Need a Disco [Archive] - Page 3 - Mobile Disco Directory Forum

ukpartydj

14-11-2013, 08:00 PM

I missed this:

I didn't get a single booking... I might have to go and read the small print.

Julian

They don't refund the subscription rather just extend it until you reach the 10x whatever you paid for subscription.
I believe not so long ago they had a "first year for £25" offer which has disappeared in favour of this new offer.

One thing which I'm uncertain about is the fact that if you sign up for needadisco because of their very good SEO your needadisco page comes up 2nd to your actual webpage on google.
I would like to know how many people search "ukpartydj" and saw directly below my website address - "NEEDADISCO" - "Get free mobile disco quote from ukpartydj" and thought I wonder what that is and have ended up requesting a quote through needadisco first.
Needadisco kindly offer the option of paying £199 per year for that page to go directly to your website ... apparently over 1000 people have looked at that page on needadisco - as soon as I'm confident I'm getting plenty of work in I'll leave needadisco just because of that.

It's very very clever idea and I don't like it one bit!
I pay to get work ... not for needadisco to potentially circulate my work to other DJ's

All this being said I have no idea what the actual impact is and its hard to find out!

funkymook

14-11-2013, 08:13 PM

They don't refund the subscription rather just extend it until you reach the 10x whatever you paid for subscription.
I believe not so long ago they had a "first year for £25" offer which has disappeared in favour of this new offer.

One thing which I'm uncertain about is the fact that if you sign up for needadisco because of their very good SEO your needadisco page comes up 2nd to your actual webpage on google.
I would like to know how many people search "ukpartydj" and saw directly below my website address - "NEEDADISCO" - "Get free mobile disco quote from ukpartydj" and thought I wonder what that is and have ended up requesting a quote through needadisco first.
Needadisco kindly offer the option of paying £199 per year for that page to go directly to your website ... apparently over 1000 people have looked at that page on needadisco - as soon as I'm confident I'm getting plenty of work in I'll leave needadisco just because of that.

It's very very clever idea and I don't like it one bit!
I pay to get work ... not for needadisco to potentially circulate my work to other DJ's

All this being said I have no idea what the actual impact is and its hard to find out!

I'd update your UK Party site - 100% reliable for 2011/2012, No negative feedback in 2011/2012..........it does beg the question :D

ukpartydj

14-11-2013, 08:51 PM

I'd update your UK Party site - 100% reliable for 2011/2012, No negative feedback in 2011/2012..........it does beg the question :D

What can I say ... it all went wrong in 2013 so I thought I'd leave it :D Haha!
The issue is that that part of the website is made in Flash and when I got windows 8 it uninstalled it and I haven't a clue where the licence code is for it!!!
Seem as my new website doesn't use flash and will be completed in the next few weeks I've decided to ignore it! Although I've been ignoring it since February when I lost the code :o

funkymook

14-11-2013, 09:13 PM

Reminded me of Steve Coogan's The Pool Supervisor on The Day Today (google it if you don't know it).

ukpartydj

15-11-2013, 08:01 AM

Reminded me of Steve Coogan's The Pool Supervisor on The Day Today (google it if you don't know it).

Hadn't seen it - but thanks for sharing :)

Jim - Scotland's Party DJ

20-11-2013, 05:35 PM

Just signed up though I didn't get any choice about the post codes (except for my base one on the application page) I take it I get to pick once my application is accepted?

ukpartydj

21-11-2013, 07:57 AM

Just signed up though I didn't get any choice about the post codes (except for my base one on the application page) I take it I get to pick once my application is accepted?

You can change all that on your dashboard so as soon as it's all accepted you should be able to change it there.

Jim - Scotland's Party DJ

21-11-2013, 08:13 AM

You can change all that on your dashboard so as soon as it's all accepted you should be able to change it there.

Got it. Looking forward to having a proper looks around and seeing what's in there :beer1:

dicky

06-12-2014, 04:37 PM

This thread is a year old - and things do change so I have to ask is it still worth signing up with needsadisco? For those using it has it got better or worse (or stayed about the same) in the last 12 months?

Cheers
Rich

soundmaster mobile disco

07-12-2014, 05:05 PM

For the price of the membership its nothing really, giving you web exposure. I have been a member and the last year I've had lots of enquiries but not to many successful bids.

I suppose it all comes down to how well we represent our self to the client compared to other djs.

I have noticed that the lowest price or the budget stated does not entirely mean that's what they will pay. I have quoted far more than the stated budget and still won the lead.

So yes I would say its worth taking out the membership

dicky

07-12-2014, 07:02 PM

For some odd reason my area Stoke-on-Trent comes in at £119 per year which is more, for example, than London

Yet looking at recently confirmed bookings on needadisco the highest paid one in Stoke (out of the last 1000 bookings) was £175 - which they quote as the top end for a 'budget DJ' for this region on the sister site www.mobilediscoprices.com

This begs the question - why does no one in Stoke book mid-priced or Quality DJs?

Not that this will put me off giving needadisco a try though ;) It seems likely I would at least get my money back plus some.... it's jsut the pricing that seems a bit strange to me

Rich

Corabar Steve

07-12-2014, 07:08 PM

This thread is a year old
Try 3 years. :devil::whome:

Vectis

07-12-2014, 07:24 PM

it's jsut the pricing that seems a bit strange to me

Rich

From needadisco.com/join:

16936

dicky

07-12-2014, 10:12 PM

I appreciate that information you posted is freely viewable on needadisco T&C however looking at the available data sometimes one has to ask awkward questions and I feel it is quite reasonable to do so.

Now don't get me wrong and I'm probably doing myself no favours here as I do intend to register on your site regardless (and may even want to add an extra area or two as I have not encircled my reasonable travelling distance from ST (Stoke) with just 6 postcode areas)

I just don't get why it makes sense to anyone that I should pay more to operate in a low cost area (as indicated by best confirmed booking for ST of just £175) than some DJs in London would pay.

And some folks 'down south' apparently realise £600+ per booking

But no worries I'll give it a go anyway - I still think it is a fair and reasonable question though.

Rich

Vectis

07-12-2014, 10:26 PM

The pricing structure isn't tied to the fees achievable in a particular area. It's designed to help smooth out the membership in line with the volume of enquiries received, so that in an ideal world a client in Eglwys Fach gets the same number of responses as a client in central London, and that the average number of responses is acceptable to both sides.

It's also designed to keep a lid on the number of members in any given area to avoid over-saturation based on the numbers of enquiries generated there.

It's a constantly moving picture. Every time a new member joins or someone leaves the whole thing is re-calculated against the latest enquiry figures to ensure we keep as close to the ideal balance as possible. It keeps members happy (saturation) and it keeps the clients happy (good level of response without getting pestered to death).

So your £119 might well be £129 this time tomorrow. Or £109. It jumps in £10 increments.

Excalibur

08-12-2014, 06:59 AM

The pricing structure isn't tied to the fees achievable in a particular area.
I think that's Dicky's point.

Looks like a circle you can't square. Lots of DJs in an area, so subs are high. Because there are so many DJs fighting for work, fees are low, market forces and all that. Tricky.
Or am I being too simplistic? :confused:

dicky

08-12-2014, 11:16 AM

Yes Excalibur very succinct way to put it :)

The way I see it 'The more competition you have to face the more you pay for the privelege'

As I said don't get me wrong I feel it is worthwhile subscribing at £119 or whatever the price is as I see a good likelyhood I will get more than that back

I have had a look at some of the local competition though and I definitely need to do some serious work on my own website before I think I will have a realistic chance of getting a decent return from listing on needadisco or anywhere else for that matter

Success is all about getting the basics right first isn't it?

Rich

ukpartydj

10-12-2014, 10:49 AM

All very interesting ... just clicked on a couple and the fee seems to vary from £9 - £159 (although I didn't check them all).

funkymook

10-12-2014, 03:30 PM

I definitely need to do some serious work on my own website before I think I will have a realistic chance of getting a decent return from listing on needadisco

And I think you’re wrong :)

A websites main aim is to get an enquiry so you can respond to it - NeedaDisco gets you that enquiry therefore it IS your website.

How you reply to that enquiry is what’s going to get you the booking, not sending them another website to engage in (they’ve already done that bit).

My advice is when given the option of calling the client, do so. Even a ‘Just checking if you still need a disco on .... before I send you an email’ will do as an opening ( personally as a bit more of a niche and specialist DJ I open with asking about what music they like). Then you can start chatting and finding out a bit more about what they want....then when you follow up with your email you can refer back to how nice it was to chat to them, go over what you talked about etc and make it a far more personal reply that will really stand out from the others.

If the option to phone them isn’t offered then just make sure your email is friendly and professional, and ask a few questions so they need to get back to you to answer them (which starts a dialogue going between you).

I can guarantee a great response with no website link is going to win over a terrible one with a website link.

Excalibur

10-12-2014, 06:48 PM

I definitely need to do some serious work on my own website before I think I will have a realistic chance of getting a decent return from listing on needadisco or anywhere else for that matter

And I think you’re wrong :)
Martin, you're right.

And wrong.

NaD will generate leads, no question. A decent website will help you to convert them. Before I had mine overhauled, one request feedback implied that I'd have been booked, but for a below par website. :(

It is possible to get bookings without a flashy website, but it's not unknown for customers to book on the strength of a posh website.
" He's got a brill website, so he must be good ".

How you reply to that enquiry is what’s going to get you the booking, not sending them another website to engage in (they’ve already done that bit).

My advice is when given the option of calling the client, do so.
Excellent advice. Excellent. That's how I got my first and best paying one from NaD. Told them I couldn't possibly quote until I had more details. Slightly economical with the actualité, granted, but it helped to win the gig, I'm sure. It was an all day wedding, so I already knew what it was going to cost, but a little more info is always welcome.

If the option to phone them isn’t offered then just make sure your email is friendly and professional, and ask a few questions so they need to get back to you to answer them (which starts a dialogue going between you).
See above. Correctamundo.

I can guarantee a great response with no website link is going to win over a terrible one with a website link.
Correct. Anecdotal evidence suggests that " I'll do your Disco, £125, I'm bloody good as well " is unlikely to significantly reduce the blank spaces in your diary.

ukpartydj

11-12-2014, 12:02 PM

Martin, you're right.

And wrong.

NaD will generate leads, no question. A decent website will help you to convert them. Before I had mine overhauled, one request feedback implied that I'd have been booked, but for a below par website. :(

It is possible to get bookings without a flashy website, but it's not unknown for customers to book on the strength of a posh website.
" He's got a brill website, so he must be good ".

I think it all depends on your client - I ask after an event if the client looked at my website and roughly 1/4 say they never looked at it prior to making their decision.

funkymook

11-12-2014, 01:03 PM

The point really is that Dicky doesn’t need to wait until he gets his website spot on before joining NeedaDisco.

Excalibur

11-12-2014, 04:11 PM

The point really is that Dicky doesn’t need to wait until he gets his website spot on before joining NeedaDisco.

Absolutely, totally and unquestionably true. The sooner he joins, the better, what has he to lose? Nothing, but possibly lots to gain.

dicky

11-12-2014, 09:51 PM

Hmmmm Ok.....

I'll just go and vascillate in the corner for a short while....

dicky

Benny Smyth

25-03-2015, 12:05 PM

So, I've decided to give NAD a try. I've been 'Uhhming' and 'Ahing' about it for a while now. For just under £150, it's worth a try I guess.

RikkiDee

25-03-2015, 12:29 PM

I've done okay from leads from there this year. I have had 9 bookings so far this year (including New Years Eve).
I don't rely on work from there though and any work I get from there is a bonus.
If you only get one booking then your subscription is paid for.

dj foureyes

25-03-2015, 12:31 PM

So, I've decided to give NAD a try. I've been 'Uhhming' and 'Ahing' about it for a while now. For just under £150, it's worth a try I guess.

Why not Benny, I've taken two bookings from it this week alone worth £600+.

Benny Smyth

25-03-2015, 12:33 PM

If you only get one booking then your subscription is paid for.

I only charge £30 a night. :sofa:

RikkiDee

25-03-2015, 12:42 PM

I only charge £30 a night. :sofa:

hahaha!
My subscription fees must be a lot less than yours...
Why not aim high and at least charge £40?
:)

Benny Smyth

25-03-2015, 12:58 PM

hahaha!
My subscription fees must be a lot less than yours...
Why not aim high and at least charge £40?
:)

Pfft! You wouldn't get that rarnd 'ere! :daft:

In all seriousness though, I don't buy into the 'one gig pays for it' mentality. For every penny I earn, 50% goes to one side so it can pay for George Osbourne's champagne habit (it is too much, but it's better to have extra than not enough). Adding in the extra expenses of doing the gig itself, one gig will 'pay for itself' but not enough left over to make it worth my while. After all, beer & pizza isn't free!

Now the '10 times the subscription' certainly looks like it'd be more worthwhile. I don't forsee this being my main source of income, but if it gets me 10 gigs over the next twelve months to fill some gaps, then I'll be happy enough. :approve:

Andy P

25-03-2015, 02:57 PM

" He's got a brill website, so he must be good ".

My feedback from last saturday when I asked the client why they booked was exactly this - your website was brill looked like you'd put time and effort in so you'll probably do the same with your disco - the rest were very basic and tacky.

Downside was I just launched my new website before heading off out to the disco

Benny Smyth

25-03-2015, 08:19 PM

I don't like it. I've had my membership confirmed for a full 90 minutes now and I'm yet to make a million pounds worth of work. I expect stuff to be handed to me with no effort on my part at all. ;)

The dashboard is actually a really simple interface. I don't know why, but I was half-expecting something that'd make me pull my hair out, so that makes me happy. From an end user standpoint, I actually quite like it.

Anyway, I've uploaded PLI, PAT, Contracts, Pictures...and something else that I can't remember and updated as much as I can do tonight. Now we play the waiting game...

Nakatomi

25-03-2015, 08:31 PM

My feedback from last saturday when I asked the client why they booked was exactly this - your website was brill looked like you'd put time and effort in so you'll probably do the same with your disco - the rest were very basic and tacky.

Downside was I just launched my new website before heading off out to the disco

Nice website BTW.. a big improvement on the old one :-)

RikkiDee

26-03-2015, 07:56 AM

You have a storm trooper working for you!
I'd book you for that alone!
Love it!
:o

Andy P

26-03-2015, 08:07 AM

Cheers guys - I did a wedding where they booked the 99th Garrison a Star Wars group - was great fun and allowed me to get some cool photos.

DJ Jules

26-03-2015, 10:38 AM

Cheers guys - I did a wedding where they booked the 99th Garrison a Star Wars group - was great fun and allowed me to get some cool photos.

:agree: Great shots, and a great website. Just a one negative comment on it - Google's not going to like it as it's not responsive and doesn't work well on a mobile.

Based on your website, I really wasn't expecting your prices (http://www.attackthedancefloor.co.uk/#!prices/cwge) though.

Julian

Andy P

26-03-2015, 12:01 PM

:agree: Great shots, and a great website. Just a one negative comment on it - Google's not going to like it as it's not responsive and doesn't work well on a mobile.

Based on your website, I really wasn't expecting your prices (http://www.attackthedancefloor.co.uk/#!prices/cwge) though.

Julian

I'll have to test that as I did the mobile interface on my iphone 5s and it works fine, the wife has android so will try it out to see if there are improvements that can be made. Also what is meant by not responsive - I still have to do all the SEO again, I made the changes based upon the Google analytic's findings.

As for price, its always a hot topic, mine are based on 3 facts currently and will increase in line with experience.

Those facts are:

I'm only 18 months into being a DJ and feel that I have some way to go before I can charge £200 plus, the price will rise as I move towards this mark, once I've clocked my first 100 gigs I'll probably increase it.
The local area was saturated with DJs when I did the market research and I matched the average price once I took out the top and bottom quarters, perhaps I got this wrong but I'm getting bookings which provide experience and don't think I'm really undercutting people.
I'm still in full time work and have a decent annual household income that means I'm doing this as both a project and pastime rather than main income, yes I plan to change this but for now my prices allow me to expand with new equipment, pay the company bills and enjoy a few extra holidays each year.

Andy P

26-03-2015, 12:02 PM

PS - i'm trying out the price list based on another thread I found with peeked my interest - i'll share my findings in a few months when I can make a comparison.

ppentertainments

26-03-2015, 02:10 PM

I'll have to test that as I did the mobile interface on my iphone 5s and it works fine, the wife has android so will try it out to see if there are improvements that can be made. Also what is meant by not responsive - I still have to do all the SEO again, I made the changes based upon the Google analytic's findings.

As for price, its always a hot topic, mine are based on 3 facts currently and will increase in line with experience.

Those facts are:

I'm only 18 months into being a DJ and feel that I have some way to go before I can charge £200 plus, the price will rise as I move towards this mark, once I've clocked my first 100 gigs I'll probably increase it.
The local area was saturated with DJs when I did the market research and I matched the average price once I took out the top and bottom quarters, perhaps I got this wrong but I'm getting bookings which provide experience and don't think I'm really undercutting people.
I'm still in full time work and have a decent annual household income that means I'm doing this as both a project and pastime rather than main income, yes I plan to change this but for now my prices allow me to expand with new equipment, pay the company bills and enjoy a few extra holidays each year.

It's good to hear someone being open and honest for a change !

dicky

26-03-2015, 09:57 PM

@atdf
Actually your evening charge is about the same as I manange to get around Stoke - I don't see anything wrong with working for these sort of fees personally

Weddings I am managing a little bit better at £150-£180 so far

Kids daytime parties are not something i have thought of doing

I still wonder what I would need to do different to command £600+ that some of you are doing, and no doubt deservedly or you wouldn't be able to achieve it.

I can't really add many more lights or play any better music, maybe it is down to my personal abilities not being as good as others?

Looking on NaD statistics the highest ever confirmed booking in my area, even by the top rated discos on there, I think was £180 - which I am managing to achieve myself without using them so far

Does that mean I am doing well or doing badly? , Which I guess is difficult for anyone to answer not knowing exactly what it is I am doing/not doing right as of now lol.

Could one of you gurus who get £600+ explain what I should be doing different if I wanted to achieve that myself? Spend 10k+ on higher end kit? Get a better suit? It's been said many times on here it is nothing to do with location so there must therefore be some other factors anyone anywhere with a bit of effort can put in place and voila! you got it

I recently signed up with AmpDJ and was not allowed to select Staffordshire as my area for enquiries (too popular with DJs already apparently) - so I decided to opt for Cheshire and as I really am not so fussed about working out there in the sticks, nor do I have a desperate need for more bookings, I also decided to quote double for any enquiries that come in. This I guess will be a good experiment to see if I manage to get any bookings.

I know full well what is the difference between the cheap £50-£60 a night lot in my area and those who actually have a decent rig and charge double that (and often have to argue hard to justify our charges believe me)- but really what does make the big difference between a £600 disco and a £130 disco seeing as both are likely to have a good setup. Knowing and understanding the differnece is probably a big way to achieving it yes?

Rich

funkymook

26-03-2015, 10:07 PM

@atdf
Actually your evening charge is about the same as I manange to get around Stoke - I don't see anything wrong with working for these sort of fees personally

Weddings I am managing a little bit better at £150-£180 so far

Kids daytime parties are not something i have thought of doing

I still wonder what I would need to do different to command £600+ that some of you are doing, and no doubt deservedly or you wouldn't be able to achieve it.

I can't really add many more lights or play any better music, maybe it is down to my personal abilities not being as good as others?

Looking on NaD statistics the highest ever confirmed booking in my area, even by the top rated discos on there, I think was £180 - which I am managing to achieve myself without using them so far

Does that mean I am doing well or doing badly? , Which I guess is difficult for anyone to answer not knowing exactly what it is I am doing/not doing right as of now lol.

Could one of you gurus who get £600+ explain what I should be doing different if I wanted to achieve that myself? Spend 10k+ on higher end kit? Get a better suit? It's been said many times it is noting to do with location.

I recently signed up with AmpDJ and was not allowed to select Staffordshire as my area for enquiries (too popular with DJs already apparently) - so I decided to opt for Cheshire and as I really am not so fussed about working out there in the sticks, nor do I hav a desperate need for more bookings, I also decided to quote double for any enquiries that come in. This I guess will be a good experiment to see if I manage to get any bookings.

I know full well what is the difference between the cheap £50-£60 a night lot in my area and those who actually have a decent rig and charge double that - but really what does make the big difference between a £600 disco and a £130 disco seeing as both are likely to have a good setup. Knowing and understanding the differnece is probably a big way to achieving it yes?

Rich

There’s no real difference apart from finding the right clients, asking for the money and delivering a professional service, it has nothing to do with the amount of equipment you have.

Andy P

26-03-2015, 10:47 PM

Shaun

27-03-2015, 06:40 AM

I don't agree that you'll find the same type of client in each area. I'm pretty sure the average income in Cheshire beats Sunderland hands down. This means less wealthy clients per DJ. I'm sure getting big hits has more to do with just asking for more money.

Sometimes it CAN be a case of just asking for more money - perceived value is key. If you can convince the client that what you provide is worth them paying that fee, then bingo. And as long as you follow though and provide them with a service that meets or exceeds their expectations then they'll feel they've had value for money. Equipment has absolutely nothing to do with it in my opinion.

My experience is that there are affluent people in all areas. There may not be the volume of higher paid work compared to the lower and mid priced DJs in certain areas, but there are people willing to pay a premium for a great service in EVERY area. And to increase the volume of work beyond the limitations of your own locale, it can be as simple as widening your service further afield, and tweaking your marketing.

----------

For the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with your pricing at the moment. As a relative newcomer you seem to have a good grasp of where you're at right now and where you're heading. I've no doubt in my mind that as your experience grows so will your fee. Best of luck my friend. :) :beer1:

Andy P

27-03-2015, 07:03 AM

Shaun

27-03-2015, 07:22 AM

Cheers, as I said - my opinion is just the sum of my feelings and may or may not be right. Im on these forums to learn from long running professionals and much of the advice i've read and been given has been golden and helped me move on in leaps for the first year.

:) :beer1::beer1:

I think those of us that have been on the forum for a while feel the same. This forum has played a huge part in shaping the way I work. The advice shared on here has been invaluable to me. So thank you to everyone that's contributed in some way over the years. :beer1: :)

DJ Jules

27-03-2015, 07:25 AM

For the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with your pricing at the moment. As a relative newcomer you seem to have a good grasp of where you're at right now and where you're heading. I've no doubt in my mind that as your experience grows so will your fee. Best of luck my friend. :) :beer1:

:agree:
I've been here and I think your approach is the right one.

My only comment would be from my own experience. When I started doing school disco's I set a very low price (£40 for one, £60 for the other) as the two schools I initially took on where ones where I had an interest (e.g. my kids were in the school and I was involved in the PTA to an extent). I then took on a couple more schools at similar rates without thinking about it. When I finally sat down and looked at my actual costs to get the kit, buy the prizes, get to the gig and then my time to run the actual disco, I discovered my true costs were around about £75 per gig (and that excludes my marketing costs as I picked all of these up from word of mouth). Meaning that I was going out at a loss of around £15-£35 per gig. I then looked at the competition and discovered the average was around £120-£150 per disco and broached the delicate subject of raising my price with the various schools - and all of them took a substantial price increase without question.

So, as others have said, sometimes the road to getting better money is just about believing in your worth, and asking for more. The hardest part of this is understanding what it is you do that has value for your customers and articulating that to them during the sales process through your advertising, your website, your telephone conversations, your email responses, etc (remembering that what has value for one client might be worthless to another).

The other thing to remember is that while Needadisco does do a lot of work to try and promote the differences between DJ's (i.e. to try and educate clients about the value that a higher paid DJ will deliver compared to a lower paid one), ultimately it just gives the customer a long list of prices with some words against them and even experienced customers who have booked disco's before will struggle to justify a higher price in their own minds unless someone offers them a really compelling reason to pay that price. In short, the higher paying clients (and I agree that there are a higher proportion of these in some regions compared to others) either aren't booking through needadisco (because they know what they're looking for and will search it out) or they start off with lower quoted budgets on a needadisco and someone manages to convince them that what they want is worth paying more for.

Julian

funkymook

27-03-2015, 09:02 AM

I don't agree that you'll find the same type of client in each area. I'm pretty sure the average income in Cheshire beats Sunderland hands down. This means less wealthy clients per DJ. I'm sure getting big hits has more to do with just asking for more money.

Depends how big your area is.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable for a mobile DJ to travel up to 60 miles. So draw a 60 miles circle with you in the middle and that’s your area. I bet within that area there are Michelin Star restaurants, 5 star Hotels, top marque car dealerships, golf clubs, expensive houses, high class wedding venues etc etc. And where they are there is money and people looking for quality.

Someone looking for a £150 DJ will probably not consider an £800 quote - likewise someone who can afford an £800 DJ probably wouldn’t look twice at £150 quote, in fact most wouldn’t even get the opposite end of the scale quotes anyway, they’re moving in completely different circles.
You need to choose your circle and market yourself to it - what you end up doing on the night itself probably won’t differ that much.

Nakatomi

27-03-2015, 09:21 AM

My own feelings on this are that it's about the level of service you're perceived to provide & salesmanship.

Where I am now I come out with £60 per gig in my pocket & out of that I have to take tax & all my expenses. You can see why it's taking an age to get money for my own rig together! My fee is exactly the same as all the other walk in DJs get, the same DJs who don't use headphones, a controller, sound card or legal music. The same DJs, who the venues I play don't speak highly of. I "always get the crowd going", "am excellent with my microphone", "bend over backwards for the customer". I'm deeply frustrated. I know I'm worth more, but at the same time I know what it's going to take to get what I'm worth. Realistically, I'm not making ANY money right now.

When I came back into DJing, coming in the way I did, it was really just an exploration to test the water. The test has shown that I still enjoy DJing immensely, and that I'm a cut above others in terms of technique, ability & attitude. If I'm to break even & do the kind of job I want to do I need to get out.

This isn't even beginning to factor in the hassle the venues cause with their lackadaisical attitude towards customer service from the entertainment angle... No contact with the client until the night, no persuading them to supply information before the event, then looking at me as if I'd just asked for the beating heart of their first born when I ask what the happy couples names are...

I want out, without getting into debt. If we'd not just had a round of redundancies at work I'd already by out with my credit card (so to speak).

Right now I manage to do a reasonable job in spite of everything, but the things preventing me from doing things my own way can't be removed without working for somebody else or myself. That, I'm glad to say, is getting ever nearer.

To the venues I work, the DJ is just some bloke who shows up & plays music at the crowd. They don't need information to 'just play music'. They can't, it seems, be made to understand that even a little thing like knowing the first dance song ahead of time is important. I want to do things right. I care. After my 'bridezilla' gig the other week I was in bits, analysing every aspect until I'd satisfied myself I couldn't have prevented the disaster which ensued other than by running a mile from that music policy.

So my pitch, when I venture out on my own will be to charge around £150 for an evening function in my area, which as far as I know is the middle of the range. I'm not looking to be a millionaire but I don't want to be a Sid & I know I'm worth more than the guys who just show up with some gear & press play. I certainly don't want to make a loss!

Andy P

27-03-2015, 09:37 AM

If you ever need a roadie give me a shout - if Im not working I'd love to come out and see you work. Your the same age as me, are re-entering the entertainment industry as I am (though for me it was previously working in bands and as a sound technician) and I think I could learn a lot from you.

I travel easily up to 100 miles from time to time and yes there are money people in this circle but similarly there is Middlesbro, Billingham, Ashington and a few other pretty depressing areas. So money aside to fill my diary I think I have the right price for now. Im not confident I could see myself for double never mind £800. if you are the person hats off to you.

DeckstarDeluxe

27-03-2015, 09:44 AM

£150 middle of the range? I charge £180 plus delivery for a DIY disco which is a deckstand, a couple of LED lights and a couple of mackies....that goes out 12-15 times a year!

I noticed someone mention lighting? Clients literally couldn't care less if you didn't have lighting.

People buy people. It's that simple.

Benny Smyth

27-03-2015, 09:54 AM

I noticed someone mention lighting? Clients literally couldn't care less if you didn't have lighting.

I almost agree with that 100%. I would like to propose an addendum to that: clients (like everyone else) don't notice anything unless it's either exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. Clients notice crap lighting. Anything above that, for the most part, goes unnoticed.

Excalibur

27-03-2015, 09:58 AM

There's some brilliant advice coming out here, but since it's drifting off topic, I'll start a new thread soon. I may even ask someone clever if they can move that latest one across to it. More later.

funkymook

27-03-2015, 10:19 AM

I almost agree with that 100%. I would like to propose an addendum to that: clients (like everyone else) don't notice anything unless it's either exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. Clients notice crap lighting. Anything above that, for the most part, goes unnoticed.

Funnily enough I just showed a client clips of a range of lighting, a solar 250 psychedelic lightshow, powerbar, uplighting, cheetahs, spherions and a Chauvet gigbar - all offered in any combination..., no price difference between the choices - they chose the gigbar on it’s own. With that out of the way we then spent ages chatting about music....and they didn’t ask me about my speakers at all.

Obviously different clients have different priorities but I’ve never had one yet where the lighting was the main one, more often than not that’s discussed after they’ve booked me.

Andy P

27-03-2015, 12:19 PM

Gig bars are ace - this aside im looking forward to the day I offer PA and Lighting choices. I do get asked often do you have light then but I suppose the cheaper end of the market like flashy things.

I hope I dont sound like im disagreeing as im not - its more the case I just dont feel like I offer a 200 quid plus service so would not be comfortable asking for it. But then I'm lying as I have a wedding in May when I return from holidays for £200 but its doing the reception meal too.

Solitaire Events Ltd

27-03-2015, 12:35 PM

funkymook

27-03-2015, 12:49 PM

Andy P

27-03-2015, 12:53 PM

Andy P

27-03-2015, 01:17 PM

17106
17105
They say the proof is in the pudding tasting so here is my months report from google - new site seems to have gained me a steady increase in traffic and more are staying.

funkymook

27-03-2015, 01:23 PM

Confidence, testimonials from bigger events, I need to improve my PA a bit (which should be soon), a way to engage with the money people. Im also not a natural sales person which is probably evident from the previous sentence.

So just confidence then :)

Your website is confident enough, you just have to walk the walk now.

What I’d do if I were you is see what happens if you double or even triple your quotes. The no (or minimal) risk way of doing this is to try it with enquiries 6 months or more in advance so there’s still plenty of time to get the date filled. What have you got to lose.

Andy P

27-03-2015, 01:25 PM

Your advice is sound, its something i'll try fo sho.

funkymook

27-03-2015, 01:39 PM

Your advice is sound, its something i'll try fo sho.

Let us know how you get on - and if you’d like any help on responding to enquiries/selling yourself then just ask.

dicky

27-03-2015, 03:59 PM

What I’d do if I were you is see what happens if you double or even triple your quotes. The no (or minimal) risk way of doing this is to try it with enquiries 6 months or more in advance so there’s still plenty of time to get the date filled. What have you got to lose.

Which is pretty much what I said I was intending to do with any enquiries coming in from Cheshire so this reassurngly suggests I am also on the right track :)

Rich

Shaun

28-03-2015, 08:43 AM

I apologise if any posts are out of the correct order. Something went amiss when performing an edit. Oopsie.

Excalibur

28-03-2015, 09:00 AM

I apologise if any posts are out of the correct order. Something went amiss when performing an edit. Oopsie.

And then I had a bash as well. Don't know if that helped. :confused:

Benny Smyth

30-03-2015, 12:39 PM

surround sounds

30-03-2015, 01:11 PM

Ok, so I signed up last week and it has only been a few days, but here is what I have found: I've had 0 leads, and 14 ineligible leads (leads that do not get past my filters, for those who don't know). Of those 14, 10 of them were looking for 'budget DJs'.

Bear in mind that it is still very early days but if this is an indication of the type of people who book through NaD, it may be a long year.

Edit: and as soon as I post that, I've had my first eligible enquiry come through!

You will find that benny to be honest wanting Budget djs. Last year I got 1 booking from it.

Benny Smyth

30-03-2015, 01:14 PM

You will find that benny to be honest wanting Budget djs. Last year I got 1 booking from it.

Well...think positive thoughts...think positive thoughts...

Excalibur

30-03-2015, 03:07 PM

Ok, so I signed up last week and it has only been a few days, but here is what I have found: I've had 0 leads, and 14 ineligible leads (leads that do not get past my filters, for those who don't know). Of those 14, 10 of them were looking for 'budget DJs'.

Bear in mind that it is still very early days but if this is an indication of the type of people who book through NaD, it may be a long year.

Edit: and as soon as I post that, I've had my first eligible enquiry come through!

Many are indeed looking for Budget DJs. Doesn't mean you have to quote them a budget price.

Also, Benny, bear in mind there are many many more functions where the client expects to pay £100, rather than £1,000. Price of my first NaD booking? Triple my standard rate. They're out there Benny. ;)

Excalibur

06-04-2015, 11:54 AM

Well...think positive thoughts...think positive thoughts...

They're out there Benny. ;)

They are indeed out there, and one or two are heading my way. Modesty forbids me naming any names, but check out 2015's top earners so far. :whistle:

Benny Smyth

06-04-2015, 12:34 PM

They are indeed out there, and one or two are heading my way. Modesty forbids me naming any names, but check out 2015's top earners so far. :whistle:

Wait...so they're moving the party up to your neck of the woods? That is some very considerate clients! :p

Benny Smyth

08-04-2015, 11:14 AM

They are indeed out there, and one or two are heading my way. Modesty forbids me naming any names, but check out 2015's top earners so far. :whistle:

And he keeps on going. Look what appeard on my Twitter timeline:

17123

My guess is that Peter is going to be so minted by BPM that he's going to buy us all a drink there. ;)

Excalibur

08-04-2015, 11:20 AM

My guess is that Peter is going to be so minted by BPM that he's going to buy us all a drink there. ;)
Funny you should say that. ;)

Hilariously funny, in fact. :mad:

Good news, bad news.
Good news, I've got a gig the night before. Regular customers, good payer, so stranger things have happened, Benny.

Bad news. Regular customers, who have an account, and pay by cheque, so sorry Benny, no small sherry for you. :(

Benny Smyth

08-04-2015, 11:25 AM

I, of course, jest Peter. Glad to see that there is a consistent benefit to NaD. :thumbs_up:

DJ Jules

08-04-2015, 11:43 AM

My guess is that Peter is going to be so minted by BPM that he's going to buy us all a drink there. ;)

You know he's from Yorkshire, right? :D

Julian

fullcontact68

15-04-2015, 10:40 AM

I've just taken to plunge and signed up to NAD.

Looking forward to seeing the results from this.

dj foureyes

15-04-2015, 01:42 PM

I've just taken to plunge and signed up to NAD.

Looking forward to seeing the results from this.

You can't really lose ....:approve:

Excalibur

15-04-2015, 06:37 PM

I've just taken to plunge and signed up to NAD.

Looking forward to seeing the results from this.

Hmmmm, how can I put this? :confused:

Get orff moi land! :mad:

Good luck with it, once you get a couple of gig with positive feedback, the whole process becomes what one might call a virtuous circle.
Only problem is getting those first ones.

Benny Smyth

23-04-2015, 11:30 AM

Only problem is getting those first ones.

:mad:

From my own personal experience, I am very underwhelmed by NaD.

It's too much of a free for all. Case in point: there's a wedding in Birmingham with a budget of £450. Now, the majority of the enquiries that come in I quote for regardless, knowing full well that I won't be getting them because their budget is £200. But, alas, I want to meet my 10x guarantee, so I persevere (which, by the way, I've just clocked onto the fact that the data for your 10x guarantee is only taken from CLOSED enquiries. Of the 27 enquiries I've had, 7 of them have been closed - one of which was closed by NaD itself due to something dodgy about the enquiry, and yet that gig is classed as 'Pending' for me?!?). This £450 gig though is certainly closer to my price range than most enquiries, so I of course bid for it.

As it stands, 18 providers have bid for it thus far. I'm not one for going to the excuse of 'too many folk going for it' but if you were to book a DJ directly ( after a search on Google search, Yellow Pages etc.) you would enquire to three, maybe four suppliers at a time. If anybody from your initial enquiry batch doesn't click for you, you look at another three or four, and so on. Nobody enquires to 18 different suppliers in one sitting for anything. Imagine being a customer who goes home one evening after work to 18 emails. By email number 5, you're thinking to yourself "I can't be bothered with reading all of this word for word" so it becomes a scanning exercise by which point, what does it matter what your email says? I could probably throw in some made up words into the email like "pluptent" and it wouldn't register.

Oh, and one other thing that stick in my craw: according to NaD, a Premium DJ in Birmingham is £300 to £450. I charge more than £450, so what's one above Premium?

Now, I started my subscription at the tail end of March, so obviously there is a long way to go and I would love to be proven wrong, but based on what I have seen so far, I'm not optimistic.

funkymook

23-04-2015, 11:49 AM

Imagine being a customer who goes home one evening after work to 18 emails. By email number 5, you're thinking to yourself "I can't be bothered with reading all of this word for word" so it becomes a scanning exercise by which point, what does it matter what your email says? I could probably throw in some made up words into the email like "pluptent" and it wouldn't register.

I think you’re right, it does become a scanning exercise.

From what a few of my NaD clients have told me over the years they bin the ones that just give a price and no details and any that don’t look professional, that’s probably 70% dismissed straight away. What they take notice of is well written personal replies, so in fact it’s easy to stand out from the crowd.

For me NaD isn’t my main enquiry source, I cherry pick those I like the look of and treat them as if they were a direct enquiry, which means I may quote for one or two a month at most, just getting one booking a year justifies the cost and work involved.

ukpartydj

23-04-2015, 01:43 PM

I could probably throw in some made up words into the email like "pluptent" and it wouldn't register.

I find it's all about how you write your responses, if I were you I would certainly look at restructuring your gabble to ensure you get the levers across:

Music is wedding DJ Benny Smyth's speciality, in fact he was voted the no.1 Pluptent DJ in England by a fellow professional in his industry!
His advice is acknowledged by some of the top wedding DJs and sometimes, they even agree with him!
Don't be fooled by the cheesy plup DJs! Book the fully tent, plup Benny Smyth today!

Benny Smyth

23-04-2015, 02:02 PM

Music is wedding DJ Benny Smyth's speciality, in fact he was voted the no.1 Pluptent DJ in England by a fellow professional in his industry!
His advice is acknowledged by some of the top wedding DJs and sometimes, they even agree with him!
Don't be fooled by the cheesy plup DJs! Book the fully tent, plup Benny Smyth today!

How did you get a copy of my blurb? Did you fake enquiry me?

ukpartydj

23-04-2015, 03:45 PM

How did you get a copy of my blurb? Did you fake enquiry me?

That's one thing needadisco excels in... Providing DJs with an excellent tool to get prices from competitors!

Anyway! I think the big difference is on needadisco you can see your competitors. If you were just googleing for a DJ you'd skip the ones that looked bad or too expensive. On needadisco you probably still skip them... Unless the bad one now looks good because he's half the price!

- - - Updated - - -

How did you get a copy of my blurb? Did you fake enquiry me?

That's one thing needadisco excels in... Providing DJs with an excellent tool to get prices from competitors!

Anyway! I think the big difference is on needadisco you can see your competitors. If you were just googleing for a DJ you'd skip the ones that looked bad or too expensive. On needadisco you probably still skip them... Unless the bad one now looks good because he's half the price!

Andy P

24-04-2015, 07:11 AM

Speaking of blurb I'm going to re-do mine as the take up rate has slipped somewhat since I started using my latest response.

fullcontact68

24-04-2015, 09:18 AM

Good luck with it, once you get a couple of gig with positive feedback, the whole process becomes what one might call a virtuous circle.
Only problem is getting those first ones.

It is a struggle getting the first one.

Had a few leads so far, but most are too low value for the distance I would need to travel.

Do I take the plunge in quoting for low value ones at a distance to get the first one in, or do I hold out for something more suitable?

Imagine

25-04-2015, 11:54 PM

That's one thing needadisco excels in... Providing DJs with an excellent tool to get prices from competitors!

Funny you should say that 'cos I'm experiencing a lot of this at the moment.
My NaD bookings fell through the floor from Jan 1st - no reason, nothing I was doing different.....they just stopped converting.

Now on the better looking gigs, I always request feedback from those that turn me away (in a friendly way), just to see what their reasons were for chosing someone else over me....purely to help me see if there's anything I can be doing differently/better etc. i.e would something like more photos or video on the website have swayed their decision etc. In all cases by the way, these are leads that I've had dialogue of some form with, i.e. they've replied to the initial response with a couple of questions or something.

Not everyone replies, and that's understandable. However, I've had several saying the same thing.....
They've received several quotes all pretty much identical to my spiel, but a lot cheaper!

It would appear that someone's copied my quote emails (it's a template I only use on NaD), and are now undercutting me.

Not too worried as I've got plenty of work coming in from elsewhere these days (a lot of stuff coming direct from referrals and the like, which more than suits me). It's just annoying that people can't take the time to develop their business themselves rather than having to lift the content from others.

ukpartydj

26-04-2015, 01:32 AM

It would appear that someone's copied my quote emails (it's a template I only use on NaD), and are now undercutting me.

If you got something good, somebody else will want to steal it from you. I update mine response every other month but I'd be really annoyied if somebody copied all the hard work in choosing words that describe you etc

funkymook

26-04-2015, 02:40 PM

One solution is not use a template - write a bespoke response to match the bespoke service we offer.

Excalibur

26-04-2015, 03:59 PM

One solution is not use a template - .
Been there, done that. ;) I don't intend to revert to the practice.
It is possible to add text to a template, you know, in order to personalise each reply somewhat.

Thus " £150 for a disco on Saturday 39th Febroobarb at Slagthorpe WMC" becomes " £165 for a disco for your Star Wars themed 95th birthday party on the 39th Febroobarb in the banqueting Hall of Slagthorpe WMC, as I charge extra to dress up as Chewbacca ".

See the difference? :whistle: Much more personal.:)

Benny Smyth

26-04-2015, 04:16 PM

Thus " £150 for a disco on Saturday 39th Febroobarb at Slagthorpe WMC" becomes " £165 for a disco for your Star Wars themed 95th birthday party on the 39th Febroobarb in the banqueting Hall of Slagthorpe WMC, as I charge extra to dress up as Chewbacca ".

I'd actually feel guilty charging extra for dressing up in my usual DJ'ing attire.

Imagine

26-04-2015, 08:13 PM

Been there, done that. ;) I don't intend to revert to the practice.
It is possible to add text to a template, you know, in order to personalise each reply somewhat.

Thus " £150 for a disco on Saturday 39th Febroobarb at Slagthorpe WMC" becomes " £165 for a disco for your Star Wars themed 95th birthday party on the 39th Febroobarb in the banqueting Hall of Slagthorpe WMC, as I charge extra to dress up as Chewbacca ".

See the difference? :whistle: Much more personal.:)

Funny enough - I work in a very similar way. I've got templates in DJEP for various different event types, different budgets and different lead sources, all of them highly customised each and every time they go out the door. There's a lot that doesn't change in each email, so these are the bits that are kept as "standard", although even that changes per lead source.

So, yes they're personalised, but yes they're also from a template :)
No point in making the job any harder than it needs to be :whistle:

funkymook

26-04-2015, 08:18 PM

Funny enough - I work in a very similar way. I've got templates in DJEP for various different event types, different budgets and different lead sources, all of them highly customised each and every time they go out the door. There's a lot that doesn't change in each email, so these are the bits that are kept as "standard", although even that changes per lead source.

So, yes they're personalised, but yes they're also from a template :)
No point in making the job any harder than it needs to be :whistle:

I actually found it more work to customise a template so it didn’t look like a template each time than starting from scratch.

Not so much for lead site generated enquiries but those directly from my websites can vary in their style and tone and I like to mirror them with my reply style.

Andy P

27-04-2015, 08:34 AM

So many of you are in favour of a bespoke response to the enquiry rather than working with a structure and just changing key information.

Nakatomi

27-04-2015, 09:10 AM

Well, with so many people either not being descriptive or just copying other discos responses, if you want to stand out...

I suppose it can be a bit of a time sink if you're having to deal with a lot of enquiries. More so if the conversion rate is low.

funkymook

27-04-2015, 09:39 AM

So many of you are in favour of a bespoke response to the enquiry rather than working with a structure and just changing key information.

I think if you can go in lower than most then a template is fine, but if you know your quote is going to be higher than others then you need to show why you’re worth more. From my experience clients who aren’t just looking for the lowest price value the personal approach.

For example, an enquiry that mentions it’s a 70’s disco theme - what’s going to appeal to a client more, a template (even a really good one) or a friendly reply that is written specifically about their party showing enthusiasm about the music with a few example playlists, lighting options (mirror balls) asking if people are dressing up etc.

I know which approach works better for me.

Well, with so many people either not being descriptive or just copying other discos responses, if you want to stand out...

I suppose it can be a bit of a time sink if you're having to deal with a lot of enquiries. More so if the conversion rate is low.

How many enquiries do you get and what’s your conversion rate?

It does take time and effort, but maybe a clients perception would be ‘if they have taken the time to reply like this then I trust them to take the same time over all the other details’.

Benny Smyth

27-04-2015, 09:45 AM

So many of you are in favour of a bespoke response to the enquiry rather than working with a structure and just changing key information.

No reason that you can't have both and, to be fair, it doesn't take a lot to make it feel personal. Keep the template, but spot opprtunities to personalise it. Case in point, just a couple of days ago I had an enquiry stating that she didn't want a cheesy DJ and I just edited my repsonse to "I am delighted to confirm that I am currently available* to provide professional (and non-cheesy!) DJ services for your wedding on X at Y." That, plus one or two other changes and the client booked and even used the word "Excited" in her response.

Andy P

27-04-2015, 10:12 AM

To date my most successful response email has been a template one but it was done in the style of a sales email with lots of pictures, a two column layout, logos etc. Now I send out all that as a booklet attached to a simple letter style email which is 70-30% template to freehand.

Nakatomi

27-04-2015, 10:19 AM

I think if you can go in lower than most then a template is fine, but if you know your quote is going to be higher than others then you need to show why you’re worth more. From my experience clients who aren’t just looking for the lowest price value the personal approach.

For example, an enquiry that mentions it’s a 70’s disco theme - what’s going to appeal to a client more, a template (even a really good one) or a friendly reply that is written specifically about their party showing enthusiasm about the music with a few example playlists, lighting options (mirror balls) asking if people are dressing up etc.

I know which approach works better for me.

How many enquiries do you get and what’s your conversion rate?

It does take time and effort, but maybe a clients perception would be ‘if they have taken the time to reply like this then I trust them to take the same time over all the other details’.

I don't. I'm not on there yet. I'm pondering joining when I go solo & my plan isn't just to send generic responses. At the same time I don't know what it's going to be like in terms of volume for enquiries. My own research to date is making me nervous about entering an already crowded marketplace.

funkymook

27-04-2015, 10:38 AM

I don't. I'm not on there yet. I'm pondering joining when I go solo & my plan isn't just to send generic responses. At the same time I don't know what it's going to be like in terms of volume for enquiries. My own research to date is making me nervous about entering an already crowded marketplace.

NaD’s a tool, you can use it in any way you like. Some get all their bookings from it and do very well, some, like me, don’t go after many and only expect 1 or 2 bookings a year as an addition to enquiries from other sources.

My view is that just one half decent booking a year more than pays for my membership.

Benny Smyth

27-04-2015, 10:55 AM

My view is that just one half decent booking a year more than pays for my membership.

Is that enough though?

Like you, NaD is not my primary source when it comes to getting gigs and is something I hope(d) will supplement my income, but I still expect a decent return on any money I invest. I'm sure I've said before that I don't buy into the 'one gig pays for it' mentality. For every penny I earn, 50% goes to one side so it can pay for George Osbourne's champagne habit (it is too much, but it's better to have extra than not enough). Adding in the extra expenses of doing the gig itself, one gig will 'pay for itself' but not enough left over to make it worth my while. After all, beer & pizza isn't free!

funkymook

27-04-2015, 11:28 AM

Is that enough though?

Like you, NaD is not my primary source when it comes to getting gigs and is something I hope(d) will supplement my income, but I still expect a decent return on any money I invest. I'm sure I've said before that I don't buy into the 'one gig pays for it' mentality. For every penny I earn, 50% goes to one side so it can pay for George Osbourne's champagne habit (it is too much, but it's better to have extra than not enough). Adding in the extra expenses of doing the gig itself, one gig will 'pay for itself' but not enough left over to make it worth my while. After all, beer & pizza isn't free!

My membership fee isn’t very high and I have the same base costs for every booking regardless of the source. I’m particularly choosy about which NaD enquiries I respond to so I’m probably not a typical example, but for me one a year is worth it, two and I’m quids in.

I believe there’s SEO benefits for being in the DJ Mark scheme as well - but as SEO is a bit of a mystery to me it would take someone else to explain how that works.

Andy P

27-04-2015, 01:43 PM

I keep meaning to join then buying stuff, but ive been pretty much as capacity for last two months so not sure its needed. I am however feeding work to a friend who has started up but joining for his behalf is not good business for me - however he lives in the next county and its far more expensive to join for him.

I get a fair few links from ampdj who do the pli thing for me, Ive gota ton of free adds but my main source other than word of mouth is facebook, followed by Web followed by Google and Yell

Excalibur

27-04-2015, 02:51 PM

I suppose it can be a bit of a time sink if you're having to deal with a lot of enquiries. More so if the conversion rate is low.

For those of us DJs Of Negotiable Virtue, if you don't apply filters to NaD, there have been occasions when enquiries have been coming in faster than I can reply to them. If like Martin, you want to cherry pick and really target the ones you fancy, that's fine.

So many of you are in favour of a bespoke response to the enquiry rather than working with a structure and just changing key information.

That's my only realistic option. Perhaps some form of middle ground is the best way? :confused:

Nakatomi

27-04-2015, 04:17 PM

For those of us DJs Of Negotiable Virtue, if you don't apply filters to NaD, there have been occasions when enquiries have been coming in faster than I can reply to them. If like Martin, you want to cherry pick and really target the ones you fancy, that's fine.

That's my only realistic option. Perhaps some form of middle ground is the best way? :confused:

Well, I intend to filter my customer base somewhat when I'm flying solo. Whether that will ever be a reality remains to be seen. The filtering, that is. Not the flying solo. I'm still on track to be doing that by the end of Q3 this year :)

ukpartydj

28-04-2015, 09:37 AM

Recently the biggest annoyance with regard to needadisco has been the limit of number of responses each client receives.
I can understand maybe they don't want to look through 15 quotes but I don't think only giving them the first 5 responses is fair on the DJs and you're not delivering to the client quality quotes, just quick quotes!

I once spent a bit of time replying to an enquiry which I was really interested in. I always leave putting the email address in the email until last incase the email sends prematurely and when I went to grab the email address from needadisco either I accidently refreshed the page or it dynamically updated - either way all the details disappeared and it was "on hold" ARRRRR!!!

Vectis

28-04-2015, 11:58 AM

ukpartydj

28-04-2015, 02:12 PM

The number of quotes required is a question answered by the client and has been part of the enquiry form for several years. The default is "As many as possible". If this is changed, it's the client's choice.

Yes, I realise they make the decision. It is just very frustrating to see what you could have quoted for with no way of doing anything about it.

Imagine

28-04-2015, 02:26 PM

Andy P

28-04-2015, 02:46 PM

I'm going in tonight....

Benny Smyth

28-04-2015, 02:48 PM

I'm going in tonight....

Your plans with Mrs. Dancefloor are of no interest to me!

SC Events

28-04-2015, 03:05 PM

Your plans with Mrs. Dancefloor are of no interest to me!

:lol:

Andy P

28-04-2015, 04:19 PM

Your plans with Mrs. Dancefloor are of no interest to me!

anything you say lad - well its all done, waiting my 24hrs to see if its money well spent - on the bright side SR was only £69

Also need to sort out my DJ mark stuff for my shiney new badge

Nakatomi

28-04-2015, 04:31 PM

anything you say lad - well its all done, waiting my 24hrs to see if its money well spent - on the bright side SR was only £69

Also need to sort out my DJ mark stuff for my shiney new badge

Ye gads, that's about what I used to pay to be in the local 'free' paper in the early 90s

Shakermaker Promotions

29-04-2015, 07:25 AM

When I was with NAD I didn't really do too much with the filters and I got lots of enquiries but the majority of the time I was getting them from way out of my area.
I'd also reply to lots of them and I think I got 4 bookings in total from it over the 2 years I was on the site.
I didn't renew this time as I wanted to see if I could get along without it as my diary started filling up pretty quickly from recommendations and residency work but I think I will probably sign up again soon as I have a number of dates that could be filled.

Vectis - If I have signed up previously, would you still have all of my previous information (Text, Photos and Venue reviews etc)
Obviously you'd need new PLI and PAT Documentation uploaded but just wondered if I'd have to re-submit all of the information again?
Could you let me know please.
In my opinion, the hardest thing in this trade is getting the enquiries. I guess once I have sorted the filters and settings out then I can manage the enquiries and as someone else said, cherry pick too rather than look at lots of them and write them off because they are a bit too far out of my area.

Andy P

29-04-2015, 12:26 PM

So joined, accepted and sent off most of my docs. I don't have a pro dub licence because I've not format shifted music, I do use content unlimited so do you think this will bypass the requirement?

RikkiDee

29-04-2015, 12:38 PM

You can just sign a disclaimer stating that you do not require a ProDub licence.

musicology

29-04-2015, 02:41 PM

You can just sign a disclaimer stating that you do not require a ProDub licence.

You may want to be aware that they (NAD) notify Produb of your disclaimer so I suppose it's possible they may want to check up on you.

Andy P

29-04-2015, 02:58 PM

I've been buying up some cheap bulk cd's which Im going to rip so I will be getting pro-dub but here is the dreaded question. If I convert 1000 songs and have a pro-dub licence to use them, do I need pro-dub next year to use them for another year or does the licence cover me for them songs forever?

Vectis

29-04-2015, 02:59 PM

You may want to be aware that they (NAD) notify Produb of your disclaimer so I suppose it's possible they may want to check up on you.

Not strictly true.

If approached by a relevant agency (ie Trading Standards, who generally investigate low level complaints on behalf of PRS) then the disclaimer will be supplied.

So it's not "Pushed" but it can be "Pulled".

I've been buying up some cheap bulk cd's which Im going to rip so I will be getting pro-dub but here is the dreaded question. If I convert 1000 songs and have a pro-dub licence to use them, do I need pro-dub next year to use them for another year or does the licence cover me for them songs forever?

No. Think of ProDub licences as "Credits". 1 "credit" per dub (copy) valid forever unless the format is changed again in future. But the total "credits" must be spent within 12 months of the licence date, or forfeited.

Vectis

29-04-2015, 03:02 PM

Vectis - If I have signed up previously, would you still have all of my previous information (Text, Photos and Venue reviews etc)
Obviously you'd need new PLI and PAT Documentation uploaded but just wondered if I'd have to re-submit all of the information again?
Could you let me know please.

We delete history 1 month after expiry of the account, so you'd be coming in with nothing. It should only take half an hour to get a profile built though.

Andy P

29-04-2015, 03:10 PM

Cool, this will be a long ongoing process but the basic account should be good to work on annually

hadyn

29-04-2015, 03:17 PM

Just going back to how many bookings you get from NAD, since joining my bookings have at least quadrupled over the last couple of years due to this company and in fact is my main source of inquirys now due to my website not performing very well in google etc.
Also i get lots of repeat bookings following parties that i have done for clients including one client who i done a christmas disco for who then subsequently booked me for her engagement party last year and this year i am doing her hen party and then wedding as well.
so you may not get many bookings sometimes but once you succeed in securing a booking, you have the chance to really impress them with your talent, setup etc and get repeat bookings as well so its a massive thumbs up from me for NAD.

musicology

29-04-2015, 09:04 PM

Not strictly true.

If approached by a relevant agency (ie Trading Standards, who generally investigate low level complaints on behalf of PRS) then the disclaimer will be supplied.

So it's not "Pushed" but it can be "Pulled".

Have you supplied many disclaimers?

Vectis

30-04-2015, 07:44 AM

A couple, yes.

Shakermaker Promotions

30-04-2015, 08:18 AM

We delete history 1 month after expiry of the account, so you'd be coming in with nothing. It should only take half an hour to get a profile built though.

Ok, thanks for letting me know. It's probably a good idea to be honest as I have a whole bunch of new photos, testimonials and information that I could put up.
I'll have a look at it all in the next week or so.
Thanks again.

Andy P

30-04-2015, 09:14 AM

That all the docs sent, profile done and a couple of links responded to. Awaiting my DJ Mark now so I can get searching

Solitaire Events Ltd

30-04-2015, 03:47 PM

I do use content unlimited

What is that?

Excalibur

30-04-2015, 05:11 PM

What is that?

Good heavens!! I'm surprised you don't know.
I believe that if you give VDJ some money every month, they let you play music that you don't own. You sort of hire it. If you get a request for a spot of death metal, and you're a bit light on it, you go online, and get access to some suitable tracks.

Many new starters have tried it as a way to start up without buying two grand's worth of music, and also apparently avoiding Produb. Dazzy knows all about it, see here. (http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?42511-VDJ-ContentUnlimited-Users-IMPORTANT-NEWS)

DazzyD

30-04-2015, 08:11 PM

Imagine

01-05-2015, 09:18 AM

Content Unlimited is a music subscription service that can be integrated in to VDJ. It's for working DJs and it's provided by Grooveshark here in the UK and Europe. It's licensed via a worldwide partnership agreement between the licencing authorities in the US and their equivalent bodies In each country it's available in.

.....or apparently not!

Grooveshark shut their servers down last night and have gone out of business due to the major labels deciding that their "seed" content (the 1500 tracks they started with) weren't actually that legit.

PRS would never give anything in writing on this one. I spoke to them several times on the phone and apparently agreements were in place between ASCAP (the USA's PRS) and Grooveshark, and PRS had agreements in place with ASCAP, so they claimed it was all above board. Funnily they'd never confirm that in writing though.

So, Content Unlimited is currently off line (just tried it, no results). Only used it very rarely for exactly the reasons Peter suggested, but it was handy to have, especially for the stuff you're never likely to play ever again.

Wouldn't mind so much, but they've taken this month's fee and now I can't access what I've paid for :(

Andy P

01-05-2015, 10:51 AM

Well it was they just got bummed for starting up with some dodgy practices

Benny Smyth

01-05-2015, 12:40 PM

Excalibur

01-05-2015, 12:58 PM

Just admit that you don't have the song. I don't download stuff on the night while I'm working.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? :confused::confused:

One of the greatest advances in making our life easier, making us look brilliant, and increasing customer satisfaction, and you don't take advantage of it? :confused::confused:

Yes, I know it can be a two edged sword, when customers start playing silly persons, to make you download silly tracks for the sake of it, but at the last few discos, I have downloaded special tracks for the client, which have made their night. All it takes is a smartphone, and/or tablet even if there's no venue wifi.

Why, even our esteemed Admin, North of the Border felt moved to download a track ( Perry Como, or some such, if I remember correctly ) and despite the unforseen expense, considered it money well spent. :)

DeckstarDeluxe

01-05-2015, 12:59 PM

Nakatomi

01-05-2015, 01:13 PM

Just admit that you don't have the song. I don't download stuff on the night while I'm working. Anything I need to download will be done during the gig prep time leading up to the big day.

In nearly 15 years, I can only recall one time where somebody replied to me with "Can't you just download it?" 99.9% of people walk away disappointed but happy enough if you tell them the right way "Sorry, I've not got that one. I do have XY&Z though?"

I've found some DJs say "Yeah, I can do that, I can do this" only for them to go out and buy some kit to fulfill that promise. I've got a friend who is a voice over and was hired to voice and produce some audio, but she knows nothing about production. I ended up doing it for her and took a substantial amount from her fee for doing so.

My point being that if you haven't got something, or are not quite in a place to do something, it's ok to say that it can't be done.

I do that, but when I roll up to the hotel who've not been returning my emails & phonecalls then find I don't have the first dance song... er... Hmmm. I've had many a 'word' with the manager of that place & he still isn't playing ball. It's just a disco, right? It doesn't matter or anything. He's gonna get the fright of his life if I ever take over that residency. Shape up, or I'm offski.

The other week when the bride's dance troupe didn't bring the song edit along, I *offered* to *try* to save their situation, and did. Had they supplied me with the track information as I'd asked them for before the event it would've been easier all round. If the track hadn't been obtainable, then no skin off my nose - it was the dance leader's fault after all. Nah, and I DID save their bacon. Had it been a private booking there'd have surely been a good tip for pulling that off but i'd have been happy with a nice glowing testimonial.

But not having a B&Gs first dance song, because the venue couldn't be bothered to tell me? That only makes ME look bad & I like to avoid it. Yes in an ideal world I'd know all about the event ages in advance. This ain't my ideal world & I make the best of it I can.

There've been other times I've bought tracks on the night, but they always go through my 'is it really worth it' filter before I give them the 'sorry, I don't have that one, what about...' routine.

For the phone plugger-inners.. they always go away with a flea in their ear. "Did you buy that track?", I'll ask. The answer so far has never been 'yes'. I *do* carry a line input cable with me, but it's not for them & they don't know that.

BTW I know of at least one other DJ who's worked for my boss in the past who play music directly from Youtube :O Talk about shoddy, but hey... instant music access!

Benny Smyth

01-05-2015, 01:52 PM

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? :confused::confused:

One of the greatest advances in making our life easier, making us look brilliant, and increasing customer satisfaction, and you don't take advantage of it? :confused::confused:

Yes, I know it can be a two edged sword, when customers start playing silly persons, to make you download silly tracks for the sake of it, but at the last few discos, I have downloaded special tracks for the client, which have made their night. All it takes is a smartphone, and/or tablet even if there's no venue wifi.

Why, even our esteemed Admin, North of the Border felt moved to download a track ( Perry Como, or some such, if I remember correctly ) and despite the unforseen expense, considered it money well spent. :)

If there are any songs that are so special that it would make their night, I would have surely heard about it beforehand. Consultations and an unrestricted lines of communication leading up to the event gives the client's plenty of time to ponder and let us know. Your favourite song in the world isn't something that you don't remember until 10:30 at night after a few shandy's.

Preparation and planning (if that is possible - I know that it's not always an option) circumvents the need to download on the night. Add to that the collections we have built up over the years we've been doing this, chances are we have almost everything we need.

Nobody's evening is going to be ruined because of a song request on the evening that wasn't fulfilled because you don't have the track and if it is, that person would probably not be described as well adjusted.

djdj

01-05-2015, 02:20 PM

the collections we have built up over the years we've been doing this, chances are we have almost everything we need.

Nobody's evening is going to be ruined because of a song request on the evening that wasn't fulfilled because you don't have the track and if it is, that person would probably not be described as well adjusted.

I beg to differ, I have had a couple of weddings where despite my best efforts a certain track has not been available, It can lead to a bad atmosphere between you and the Bridal party. I always carry my phone to get a track if required!

Shaun

01-05-2015, 04:38 PM

Nobody's evening is going to be ruined because of a song request on the evening that wasn't fulfilled because you don't have the track and if it is, that person would probably not be described as well adjusted.

I had the bride approach me once saying she forgot to ask before, but did I have a specific old song I could play for her grandparents. I didn't have it, but a few minutes later and I'd purchased in on iTunes. A few minutes later I played it. It was the one and only time the Brides elderly grandparents danced the whole evening, and they were joined on the dance-floor by the rest of the family for 'their song' - it was quite touching, and was one of the evening highlights.

The night wouldn't have been ruined by not having the song, but it would have been a missed opportunity for what turned out to be one of the key spotlight moments for the Bride, Grandparents and extended family that evening.

whilst it's not a must that we can purchase songs on the fly, in this day in age I personally find it's an added bonus in certain situations.

Andy P

01-05-2015, 05:29 PM

Well the jobs are coming in thick and fast - a lot more than I see from AMP DJ

Excalibur

01-05-2015, 07:09 PM

Benny, you've got two Tykes and a Scot agreeing that spending 99p of the profits is a good idea. A convincing argument I'd say. :)

And don't forget, it can be offset against tax, too. :)

Benny Smyth

02-05-2015, 12:51 AM

Benny, you've got two Tykes and a Scot agreeing that spending 99p of the profits is a good idea. A convincing argument I'd say. :)

And don't forget, it can be offset against tax, too. :)

It has absolutely nothing to do with the money. I'll concede to Shaun's example and say that something like that at the start of the night is fine. But if I'm in the swing of the evening, I'm not going to pull my focus away from what I'm doing to download a song.

musicology

02-05-2015, 07:57 AM

It has absolutely nothing to do with the money. I'll concede to Shaun's example and say that something like that at the start of the night is fine. But if I'm in the swing of the evening, I'm not going to pull my focus away from what I'm doing to download a song.

Our job has continually changed over the years and this is just another expectation. We should all be adjusting to changing needs I think.

Excalibur

02-05-2015, 08:04 AM

whilst it's not a must that we can purchase songs on the fly, in this day in age I personally find it's an added bonus in certain situations.

But if I'm in the swing of the evening, I'm not going to pull my focus away from what I'm doing to download a song.

Benny, on this occasion, I have to side with Shaun. There is a big temptation to now post whimsical and humorous comments about your attitude, but since I think I know where you're coming from, I won't. I suspect that we have fundamentally different approaches to the job, and that's the nature of things, rightly so.

Well the jobs are coming in thick and fast - a lot more than I see from AMP DJ

May I inject a note of caution, and a gentle reprimand from the Pedants Society. I suspect that what are coming in thick and fast are Enquiries. When I first signed up, it seemed as if I'd fill my diary in a week! :D Converting them is a little trickier, sadly, although once you've got good feedback, it becomes a little easier.

Good luck, keep us posted.

ppentertainments

02-05-2015, 11:16 AM

It has absolutely nothing to do with the money. I'll concede to Shaun's example and say that something like that at the start of the night is fine. But if I'm in the swing of the evening, I'm not going to pull my focus away from what I'm doing to download a song.
Generally after I press play, I have about 3 minutes of free time to download anything required :-)

Excalibur

02-05-2015, 11:41 AM

Generally after I press play, I have about 3 minutes of free time to download anything required :-)

Three minutes? Three minutes? The 12" extended remix offers much more leeway. :D :D Or Bat out of Hell, Macarthur Park, Blue Monday, and that type of thing. :)

ppentertainments

02-05-2015, 03:49 PM

Three minutes? Three minutes? The 12" extended remix offers much more leeway. :D :D Or Bat out of Hell, Macarthur Park, Blue Monday, and that type of thing. :)

Correct - but it takes me a couple of minutes to decide, and load up the next track lol

ukpartydj

04-05-2015, 11:00 AM

But if I'm in the swing of the evening, I'm not going to pull my focus away from what I'm doing to download a song.

I do download tracks on the night if I think they will benefit the evening however in my experience it can take quite some time.
It normally takes 5 - 15 mins trying to get one track because it's explicit / internet connection isn't good / the bluetooth won't connect straight away from phone to laptop.
All the time I'm downloading I know that I'm disconnected from much else and I struggle a little to concentrate on track selection.

So I can see where Benny is coming from (especially when they're asking for something like A$AP Rocky's new track) ... however sometimes it really makes the night.

Shakermaker Promotions

04-05-2015, 01:12 PM

I also download on the night if I need to and I needed to the other week and it was a relief.
Technology has moved on leaps and bounds since the 'old' days (for want of a better word) and we should embrace it (as most do I'm sure).
Every week I update my system with the latest tracks I need and anything that I haven't got that may have been requested during a meeting with the customer before their booking.

About 4 weeks ago I was unable to update my system for one reason or another. In a customer meeting the Bride (who was South African) specifically requested a Paul Simon track saying it was for her parents. I didn't have the track originally but got hold of it via Amazon MP3 (as I do with the majority of my music).
Anyway, it's 8.30pm and the reception is going well and the Bride comes over and says she's having a great time and also reminds me of the Paul Simon track. "No problem at all" I said "I'll get that on shortly for you".

I go to my system and search and it's not there! I then remember that I haven't updated my system. Now, I know the venue has free wi-fi so I get on to the Amazon MP3 site and check my library on there where it has been downloaded, grab hold of it and cue it up. I played it around 10 minutes later as I changed style and the reaction was great. I would have hated not having it and the instant panic I had when I realised I hadn't added it to my system wasn't nice. I know it's just one song but it was specifically requested and to me, that could have been seen as a negative after the event. They could have had a really good night but might have remembered that something they requested wasn't played even though I was given plenty of notice.

Benny Smyth

04-06-2015, 12:42 PM

Fantastic enquiry today via NaD:

21st Birthday Party, with a budget of £1,000. And what do they want for their money? DJ, Bars, Catering, Baloons, Fireworks, Marquee Hire and Photography.

funkymook

04-06-2015, 03:06 PM

ukpartydj

04-06-2015, 03:13 PM

Fantastic enquiry today via NaD:

21st Birthday Party, with a budget of £1,000. And what do they want for their money? DJ, Bars, Catering, Baloons, Fireworks, Marquee Hire and Photography.

I wouldn't know how much that'd all cost normally but for a bit of fun I'm gonna guess (excluding your fee) assuming there is 70 people:

Did you reply "double it and we've got a deal!" ?

Benny Smyth

04-06-2015, 03:14 PM

Did you speak to them and confirm that was their budget for everything?

I did.

Well, I say 'I' - a DJ friend of mine who is also on NaD made contact and told me.

To be fair, I think it's a fake enquiry.

Vectis

04-06-2015, 05:00 PM

Stranger things have happened than someone costs it appropriately, puts in a tender and seals a £2-3k deal.

Much stranger.

Andy P

28-07-2015, 08:45 AM

So. Here is my NAD findings.

I've been a member for 3 months this week the initial fee for my area was quite reasonable (I think its the lowest band) so I grabbed it with open arms. A valid accreditation and leads for under £100 seemed value enough.

In this time I've been given 91 leads, almost one per day. I've been ineligible for a further 25 which Im working on, mind you only 9 of these needed a Gold DJ Mark the rest I was already working so it wont be a huge gain.

I've had 5 wins with 2 more pending the client meaning I have hit the 10x target all of this without any featured slots or additional costs.

I've recently changed my email to clients and its been much better at hooking them so colour me a happy customer. Its certainly worked in my case.

AMPDJ has only provided around 20 leads in this time but I have snagged a few of these too.

djrikki

11-09-2015, 04:44 PM

Just joined NAD, disappointed to find in order to have a djmark I am expected to respond in some way to that ProDub BS. For now I will choose to ignore it.

Excalibur

11-09-2015, 06:35 PM

Just joined NAD, disappointed to find in order to have a djmark I am expected to respond in some way to that ProDub BS. For now I will choose to ignore it.

Not a good move in my opinion. The DJ marks are valuable. Also, if you're CD based, or otherwise exempt from Produb, why not say so? :confused:

Andy, good to hear you're doing well from it. :)

funkymook

11-09-2015, 06:48 PM

Just joined NAD, disappointed to find in order to have a djmark I am expected to respond in some way to that ProDub BS. For now I will choose to ignore it.

Of course because we all approve of anybody copying HD's full of music and selling them cheap don't we?

You may not like certain regulations but as a professional it's your duty to abide by them - otherwise you're not running a legitimate business.

And as has been pointed out, if you don't copy music it won't apply to you anyway, so what's the problem?

djrikki

11-09-2015, 06:59 PM

Nowadays all my music is purchased from iTunes, Beatport etc... I have no desire to burn any of it to CD.

funkymook

11-09-2015, 07:09 PM

Nowadays all my music is purchased from iTunes, Beatport etc... I have no desire to burn any of it to CD.

If you're not making copies from any format to any format (it's not just cd's) - so you buy a tune once but have two or more copies of it - just state you don't require produb on NaD, it's as simple as that.

djrikki

11-09-2015, 07:15 PM

Okay, thanks for explaining that to me. :)

yourdj

12-09-2015, 09:17 AM

iTunes Match is apparently a legitimate way to not have Produb. Does not help you though. i can see why they have included Produb, and can see in a very amateur majority industry, why it adds legitimate clout to any listing site, but there should be a get out clause to still have the award if you don't need it.

I have a question. Is it right for DJ's to state on their sites that they are "national award winning DJ's" as i have seen this a lot. The DJ's i have seen have been pretty bog standard, but have just fulfilled certain criteria to get a platinum listing, which any one can do really. I just think that it can be a bit misleading, but also understand that its good for the website if the client perceives the benefit of having that. :)

If and can get to the format and (albeit it on a smaller scale) of Check a trade or Trip Advisor, then I for one would be very interested. I am not really bothered about awards, but more about real feedback from real people. :)

Keep up the good work Martin. i personally think the site is of huge benefit to the industry and has so much potential. If we could get to the stage where we could have a leg imitate qualification or something (like the building trade, or a musician etc), then that would be brilliant. :beer1:

Benny Smyth

02-05-2016, 12:51 PM

I'm going to pull the plug on my NaD subscription. I've had it for over a year now, and it just hasn't worked for me. I had an email reminder this morning about uploading my latest PAT details and I just don't have the motivation to put more effort into something that isn't working for me.

Imagine

02-05-2016, 01:52 PM

You're not the first person I've heard say that recently Benny.

There's a lot of very established DJs I know at the moment who've had enough of losing out to the lower end of the market DJs that seem to be flooding the system (most of the leads I receive now go out to in excess of 30 people!).

I know Martin's a member on here so won't speak out of turn....but there's now an awful lot of stuff which a lot of people are finding very frustrating with the way in which the system works these days.

I renewed for this year, but seeing my current conversion rate with NaD at the moment (it's gone into single figure percentages lead vs conversion now), then I'm unlikely to renew myself next year.

rth_discos

02-05-2016, 03:10 PM

I've found that it more than pays for itself, even 1 or 2 gigs a year is worth it at my rate.

And the DJ Mark I think looks quite good on the website.

However, my concern is that the site is geared towards the lower end. The DJ Mark is based upon fulfilling some basic criteria, and then just getting good feedback, which when you charge £100 is pretty easy to get - expectations are lower. Whereas when you're charging £600+, you have to work much harder to get that good feedback, and that's not taken in to account.

However, I still think it's the best resource we have as a location for genuine feedback, and whilst there aren't a huge number of high paying leads, the ones that are are worth it to not miss out on. I've had 2 in particular recently that were well paid and in lovely venues that were through NeedADisco.

yourdj

02-05-2016, 03:24 PM

I've found that it more than pays for itself, even 1 or 2 gigs a year is worth it at my rate.

And the DJ Mark I think looks quite good on the website.

Whereas when you're charging £600+, you have to work much harder to get that good feedback, and that's not taken in to account.

I love it when DJ's advertise them self as "multi award winners", when all they have done is bought PLI/PAT & submitted a couple of references. But I do agree it looks nice when not used as a main sales pitch.

Perhaps its time to split NAD into two sections.
One for the budget and mid ranged DJ's and one for someone that wants one of the best DJ's in their area and is prepared to book on the company rather than the cheapest price. It may well just be the nature of these systems, that people that want to book premium, would rather to the legwork on google and take time to meet and chat with different suppliers before making a decision. Thats how my business works anyway. :)

Could be on the same site or perhaps a different one? How will Martin know whether anyone meets the bar is anyones guess, but I could name about 100 people off the top of my head who i would consider to be industry leaders that may be interested. He could easily use his current clients that are good and command a good fee, and split it that way, thus attracting new customers. i tried need a disco for a year and for me it was not worth the hustle of emailing anyone back. I am better off spending the money towards a wedding show. Takes half a day and you get at least 3-10 bookings from it. :)

So if there was a service for the £500 + premium DJ that commanded results then i would be interested in that.
I do own this site, which will be developed soon, with the £800 we have raised through membership fees.
It is in essence a microcosm of my description above, but is invite only unfortunately.

http://dj-alliance.co.uk

rth_discos

02-05-2016, 03:39 PM

One for the budget and mid ranged DJ's and one for someone that wants one of the best DJ's in their area and is prepared to book on the company rather than the cheapest price.

And that's the hard bit. How do you create a system that determines the best DJs in the area. I don't know the answer to that.

But the current NeedADisco setup very quickly elevates the budget DJs to the "top in the area", and whilst they might be doing a great job at £100 - are they going to cut it when compared to what a £600 DJ delivers (without this turning in to a pricing thread).

It would be nice to differentiate our DJs based on skills, experience and what they deliver against their price - but I don't know how you do that - which is why I've not raised is on the NeedADisco Facebook page. It's probably about as close as it can get.

Benny Smyth

02-05-2016, 03:48 PM

Daryll

02-05-2016, 04:03 PM

Who says that £60 Sid isn't the best DJ in his area? He may have shabby lighting and his leads may dangle freely, but that doesn't mean that he couldn't kick any of our asses when it comes to the performance on the night.

How very true , however I get between 5-10 gigs a year from NAD , I am not the most expensive , but I am not cheap either , I get around 3-5 quotes to reply to a day , so I can be a bit picky as far as gigs go ( Stairs ,Distance , type of event etc)

Cheers

Daryll

funkymook

02-05-2016, 04:09 PM

Like any enquiry it’s just an invitation to introduce yourself to the client, NaD doesn’t sell you, you do. With the feedback system on NaD any DJ who regularly disappoints their clients isn’t going to last very long.

Excalibur

02-05-2016, 04:37 PM

Perhaps its time to split NAD into two sections.

No need, Toby. On the site it gives guide prices for budget, mid price, and top flight DJs. If the client gives a budget of £500, he's unlikely to go with a £100 one, I'd think.
Conversely, if the budget's £100, he's unlikely to go for a £500 one.

Martin has all the data to hand, and he'll know what sort of price bracket is winning most leads. The figures may be higher than we suspect. Having said that, I've lost a couple where I put low bids in, and I do get the impression that there may be some new arrivals quoting low.

In many ways I'm like Daryll, I'm ( usually ) mid priced, and I've had clients say that's part of the reason why I got the gig.

Daryll

02-05-2016, 04:42 PM

there may be some new arrivals quoting low. Like Darryl,

You could read that wrong...:Laugh::Laugh:

Excalibur

02-05-2016, 04:47 PM

In many ways I'm like Daryll, I'm ( usually ) mid priced, and I've had clients say that's part of the reason why I got the gig.

You could read that wrong...:Laugh::Laugh:

Not now you can't. :)

yourdj

03-05-2016, 07:45 AM

I get between 5-10 gigs a year - I get around 3-5 quotes to reply to a day

Is it worth it? Thats quite a bit of effort with an average of 1,344 responses a year. Seems a lot of work especially if you have to personalise each one and answer responses from them? I wonder if check a trade is the same as I am guessing that was what Martin used for inspiration? :)

And that's the hard bit. How do you create a system that determines the best DJs in the area. I don't know the answer to that.

I think the big differentiator now days is the concept of the all day DJ and especially the hosting as thats not easy at all. Having a video presenting in front of a wedding party etc. is good proof that you know your stuff. As you say though a DJ may have an awesome site, all the best gear, be a lovely bloke, but be a shocking DJ and have awful business integrity??

If the client gives a budget of £500, he's unlikely to go with a £100 one, I'd think.

It would be interesting to know the conversion as I would imagine that the success would depend on your reply and followup.
Directing leads to your website or a meeting at the venue would also work I guess?

My experience of cheaper end DJ's is they will only pay a certain amount for something. Take the Promobile Conference, I think its excellent and get so much from it, but £550 is obviously over most DJ's budget (We won't mention Marbecca as i thought that was very overpriced for what it was)!!

I can see the long term benefits and have a reasonable marketing budget to spend, if I new I would have lets say 20 bookings a year from a site, then i would subscribe (This is exactly what i plans to do with the HDA site). So having a more exclusive site or some part of the site for more premium DJ's would interest me. I can only see that working with references from clients and decent content in the site showing DJ showreels or introductions from the DJ's.

Its probably like being in a pub full of hot guys and only one group of hot girls, you have to get their attention and do it properly - fast! :daft:

Shakermaker Promotions

03-05-2016, 08:20 AM

Ha! Ha! I DO like your comparisons Toby!
(It sounded like something Slaven Bilic said when asked what he thought of the Premier league at the start of the season...)

Anyway, with reference to Need A Disco.... I subscribed for a year, possibly two (I can't remember?) and in that time I had lots and lots of enquiries but ended up with just 2 confirmed bookings if I remember correctly.
I've recently thought about subscribing again with the main reason being that I am moving to a different area and I don't expect to hit the ground running straight away. The travelling back to Basingstoke may be ok at first but it won't be forever, I know that. Whether I do subscribe again, well...I'll see. My plan (if there are enough funds left) is to do quite a bit of promotion with possibly a new website too but again, we'll see.

I am not cheap and I am not what people would call expensive either but then I'd also say that I am not 'middle of the road' either.
Ok, a website like Toby describes where it is dedicated to the premium DJ's may well be a good idea but as said already, just how do you decide who is premium and who is not?
Is it based on equipment? (gear snobbery in my opinion). Is it based on how busy they are? (I could be out every single night of the week for £100.00 per night and work myself into the ground).

Just for a bit of extra information : I've done 2 wedding fayres recently. One in Basingstoke and the other around 10 miles outside of Basingstoke.
Quoting my prices in Basingstoke most of the day was met with a turned up nose as if to say it was a bit expensive. To them, judging on their reaction to the price they may be under the impression I am in the premium category.
10 miles outside Basingstoke and EVERYONE I spoke to on the day ended up booking me. Ok, 5 couples but it was a 100% conversion rate and 3 of those couples commented on the price being less than they expected. To them, I am possibly in the middle price range.

The price whether it was in Basingstoke or outside was a price I was more than happy with and slap Uplighting on top of it (even at discount) and I'm smiling.

yourdj

03-05-2016, 08:59 AM

The price whether it was in Basingstoke or outside was a price I was more than happy with and slap Uplighting on top of it (even at discount) and I'm smiling.

'Cant get that arand ere' has always been met with 'yes you can' (something i have never agreed with) but if an area of people do not have the venues and money to spend (or physiology of spending more to get more, rather than the usual 'Ahh much mate, my brother can do it for £100, he has Serato') then they will always go for the cheaper option. i am pretty much no1 for any DJ search in Southampton and never have any enquiries in venues in Southampton. now I know at any given weekend that there must be at least 30 weddings going on in all manner of venues so this says something as I can bet a lot of those people have gone on my website and clicked straight off as they know i will be expensive (we quote from £500).

Same with Basingstoke, i have also worked in all manner of venues near to Basingstoke (such as the Elvetham) but never had a single enquiry in one of the dozens of hotels (and other venues) in Basingstoke. Just good targeting i think and it would need another approach to get better paid leads for better DJ's. In all its venue or location specific I think, which i think Martin has done OK with as Brockenhurst and Paul Taylor comes up quite well, so Martin has clearly taken the middle of the forest and targeted that. :)

Shakermaker Promotions

03-05-2016, 09:29 AM

Toby, I have a residency in a hotel in the centre of Basingstoke. Excluding Christmas I get around 20 bookings from them throughout the year which include midweek bookings. Most of them I am included in the wedding package. It is the 'cheaper' option I guess but like I said, I sell the customers the Uplighting (for example) and it boosts the fee.

You mentioned The Elvetham. I do quite a lot up there and also Pitt Hall Barn. Both recommend me which is nice and they are 2 venues where people don't quibble about the price.

Anyway, don't want to go off topic or turn it into another "can't get that round here" thread so APOLOGIES for going off on one slightly mods.

Benny Smyth

03-05-2016, 01:14 PM

DazzyD

03-05-2016, 01:21 PM

Well...that was disappointing.

Sent an email of to NaD yesterday asking if they can advise me how I would go about cancelling my subscription. The reply was simply "Instruct us to cancel and we'll take care of it within 24 hours." No enquiries as to why I'm cancelling. Not even a 'sorry to see you go'.

I'm sure that it wasn't intentional, but I very much got the impression of "Thanks for the subscription fee, now on your way."

I don't get why you feel disappointed. You asked how to cancel your subscription and they told you!

Now, the cynical amongst us might think that you had no intention to cancel but rather were trying your luck to maybe, perhaps, get a discount on your subscription price in the same way that you might do speaking to the retentions team of O2 or Sky. But this isn't the cut throat world of long and lucrative contracts that those businesses operate in. This is a website service for getting DJ leads.

Just my way of thinking, of course! ;)

Benny Smyth

03-05-2016, 01:24 PM

I don't get why you feel disappointed. You asked how to cancel your subscription and they told you!

Now, the cynical amongst us might think that you had no intention to cancel but rather were trying your luck to maybe, perhaps, get a discount on your subscription price in the same way that you might do speaking to the retentions team of O2 or Sky. But this isn't the cut throat world of long and lucrative contracts that those businesses operate in. This is a website service for getting DJ leads.

Just my way of thinking, of course! ;)

Customer service. That is what I am disappointed about. I am already getting my freebies based on the 10x guarantee, but not even to have a small line to say "Sorry to see you go" grates against me. I've said before that I am very big on customer service.

Benny Smyth

03-05-2016, 01:44 PM

Ok, now I'd like to retract my previous posts. Latest email ended with a thank you and a well wish.

Small lines like that make the difference to me. It's unfortunate that I didn't get that in the initial reply but now I have got it, I'm a happy customer again (albeit a former one).

Jim - Scotland's Party DJ

03-05-2016, 04:17 PM

It took me ages to get bookings from it (I think in my 1st year I got one kids party and I only went for that to cover the subs :D )

It's be no means a big earner and I still only get a trickle of bookings from it but if you're picky about what you go for then it's not too much hassle v reward.

Excalibur

03-05-2016, 06:19 PM

It took me ages to get bookings from it (I think in my 1st year I got one kids party and I only went for that to cover the subs :D )

The first one is the hardest one to get, because you have no feedback. Mine was a £500 wedding. I'd almost given up hope of getting anything by that time, and I hadn't half replied to some leads. ;)

It's be no means a big earner and I still only get a trickle of bookings from it but if you're picky about what you go for then it's not too much hassle v reward.

By definition, aren't we all picky? You only quote for the ones you fancy, so already you're being selective. Now exactly how picky and selective people are............................................... .......

I'm currently averaging just short of thirty bookings per year, and it's very valuable to me.

musicology

03-05-2016, 06:49 PM

I don't do badly out of them. Worth the price at the moment. I'm mid-price with most quotes £200-300

DJ Jules

03-05-2016, 07:11 PM

My tips for success...

1. Invest the time and effort to build up your reputation on the site (get that DJ Mark up a few notches, do some reviews, etc)
2. Take the time to set up your postcode areas, price bands, services offered, etc on needadisco so you get the enquiries you want
3. At first, take some gigs at below your usual fee to get the initial feedback
4. Most importantly, really think about your email response - people coming to you via needadisco haven't seen your website or heard of you and they'll receive between 10 and 15 responses so you really need to sell yourself on the first contact and stand out from the other replies (especially if you want to get good money)

Once you get going, success breeds success and then it can be a valuable tool. Bizarrely, people in Bristol seem to have stopped using needadisco at the moment, 80% of the enquiries I get at the moment are for Bath, Swindon or Gloucester (and that's not because I'm filtering them out on price - they just don't seem to be there!)

Julian

Excalibur

03-05-2016, 08:52 PM

Amen, Brother Julian, amen. :agree:

Jim - Scotland's Party DJ

03-05-2016, 10:19 PM

The first one is the hardest one to get, because you have no feedback. Mine was a £500 wedding. I'd almost given up hope of getting anything by that time, and I hadn't half replied to some leads. ;)

By definition, aren't we all picky? You only quote for the ones you fancy, so already you're being selective. Now exactly how picky and selective people are............................................... .......

I'm currently averaging just short of thirty bookings per year, and it's very valuable to me.

True but I'm picky even with the ones that get through my fairly high ineligible thresh hold.

Before I'd be responding to a coupe of leads a day, now I maybe do 1 or 2 a week and whilst the return still isn't a phenomenal number of gigs - the pay off compared to the time and energy put in as well as % of wins compared to bids is much higher.

That said, I know folk who absolutely smash it on NaD so it does work if you price and sell yourself correctly.

Imagine

03-05-2016, 11:08 PM

...it does work if you price and sell yourself correctly.

And there Jim....is my big problem.

A couple of years ago when I first started with NaD (indeed my first year back into this lark), my prices were rock bottom. I could pretty much guarantee to win any gig that came my way - it was like shooting fish in a barrel and I thought £250 for a night's work was a luxury...

Last year, I increased my prices so that my absolute minimum was £250 for a night.....conversions from NaD tumbled badly. Thankfully I was by then getting work from other sources at my price so hey-ho....no biggy.

This year....well I had a pay rise again and my minimum is £300 (still too low in reality....I paid £200 for my wedding disco back in 1999!). I currently have three pending and confirmed gigs from quotes I've sent out. My marketing works (I'm getting direct work), my reputation locally is A1 and I get plenty of referrals, but it seems I can't win a NaD gig for toffee.

Now I know I said a couple of pages ago that I wouldn't speak badly of NaD, and that's not my intention with this response. I'm just telling it how I (and several others) see it at the moment. Martin has the right of reply on here and I'd be interested to see his responses. I'm not out to cause trouble like some on the official FB group (in fact, I'm very quiet on there these days unlike some of the protagonists), because I want the system to work.

Now here's the interesting bit. It's a personal gripe of mine and I've actually had it confirmed by a more than a couple of turn downs recently when I've asked for feedback after losing to someone who's "agreed a fee slightly less than the stated budget" (and Martin....I really would appreciate your input on this one because it's driving me and quite a few others nuts at the moment).

When a client goes through the quote request process, they're asked for their budget. Fair enough...it gives us an idea of what they're prepared to spend. NaD actually pre-fill this based on averages for the area. This however is the big downfall. The pre-filled budget was recently changed and you can now tell if the customer has amended this figure (so an extra step to find out if they're after bargain basement, have accepted the default or increased their budget from that suggested). Normally from my personal experience they either leave this "as is" or round it down.

The reason I was turned down for the couple of aforementioned gigs was price, and that alone. Fair enough....there's always competition, it's life and it's not a problem. They thought that the pre-filled amount was what they were supposed to pay and were confused when they got quotes all over the place, some higher, some lower (some considerably so!).

Now I'm sure Martin's thought this through and it's probably explained during the quote request process (I haven't been through it personally to see), but that's not the feedback I'm getting myself.

Personally, I'd prefer it if the budget question was left blank for the customer to physically have to think about and to fill in, or even left out altogether. If a client then gets 20 quotes for around the £300-£500 mark (and yes I HAVE seen that many responses to gigs), then they realise that's what the cost is (I appreciate these numbers can vary in different areas of the country by the way).

My other really big gripe is that in my area, most leads are going out to 20-30 people. The client gets that many responses and turns off (again I have proof...I've won NaD leads outside of NaD because they've had too many responses and decided to look for themselves). I know they have the facility to limit the number of responses they get, but believe me...most of them don't bother and they're getting inundated...just look at the number of leads that don't get marked as "Won".

Don't get me wrong - I think NaD is a brilliant system (I have to say that....I'm the 5th highest rated DJ on the top 40 :) ). But, there's a lot of room for improvement from the paying customer's perspective (i.e. US!). Now I understand that NaD is a business and like all of us has to make a profit to survive, but it feels at the moment like it's becoming way too crowded and the busy fools will always win the gig (note....that's in my personal areas at the moment).

One thing that would be nice to see though and going back to how to filter the gigs dependant on the quality of the DJ....
DJMark isn't perfect by a long chalk, although I can't see what other measures could be used other than running as a professional business (aka PAT/PLI/contracts/deposits and feedback scores). But....it would be really nice to see budgets tied to DJMark. For example, £500 weddings (or anything for that matter) only being offered to those who have taken the time and got the customer feedback to gain Platinum and above as an example, anything for £300 going to Gold and above etc.....

I know there's some sort of filter in place for this, but it still seems like the higher end jobs are being farmed out to far too many low end hobbyists at the moment, and for that reason this time next year....I'm oot :(

rth_discos

04-05-2016, 06:35 AM

My marketing works (I'm getting direct work), my reputation locally is A1 and I get plenty of referrals, but it seems I can't win a NaD gig for toffee.

Let's be realistic about why most people use the NeedADisco website - they just want a disco. You don't got on a site to receive multiple quotes when price isn't the driving factor (not for all cases, but the majority). If you value you evening entertainment, and want to invest in it, you'll search for DJs and contact the ones that you like the look of for your needs. I know at my price point I will only get a few gigs from NeedADisco per year, and I'm comfortable with that - I don't believe that's a NeedADisco issue, it's a reality of the type of person that will use such a site.

But....it would be really nice to see budgets tied to DJMark. For example, £500 weddings (or anything for that matter) only being offered to those who have taken the time and got the customer feedback to gain Platinum and above as an example, anything for £300 going to Gold and above etc.....

I can't see this working. As I mentioned, the high DJ Marks are very easy for a budget operator to get, as per above, it's easier for them to get more gigs at a lower paying rate, and will therefore get a greater number of feedback quicker. I've seen some of my areas top DJs on NeedADisco with only a handful of feedback, and a low DJ Mark - so the ranking isn't a true reflection of how good a DJ is. More how good they are for the price they sell at, but that price isn't shown on their profile so it's hard to compare.

I still think it's the best DJ site there is, and it generates good leads, where the majority do book through the site, and I think Martin has done a great job. And we have to be realistic about the type of person that is going to use such a site - Martin can't create a demand that isn't there.

Excalibur

04-05-2016, 06:56 AM

If you value you evening entertainment, and want to invest in it, you'll search for DJs and contact the ones that you like the look of for your needs. I know at my price point I will only get a few gigs from NeedADisco per year, and I'm comfortable with that - I don't believe that's a NeedADisco issue, it's a reality of the type of person that will use such a site.

Or when you google "Mobile/wedding DJ in local area" you find Martin's site pops up, and offers to find the DJs for you, and they've all got some sort of " certification " for your peace of mind.

When you need car insurance, do you search every individual site, or use Go Confuse a Meerkat.com and the like? Similar principle.

rth_discos

04-05-2016, 08:04 AM

When you need car insurance, do you search every individual site, or use Go Confuse a Meerkat.com and the like? Similar principle.

There's little difference between car insurance. It's not a creative industry.

How many people use a comparison site to find their wedding photographer when spending more than £1k on their photographer?

At the upper end of the scale, the likes of Firebird are effectively the premium version of NeedADisco.

ukpartydj

04-05-2016, 08:05 AM

What really grinds on me is that you're considered better for having your equipment PAT tested yearly!

I totally understand why some people like venues and DJs who would rather do it than bother arguing and go with the flow. But surely Martin knows that it's not relevant to the quality, legality, or anything which indicates a good DJ! It's something a business does if they wish to, nobody else's business!

So I don't even get a bronze award... Doesn't matter that I have plenty of positive feedback!

When is "I put all my taxable income in my self assessment" going to contribute to the DJ mark? Surely that's far more important and legal?

Needadisco is good but it's DJ police style is what let's it down. And I didn't even mention having a risk assessment ranks you as a better DJ? ? What?... Insanity! I've got one put I need not bother uploading to needadisco as I cannot get past bronze anyway!

yourdj

04-05-2016, 08:18 AM

When is "I put all my taxable income in my self assessment" going to contribute to the DJ mark? Surely that's far more important and legal?

Good point. Makes you wonder doesn't it.
But totally nothing to do with an online service, providing listings. :)

At the end of the day we have to accept that this is largely a hobbiest industry and not one taken seriously or moderated by official standards.
This service provides leads for most of these opperators and the higher (much smaller) end is better sourcing their work elsewhere. :)

Spend what ever it is we spend on NAD on some Google Adwords or something. It will continue to do well off DJ's who want to get some money for their summer holiday or Christmas presents or are just simply working on a loss. ;)

rth_discos

04-05-2016, 08:23 AM

So I don't even get a bronze award... Doesn't matter that I have plenty of positive feedback!

Why don't you get a bronze award? All of the criteria are basic requirements to be fulfilled and are easy to achieve.

ukpartydj

04-05-2016, 08:41 AM

Now here's the interesting bit. It's a personal gripe of mine and I've actually had it confirmed by a more than a couple of turn downs recently when I've asked for feedback after losing to someone who's "agreed a fee slightly less than the stated budget" (and Martin....I really would appreciate your input on this one because it's driving me and quite a few others nuts at the moment).

When a client goes through the quote request process, they're asked for their budget. Fair enough...it gives us an idea of what they're prepared to spend. NaD actually pre-fill this based on averages for the area. This however is the big downfall. The pre-filled budget was recently changed and you can now tell if the customer has amended this figure (so an extra step to find out if they're after bargain basement, have accepted the default or increased their budget from that suggested). Normally from my personal experience they either leave this "as is" or round it down.

The reason I was turned down for the couple of aforementioned gigs was price, and that alone. Fair enough....there's always competition, it's life and it's not a problem. They thought that the pre-filled amount was what they were supposed to pay and were confused when they got quotes all over the place, some higher, some lower (some considerably so!).

This could explain a lot of weird things regarding budgets I do get with NAD.
Like last week a chap calls saying he has a strict budget of £xxx and would I be prepared to lower my price £100, I've only just looked at the details on NAD and noticed the budget indicated is actually £80 over his real budget!!!

Good point. Makes you wonder doesn't it.
But totally nothing to do with an online service, providing listings. :)

At the end of the day we have to accept that this is largely a hobbiest industry and not one taken seriously or moderated by official standards.
This service provides leads for most of these opperators and the higher (much smaller) end is better sourcing their work elsewhere. :)

Spend what ever it is we spend on NAD on some Google Adwords or something. It will continue to do well off DJ's who want to get some money for their summer holiday or Christmas presents or are just simply working on a loss. ;)

Well honestly I don't pay much for NAD and I get a fairly good coverage so it's still worth having. I certainly wouldn't sign up at the price it would be to join now, but that's only because I'm increasing prices and there is a lack of that type of work.

I do need to do a bit more marketing though... started wedding fayres this year so that's one thing I guess!

Why don't you get a bronze award? All of the criteria are basic requirements to be fulfilled and are easy to achieve.

Because I don't have current PAT records.
If I'm correct, you didn't need them to get bronze award before... I think it's a recent change which is odd.

Shaun

04-05-2016, 09:52 AM

When a client goes through the quote request process... NaD actually pre-fill this based on averages for the area.

I wasn't aware of this. From the get go that puts those that charge higher than the area average at a distinct disadvantage I would presume?

yourdj

04-05-2016, 09:57 AM

Well honestly I don't pay much for NAD and I get a fairly good coverage so it's still worth having.

Can you tell me, does it link to your website in a way that it would benefit it for SEO.
That alone would be worth having. :)

Perhaps any web gurus on here could investigate?

Shaun

05-05-2016, 05:17 PM

The ongoing discussion regarding Portable Appliance Testing that was within this thread has been moved HERE (http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?43427-P-A-T-Discussion&p=656304)

yourdj

05-05-2016, 06:35 PM

Can you tell me, does it link to your website in a way that it would benefit it for SEO.
That alone would be worth having. :)

Perhaps any web gurus on here could investigate?

The ongoing discussion regarding Portable Appliance Testing that was within this thread has been moved HERE (http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?43427-P-A-T-Discussion&p=656304)

Good someone can answer my question now :cry:

Imagine

05-05-2016, 07:41 PM

Good someone can answer my question now :cry:

Yes, it does in the form of back-links to your site (including if you appear on a venue page).
From that side of things, it's good link juice IMHO. Don't get too many that have hit my site from me being on a venue page mind (i.e. direct clicks from NaD)....but that's one for another day

yourdj

02-12-2017, 01:15 PM

I am trying to get a DJ on an event pretty sharpish and really am not having much luck with this site??

I filled out a new enquiry yesterday and have had zip all interns of correspondence. I Then canceled a previous enquiry that was still live believing that may be why and filled out a new form and have received this. I can't find anyway to actually contact need a disco in person, just a way to look at my inactive flippin enquiry?? Do you have an email or any way to talk to someone human.

All i want to do is send you an email ad tell you my situation, but even the Facebook contact section has been removed? My only guess is that you manage these manually, although I got a response straight away from the last one?? If its a bit of a delay then fine, but I don't want to be sitting around for days to find that nothing has been sent to any DJ's.

Thanks :)

18466

18467

This was kind of what I was expecting as I only have the one cancelled live booking at the same venue?

18468

Andy P

02-12-2017, 01:33 PM

Do you have an email or any way to talk to someone human.

[email protected]

yourdj

02-12-2017, 01:45 PM

[email protected]

Great thanks for that. As you can see I am stressing a bit as my venue asked me to find a DJ, turned around 2 days ago and said its not on. I told the DJ, he got another booking and they then tell me the next morning it is on!! Seriously can they have not sorted this at least a month ago!! At no point did they say they need to make up numbers before its definite. I would never have booked anyone in if that was the case, especially on the busiest night of the year.

I will try and find a good DJ but they will get the best that I can find. I shall email them now as I have not had any confirmation on the last one, I think someone is on the other end just blocking my enquiries. As far as I can tell i have deleted my old enquiry and the two that I have sent have been rejected!

Hopefully i will find someone that has been holding out for a better paid event or has a recent cancellation.

Vinny

02-12-2017, 02:15 PM

Great thanks for that. As you can see I am stressing a bit as my venue asked me to find a DJ, turned around 2 days ago and said its not on. I told the DJ, he got another booking and they then tell me the next morning it is on!! Seriously can they have not sorted this at least a month ago!! At no point did they say they need to make up numbers before its definite. I would never have booked anyone in if that was the case, especially on the busiest night of the year.

I will try and find a good DJ but they will get the best that I can find. I shall email them now as I have not had any confirmation on the last one, I think someone is on the other end just blocking my enquiries. As far as I can tell i have deleted my old enquiry and the two that I have sent have been rejected!

Hopefully i will find someone that has been holding out for a better paid event or has a recent cancellation.

I think needadisco is on the way out, hardly any new Enquiries coming through nowadays.
It is probably recognising your email address, why don't you just raise another request from a different email account?

On the subject of needadisco I won a booking for the 16th of December, sent them the booking form and requested a £50.00 deposit
but it has been over a week and not heard anything back as yet, will chase them up.
A bit too far for me thought but if you can email me the details I will see what I can do.
[email protected]

Vinny

02-12-2017, 02:28 PM

Daryll

02-12-2017, 02:58 PM

Toby.
Your inquiry came through on AMPDJ no problem

Daryll

yourdj

02-12-2017, 04:05 PM

I think needadisco is on the way out, hardly any new Enquiries coming through nowadays but getting hundreds from elsewhere.

It is probably recognizing your email address, why don't you just raise another request from a different email account?

Probably my IP or something as I sent another one on another email and nothing came through?
Hundreds from where elsewhere? i have reregistered on Disco directory as it has so many members.

Toby.
Your inquiry came through on AMPDJ no problem

Daryll

Yes I noticed that, much better, lets hope i get some results. :)

Andy P

02-12-2017, 04:11 PM

Toby I've started using Add To Event. It works on credits rather than a subscription so people only really bid for the work they deffo want.

yourdj

03-12-2017, 12:54 AM

Toby I've started using Add To Event. It works on credits rather than a subscription so people only really bid for the work they deffo want.

Well if the DJ's that are available are as good as the usability and structure of that site then thats great. :beer1:

mbp

03-12-2017, 07:37 AM

yourdj

03-12-2017, 09:10 AM

I used to be with add to events but I questioned them about "enquiry names" being "repeated".....there always seem to be a lot of people called "Claire" for some reason. They never gave a reason for it....also questioned them about how "we" know that the enquiry was actually undertaken by any dj's registered with them and they said that they don't display that. Not asking for how much, just who/if anyone actually got the booking!....they said "it's no ones business"....

Strange people.....strange company.....

Well, it's clare that it might not be the place for me then.

Would you believe it i have joined MDN. The numbers of DJ's on that makes it a goods place to find work. :)
Lets hope some of the undesirable characters have been put in their place or asked to leave. :)

Certainly not joining this one. The guy can't even spell, so it sums up the intelligence levels:

18469

Shaun

03-12-2017, 10:05 AM

I saw this thread today and thought..."not had any leads for a while". Then I remembered I had clicked on the self suspension option when I was away for a few days.... about 6 months ago. :muppet:

Retrodisco

04-12-2017, 10:13 AM

There are dozens of Need a Last Minute DJ groups on Facebook

yourdj

04-12-2017, 05:30 PM

There are dozens of Need a Last Minute DJ groups on Facebook

Any links as they are usually title sensitive so not easy to find.
I don't frequent any groups other than the DJ buy and sell ones, so don't know of them :)
Something specific to the South Central region would be ideal.

Well, despite posting this 3 times now and emailing them i have not heard back from NAD yet and have not had any form of other correspondence to the adverts? I have however booked a premium DJ from Dorset, so am dead happy with that as I would hate to supply sub standard entertainment. I got this from placing an ad of the DJ Network Facebook Group and got a reply in 30 mins so that was a result. :)

Vectis

05-12-2017, 07:15 AM

I am trying to get a DJ on an event pretty sharpish and really am not having much luck with this site??

Okay Toby here's the story from our perspective...

Lead reference 13545037 was opened by you on 16th October. Had you checked the status page immediately after posting you would have seen that we did not share the details with 26 of our members (13 of these were unavailable, 3 didn't cover the type of venue/event, 8 had no current PLI and/or PAT, and 2 had minimum price filters set), however we DID share the details with 23 members (12 of which clicked 'No Bid' for whatever reason, 3 didn't read your details and the other 8 said they responded to your enquiry via whatever means you requested).

Despite a bunch of reminder emails (we send these approximately weekly) the enquiry remained open until you re-posted it on Friday night/Saturday morning.

Because the second enquiry matched the first in terms of venue, date etc. it was not accepted and you were emailed with a link to the details for the original enquiry as a reminder. From this link you would have been presented with contact details for the 8 who had previously responded to you (actually this could potentially have been more if members had hit 'Responded' and then subsequently changed to 'No Bid' as they became booked over the 6/7 week period the enquiry was open).

You then chose to close the original enquiry and re-post the same details again a third time, rather than go back to the 8 members who had responded.

To avoid member dissatisfaction, we will not accept duplicate enquiries where the original has only just been closed unless there is evidence of a failed transaction (e.g. client and member both confirm they are contracting, then for some reason one backs out).

Hope this clears things up.
:beer1:

DazzyD

05-12-2017, 07:24 AM

Toby I've started using Add To Event. It works on credits rather than a subscription so people only really bid for the work they deffo want.

Have you won any work, Andy? The reason I'm asking is that I am aware of several of these sites that use fake leads to generate income for themselves. The user bids on leads, paying for the privilage, but will never win as there is no real client. I'm not for one minute suggesting that this is case with Add To Event as I've never heard of them but I know it does happen and I know several sites have cases open on them where the powers that be are collecting data on them. So I'm just interested to know your experiences of this service especially in light of what MBP has posted.

UPDATE:

Me being me, I've done a quick look in to reviews on this service and they are clearly split in to two different camps. The first one is the consumer where all the reviews appear to be positive (although none seem to be from a Claire!). However, there appears to a fair number of poor reviews from suppliers, several of who actually accuse the service of providing fake leads, which, obviously, the service strongly denies. But it does make you wonder. It's a pretty easy way to make money for some unscrupulous operators and it happens in every industry. Again, I'm not accusing Add To Event of anything just stating general facts and describing the results of my limited research!

yourdj

05-12-2017, 09:21 AM

Okay Toby here's the story from our perspective...

Lead reference 13545037 was opened by you on 16th October. Had you checked the status page immediately after posting you would have seen that we did not share the details with 26 of our members (13 of these were unavailable, 3 didn't cover the type of venue/event, 8 had no current PLI and/or PAT, and 2 had minimum price filters set), however we DID share the details with 23 members (12 of which clicked 'No Bid' for whatever reason, 3 didn't read your details and the other 8 said they responded to your enquiry via whatever means you requested).

Despite a bunch of reminder emails (we send these approximately weekly) the enquiry remained open until you re-posted it on Friday night/Saturday morning.

Because the second enquiry matched the first in terms of venue, date etc. it was not accepted and you were emailed with a link to the details for the original enquiry as a reminder. From this link you would have been presented with contact details for the 8 who had previously responded to you (actually this could potentially have been more if members had hit 'Responded' and then subsequently changed to 'No Bid' as they became booked over the 6/7 week period the enquiry was open).

You then chose to close the original enquiry and re-post the same details again a third time, rather than go back to the 8 members who had responded.

To avoid member dissatisfaction, we will not accept duplicate enquiries where the original has only just been closed unless there is evidence of a failed transaction (e.g. client and member both confirm they are contracting, then for some reason one backs out).

Hope this clears things up.
:beer1:

OK thanks Martin for getting back to me. :)

I was not really referring to the original enquiry as that was brilliant (heard from NAD, NAD members and subsequent follow ups - which I clearly did not respond too). I heard from a few members and booked one persons because of that. No problems with that at all as the reason I choose NAD was because i know it keeps standards high and I have a good chance of finding a good DJ. Totally my fault for not closing the enquiry, so apologies for that. Had I closed the original one and listed the same date and location would it have still gone through however and would i have been able to have sorted that out myself as last min cancellations happen quite often? Well not for me usually. :)

After posting the 1st duplicated enquiry (same date different venue) i realised this was the problem & deleted the original enquiry (16th Oct) and reposted. I then got a duplicate listing email and it was closed beyond being able to do anything with it. I appreciate that you need to safeguard from people posting the same enquiries, but I had a last minute cancellation and then they rebooked (DJ got a new gig overnight), so needed to find someone very quickly, hence why i needed confirmation. Perhaps I was being far too keen?

I though it might be the email or venue so reposted with a different email and location. I then emailed to explain the situation and I have not had any confirmation or communication to what has happened. Since then I have not had any correspondence art all for the two of the enquiries I opened. As far as i can see I have an event to fill at a reasonable rate of pay and not one open enquiry for it at present?

However, It's no problems as i found someone (a premium supplier) on a Facebook group so am very much relived as i would hate to supply second rate entertainment.

However, there appears to a fair number of poor reviews from suppliers, several of who actually accuse the service of providing fake leads

I have not heard anything yet, I shall let you know. Its probably one of the worst dates this year to find anyone though, hence the above. :)

Vectis

05-12-2017, 10:39 AM

Toby I think you just fell foul of the logic we have built to spot and block duplicate enquiries as well as the fact that you tried this on an evening/weekend when we rely more on automation and rulesets to keep the enquiries flowing. During office hours it *should* have been picked up for what it actually was and the subsequent enquiry manually allowed through.

When you're dealing with the volume of enquiries and related transactions that we do, there need to be various safeguards in place because there are sadly a lot of idiots out there that cannot follow simple instructions, not to mention spambots that like nothing more than auto-filling contact forms. In the past members have told us they don't want to be contacted multiple times for the same enquiry unless it is a genuine 'second chance' opportunity, and we have to tread a fine line between the two extremes.

I'm glad you appear to have sourced cover from elsewhere on this occasion but if it doesn't pan out feel free to try again. Sufficient time has passed now that it shouldn't be trapped as a duplicate.

simon1969

18-07-2018, 10:27 PM

Imagine

18-07-2018, 11:00 PM

Hi folks

Does just a quick question anyone feel they are not getting value for money on this site very few leads have come in recently.
My other complaint is the help section is very ineffective
other day I discovered email for one enquiry was wrong as someone from the Netherlands told me they hadn't a clue what I was on about and didn't need a disco.
I informed the help section I may aswell not bothered as I was told I hadn't won the job (no one likely either as that was only means of contact).
I'm sure administration on this site could have rectified this.
Anyone else had similar experiences?

I'm sure our own Vectis will come up with answers for this including stats and figures to prove otherwise.

Please Mods - don't ban me for this. The comment below is my personal opinion and a true reflection of my own experiences.

My personal opinion as someone who used to do very well out of NaD and supported everything they did until I started charging a fee which actually made me a profit...

I left NaD as a Diamond DJMark Award holder earlier this year as have several others I know, due to the lack of quality leads (and yes...I'm talking price and expectations). It really had gone downhill and I'd got to the stage where I couldn't win a gig from there for love nor money (well I could have won....if I wanted to go out for less than it actually costs to put the show on the road). It was costing me more in time to keep hitting the "No Bid" button than it was worth. In short.....it was frustrating.

On the flip-side, there are those among our numbers who do very well out of NaD - so it must work somewhere.

As for the admin - we used to be able to contact Martin and his "Martinions" (and even have a natter/laugh with him) on the FB group - that all disappeared as well in favour of the faceless admin panel method. Poor customer service I'm afraid and as a BIG believer in customer service, that was one of the big nails in the coffin for me after the lack of quality leads.

My personal opinion? I feel the days of sites like NaD (and others of a similar ilk including Bark, AddToEvent etc.) are numbered....unless you're looking to go out for peanuts. Sorry - those customers AREN'T my customers.

Top tip? Spend your money on your own SEO and marketing....you'll get a better return.

Excalibur

19-07-2018, 08:14 AM

For anyone who hasn't realised, I've merged Simon's thread with an earlier one bearing the same title, and subject matter almost exactly.

My thoughts? Well, firstly that the market is becoming saturated ( and thus diluted ) with lead generation sites. Once upon a time, NaD provided me with a lot of my work, at reasonable rates. ( And a few diary fillers at lower rates ). Now, with a slightly larger catchment area specified, Add to Event is providing many more leads. Many people are looking for Disco and Karaoke for twelve hours for the outrageously high sum of £100 for " just pressing play", granted, but there are pearls in there.

I sympathise with Simon and Wayne in many ways, and can understand their views. Vectis will still continue to receive my hard-earned for the foreseeable future, though.

rth_discos

19-07-2018, 09:10 AM

Well, firstly that the market is becoming saturated ( and thus diluted ) with lead generation sites.

I think this is the issue.

For those who have been increasing their fees, sites like NeedADisco will becoming increasingly less relevant as by their nature they usually attract customers who are more price conscious. Not always, but usually.

But for NeedADisco specifically, new entrants to the market like Bark will have sapped away a number of enquiries. The challenge is that NeedADisco only has a market of djs. For Bark, djs is one very small part its business. It covers multiple services and has a big team and buying power to source leads.

I think Martin has done amazingly with creating the NeedADisco concept. Personally I feel the front end design has fallen behind times a bit and that may put off the more attractive leads. However, if Martin were to invest in revamping this would it generate a return for him considering the might of the likes of Bark. It's certainly now a very challenging market.

simon1969

19-07-2018, 10:18 AM

Originally there were just 3 to choose from - budget, mid-priced and quality.

Feedback from customers showed that a LOT (I'm talking 70%+) didn't have a clue about DJ costs as they very rarely if ever book one (despite us putting up a table of example costs based on actuals).

Therefore "A range of quotes" was added.

Unfortunately, for the recipient DJ, this can be vague. But everything we do is in line with customer feedback, and this 'range' feature is commonly used.

In these cases you need to look at the other information provided with the quote to determine whether or not to reply.

Hopefully, in time as we build up a decent tail of purchase data, we'll be able to provide indicative costs for any given function type, venue type or geographic area so that they can make a more informed choice and ultimately lose the 'range' option.

:beer1:
Yes fair enough Martin but sometimes there is very little information and your help query section isn't helpful as explained in opening post queries sent dealt with in an efficient way.