It's already started. I've picked up a few last minute July weddings when we went to full volume.Originally Posted by Centre Stage Discos
I don't want to denigrate the MDD as the forum is great and has lots of decent people on it but with a bit of critical thinking you can probably surmise how useful it is for enquiries if most of the listing content is out of date...
I think even mods/admin would agree with this, I have been a member for many years and don't think I even picked up an enquiry - however not even sure what my listing looks like as in general I avoid enquiry sites anyway
I didn't realise that Need A Disco charges a subscription to advertise. Fair enough if it works, but I think there are better places to spend advertising money. It's all leading back to Google for me but Facebook might be worth a try, assuming there isn't too much crud to wade through. (There usually is!)
It does, but once you've paid that fee you have access to all of the leads that come through which fit any criteria/filters you apply to the system (or at least that's how it used to work). I was with them for several years until it didn't suit my business model any longer and did quite well out of it. They also gather feedback on your behalf!
I don't know how many leads come through the system these days. It used to be around the 10-15 mark for the area I signed up for most days.
The beauty of that particular system over Faceache is that the person who's requested the quote is already interested in hiring a DJ (that's why they've gone there in the first place). Whereas on FB you're targeting a particular demographic (maybe 20-30 year old females who are engaged) but might not necessarily be looking for your services just yet if that makes sense?
There's pro's and con's against all of the ways of advertising. IMHO services like NaD will get you out there working a lot quicker than Google Ads and Facebook, but it all depends on how much effort you want to put in and how much you want to spend (NaD is a flat fee, Google and FB could be bottomless pits)
It's no secret that, even before taking the last 16 months into consideration, the listings side of the MDD was pretty much a ghost town. When I took over nothing worked - listings couldn't be added or modified, contact forms on existing listings didn't work, and so for all intents and purposes it was completely broken. I fixed everything on the technical side, as well as adding a lot of new features (see New Features Added - Action Recommended) with the next step being a redesign of at least the public facing side... but then Covid happened and that dropped down the list of priorities.
A lot of the current listings are out of date, that's true. It currently says listings deactivate if the owner doesn't login within a year, but in reality that doesn't happen - login dates are logged in the database but listings aren't automatically deactivated. It was my intention to code in an automatic reminder email (perhaps at 48, 50 and 52 weeks) to listing owners and then deactivate listings automatically if they didn't log in. But, if I'm honest doing that right now would mean there wouldn't be much content there at all (we're talking perhaps 4 years+ since it was working as it was supposed to), and it does get a lot of organic traffic. Perhaps an interim solution would be adding a note to listings where the owner hasn't logged in within the last year, something like "Note: The owner of this listing has not updated it for some time and may no longer be operating"?
I'm open to ideas / suggestions. To kick-start use of it I introduced the free verification, as well as reducing the pricing for enhanced and premium listings, it remains to be seen if it'll get the use it once did but it's there, it's free, so use it!
Thanks Imagine. More things to consider there. All useful stuff to know. I was having a quick look at the NaDJ site earlier. Interesting to see all their offers.
That's a difficult one to call there Marc. I don't envy you regarding the coding and decision making regarding this forum. I run a small forum myself using the phpBB platform and covering a completely unrelated subject so I understand what you are saying. I really want to pull out of the running of it as I am not competent enough regarding the coding and it so time consuming. But there is no easy answer. No listings are up-to-date and never will be anymore. Twice over the last year I have tried to find existing companies on Google and Yell, only to find that MOST of them I contacted were no longer in business. It seems to be a sign of the times. Better to have the listings than not, even if half the discos are not in business anymore. Just a thought, maybe a 'Last logged in' date for each business would help instead of "This business may no longer be operating" etc.?
A new thread needed for this i think.
Last edited by Centre Stage Discos; 04-07-2021 at 07:08 PM.
I was in the same chicken and egg situation.
When I advertised my discos again back in 2015, I was doing so because I wanted to get back into being a Mobile DJ. But I hadn't done a mobile gig for nearly 15 years, nor did I own a single piece of equipment.
I had the confidence to ask for the fee I felt I was worth.
Your situation is no different to where mine was, so there's nothing stopping you from charging the fees I charged.
I've heard all of the excuses under the sun about why you can't charge that 'round here'... and in every case, there's always more than enough of a market of affluent people within a 45 minute drive.
What stops most people from getting the fee they are worth is that they never ask for it...
I fully agree with what you are saying rth. I've seen this with my own eyes.
Years ago I was always amazed by a friend who would charge several times more than the 'going rate' and he was always busy. His discos would be smaller than the average rig in terms of lighting, but he always used quality equipment. A really nice guy who you could trust with your life. How did he do it? Well, his clientele would be hiring stately homes and exclusive country clubs in which to hold their functions. Military bases and universities would be among his regular customers. He did not really 'do' small functions. So just one simple example there but I do believe that there is a way.
Last edited by Centre Stage Discos; 04-07-2021 at 07:24 PM.
Read again what the crotchety white haired Old Git wrote about Nad and A to E. iIf my Fenland Friend agrees with me, it must be right.
OK, I've taken the tablets: summary, Add to Event can be tried with £24, and can generate instant results. ( Can also eat £24 very quickly, it used to be a lot cheaper). Downside can be that many leads have a low budget and Sid quoting for them.
NaD costs from £99 a year, but its leads are FREE! . They're also more realistically priced on the whole, and you get other benefits too.
Also, networking. Wayne will know if Rambling Sid Rumpo's happy band* have meetings in your area. All meetings are worth showing your face at, I've learnt a lot from them, and on occasion picked up cheap kit. Good luck.
* If you ever listened to "Round The Horne" you'll know one reason I didn't join NADJ this June when my PLI was due for renewal.
Oi - "Fenland"?Read again what the crotchety white haired Old Git wrote about Nad and A to E. iIf my Fenland Friend agrees with me, it must be right.
I might have to report you to a moderator for violation of rules 12 and 21 for that remark! Oh....hang on
I've also taken some tablets....a lot of them actually. Had my second AstraZeneca shot yesterday and it's hit me like a 39 ton truck going at full tilt todayOK, I've taken the tablets: summary, Add to Event can be tried with £24, and can generate instant results. ( Can also eat £24 very quickly, it used to be a lot cheaper). Downside can be that many leads have a low budget and Sid quoting for them.
NaD costs from £99 a year, but its leads are FREE! . They're also more realistically priced on the whole, and you get other benefits too.
Also, networking. Wayne will know if Rambling Sid Rumpo's happy band* have meetings in your area. All meetings are worth showing your face at, I've learnt a lot from them, and on occasion picked up cheap kit. Good luck.
* If you ever listened to "Round The Horne" you'll know one reason I didn't join NADJ this June when my PLI was due for renewal.
Anyhoo....I digress, because well, I can and I've spent pretty much all day sleeping so full of beans now
* NaD - I might (sorry Vectis....no guarantees at the moment) look at re-joining just for jollies to see what's about. I used to do quite well out of it whilst I was charging half of what I charge now but there might be some mileage...more investigation needed in this brave new world we're in at the moment.
* Add2Event - not a chance. I won ONE gig for £500, and that's ONLY because I knew the planner (who was charging several thousand pounds for the same wedding), and she knew what I could do.
TWO that haven't been mentioned yet
* Bridebook.com. I do VERY well on that one! I've booked two from there this week alone!
* BARK - avoid at ALL costs (similar WeddingWire and TheKnot)
Jim mentioned Gumtree earlier on. In days of old, I got several very well paying gigs from there (yeah...it surprised me too). It's not so good these days. Facebook wedding groups are on a similar par from experience with the potential clients looking for the cheapest price possible.
I make absolutely no secret about my prices - I publish them on my website for the world to see and customers either hire me or they don't...it's rare for questions to be asked. It's not a snob thing...I charge £550 a night and I'm worth it. Want me for all-day...you're looking at over a grand. And I get BOOKED at those prices!
Pre-Covid, I was making a decent living that way and it's how I intend to carry on...my diary for next year is healthier than it's ever been. As I've mentioned before, Facebook is good for "social proof", but I really don't take many bookings from there at all because they don't want to pay my prices.
Networking (NOT by the way meant in the same terms as running ideas up flagpoles and thinking outside the box) is BRILLIANT when it happens. Sadly John in our neck of the woods, it's a bit thin on the ground. DJs in and around Cambridgeshire for some reason on the whole absolutely despise each other....and there are a LOT of chaps named Sidney to boot! It's almost as if we're all bitter enemies and it really shouldn't be that way!
The vast majority of my contacts (other than most of those in here that I've met and got drunken with on "Old Sock Rotter"on occasion), are in Norfolk & Suffolk (I sit on the Cambs/Norfolk/Suffolk borders....literally within a stone's throw of all of them). Although I'm based in Cambridgeshire, it's rare to travel to the cities of Cambridge or Peterborough. I do a lot in Ely, March and Wisbech from my SEO and word of mouth, but other than that, most of my work is across the borders into Norfolk and Suffolk.
We all pass work between each other on a regular basis because we know and trust each other, that is what networking is all about (for instance, although I cover Norfolk I'm highly unlikely to venture into Great Yarmouth when there's a very good bloke I know personally that lives there, and the same with him coming over this way).
Before lockdowns, we were in the throes of setting up a NADJ East Anglian Branch (I was to be one of the committee members), and that might still come to pass. I have my reservations about such organisations now other than the social side of things sadly as I get the impression a grumpy old so and so from up North might have too.
A couple of other ways to "network" (i.e. make friends...)
* BPM - It's a great drinking fest (sorry....trade show) and if you can ignore the wannabe bedroom DJs that just want to play with the kit, is a good way of meeting like minded professionals and indeed seeing what's coming up in the form of new kit. There's deals to be had as well if you have cash on your hip on the day!
* ProMobile Conference - (going back to Marmite here but it's worked VERY well for me) is an annual event which is a two day conference on basically knowledge sharing. Yes it's geared to doing things the "American Way" at times and on the day, some of it doesn't seem relevant....until it suddenly twigs a couple of months down the line that somebody's already mentioned that they're doing what you're thinking of doing. I've met soooo many specialist Wedding DJs there (which is now mainly what I do) that it's unreal. We all keep in contact although spread across counties and countries and share what we're doing. ProMobile alone has well and truly upped my game and it's what I've learned there over the years that has well and truly upped my game!
Beware the "Gurus". I won't mention names as we're on a public forum, but there are those that charge subscription fees for their learnings that will do more harm than good! Some however, are worth their weight in gold (i.e. they're still actually doing the job rather than trying to top up their pension)
A big no from me on networking is a certain well-known Facebook group which offers PLI (where I get my insurance from but that's by the by). Post on there at your peril unless you have a very thick skin. Sidney bites on there....HARD!
Until a couple of years ago, I was a "weekend warrior". This was a hobby (since 1988!) with the view to eventually becoming my full time job. Covid got in the way of things last year, but I'm going to be back next week, and hard! Our own Gavin (RTH) will attest to how I work and that it's the right way of doing things to make a success of the business (I learned a LOT from his conference...he's one of the "gurus" you can trust!)
If you want to meet up somewhere midway between you and me for a pint of something refreshing and to share what works and what doesn't (believe me....I've been there, seen it and still have the scars), by all means let me know and I'll make it happen.
Sorry - I've gone slightly off topic and rambled on a bit. Blame it on the side effects of the Covid jab and the medication to reduce the side effects because I kid you not...I've just seen a pink and blue striped Unicorn land in my back garden!
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