No wonder things are a mess with this business!

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MIXMASTERMACHOM

MIXMASTERMACHOM

DJ Extraordinaire
ODJT Supporter
Oct 16, 2011
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Sorry but I just had to post this as it pissed me off to no end! First let me say I haven't visited craigslist in a while. I saw a thread on DJ CHAT that shows how this business is going to chit!

Someone made a thread about a bride looking for a DJ to do her wedding on April 27th. I'll be kind and not mention the location of the wedding. This was from a craigslist ad. Someone put up the link to the ad. I know people say just concentrate on what you do but this is just too sick to believe.

She's getting married and her fiance is a DJ. So he can't do his own wedding. The ad goes into details about what they are looking for in terms of music and other minor details. The reception is to be for 4 hours. They make it very clear that they are on a tight budget. So tight that I wonder what kind of DJ is this fiance? They let it be know that they only have $150.00 and will not go any higher. So if you can't deal with that don't bother contacting them.

I sent them an email hoping to piss them off for being so cheap looking for a DJ to do their wedding. Now it's one thing if just a regular potential client were looking for a DJ. But someone that is a DJ should do much better then that. One of the emails I got back from the bride is that we should be doing this because we love to do this and not trying to make a bunch of money off of what we do. So in other words anyone that charges more then $150.00to do a wedding is getting paid too much.

I love to DJ and I know I'm not the most expensive DJ in the world but there is no way I would do a wedding for $150.00. WTF! Then I got another email back from this so called DJ that said he has a business and last year he sent DJ's out that work for his company and last year he made 40k with the business. He claims he made that much last year but he only wants to spend $150.00 for a DJ to do his wedding. That's really sad!

I was just hoping against hope that by me sending this email to them that they would realize such a thing like this is killing us in this business. Maybe not affecting you directly but as a whole that leaves us with a big black eye! They actually said they actually booked a sucker, oh I mean a DJ to do their wedding. If you can even call this person a DJ. Now consider these 2 things. He has DJ's he sends out to work for him. Then why couldn't he get one of them to do his wedding instead of having to post an ad on craigslist? My guess is those DJ's are much too smart to come do his wedding for $150.00.

Also I made sure that I let it be know that we are busy that day doing a sweet 16 for 4 hours in someones backyard and we're getting $400.00 for that. Sorry but I just had to vent my feelings about this! Damn you think this fiance being a DJ would look to spend much more then $150.00 on booking a DJ to do his wedding. I' just glad I'm not a guest at that wedding. In the last email I sent them I thanked them for the laugh.

Simply put they found a desperate DJ that must not have a life or has absolutely no gigs at all.
 
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Mix,
I could not disagree more.

It's not customers that want to pay very little that's making this business a mess.

It's not DJs that will do events for very little that's making this business a mess.

If your business is a mess, it's because of what you are doing. I do hope you realize that is wonderful news. Because it means you have the power to fix it.

There will ALWAYS be customers looking for a service for the very least amount of money. There will ALWAYS be somebody willing to offer to provide a service for the very least amount of money. Sending emails to brides telling them they should pay more will get you NO WHERE.

If it makes you feel better, then keep blaming cheap brides and cheap DJs. But that will never change them. When you are ready to face the truth, you can change and you'll learn how to market yourself properly
 
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Mix, please consider the following:

1.) A few of your recent posts have been "I saw this thread on DJChat". We have access to DJChat too. Many of us are here at ODJT because... wait for it... we have access to DJChat too.

2.) Stay off of Craigslist. If you're trying to figure out how to attract the right clients and price your service accordingly, Craigslist will not be helpful. It doesn't matter how ridiculous the ad seems... it's not worth your time or attention to read or pursue it. If you have time to browse Craigslist ads, you have time that could be used to do something better for your business.

3.) Let's pretend that you weren't a DJ, didn't know any DJs and needed a DJ for an event that you were planning. Would you personally have a lot of money to spend on a DJ? A person who posts on Craigslist in search of a $150 DJ has every right to do so, and 100% of the time they get exactly what they were looking for: a $150 DJ. To some people, hiring a DJ for a few hours shouldn't cost more than a monthly car payment, or almost as much as a month's rent. That's only fair. If you are not a $150 DJ, go back and read my second point.

4.) The fact that you sent the Craigslist bride an email "hoping to piss them off for being so cheap" tells me that you have no class. Zero. Zip. Nada.

5.) Things like Craigslist and $150 DJs are not "killing us in the business", nor are they "leaving us with a big black eye". You know who leaves us with a big black eye? You do. The DJ who answers the ad and tells the person that they're cheap. And then tells them "that we are busy that day doing a sweet 16 for 4 hours in someones backyard and we're getting $400.00 for that". If you want to be rude to somebody, don't do it under the guise of educating them on behalf of the DJ industry. The only thing you're teaching them is that the $400 backyard DJ is a bigger d*ck than the $150 DJ.

 
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B-Sharp said:
Mix, please consider the following:

1.) A few of your recent posts have been "I saw this thread on DJChat". We have access to DJChat too. Many of us are here at ODJT because... wait for it... we have access to DJChat too.

2.) Stay off of Craigslist. If you're trying to figure out how to attract the right clients and price your service accordingly, Craigslist will not be helpful. It doesn't matter how ridiculous the ad seems... it's not worth your time or attention to read or pursue it. If you have time to browse Craigslist ads, you have time that could be used to do something better for your business.

3.) Let's pretend that you weren't a DJ, didn't know any DJs and needed a DJ for an event that you were planning. Would you personally have a lot of money to spend on a DJ? A person who posts on Craigslist in search of a $150 DJ has every right to do so, and 100% of the time they get exactly what they were looking for: a $150 DJ. To some people, hiring a DJ for a few hours shouldn't cost more than a monthly car payment, or almost as much as a month's rent. That's only fair. If you are not a $150 DJ, go back and read my second point.

4.) The fact that you sent the Craigslist bride an email "hoping to piss them off for being so cheap" tells me that you have no class. Zero. Zip. Nada.

5.) Things like Craigslist and $150 DJs are not "killing us in the business", nor are they "leaving us with a big black eye". You know who leaves us with a big black eye? You do. The DJ who answers the ad and tells the person that they're cheap. And then tells them "that we are busy that day doing a sweet 16 for 4 hours in someones backyard and we're getting $400.00 for that". If you want to be rude to somebody, don't do it under the guise of educating them on behalf of the DJ industry. The only thing you're teaching them is that the $400 backyard DJ is a bigger d*ck than the $150 DJ.

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I said it in the beginning I wasn't on craigslist and haven't been there in a while. The nerve to me is when the ad said that her fiance is a DJ and they still only want to pay $150.00. Like I said it may not affect you personally but like I said as a whole it makes this business look bad. I've got a wedding coming up that I was asked to do for my best friends niece. His sister is to pay us and I know even though we're like family We'll get paid more then $150.00. Now my issue really had to do with 2 things. Someone who claims to be a DJ looking to book another DJ to do their wedding for only $150.00. So they want to take advantage of a desperate DJ. I wonder if someone wanted to pay him $150.00 for a 4 hour wedding would he do it? The other thing he went on to brag making 40 k last year and he only wants to pay $150.00 to have a DJ do his wedding. If business was that good last year why couldn't he afford more.

Now the business plan is in the works and I know I have nothing to fear from that ad even if they were near us.
 
Mix, Why on earth do you keep making a laughing stock of yourself? :rolleyes:


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MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
I said it in the beginning I wasn't on craigslist and haven't been there in a while. The nerve to me is when the ad said that her fiance is a DJ and they still only want to pay $150.00. Like I said it may not affect you personally but like I said as a whole it makes this business look bad. I've got a wedding coming up that I was asked to do for my best friends niece. His sister is to pay us and I know even though we're like family We'll get paid more then $150.00. Now my issue really had to do with 2 things. Someone who claims to be a DJ looking to book another DJ to do their wedding for only $150.00. So they want to take advantage of a desperate DJ. I wonder if someone wanted to pay him $150.00 for a 4 hour wedding would he do it? The other thing he went on to brag making 40 k last year and he only wants to pay $150.00 to have a DJ do his wedding. If business was that good last year why couldn't he afford more.

Now the business plan is in the works and I know I have nothing to fear from that ad even if they were near us.
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Bottom line - worry about yourself. You REALLY need to focus. I'm wondering how you ever think you will become any better than you are if you can't focus on and deal with the task that has been at hand for quite some time now. You continue to evade focusing and committing to a plan, yet you have all this time to focus and commit to find out or berate why someone else does what they do.
 
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I'll just say it this. For someone that claims to be a DJ to show this business so much disrespect is a tragedy! They should have just left out the part about the fiancé being a DJ and just said all we can afford is this much. I guess they mentioned that to intimidate a DJ looking to do the gig. LOL!
 
We have an ad on Craiglist....but it mentions no pricing, it simply is this flyer that links to our site. It's free and we get a job now and then out of it...so I see nothing wrong with anyone putting an ad on their.

Craiglist is not the problem.....YOU purposely going out of your way to piss a potential client off is the problem. Unprofessional does not even begin to describe this kind of behavior. Be assured that while you may not like the $150 ad.....the DJ in that ad is now spreading the word about you and what you did, and you did much much more damage to your own business than this guy ever will.
 
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MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
I said it in the beginning I wasn't on craigslist and haven't been there in a while. The nerve to me is when the ad said that her fiance is a DJ and they still only want to pay $150.00. Like I said it may not affect you personally but like I said as a whole it makes this business look bad.
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Mix, here's a little secret that everyone knows: anyone can play music and call themselves a DJ. I see lots of them, usually when I'm out running my Photobooth at Sweet 16 parties and getting paid 5x-10x more than the guy with a laptop and sh*tty speakers. Does it bother me that they didn't hire me to DJ the party too? Not at all. They know I offer DJ services. They know I'm not cheap. The music just isn't that important to them.

Maybe the groom is a $100 bar DJ but decided to splurge for his wedding day. It doesn't matter. He's bragging about making $40K last year, and you're bragging about landing a $400 backyard party. Let me ask you this: Did your DJ business have $40K in sales last year?

Again, people who want to spend $150 on a DJ do not make this business look bad. DJs who go after others about how much they're looking to spend on a DJ make this business look very bad and make themselves look even worse.
 
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Mix, it appears you've already taken a beating in this thread so I ain't gonna pile on more. :)

I would like to pass along some things I've learned from 19 years in this crazy biz.

I couldn't afford my own rates. That's the truth. No matter how much money I made during the year, nowhere close to 40 grand by the way, I could never have hired myself for a show.

What a prospect is willing to pay is just that. Prices are numbers, nothing more. It's not an invitation for "education" on how much the prospect "should" pay. Rather, it's about what your company can live with. If you can make a profit on $150.00 shows, do the shows. If you can't, don't.

Unsolicited advice is rarely appreciated or taken. :)
 
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sightsandsounds said:
We have an ad on Craiglist....but it mentions no pricing, it simply is this flyer that links to our site. It's free and we get a job now and then out of it...so I see nothing wrong with anyone putting an ad on their.

Craiglist is not the problem.....YOU purposely going out of your way to piss a potential client off is the problem. Unprofessional does not even begin to describe this kind of behavior. Be assured that while you may not like the $150 ad.....the DJ in that ad is now spreading the word about you and what you did, and you did much much more damage to your own business than this guy ever will.
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A $150 advertiser is NOT a potential client. I can't blame Mix for poking the bear, I just would've done it in a far more creative and inflammatory manner. If you're going to bow somebody's back up on purpose, REALLY bow it up and enjoy the entertainment value.
 
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MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
I'll just say it this. For someone that claims to be a DJ to show this business so much disrespect is a tragedy! They should have just left out the part about the fiancé being a DJ and just said all we can afford is this much. I guess they mentioned that to intimidate a DJ looking to do the gig. LOL!
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In the big picture of things, who cares. As has been pointed out, there will ALWAYS be someone cheaper - always - and the customer will generally get what they pay for. I can't believe how intent you are on focusing on this, which has NO benefit to you, yet you can't commit and focus to a plan that DOES nothing but benefit you.
 
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rickryan.com said:
A $150 advertiser is NOT a potential client. I can't blame Mix for poking the bear, I just would've done it in a far more creative and inflammatory manner. If you're going to bow somebody's back up on purpose, REALLY bow it up and enjoy the entertainment value.
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It's a potential client to someone....that is my point....everyone markets to their own client base, and there are clients out there looking for the $150 DJ.....there is a $150 DJ here in my town that have actually sold old gear too, and will send jobs too when we get an inquiry in when someone says their budget is $200....and we actually get thanked for it for NOT preaching to them. It is all in how you handle the situation which shows your professionalism.
 
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If I try to analyze this at a deeper level, my spidey senses tell me that the reason this is such an issue with you is because you would have liked to have this show making what you want to make.

This again falls back to your pricing of an event and your standards - which ALL rely on A PLAN - that you have still failed to focus on and commit to.
 
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