I'll shut up and just listen because i feel my ego getting in the way. I have a problem with that causing me trouble. Then i don't hear a thing and certainly i don't know it all. If i did i wouldn't be asking the questions i'm asking.
Bookings for us are at a snails pace right now!
- Thread starter MIXMASTERMACHOM
- Start date
"Son, your ego's writing checks you're body can't cash"
Love the aerial photography in that movie!
Love the aerial photography in that movie!
I'll say this much. If I were back to charging $250.00-$350.00 things would pick up again. Just would be back to being broke and disgusted.
Just for sh!ts & grins.... can you explain to me how you would be broke by taking $250-$350 gigs when your bookings are at a snails pace now?
If you arent getting booked at $795 but you were at $350 either scale back your prices or raise them more. might as well be a $3000 DJ thats not working as an $800 DJ that's not working
Jeff, Things that make you say WTF??!! Right?
I get questioned about my rates yet so far this year...just weekends....
Jan. - 2 Saturday nights no gigs
Feb. - 2 Saturday nights & 1 Friday night with no gigs
March - no weekend nights off
April - 4 Saturdays with no gigs, but had 2 Sunday gigs
May - every Fri. & Sat. BOOKED + 2 Sundays
This Weekend I have a wedding on Friday & Saturday, and two events on Sunday.
Maybe I need to start charging $800 so I can have weekends off??
I mentioned the $795.00 because that's where I would like to be. I'm obviously not there yet. As for those super low paying gigs all I seen them get us was more low paying gigs. There are expenses that come along with being in business and that's why I said I'd still be broke after doing a gig. By the time I would get finished with expenses there would be very little money to either invest back into the business or money to put in a bank account if any at all.
Raise your rates to 1200 or whatever Bob is charging it will be like Magic especially if you continue the approach as such.
The high-paying jobs elude you, but there are low-paying jobs-a-plenty... but you're still not working much? I'd guess that you're either a lousy DJ, or an average DJ with lousy people skills. You can improve both with practice. And if you take a few low-paying gigs, you basically get paid to practice. Go get 'em.
Out of curiosity, what are these giant business expenses you have?
Let me tell the story B Sharp and others. There was a time when I used to DJ with records. At that time I got into using drugs and sold all my gear and records. Thank God I've been clean over 15 years.
Now how I got back into DJing. I wasn't going to go to this oldies party but I got talked into it. Best $20.00 I probably ever spent. They had a DJ that was some years older then me. I said to myself this DJ has some good equipment but this old man is going to be corny. I was wrong!!!!!!!! He rocked the hell out of that party. Some time later I found out his name is DJ Homer. Someone I had heard great things about but never heard of him.
I decided that night I was going to get back into DJing. I went to the credit union and got a vacation loan for a little over $2,300.00. Took that money and went to GC on route 22 and bought some equipment and got back to DJing.
I was just excited to be back! So I would go out and do gigs for $200.00 or even less sometimes. So I decided to pick up a guy that I got to know from playing in a bar and we became partners. So I'm doing these gigs with him splitting the money. So if we did a gig for say at that time for $350.00 which was the most I ever got paid. Then my take would be half of that. So that wasn't a whole lot of money to do much with. By the time I took care of gas which sometimes was more then $60.00 to fill the van back up, there wasn't much left to do anything with.
So I stayed stuck in that vicious cycle not looking at ways to gradually increase our rates. I can rock an event but didn't look at the business side of things. I was just happy knowing that when we left an event people were telling us what a great job we did. That's where I made my mistakes at. Not proud to say these things but they happened. Just got to learn from my mistakes.
Now how I got back into DJing. I wasn't going to go to this oldies party but I got talked into it. Best $20.00 I probably ever spent. They had a DJ that was some years older then me. I said to myself this DJ has some good equipment but this old man is going to be corny. I was wrong!!!!!!!! He rocked the hell out of that party. Some time later I found out his name is DJ Homer. Someone I had heard great things about but never heard of him.
I decided that night I was going to get back into DJing. I went to the credit union and got a vacation loan for a little over $2,300.00. Took that money and went to GC on route 22 and bought some equipment and got back to DJing.
I was just excited to be back! So I would go out and do gigs for $200.00 or even less sometimes. So I decided to pick up a guy that I got to know from playing in a bar and we became partners. So I'm doing these gigs with him splitting the money. So if we did a gig for say at that time for $350.00 which was the most I ever got paid. Then my take would be half of that. So that wasn't a whole lot of money to do much with. By the time I took care of gas which sometimes was more then $60.00 to fill the van back up, there wasn't much left to do anything with.
So I stayed stuck in that vicious cycle not looking at ways to gradually increase our rates. I can rock an event but didn't look at the business side of things. I was just happy knowing that when we left an event people were telling us what a great job we did. That's where I made my mistakes at. Not proud to say these things but they happened. Just got to learn from my mistakes.
Sounds like lack of business plan. I would have not even thought about bringing a partner on board, (by the way saying you picked up a guy in a bar just sounds awkward), until I had paid off the equipment, and was buying a second system. If someone was needed to lug the equipment around for health/medical reasons, selecting lighter equipment or easier ways of moving it would have been looked at. Even then no splitting money until the van is refueled, x dollars put up to repay loan, x dollars put up for maintenance (new songs, etc...). Like I said this would have just been my approach.
Mix .. Given the size of your setup, what do you need a partner for? You have mentioned that he plays music on most of the gigs. If you are just fronting the capital for the business, it's WAY too small to make money. Otherwise, can you do the gigs yourself and NOT split the money? It seems you have too many cooks in the kitchen.
Mix...This is your opportunity to learn and move forward with excellence. That starts with a business plan. You obviously enjoy being a DJ and people are willing to pay you for it. Your decision to pick up a partner along the way may not have been well thought out but you can recover from that too.
Like you I am back in to the game after being out for over 10 years and read a lot of the posts here, to include some of yours, to get caught up on how the biz works today. Also like you my bookings are slow and few between right now but I'm ok because I have a business plan which is on target so far and I know when to shut things down so I wont loose too much money/sanity if the plan fails. Still I have confidence that my business will grow because I plan and constantly review opportunities to monetize my business.
You need a business plan else you plan to fail. I've been there and done that and its no fun because you find yourself stressed, tired, and broke after chasing the wrong things due to a lack of focus. Which leads to my advise to you which is for you and your partner to sit down and talk business. I am not an expert DJ business owner, yet, however this advice is from my learnings in other businesses as well as what I'm currently doing in this one.
The first point to cover is how income is split. If I understood you correctly you made 100% of the investment in equipment yet you split profits 50/50? IMHO thats too generous. Consider increasing your share until after that percentage increase covers your initial investment given you put up more risk. Whatever is agreed too needs to be clearly documented in an Operating Agreement or some other contract between you and your partner to reduce bickering. If your partner has an issue with this then I think you know what to do there.
The second thing I suggest is that you and your partner focus on a specific market and pound it so you can increase income in the short term and build more confidence. You get what you pay for so the freebie listing sights you use may not get you those higher paid gigs you want. That takes getting out and networking, physically. Start by reviewing the higher paid gigs you've had so far and market to people that fit that profile for work. Go where they go and be prepared to talk about your business. This is where a partner can be handy if they are as fired up as you are.
Lastly you need to start building a business plan. It is easy to do though it can be overwhelming if you've never done it before. Here is a link to a free template to get your started: http://web.sba.gov/busplantemplate/BizPlanStart.cfm.
You can shoot me an e-mail if you need assistance.
Like you I am back in to the game after being out for over 10 years and read a lot of the posts here, to include some of yours, to get caught up on how the biz works today. Also like you my bookings are slow and few between right now but I'm ok because I have a business plan which is on target so far and I know when to shut things down so I wont loose too much money/sanity if the plan fails. Still I have confidence that my business will grow because I plan and constantly review opportunities to monetize my business.
You need a business plan else you plan to fail. I've been there and done that and its no fun because you find yourself stressed, tired, and broke after chasing the wrong things due to a lack of focus. Which leads to my advise to you which is for you and your partner to sit down and talk business. I am not an expert DJ business owner, yet, however this advice is from my learnings in other businesses as well as what I'm currently doing in this one.
The first point to cover is how income is split. If I understood you correctly you made 100% of the investment in equipment yet you split profits 50/50? IMHO thats too generous. Consider increasing your share until after that percentage increase covers your initial investment given you put up more risk. Whatever is agreed too needs to be clearly documented in an Operating Agreement or some other contract between you and your partner to reduce bickering. If your partner has an issue with this then I think you know what to do there.
The second thing I suggest is that you and your partner focus on a specific market and pound it so you can increase income in the short term and build more confidence. You get what you pay for so the freebie listing sights you use may not get you those higher paid gigs you want. That takes getting out and networking, physically. Start by reviewing the higher paid gigs you've had so far and market to people that fit that profile for work. Go where they go and be prepared to talk about your business. This is where a partner can be handy if they are as fired up as you are.
Lastly you need to start building a business plan. It is easy to do though it can be overwhelming if you've never done it before. Here is a link to a free template to get your started: http://web.sba.gov/busplantemplate/BizPlanStart.cfm.
You can shoot me an e-mail if you need assistance.
Hey! I resemble that remark! We work in several Nebraska schools at an average of about $3500 a shot. hrumphh! lol (how much would that be in DC high dollar shows???)
Most of your expenses are fixed you have to be able to pay them regardless if you are working or not
Yes i've made some mistakes in the past and looking at ways to correct those mistakes. No you can't undo the past but you can learn from it and make changes for the future. I get it that gear doesn't make you more money. I didn't buyt the new gear thinking it would make us more money. It's a much easier better setup which is what i wanted. We can basically do most events with the system i bought.
As for my partner he has a setup too. He bought a pair of Mackie Thumps, Numarlk NS 7 and mixed deck pro. Personally i would have never bought the Mackie Thumps but that is what he picked. He really wants to get a pair of powered subs to go along with those tops. In his apartment those speakers will do but at a gig for me they won't cut the mustard.
As for my partner he has a setup too. He bought a pair of Mackie Thumps, Numarlk NS 7 and mixed deck pro. Personally i would have never bought the Mackie Thumps but that is what he picked. He really wants to get a pair of powered subs to go along with those tops. In his apartment those speakers will do but at a gig for me they won't cut the mustard.
Mix I might be able to help you out but heres the deal you have to be honest with yourself and me through the whole process. We dont have to do it publicly we can PM or phone your choice. All I ask up front is why do YOU think things are slow for you right now?
For one thing i don't know exactly where to advertise online that truly works. I know for the website we need more pictures. That's the reason i'm looking to get the Canon T2i. The last event we did was a nice event. Too bad the pictures that were taken turned out horrible. Most were very blurry. So there were no pictures good enough to put on the website.
The thing with advertising is to find a place to advertise where the majority of potential clients aren't looking for the cheapest DJ they can find but the right DJ for their event. That's my take on it. Don't know if i'm right or wrong. I don't have a problem with getting hrlp right now. Sorry i didn't respond as soon as i saw this but i don't feel good right now. I got to feel good by Friday because that's my birthday party and i'm playing that night from 8-10pm. The party is going to be at Kays Lounge in Irvington, NJ from 8-2am.