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Thread: Warning! Price thread alert.

  1. #51
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rth_discos View Post

    1: A generic DJ who performs at all types of functions playing all types of music
    2: A DJ who presents themselves as a specialist marquee wedding DJ, aiming to create a fun but relaxed environment
    Gavin, I applaud you. You've explained something to me very clearly that I never realised before. Well done. Don't let the praise go to your head, though. When you're describing me, it's not Generic, it's Geriatric!
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  2. #52

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    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    I know a lot of those.

    Sadly some of us were making a healthy profit as part timers though, but only made the decision to go full time less than a year before everything kicked off
    I am still absolutely gutted by your journey over the past 15 months.

    You were the textbook example of positioning yourself correctly, getting all the foundations in place, making the transition from part-time to full-time and then, just at the wrong moment, everything changes, in a way that no business plan would have ever predicted.

    With the profit thing, there were many DJs who were going to America each year, some were sending out fairly expensive gifts to each of their clients, and other miscellaneous costs, many of which weren't direct costs of a gig. I had always wondered if the additional £200 per gig of costs was actually translating to additional profit, or if they would have been better off spending less, and charging less. Again, it's not that I'm saying that way was "wrong", but wondering if it was good business sense.

  3. #53
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
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    Gavin, at last I think I understand exactly what you're trying to say about Avatars. It makes absolute sense.

    The problem is, for ( older? ) people like John and I, who tend to cast our nets far and wide in the search for customers, it's a seismic change to contemplate targeting one particular sector of society as our clients.

    I was persuaded not to go ahead with my cunning plan to launch an additional website along the lines of http://www.bestbloodyYorkshireweddin...otsofmoney.com to see if I could persuade these good folk that I was the only sensible choice for their function.

    It seems to me that " DJs of negotiable virtue " like myself are doomed to fall between two stools. Not a dedicated wedding specialist ( even if we are capable of giving a service to match many of these specialists ) and not eligible to charge large fees, and always with Sid snapping at our heels. " He's got a website, lights, speakers and two gazillion tracks ( as long as the WiFi holds up, tee hee ) , and he only charges £50 and a crate of Stella. You're just too expensive".


    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  4. #54

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    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    It seems to me that " DJs of negotiable virtue " like myself are doomed to fall between two stools. Not a dedicated wedding specialist ( even if we are capable of giving a service to match many of these specialists ) and not eligible to charge large fees, and always with Sid snapping at our heels. " He's got a website, lights, speakers and two gazillion tracks ( as long as the WiFi holds up, tee hee ) , and he only charges £50 and a crate of Stella. You're just too expensive".
    See my earlier message. When both you and SID offer the same thing (DJ, will turn up with speakers, lights and music), then the only differentiator is the price. So of course you're more expensive. Why pay more for the same thing (which is in essence, what the comparison is).

    So it's all about how you differentiate yourself.

    Just saying you've got bags of experience doesn't count anymore. SID says the same stuff on his website too. Some SIDs now even present with a pretty decent looking website. So those previous ways of differentiating against SID are losing traction, quickly - you may have noticed this change over recent years.

    So what about you is different?

    Now, you don't need to niche down as much as I suggested. In reality, the more you niche down, the smaller the pool of potential customers, and then you need to make sure you get in front of them. For a while, I successfully operated 2 different websites covering 2 different areas, knowing that one area wouldn't book a DJ from the other area and vice-versa. There could be something in having a number of very specialist websites. But that comes with the additional cost and time in marketing all of them.

    On a more 'top line' level, my understanding is that you have a pretty good knowledge of rock music... and you seem to enjoy those gigs when requested for that music. So why not mention that? What are you like on the mic? Do you like to use it, not use it, or just it a *lot*?

    Essentially, think about your ideal gig, and what makes them great. Then think about what is common about the people who booked you for those gigs, and appeal to them.

    At the same time, think about the gigs you don't like. Tell people on the website what you don't want to do - actively turn them away.

    Essentially, find some elements in what you enjoy to highlight that differentiates you from SID.

  5. #55
    Imagine's Avatar
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    ^^^^ He's right you know

    It was actually Gavin (many years ago now in a hotel somewhere near Reading I think it was....it was an early start and a long drive) that persuaded myself and a couple of others in this neck of the woods to focus a little differently. It took guts and it took a lot of time....but it worked! I seem to remember the lunch was fairly good too

    My website used to aim at everyone and anything - a booking was a booking in those days (and by heck did I do some rough ones then for VERY little reward!). Yes I'll admit it...I WAS Sid for a while!.

    It's now aimed mainly at weddings (even the retro page mentions retro weddings). Yes, I still do other gigs like older birthdays and of course the diary filling kids parties. The weddings of course are aimed at my ideal client and I always focus on my favourite ones because I want more of those. Those that tend to book me for the birthdays and anniversaries do so because they trust me to do the same job as I do at weddings.

    Most of the images of weddings on my website are shot in marquees, barns or stately homes...that's the first clue prospective clients get as to what I do (and that alone tends to send away those looking for cheap and cheerful - I've monitored it with different images in different places!)

    You'll notice if you look back through the Good Gig Bad Gig thread that the majority of mine are in marquees or barns, or in my favourite permanent marquee venue just down the road (this is the odd one out because although I like working there, it's very much a "wedding factory"). Most of them are very much DIY affairs without the interference of planners and the like (I prefer to deal direct with the couples and even offer them advice), and there's a lot of input from family members too (and yes I work with mothers and fathers of the couple as well!)

    These are the weddings I target and these are the majority of the weddings I now do.

    I don't have any residencies, I don't pay to advertise, I rely solely on my website to sell what I do.

    My website focuses on a couple of things:
    * I do a lot of marquee weddings
    * I do a lot of barn/rustic weddings
    * I do a lot of weddings.
    * I do weddings which are more than just the evening party (not everyone's cup of tea because they're blimmin' long days....but there aren't that many that will take on an all day wedding from ceremony to carriages in this neck of the woods!)

    What I also publicly publish is a "gig log" of every wedding on my blog....warts and all. I like to be honest with my customers to show them what's worked and what hasn't...and what I do. That includes the playlist for the night. From that alone, they can see that I'm mainly about music from the 70s to the 90s (did they make music after the 90s?). I've had a LOT of my customers mention whilst booking me that they've seen these playlists and that THAT'S what they want at THEIR wedding.

    The content of the pages is written in the voice of my favourite customers (remember from a previous post that I have TWO distinct wedding couples in mind), and I literally have their voices and the way they speak in my head every time I put new content on there. I'm trying to get into my ideal clients' heads and talk to them in their language. Yes there's also a lot of technical SEO stuff going on in the background but content is the biggest thing for the search engines and prospective clients finding you in the first place!

    So what do YOU do that's different?

    As Gavin alludes to, you could sell the fact that you love Rock music (or indeed ANY genre in the massive knowledge of music you have). You could sell the fact that you like to have FUN (I've seen he pictures of you in various wigs ). You could sell the fact that you're not a fan of "action dances" as I believe Justin does. Think what it is that YOU'RE good at and why previous customers have hired you for THAT GIG, and sell it!

    There's a chap you may or may not of heard of (not "technically" a DJ but appears at a LOT of weddings) called Norry Ashcroft (aka...Lionel Vinyl....ohhh yeah!). He markets himself as a cheesy seventies afro disco singer and it works....and works very well for him! In real life, he's nothing like a cheesy afro disco singer by the way and lives up North in Blackpool

    Heck - think of Jive Bunny (who STILL does a lot of weddings) or even Disco Boy (haven't seen him around since the toilet roll selling debacle last year). Even DJ Best Price had a selling point which was unique to him.

    Another thing people are looking for now is PROOF (and I don't just mean photo's of lights and people dancing). They want to see other people's opinions. Invite previous customers to review on Google and TrustPilot (TP is a big SEO feed in as well by the way!). Even if you get the odd negative one it's not a bad thing (100% positive feedback is a little suspicious to most!). I've even got reviews at the moment which mention that I've been helpful in rearranging things due to the Covid situation.

    And love them or hate them......I'm going to mention the elephant in the room anyway.....AWARDS! Despite what the haters on Facebook groups say, they can help to separate you from your competition by miles. Winning one is pure marketing gold! I used to be one of the haters until I won one, and then several more. Trust me, they really DO set you apart from the rest of the crowd at times.

    Right - I'm going to bed. Busy and hot night last night at the end of a 9 day run of shifts without a day off, and still trying to digest the latest updates and what that means for the poor couples that will doubtless be in contact tomorrow after talking to their venues.......

  6. #56
    Web Guru Marc J's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rth_discos View Post
    See my earlier message. When both you and SID offer the same thing (DJ, will turn up with speakers, lights and music), then the only differentiator is the price. So of course you're more expensive. Why pay more for the same thing (which is in essence, what the comparison is).

    So it's all about how you differentiate yourself.

    Just saying you've got bags of experience doesn't count anymore. SID says the same stuff on his website too. Some SIDs now even present with a pretty decent looking website. So those previous ways of differentiating against SID are losing traction, quickly - you may have noticed this change over recent years.

    So what about you is different?
    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    Another thing people are looking for now is PROOF (and I don't just mean photo's of lights and people dancing). They want to see other people's opinions. Invite previous customers to review on Google and TrustPilot (TP is a big SEO feed in as well by the way!). Even if you get the odd negative one it's not a bad thing (100% positive feedback is a little suspicious to most!). I've even got reviews at the moment which mention that I've been helpful in rearranging things due to the Covid situation.
    This. It's easy to put up a slick website with a bunch of stolen photos and lies, but Sid will they'll eventually get bad reviews. So, they change name, and start again, always starting with a few (fake) "good" reviews but once their average star rating drops, they reinvent themselves - rinse & repeat. You, on the other hand, will build up many genuine good reviews over a long time, and the public will see this.

    Different market I know but, one of my clients, a joinery / builder / double glazing supplier, always asks customers for Google reviews and has a far better average score than anyone else locally, with 5 star reviews going back 7 years. This is priceless and, at the initial web search stage, is what will get you an enquiry when all else seems to be equal.

    On that point - Wayne, your MDD listing has an issue with your Google PlaceID. It's no longer pulling reviews or updating your star rating, the error Google gives is "NOT_FOUND - The provided Place ID is no longer valid. Please refresh cached Place ID". Google's help page on this says: -

    Quote Originally Posted by Google
    The NOT_FOUND status code indicates that the specified place ID is obsolete. A place ID may become obsolete if a business closes or moves to a new location. Place IDs may change due to large-scale updates on the Google Maps database. In such cases, a place may receive a new place ID, and the old ID returns a NOT_FOUND response.

    In particular, some types of place IDs may sometimes cause a NOT_FOUND response, or the API may return a different place ID in the response. These place ID types include:

    • Street addresses that do not exist in Google Maps as precise addresses, but are inferred from a range of addresses.
    Last edited by Marc J; 15-06-2021 at 11:30 AM.

  7. #57
    Resident Antagonist Benny Smyth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rth_discos View Post
    SID says the same stuff on his website too. Some SIDs now even present with a pretty decent looking website.
    Quote Originally Posted by Marc J View Post
    This. It's easy to put up a slick website with a bunch of stolen photos and lies, but Sid will they'll eventually get bad reviews.
    Whilst I appreciate the kind comments about my website guys, I'm starting to feel like these are back-handed compliments.

  8. #58
    Jim - Scotland's Party DJ's Avatar
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    I've just taken on a mood lighting booking (12 units) for £400... Battery controlled so they literally take say 5 minutes to programme, 2 minutes to drop down, an hours worth of driving and then a night sat in the hotel bar with a coffee and a book

    If I end up with a DJ enquiry for the date it's easy enough to sub out - £100 for a shift like that where you don't need to lift a speaker?...

  9. #59

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    I see DJs are reverting back to the monotonous price per gig obsession.

    Fair enough if you do this as a hobby, but for me the income per week/month/year is all I focus on.

    in 2 weeks time I have a booking where I am getting over £2k, yet this is nowhere near what 'I charge', yet I know many take their best every paying gig and use that as a make belief base figure. Always amazes me too how these 'high flyers' aren't VAT registered, which lets face it isn't exactly a high figure.

    Really thought this might change.
    Semi-Retired Multi Award Winning DJ

    www.ultimateweddingdj.co.uk

  10. #60
    Jim - Scotland's Party DJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ppentertainments View Post
    I see DJs are reverting back to the monotonous price per gig obsession.

    Fair enough if you do this as a hobby, but for me the income per week/month/year is all I focus on.

    in 2 weeks time I have a booking where I am getting over £2k, yet this is nowhere near what 'I charge', yet I know many take their best every paying gig and use that as a make belief base figure. Always amazes me too how these 'high flyers' aren't VAT registered, which lets face it isn't exactly a high figure.

    Really thought this might change.
    You can do this part time and still run it as a business, not a hobby.

    Plus, higher price per gig = better whatever way you slice it as long as you get the amount of work you want.

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