Getting a residency / getting in with hotels

[ukpartydj]

Hi I've noticed a fair few residency treads pop up and it's reminded me of one of my failed goals for last year - get a residency / hotel that reccomends my business.
Although I seem to do alright during the summer months when it comes to Christmas I rely on other agents to provide work and it's always a bit less than what I'd like.

I tried sending written letters and sending emails. I'm not the best on the telephone however I enjoy face to face customer meetings / interviews I'm just having trouble getting the interest of any hotels in the first place and was wondering how other people have managed to make deals / secure residencies?

[yourdj]

The best thing you can do is get booking at hotels and do an excellent job.

I have only got into hotels when the manager has seen me and contacted me after for some cards or asked me for a meeting.
When i have tried to get residencies it has never worked.

I was actually at a venue Saturday and the manager was moaning about a seriously annoying DJ who keeps pestering him and actively will not reccomend him. At the end of the night when packing up he then asked for a wadge of brochures for an upcoming wedding showcase. :)

it depends on the venue and your pricing structure however and also timing. A well presented portfolio and organised meeting at a hotel with crap entertainment may be just the ticket. If you do not charge the earth and are organised then you should be in for a chance, but remember these people are approached all the time so will not be too fussed unless they need it.

Its the general consensus that recommended supplier is the best bet, but a good contract at perhaps a reduced rate (but with the option of up selling service) with a good number of bookings in advance is also very good bread and butter as the first thing clients book is the venue and at the same time you if you are in a package.

I got about 50-60 bookings from my venue by the middle of last year and clients are still booking the other dates so that is great piece of mind. :)

Good luck and stay away from the New Forest :p - Only joking.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Toby is spot on.
Both of the hotel residencies I have had have been down to just going in and doing a decent job and getting good feedback.
There was also a bit of luck and being in the right place at the right time.
The first one was when I just started my business. I actually called up the hotel and spoke to the Manager that was there at the time. It was around November 2005 and thei Manager invited me down to have a chat. He wasn't happy with who he was using at the time and asked me if I could take on all the Christmas parties that year. I declined because I wasn't confident and new to the whole business thing at the time so we agreed that the residency would start in January.

The other one was more or less the same scenario. I had a booking at this particular hotel and it was a cracker of a wedding. A couple of days later I was out with my wife and we'd stopped for some grub on the way home and I got talking to this guy at the burger van. I noticed he had a West Ham badge on his jacket and during the conversation he told me he was the Manager of the hotel I had been at. I told him what I did and that I'd been there a few days earlier DJing at a wedding. He was very complimentary and asked me to pop in and see him. I did this the following week and he told me that he wasn't that impressed with the supplier he had and I asked if he'd consider me. He did and it's still going strong although he's no longer there.

I do another regular venue outside town where I am the recommended supplier and that WAS a case of me doing a decent job and being approached by the venue owner. The function I did was one of the best I have ever done and it was down to the guests being up for a good party. Had it been a mediocre night, I don't know if I would have been asked by the owner but 5 years later and I am still there and getting 5 - 10 bookings a year out of him aswell as being booked independently.

I wouldn't advise sending out promo packs or just emailing venues etc because in my experience that doesn't work. I have had venues call me for one off's in the past where they have received my details via a mailshot I have done but it's residency work you want. Best bet is to just make sure you have a chat with people when you go to a venue and do a cracking job. You could also phone up and talk to the venues and try to arrange a meeting but more often than not you will be talking to a C&B or Events Manager and they usually work along the lines of "If it aint broke, don't try to fix it". Also, a number of venues will not have resident DJ's as they leave it to the customers to book the DJ but they will recommend. I have a number of venues that I visit throughout the year on a regular basis but I am not the resident DJ and they don't have a resident DJ. It's worth talking to venues and getting friendly with them and they may recommend you but they need to see you first. They won't hand out cards if they haven't seen you do your thing.

Good luck.

[Djanddisco]

Have to agree with the 2 above posts, I have a residency and I'm a prefered Dj for another hotel.
Both of these have been gained by working at the hotels and getting good feedback.
I do tend to get chatting to staff whilst I'm setting up as you never know who will recommend you to the management.
(One of the venues we actually had our wedding reception in - but I wouldn't recommend booking a wedding just to get a residency, it's an expensive doo)

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Good advice all round.

The best thing you can do to sell yourself to a venue apart from doing a good job is being friendly and approachable from when you get in until you leave. Introduce yourself, be as pleasant as possible, ask how their night is going and always make a point of saying cheerio when you're leaving. It sounds a bit dim but if you rock in like Johnny Too Cool then at best you'll come off as up yourself and worst, a totally ignorant prat.

Learn the names, don't underestimate how much a quick "let's have a cheer for Joe and Jane behind the bar" at the end of the night is appreciated by the staff. Then a quick chat and leave some cards and worst case scenario, you've lost a few cards, best case, you get work.

I worked in a bar for years as a student and we would have a fair number of people coming in asking for band or DJ recommendations when people were getting married there. Usually it would be the guys who had a card lying around somewhere who would get the punt.

[JAMdisco]

I know this is slightly different (pub venue, not hotel) but I got my Friday residency by doing a couple of 'cheap' nights when the new couple took over the pub. It had got a bad reputation from the previous landlord and unfortunately had an association with drugs (or at least drug dealing/using customers).

They booked me for the Friday & Saturday which I agreed to do fro £100 per night - yes I know it's cheap but I was free and it was fairly short notice. Anyway, they asked me on the Saturday if I would be prepared to do every Friday night (they wanted to put live entertainment on for Saturdays) - after agreeing a (higher) fee we came to an agreement that if I got other bookings they would get cover. That was almost a year ago and I have also helped out on Saturdays when acts or bands have cancelled. They're a nice couple and the venue is starting to pick up again now - it's amazing how hard it is when a place has a bad reputation.

There's no sign of it stopping in the near future so while I still get the work, I'll take it.

This residency along with my Thursday quiz night guarantees an income, extra Saturday bookings are a bonus.

So basically what I am saying is the same as others - do a good job (maybe at a reduced rate) and you're more likely to get approached that way to do a residency (or at least, preferred supplier).

Good luck :)

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I'll also add to what Jim has said also JAM too...
Firstly, it's always good to be friendly when you go to any venue really. I always make a point of introducing myself to the staff on arrival and I also thank the bar staff over the microphone even if I don't get their names. I won't force my cards on anyone no matter where I am and I won't leave any laying about after I've left in the hope of someone picking them up. If I have got on well with the staff and the person in charge then I will ask them if it's ok to leave them a card just incase they should ever need me and I will leave it at that. I won't go into detail about what I do and I will thank them for their help and that's it.

The other thing regarding stuff like pub residencies etc...They are good to have in my opinion. I guess I am pretty lucky in the fact that the situation I am is quite laid back. I do my local twice a month on a Friday and the money is quite good for this type of work. They know my situation and that it's my full time job and there have been a couple of occasions where I have had bookings come in that are a lot better paid. As long as they know in advance, they'll work around me. They are also well up for things like Race Nights, Karaoke and Quiz Nights and so I try to get them to do these during the week wherever possible. The good thing is.....they listen.

I think pub residencies (although not everybodys cup of tea) are phasing out a bit to be honest. The jukeboxes are 100 times better than they used to be and there are a few pubs that I know that do it themselves. One in particular that I can think of is just around the corner from me and the landlord does it all himself. He has lights installed in the pub and a home made booth and he does Disco Karaoke on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The place is still dead though.

[ukpartydj]

it depends on the venue and your pricing structure however and also timing. A well presented portfolio and organised meeting at a hotel with crap entertainment may be just the ticket. If you do not charge the earth and are organised then you should be in for a chance, but remember these people are approached all the time so will not be too fussed unless they need it.

Good luck and stay away from the New Forest :p - Only joking.

Indeed timing seems to be everything...
Don't worry I won't be aiming for New Forest ... I've heard it's a bit rough! :whistle:


I'll also add to what Jim has said also JAM too...
Firstly, it's always good to be friendly when you go to any venue really. I always make a point of introducing myself to the staff on arrival and I also thank the bar staff over the microphone even if I don't get their names.

I think pub residencies (although not everybodys cup of tea) are phasing out a bit to be honest.

Thanks, seems pretty obvious I suppose - I've been asked by quite a few venues for business cards and have had a chat with managers, guess it's just a case of waiting until one comes through / getting new business cards as mine look terrible currently.

The pub idea as well is not my thing, I've spoken to quite a few Pub managers / owners due to my nightclub DJing and they want DJ's at a low price £70 - £150 normally and I've had managers raving about how well I've done but I don't feel like it was a good night and don't really enjoy it a fraction of what I do in a nightclub or a wedding or birthday.


Thanks for the advice everyone, I do struggle a bit with selling myself especially to venues!
Has anybody/ do you think it's a good idea to make a sort of "Promo Pack" designed for venues as a replacement to the business card if any venue does inquire?

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I do struggle a bit with selling myself especially to venues!
Has anybody/ do you think it's a good idea to make a sort of "Promo Pack" designed for venues as a replacement to the business card if any venue does inquire?

I'm not sure how successful that would be I mean if you're a band, you need a demo to sell yourself but for us that aren't doing club work, there's not a whole lot we can do to show ourselves off that can't go onto the website.

As well as that, the cost of getting a bunch of pro looking glossy pre folded and stapled booklets done wouldn't be cheap. To me (your mileage may vary) it just seems like a needless expense.

[NKR]

The general advice appears to be do a good job.

I can't agree more. We have a very nice Christmas repeat client of between 8 and 10 well paying jobs every year and they recommend us at other times.

We have preferred supplier to a couple of hotels too.

We never asked they came to us after we had done very good jobs for them. Everyone is always pushing hotels, etc, for the residency, our experience has been just show what you can do and they will talk to you if it is right for them.