end of the year we have 2 residencies and are taking a good amount of bookings... Now being the young entrepaneur (apologise for spelling lol) there is always room for more !
i built my own website hosting of wich is very cheap, i paid for business cards from vista print and have gone mostly by word of mouth and had a great deal of refferalls in my local area.

Now here is my next problem i would really like a crack at wedding fairs as i have done a few gigs in the big hotels and had fantastic feedback from wedding co-ordinators about music, equipt and the quality of my show but when i enquire about attending theyre wedding fayre im told i cant as they have resident dj who they use every weekend ??? but i was good enough to cover them when they couldnt turn up ??
any advice on this situation ??
I have found a sneaky way in, I work in a formal mens shop who will be attending a few wedding fayres this year and my boss has said i can give out my bussiness cards in the shops bags ;) but id really like to present my business ....
again any view greatly appreciated

Pete

[Dj Diddy Davies]

I have found having a well designed site has been the best money that I have spent to gain more work and Martin is a top guy who knows both our industry and web design.

Good way to also gain extra work is networking and seeing as your local to myself and cover my area might be worth popping along to one of my meetings with my guys. We usually just go to a country pub have some grub and see what we can all do for each other. Costs with drinks is about £20 but its a good evening out during the week and even if you just get one gig out of it then its money well spent.

There are of course other local networking events too such as NADJ and their curry club meets.

Martin does an amazing job!

Thanks for the offer, let me know details for the next one and i'll see what i can do.
I don't tend to come over your way, Burford is probably as far as i travel westward.

Steve