At the risk of sounding redundant I would like to address pricing again. Is there a 'sweet spot' for pricing with DJ gigs? When I was in sales (home improvements) I would usually tell the client it was not wise to go with the most expensive bid or the cheapest bid. The cheapest bid's work would often be suspect and you were usually overpaying if you went with the most expensive bid. The sweet spot was somewhere in the middle.
I have done a lot of business through Thumbtack. They came on the scene just I as was starting to DJ. I was one of those very cheap DJs that did gigs in someone's garage for $150. My gear was crappy and I really didn't know what I was doing most of the time other than the fact that I played good music. Over the years I have raised my rates as me and my gear have gotten better. Now my goal is to book my first wedding for $1000. I doubt I will get there this year but I am getting closer. But as I have raised my rates I obviously am bidding on less and less gigs because the price the client wants is too low.
As a matter of fact, each week Thumbtack now sends out a report to pros telling you many things including how you compared to others DJs that bid on the same bids that you did. Since I was only bidding on the higher end bids it was not uncommon for me to learn that I was the low bid 80% of the time yet I wasn't getting any new gigs! Did I slip out of the sweet spot? Was I pricing myself too high for the clients that were looking for a cheap DJ and I was too low for those who had much bigger budgets?
I raised my rates again just to see and after a month of no new gigs I booked 3 in the last 2 weeks.
So, my question is "Is there a sweet spot for YOU in your pricing, and if so, how did you find it"?
PS. Sorry for the long posts. I can't help myself. It's a sickness. Don't judge me!
I have done a lot of business through Thumbtack. They came on the scene just I as was starting to DJ. I was one of those very cheap DJs that did gigs in someone's garage for $150. My gear was crappy and I really didn't know what I was doing most of the time other than the fact that I played good music. Over the years I have raised my rates as me and my gear have gotten better. Now my goal is to book my first wedding for $1000. I doubt I will get there this year but I am getting closer. But as I have raised my rates I obviously am bidding on less and less gigs because the price the client wants is too low.
As a matter of fact, each week Thumbtack now sends out a report to pros telling you many things including how you compared to others DJs that bid on the same bids that you did. Since I was only bidding on the higher end bids it was not uncommon for me to learn that I was the low bid 80% of the time yet I wasn't getting any new gigs! Did I slip out of the sweet spot? Was I pricing myself too high for the clients that were looking for a cheap DJ and I was too low for those who had much bigger budgets?
I raised my rates again just to see and after a month of no new gigs I booked 3 in the last 2 weeks.
So, my question is "Is there a sweet spot for YOU in your pricing, and if so, how did you find it"?
PS. Sorry for the long posts. I can't help myself. It's a sickness. Don't judge me!