halfway there...what next

[cara]

ok guys

i've got most of my equipment now, i've got my djing songs tagged & edited and karaoke backing tracks, what would you say i should be doing next?

i need to get p.l.i. & p.a.t. testing, i need business cards & flyers to hand out & equipment insurance & a decent website plus draw up some form of contract, how much would you roughly say i set aside for this?

then once all that is done (phew) what would you say would be the best way of getting in some work?

would you advise visiting pubs in person & asking do they require a dj/kj for any nights, advertising in the local press, yellow pages,

any advice would be greatly appreciated

also are there any things i've missed out or any pitfalls i might come across?

thanks

cara

[kd_entertainments]

Ive done some advertising via flyers in Fish and Chip shops

When customers are waiting for their food to be cooked they will read your ad and hopefully save your number in their phone!

All the rest is through business cards, the website and the best form of promotion ever.....WORD OF MOUTH!

[DJ Frankie]

I like the fish and chips advert nice touch.


Personally Cara I did the adverts and built up my equipment as I went along.

Why dont you get yourself hooked up with an agent just so you can get a couple of gigs under your belt then spend out on decent advertising and equipment, whats to say you do your first few gigs and hate the mobile disco lifestyle then all your money will be for nothing.

I have been dj'ing now for 10 years and have just started to advertise and update my equipment even now.
But going back to your question word of mouth and having a decent website are the best form of advertising!!


All the best to you.

PM me if you need anymore info I will be more than happy to help you out.

[ian8limelight]

Cara,

Here are some sites which may prove useful to you:-

Business Cards:-
http://www.vistaprint.co.uk/vp/ns/default.aspx?GP=12%2F13%2F2006+11%3A46%3A12+AM

Insurance:-
http://www.musicguard.co.uk/?affid=38674


You will also find a lot of useful information within the Forum itself on Insurance, etc.

[Jiggles]

for websites heres a good guy his name is Callum Hopkins and he done mine (www.cb-entertainments.co.uk) for £50!!! [email protected]

Callum Burns

[A1DL]

Why dont you get yourself hooked up with an agent just so you can get a couple of gigs under your belt then spend out on decent advertising and equipment, whats to say you do your first few gigs and hate the mobile disco lifestyle then all your money will be for nothing.



Subsonic - I don't think this is good advice. Any half decent agent would expect a DJ to have decent equipment and some experience before taking them on. It would be far better for Cara to start by doing small parties for families and friends to gain some experience and then look to joining an agency after say six months to a year. I believe in giving everyone a chance, but would certainly not take on a DJ without any experience, that would be totally irresponsible from a customer perspective!

[Mossy]

I like the fish and chips advert nice touch.


Why dont you get yourself hooked up with an agent just so you can get a couple of gigs under your belt then spend out on decent advertising and equipment, whats to say you do your first few gigs and hate the mobile disco lifestyle then all your money will be for nothing.



I think that's very sensible advice, plus your first few gigs you will probably be a bit nervous and not as smooth as an experienced DJ so if you go out on a booking that an agent as arranged and you get it really really wrong or your nerves get the better of you then you don't have anything to worry about because the customer will remember the agency and NOT you.

Yes I know this is going to upset the members who are agents BUT, there are some agencies out there who are NOT as professional and as passionate as our members are. I am talking about the agencies who take 40% of the cost of the booking and send DJ's they have never checked out because they simply play the numbers game and it's these agencies who are ideal for people starting out. I can think of one in Leeds as I write this.

Get your insurances and your PAT and then just get out there, leave the website for now but get your business cards, we are coming up to NYE and that's a great night (big money and everyone is up for a good time so it's an easy night), chances are you will get a booking if you look for it (even now)

Mossy

[A1DL]

I think that's very sensible advice, plus your first few gigs you will probably be a bit nervous and not as smooth as an experienced DJ so if you go out on a booking that an agent as arranged and you get it really really wrong or your nerves get the better of you then you don't have anything to worry about because the customer will remember the agency and NOT you.



Nothing to worry about? talk sense, Mossy! If you get an agency job badly wrong you're likely to be in breach of contract and probably won't get paid or get any more work.

Here we have a new member asking for genuine advice, and I really don't think the above is either fair or genuine.

[Mossy]

If you look back at my original post it mentioned the type of agencies I was talking about. They do exist, the ones I was referring to can be found in any city and they simply pay the numbers game in that they take a lot of bookings and fill them with any DJ they can find that is willing to do it.

That was VERY GENUINE AND SINCERE ADVICE and I stand by it. This summer I lent my spare decks and some spare lights to a young DJ who was just starting out, he came with me to a few gigs to see how it was done and was keen to start out on his own. I wouldn't recommend him to anyone at that stage because he was a nervous novice so I told him to ring Company X Company Y and Comapny Z (all agencies who don't check you out beforehand they just want to know you will go and DJ it, two of them never asked him if he had any lights). I told him the reason why he should go th them and why he should give up 40% of the £100 per night fee they were charging the customers.

Yes they send DJ's out at £100 per night, they get a lot of bookings and a lot of complaints. Usually I have no time for these agencies but on this occasion they served a purpose. According to him his first few gigs were crap, he hardly spoke, he didn't know what to play, he didn't have half the songs, and nobody asked him for a card.

The agencies told him they had had complaints but NOT TO WORRY, they would just send him to another venue and replace him at those venues, which they did (they give some **** and bull story to the venue about sacking the DJ, but they never do). They don't have contracts, the customer sends £40 deposit to the agency and then pays the DJ the £60 balance on the night.

That was 4 months ago, he doesn't work for those agencies anymore, he is confident on the mike and he got experience at someone else's expense. His reputation hasn't been affected by his first few mistakes and he is now with a proper agency (one I get work from and I recommended him to them and them to him) and pays a fraction of the commission he used to pay.

The reason I made this posting in the first place is because he thanked me for my advice and said it was nice not to have to deal with complaints and not to have to worry if he really screwed up (which he did a few times).

Whether we like it of not these agencies do exist, they are crap, and they spoil it for the good DJ's and the good agencies but they will always be around because they are cheap and last minute.

I see no problem telling a new DJ to use one, and I stand by my original posting.

Mossy

Anyone who doesn't believe me then PM me and I will give you the numbers of the agencies and you can ring them, tell them you are a DJ starting out and they will only ask you two questions

1. Do you have your own equipment (they won't ask what, they won't ask about PAT, PLI or your experience or anything else)

2. When are you available

That's all they want to know, after that they send you bookings.

Are you telling me they don't get what they deserve when some newbie comes along and uses them to get experience?????????

[Mossy]

Subsonic - I don't think this is good advice. Any half decent agent would expect a DJ to have decent equipment and some experience before taking them on. It would be far better for Cara to start by doing small parties for families and friends to gain some experience and then look to joining an agency after say six months to a year. I believe in giving everyone a chance, but would certainly not take on a DJ without any experience, that would be totally irresponsible from a customer perspective!


A1DL

I posted this back because I don't for one minute think your agency operates like the ones I was suggesting, you do check your DJ's out and you wouldn't touch a newbie for all the right reasons, and I wasn't trying to belittle the decent agencies out there so don't take it the wrong way.

DJing for family and friends is OK but if you know the people or they are family it's never the same experience as a 'real' booking

Anyway whether you agree with my advice or not I really do stand by it, some members might not like what I have to say but hey-ho I can only be blunt and honest

Mossy

[DJ Frankie]

Subsonic - I don't think this is good advice. Any half decent agent would expect a DJ to have decent equipment and some experience before taking them on. It would be far better for Cara to start by doing small parties for families and friends to gain some experience and then look to joining an agency after say six months to a year. I believe in giving everyone a chance, but would certainly not take on a DJ without any experience, that would be totally irresponsible from a customer perspective!


I disagree, how often does family and friends parties come along?

why couldnt Cara hook up with another experienced DJ thats on your books and help him/her out on the night?

[Candybeatdiscos]

Whether we like it of not these agencies do exist, they are crap, and they spoil it for the good DJ's and the good agencies but they will always be around because they are cheap and last minute.

The other reason that they will stick around is because decent DJ's such as yourself will send new DJ's to them, perhaps to serve a purpose but at the same time to line thier pockets....hmmm, we are trying to eradicate the dark side of the business by giving them business? Dont make sense to me.

I got into the business by chumming DJ's and learning from the best, I would never send a new DJ out on his or her own not even with a agency, these new DJ's need to learn properly so they can complement us all and we can all work together. I have three relativley new DJ's who take turns at coming out with me, perhaps next summer they may be ready and have the music knowledge to go out on thier own, but untill then they are preapared to learn and i am prepared to take them out with me as a roadie, they get a paid £20/£30 and they help out with setting up and dismantling the gear, they take 20/30 min shots at DJ'ing under my supervision and they are learning. I think this is the example we should be showing all DJ's new and old.

[Ricesnaps]

I think we have overlooked something here guys and got a little bogged down in agency rants!

Cara - mayeb you would be kind enough to give us a little background? What experience do you have? what gear have you got and what sort of work are you hoping to get.

You could on the one hand be a superstar DJ who has worked for years but always for other people, in which case the agency suggestions are a very good plan.

Or maybe you have never done this before and nee a lot of help - in which case the "go and spend a few nights with another disco" would be a good plan.

Hope to see you post soon.

[cara]

hey guys thanks for the responses

the only experience i have is mixing in the bedroom/house really, but i'm quietly confident given the chance in public i'll do ok, no worse or no better than your average dj if you know what i mean?

i'll be using a laptop running pcdj and twin cd decks as my back up

thre sort of work i'm lookng for at first will be pubs to get a bit of experience under my belt & private functions once i'm more confident in my own ability

what i'm really interested in knowing about guys is the business side of things.

i:e what should i be doing next, getting the business cards & flyers done?, getting the website done, pli insurance, p.a.t., mcps registration, registering for tax, equipment insurance, vehicle insurance that sort of thing.

i'm not sure what to do next, if you could help me prioritise my checklist of things to do that would be a big help

thanks

[leighinstoke]

i:e what should i be doing next, getting the business cards & flyers done?, getting the website done, pli insurance, p.a.t., mcps registration, registering for tax, equipment insurance, vehicle insurance that sort of thing.

i'm not sure what to do next, if you could help me prioritise my checklist of things to do that would be a big help

You've just compiled your own checklist! :)


Leigh....

[cara]

hi all, happy new year

i've e-mailed a few local dj's in my area to ask if they need any help and also asked if they wouldnt mind showing me the ropes

what do you think i should be doing next then folks?

business cards & flyers?

[Spirits High]

Hi Cara,
I only properly started out halfway through last year. Got some great business cards from http://www.goodprint.co.uk from their designer range.

Got website up and running from 123 reg. It was pretty cheap to get going have a look at my site to see the kind of thing you can do http://www.spiritshigh.org.uk

It's self build but don't let that put you off , I'm no web guru!

Put the cards up in local shops etc , havent done bad but its very competitive over here in Northern Ireland

Hope thats some use.