Pricing/Packages - your input please

rickryan.com said:

Biggest things I can tell you, get a fong puffer for your flash. Don't event think about trying to get decent shots with a crop-sensor without flash. Next up, make sure you aren't getting in the line of fire of the paid photog and make sure you fire AFTER they've taken their shot. Photogs get really pissy when the DJ is taking shots and if you happen to blow one of there's out, they'll act like the world ended. Make sure you get out from behind the table and be quick about what you're doing, as well as to make sure you're not taking so much time with the camera that your client gets the impression that you're not paying enough attention to your primary duty. It's pretty easy, once you develop a rhythm but can seem pretty over-whelming at first. End result, after you start getting good images, you'll see a real boost to your bookings. They're worth the time and trouble.

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Agreed!

But, I'll play devil's advocate here .... RR, you must have pissed a bunch of photographers off since you've added photography to your business model.

I take about 150-200 photos at each gig. I then upload only the better shots. My clients love it! I have about 20K photos on my website.

DJ Wes said:

I take about 150-200 photos at each gig. I then upload only the better shots. My clients love it! I have about 20K photos on my website.

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That's about how many I take. I then run a few Photoshop actions on them to sharpen/color correct, but don't spend much time on that. I don't like to load them up as a whole, but prefer to make collages/montages with them. That way, I can draw eyes to the good stuff. I always try to grab pre-guest images of the decor as well. Those are nice to share for those that didn't make it.

Last wedding captures:

Here's an example of what mine looks like. I too take shots of the room early on for the same reason. I also shoot video when I'm feeling froggy.

Pics here: http://www.mobiledjwes.com/Pic-414.htm

Video from same wedding here: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxrkWMiLPGw

No, I have it, but never got into working in it. I was told once by a photographer that it's PS for the photographer...they pulled all the photographer stuff out of PS into one layout. Not sure if that's correct, but it's what he said.

Makes sense Randy. Photoshop is also a paint program which doesn't have much to do with photo touch up.

rickryan.com said:

Lightroom is what I'd consider the primary tool of a photographer. You create a catalog for each event, import the batch of photos, do editing, then tag everything you want to export. My wife uses it for 80%-90% of all her editing and only uses photoshop when she really needs to do detailed work like removing objects, etc. The plug-in section is really cool in that you can buy additional, off-the-shelf plugs (edits). It's also really cool for your own edits. Make a change, save it as a plug-in, then you can re-apply the same edit to other pictures in the session, all with a single mouse-click. She's also really gotten into the radial filter feature. Very cool to be able to brighten specific areas or features of a shot.

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Glad I'm only a DJ.

Seriously, thanks for the tips. I'll have to revisit it one of these days.

If you shoot well (color, exposure, crop) then what you're doing for 'edit' is just that - like editing a book - what do you keep and what do you toss. You take several shots of posed shots (for blinks, etc) and no point it drowning the couple in iffy/bad images - just deliver the best you took.

my last wedding I had a second shooter and between us captures 1740 frames. I had to cull that and ended with 821 delivered images. It takes much longer than you think it would to do that - 2 full days of nothing but sitting at the compter. Any prints or album images would go into photoshop for final editing (cloning, stray hairs, etc).

the 'high end' photogs I know all deliver truly finished images - so everyone will go thru P/S, one girl I know retouches even the toenails in the formal shots. Time intensive and so their total sale is bigger their per-hour income isn't any different.

the real difference is you can book a DJ wedding gig for say, $700 for the 5 hours (plus meeting, setup, etc) or shoot n burn for $1500 or high end fully finished for $3000.

None of us can live on $700/week in sales so you'll have to do day gigs or something to add to that. $1500 almost works, if you can book enough weddings. $3000 easily works. BUT you'll have to spend a lot more on marketing (per wedding) to get those higher end clients, and often travel a lot more.

I'm sure if I marketed in pittsburgh vs the rural adjoining county I'm in I'd get 50% more for every gig - but I may have to change travel from 30 minutes each way to 90, and leave earlier to allow for traffic, parking, unfamiliar places, etc. that's a very real cost. As for marketing...I know the local venues and they know me, I do bridal shows ($300) too. In the city a bridal show is $800-1200 and while you get 5 times the brides you have 5 times the vendors to compete against.
And with photography 80% of brides would meet with me - and few were willing to drive 2 hours (roundtrip) to do so. I'm finding 80% of my wedding DJ gigs involve no meetings - so maybe I could get more work in the city. Something to consider for next year I guess.

BTW, my county has about 165,000 residents, allegheny county (where the city is) has around 1,000,000. Lots of differences besides price i'm sure in that market.

My county has 51,000 people I do just fine Grant County Wi. I have a $1200 to $2000 wedding just over 30 times a year for the last 5 years running sometimes more, It's also one of the poorest counties in my state wi a median household income of just under $45,000.

What's your secret?
Biggest venue here charges $40ish a plate, several are under that, a couple do $20 a plate. The two golf/country club places are under $75.

So a wedding with 150 guests at $40/head is $6000. Many are below that.

Just had a quick look - I fail to see the difference between DJ Platinum and DJ Gold - same price! If platinum is better than gold, why have the two categories if price is the same? Orrr why not just have one category with a choice between 10 up lights or Live-Pics (whatever that is)?

By the way, I really really like your layout and offerings schema!!!!!

Has anyone ever shelled out $100 to light up their cake? - got me intrigued...

Navydiver said:

Just had a quick look - I fail to see the difference between DJ Platinum and DJ Gold - same price! If platinum is better than gold, why have the two categories if price is the same? Orrr why not just have one category with a choice between 10 up lights or Live-Pics (whatever that is)?

By the way, I really really like your layout and offerings schema!!!!!

Has anyone ever shelled out $100 to light up their cake? - got me intrigued...

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I am sure Rick's had better success than me, but a few years ago I was selling cake spot lighting for $50, and no one added it in. There are a handful of venues here that do cake spot light in house. One is a place where they always place the cake, and there happens to be two permanent fixed lights in the ceiling shining on the cake. However, I have never personally sold it. ...Honestly, it's a waste of money on the bride's end. I stopped bothering with it because if I thought it was a waste truly a waste of money, how can I sell it effectively?

IceBurghDJ said:

What's your secret?
Biggest venue here charges $40ish a plate, several are under that, a couple do $20 a plate. The two golf/country club places are under $75.

So a wedding with 150 guests at $40/head is $6000. Many are below that.

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30 years of referrals and being a good sales person, let use your example $6000 on food are people going to remember the food or what a great time they had at the dance, are you not worth at least 1/6 as much as the food. seriously I was in your spot 5 -6 years ago and was ready to retire. I decided I was gonna make more or quit. so I started asking for money, I find that most that say they can't get more than $700 or so simply don't really believe that they are worth it. take classes on line or even better in person on how to sell yourself, one thing I will say about you is in a few of your posts you come off as not taking the DJ business overly seriously, not leaving early for gigs in case something would happen. don't be like every other cookie cutter DJ have a unique service and you can charge a unique price.
I don't bring a ton of fancy gear to my shows usually two tops, two subs, and some wash lighting. I do get to know my clients very well, I work very closely with the other vendors before and during the event to make sure we all have the same timeline and expectations and at 30 years in business I can pick and choose my gigs I get way more calls than I have available dates. probably 80% of the people calling me their first question is please tell me you are available on such and such a date. People in the area know what I charge it's rare for me to get a price shopper, it's part of the advantage of being a big fish in a small pond.

DJ Ricky B said:

I am sure Rick's had better success than me, but a few years ago I was selling cake spot lighting for $50, and no one added it in. There are a handful of venues here that do cake spot light in house. One is a place where they always place the cake, and there happens to be two permanent fixed lights in the ceiling shining on the cake. However, I have never personally sold it. ...Honestly, it's a waste of money on the bride's end. I stopped bothering with it because if I thought it was a waste truly a waste of money, how can I sell it effectively?

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Some of the smaller services can be rolled up into a package, offering just one fee. For example, when I first started offering monograms, it was an add-on for $150. I couldn't get any bride to bite. Then, I rolled into my standard wedding package, added a $200 fee. It's viewed as what they get in my package and I do a monogram for every wedding. Brides are crazy about getting that monogram and will remark, "I can't believe you don't charge extra for that, like the other Djs do."

This is also a reason I choose not to post pricing on the site. I can view each event differently and price accordingly. Since Jan-April are slower here, I'll have a lower fee for the same package that's booked between May-Oct'ish. Spreads my dates out over the year and helps fill some gaps, instead of packing things into the busier months.

Your mileage may vary.

tunes4046 said:

30 years of referrals and being a good sales person, let use your example $6000 on food are people going to remember the food or what a great time they had at the dance, are you not worth at least 1/6 as much as the food. seriously I was in your spot 5 -6 years ago and was ready to retire. I decided I was gonna make more or quit. so I started asking for money, I find that most that say they can't get more than $700 or so simply don't really believe that they are worth it. take classes on line or even better in person on how to sell yourself, one thing I will say about you is in a few of your posts you come off as not taking the DJ business overly seriously, not leaving early for gigs in case something would happen. don't be like every other cookie cutter DJ have a unique service and you can charge a unique price.
I don't bring a ton of fancy gear to my shows usually two tops, two subs, and some wash lighting. I do get to know my clients very well, I work very closely with the other vendors before and during the event to make sure we all have the same timeline and expectations and at 30 years in business I can pick and choose my gigs I get way more calls than I have available dates. probably 80% of the people calling me their first question is please tell me you are available on such and such a date. People in the area know what I charge it's rare for me to get a price shopper, it's part of the advantage of being a big fish in a small pond.

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Sounds exactly what I did when buying my original partner out in 2005 .... I quit competing with the other companies, did my own thing and concentrated on what the client (brides) wanted. I started honing my service & sales skills. I worked closer with the other vendors and took a leading role in making the reception flow and move along, instead of just sitting behind the console waiting to be told what to do. With social media, I connect with all my couples and talk with them throughout the year (year-n-half) that we are pre-booked and we build a relationship.