Hey,
Tip from an old sales hand, NEVER give something away for free! Free means it has no value. Make it “No cure, No pay” if you must (i.e. name a price in advance, tell them they don’t have to pay you if they didn’t think you were worth it after you performed) or name your price and then give a discount. The point being, always let them know the VALUE of what you do BEFORE you start giving away stuff. Next time, when you DO ask for money, they will have this “but he did it for free first time”- thought running through their minds. And compared to free, everything else is expensive. If you start out by telling them how much it is to book you and then end up giving them a one-time only introductory offer at, say, 50% off, they will already have your REGULAR charge in their minds and know that is what they’ll end up paying you for a next gig. It saves you the nasty experience (I learned the hard way) of doing that first night for free, then coming back next time to be told “you were really good, but we can’t afford the fee you are asking” once you tell them what you want to be paid.
Same goes for no cure, no pay. If they are cheapskates, they’ll let you play and then say, nah not good enough. You have achieved two things, one is a night playing out live and lots of people seeing you in action (make sure you follow the Digital DJ Tips checklist T-shirts, business cards, DJ Shoutouts, flyers and other marketing stuff) and the other finding out these are cheap people and money will always be an issue with them and you really don’t want to spend your energy there anymore. Off to find better customers who DO value what you do.
Another thing is to become a “risk-sharer”. This works best if you are bringing something new. Let’s say they have an average of 75 people coming to the rink now, without a DJ playing. And you believe that you can bring such a show, that 25 more people will start showing up after word of mouth gets around. You could then come to an agreement that you get paid (only an example) nothing until more than 75 people show up. After that you get a decent kickback per person. That way, your popularity and the fans you bring to the venue brings you more money. It is easier for the venue that way. Because if they get no exta visitors, they don’t have any more costs than before. And when they do get more visitors, they can easily pay you from the extra revenue (guessing the entrance fees, skate rental fees and what people eat and drink while they are there). So, you get paid more the better job you do. Make it so that it is a realistic goal. You want to be able to make the fee you are looking for on an average night, not only on the top nights. The top nights should bring in the bonus money! Again, this works best if they have the evening without a DJ performing now and you are not gonna be just another DJ.
If they have DJ’s already and you still want to do this, find one of the DJs that played there and find out what he/she got paid. That should give you a good starting point for your no cure – no pay / discount discussion with the manager/owner.
Good luck with getting yourself out there!
Greetinx,
C.
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