Donald Brown
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Donald Brown
ParticipantI have also messaged the artist directly and requested a copy of a track because it was a low sound quality. Every single artist has responded. Some have emailed a quality copy of the track, and some have send me a link where I can purchase a quality copy of a track.
October 7, 2014 at 1:01 pm in reply to: In a crossroads with my DJ business, I need some help. #2069022ParticipantI liken your questions to this. I am a House DJ, and I only play House music, but someone just asked me to DJ a party. They are going to pay me to play music. This is exactly what I want to do, but they want me to play Trance, so, I said NO! I completely passed up the opportunity to play in front of people (which spreads your business name, introduces you to new clientele), and chance to have great fun, and must importantly, while I do enjoy having fun and playing music in front of everyone, I MISSED A CHANCE OF GETTING PAID! This feeds me, clothes me, pays the bills.
So, if someone asked you right now, “Hey could you DJ my wedding?” Would you turn it down by simply saying “No, I’m a Mobile DJ not a Wedding DJ.” That is the same as, “I only play house and no other genre of music.” Should you expand? Absolutely! I really hope you expand so much and you become so successful you have to hire three more people. Don’t let fear stand in front of ambition.
It sounds like you are doing the right things, gaining experience, learning your market and territory. It also sounds like you are preparing yourself for more work.
Good luck and post your experiences, mistakes and good ideas, so others might be able to grow their business as well.
ParticipantJust because you are having a “dry spell” as a mobile DJ dos not mean you are giving it up. Just like djrizki said, dont give up on it so soon. Instead, expand your business along with what you already have established. Adding to a business means more ideas and therefore more options for customers and a broader customer base you can cover. Volunteer work is a great way to expand your name as well. Case in point, I had no intention of starting a mobile DJ business. I’m in the military, married, and have a steady pay check coming in, so way start a business? I just had fun in my room playing music. One, day I volunteered to do some communitee work with my Unit for the local county fair. Really small venue, maybe five hundred people from the whole town showed up. They had some live singers doing a talent show. The guy running the talent show brought a horible setup that was overheating and cutting out every third word a person was singing. It upset me some much, I ran home and loaded up my equipment. I came back told the guy to put on a 15 minute intermission. In that time I put up my set-up. Microphones, speakers, and my CDJ’s. The rest of the talent show went off without a hitch. After the show was over I continued to just play some music for the crowd. Just because I wanted to have some fun. The organizer of the event asked for my information which I gave. Off of the one event, I had ten different phone calls for parties and weddings for the next month. I had never done a party or a wedding before, but I continued. Always had a professional appearance, with an offical contract, and a questionarie with different party and wedding ideas, so the organizer could pick and choose what they wanted. Next thing I knew I was getting the calls to do the social gatherings for the Mayor of the town (Christmas tree lightings, award ceremonies). Unfortunately, it has been put on hiatus because, well, its hard to do a business when you move a lot and especially while you’re deployed, lol. When I decide to start it up again my first place will be to the Chamber of Commerce (every city has one) and drop my name for any volunteer work that is needed. Also, dont forget people also need PA, microphones, and A/v equipment for meetings and other events. Also, anytime you have an event have the primary contact fill out a customer review on your business. Keep it in a binder and take that binder with you to you intaial client meetings. Keep any websites you have promoting your business current and up to date. Always, always make new friends and hand out your information wherever you go. Hope the story wasnt to long.
ParticipantWell, that’s awesome. I really hope your post helps others who are are job hunting, such as you were. One of the important sentences that I picked out of your post was, “He described what the employee roles were at events and we reviewed the employee manual of what the job entailed.” This tells me you have a boss that probably runs a good business, and not only cares about how good their business is going to do in the future, but also cares about his employees as well. It’s one thing to have a job, but it’s another when it is hard to put forth a good effort, and just go through the motions of the job when you have a boss that doesn’t care about who is working for him. It sounds like you shouldn’t run into that issue.
The only other question I have, if you’ve figured it out yet, is how are you able to balance school days with DJ nights?
For me, I’ve always kind of lucked out. First I was my own boss and operated as a mobile DJ. Got hooked up with another mobile DJ, who was well established in the community. He worked the east side, I worked the west side. We would constantly hand gigs off to each other for our corresponding side of town. It was also really nice to have a back up if one of us got overbooked, and or a piece of equipment went down.
When I was going to flight school (Different state then where I operated as a mobile DJ) I was lucky and found a little tiny bar that I was able to play on Friday and Saturday nights. The boss was an ok guy, but never wanted to pay me the full amount, and because of that I didn’t mind when people were getting upset at me for not playing the newest top 40 song that they were just listening to in their car before they walked in. It was one of the only little club/bars in the small town so I knew I wasn’t going to be driving customers away.
ParticipantCongrats on the job! I’m curious what questions did he ask, and did any of them catch you off guard? What exactly did you bring to the interview, and what would you bring with you next time? How did your conversation go as far as pay is concerned? Did you get to haggle or was it a set price? What would or wouldn’t you do again for your next DJ interview?
D.ParticipantYep, wife of 13 years, two beautiful girls, a great job and all of it interfering with my passion of playing music, lol!
Participant
Oddity – Thanks this helps out a lot. I guess it just comes down to me being nervous and unsure of this “new Technology”, and just being comfortable with what I know.Phil – I have thought of that very thing because they CDJs can be used as midi controllers, but unfortunately my financial manager said I had to chose one or the other.
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