I also stared after I retired, I'm now 70. I needed something besides hanging out in American Legions/VFW's and hitting booze all night, the money was secondary. Once I got into it, I became disgusted with all the new music, but fortunately I also was doing Zumba to stay in shape, which started my love affair with Salsa - I love "Salsa Dura", the so-called "hard salsa". I don't understand a word of Spanish - the guy could be singing he lost his girl/job/dog/truck for all I know, but the music is great!! I think if you LOVE it, all else will follow - I'm now one of the preferred DJ's for our local Latin Club, even though I'm a Gringo, and I'm having fun. What I'm saying is, keep an open mind about life, you never know where it will take you!
I don't need to be shown the door, I know where it is.
- Thread starter Mike Burke
- Start date
Sorry to hear that.
Show me where you saw it could be a lucrative career..my math rarely shows that when you're being realistic and honest about the numbers.
too many guru types sell the hype, not the reality ( in this and many other fields too) and I see people falling for it constantly.
they fail to do thier due diligence and be honest. Flipside is you gotta try to find out, no pain no gain, and without risk there can be no reward.
Watching a coworker that closed their towing business and about to open a pizza shop - because they've done it before (ok..if it was good why'd you stop?) picked a location because the rent was cheap (is it a good location for a pizza shop?) poo-poo any concept of research ( i know a pizza owner and a manager withing 2 miles of their location that are barely making it..domino's opened and the one shop saw a 30% drop in sales).
I wish them well, but don't expect success. When I asked 'why would anyone choose your shop over the others they already go to?' she said 'well, my husband has 20 years making pizza'...yeah, not a reason.
Success has many definitions - hers is if she can make $100/day she'll be happy. That may work.
I've yet to meet any of my business goals (12 years of trying) - I don't give excuses, I just set the goal up a bit and keep going.
Of late my goals have changed from "make 100k a year" or some such to 'book x gigs, bring in y per week' - these are very different goals, more concrete, which helps.
I've received all sorts of advice (most useless) over the years. One success I'm watching is a photog friend close his studio and turned it into a fudge shop and is doing very well. Exceeded first year's expected sales but 30%.
Locally i'm seeing some businesses struggle because we had practically no snow this past winter - can't make money shoveling nothing.
A friend in the HVAC business had a rough 3 months last year - it got warm enough you didn't need your furnace much come spring,but never really got hot enough to need your a/c..so he was laying people off.
Show me where you saw it could be a lucrative career..my math rarely shows that when you're being realistic and honest about the numbers.
too many guru types sell the hype, not the reality ( in this and many other fields too) and I see people falling for it constantly.
they fail to do thier due diligence and be honest. Flipside is you gotta try to find out, no pain no gain, and without risk there can be no reward.
Watching a coworker that closed their towing business and about to open a pizza shop - because they've done it before (ok..if it was good why'd you stop?) picked a location because the rent was cheap (is it a good location for a pizza shop?) poo-poo any concept of research ( i know a pizza owner and a manager withing 2 miles of their location that are barely making it..domino's opened and the one shop saw a 30% drop in sales).
I wish them well, but don't expect success. When I asked 'why would anyone choose your shop over the others they already go to?' she said 'well, my husband has 20 years making pizza'...yeah, not a reason.
Success has many definitions - hers is if she can make $100/day she'll be happy. That may work.
I've yet to meet any of my business goals (12 years of trying) - I don't give excuses, I just set the goal up a bit and keep going.
Of late my goals have changed from "make 100k a year" or some such to 'book x gigs, bring in y per week' - these are very different goals, more concrete, which helps.
I've received all sorts of advice (most useless) over the years. One success I'm watching is a photog friend close his studio and turned it into a fudge shop and is doing very well. Exceeded first year's expected sales but 30%.
Locally i'm seeing some businesses struggle because we had practically no snow this past winter - can't make money shoveling nothing.
A friend in the HVAC business had a rough 3 months last year - it got warm enough you didn't need your furnace much come spring,but never really got hot enough to need your a/c..so he was laying people off.
It can be done .. Taso, Ross and even Rick seem to have things on an upward curve. But that's a small percentage of the field. Reality is such a buzz kill.
It definitely can be done... but few are willing to do the work. First and foremost is performance... how many actually go to clubs, bars, or online to see what and how others are mixing. Can't be successful if you cant fulfill the basic aspects of being a dj and playing the right music at the right time and mixing it well. Also to succeed you must Invest in things that few if any in your area offer, raise your rates, specialize in certain types of events and say no to others, expand your travel zone to reach desired clientele, teach yourself new things. What I notice is that everyone is doing what everyone else is doing. People who have been in this industry for years usually ask about things that are entry level grade in lighting and such... why settle for BASIC... why not to try something different like purchasing quality moving heads on trussing and learning how to program them via a computer dmx. Another thing that many overlook is customer service. How quick are you responding to clients, are you getting them the information they want right away or are you requiring them to meet or go through hurdles to get pricing. Do you communicate through email effectively or are you still relying on the phone calls as your primary method of communication.
Here's another HUGE belief of mine. How is business coming to you... if you've been in this industry for a long time and many of your bookings are not coming in through word of mouth, then there is an underlying problem. If after 100's of events you can't get people talking about you and raving... that means you're average at best and are doing nothing special to get people excited about you and telling everyone to book you. I do not do bridal shows, weddingwire/the knot, no google ads, no vender referrals (you have to pay for those around here). If you're relying on google searches and stuff it is because people are just not raving... and you have to change that first and foremost. People will pay more if they believe it brings value and they can't get that type of service anywhere else. You don't want clients that look as dj's as people that just play music and press buttons... just like audi and mercedes don't attract people that view cars as something that gets you from point a to point b. Those people shop for honda and ford... people that appreciate a car and what it represents strive for something better
I'm not going to lie... when people complain about anything, the first thing I do is research them. I look at their site, their social media postings, the reviews online. I can tell a lot just from that, as to what kind of service they are offering. If I can... so can clients.
Here's my approach from a business plan perspective... First off... I AM A FULL TIME SINGLE OP... I need to book 70 events at $2500 to hit my revenue goal... currently at 56 events at $2700 for 2017. I have event minimums of $2500 in place for prime months to capitalize on those months. I say no to regular parties unless its a month or two before. Most of my expenses are fixed with a contingency in place to cover what if's. Weddings happen in every area , and within a certain radius there are clientele that pay more than in your local area. I travel on avg an hour to all of my events, so consider expanding your travel radius if needed (find the country clubs or high end venues in your area). Every year I raise my rates slightly. I have invested HEAVILY (not so much through money but in research and educating myself) on visual content (check out djtaso.com and vimeo.com/djtaso) to appeal to my desired clientele. When I was getting into bigger events I started by subcontracting all my services with exception of moving heads... as I noticed other people booking these subcontracted services, I invested in them to capture those profits and give even better prices to my clients to book them more frequently. I now offer a full production scale service for Weddings and Sweet 16's between lighting galore, multimedia aspects, photo booths, custom design work, co2 guns, step and repeats, etc.
It sucks to see people come and go, especially after years of giving things a shot... but sometimes the reasons are very obvious.
Here's another HUGE belief of mine. How is business coming to you... if you've been in this industry for a long time and many of your bookings are not coming in through word of mouth, then there is an underlying problem. If after 100's of events you can't get people talking about you and raving... that means you're average at best and are doing nothing special to get people excited about you and telling everyone to book you. I do not do bridal shows, weddingwire/the knot, no google ads, no vender referrals (you have to pay for those around here). If you're relying on google searches and stuff it is because people are just not raving... and you have to change that first and foremost. People will pay more if they believe it brings value and they can't get that type of service anywhere else. You don't want clients that look as dj's as people that just play music and press buttons... just like audi and mercedes don't attract people that view cars as something that gets you from point a to point b. Those people shop for honda and ford... people that appreciate a car and what it represents strive for something better
I'm not going to lie... when people complain about anything, the first thing I do is research them. I look at their site, their social media postings, the reviews online. I can tell a lot just from that, as to what kind of service they are offering. If I can... so can clients.
Here's my approach from a business plan perspective... First off... I AM A FULL TIME SINGLE OP... I need to book 70 events at $2500 to hit my revenue goal... currently at 56 events at $2700 for 2017. I have event minimums of $2500 in place for prime months to capitalize on those months. I say no to regular parties unless its a month or two before. Most of my expenses are fixed with a contingency in place to cover what if's. Weddings happen in every area , and within a certain radius there are clientele that pay more than in your local area. I travel on avg an hour to all of my events, so consider expanding your travel radius if needed (find the country clubs or high end venues in your area). Every year I raise my rates slightly. I have invested HEAVILY (not so much through money but in research and educating myself) on visual content (check out djtaso.com and vimeo.com/djtaso) to appeal to my desired clientele. When I was getting into bigger events I started by subcontracting all my services with exception of moving heads... as I noticed other people booking these subcontracted services, I invested in them to capture those profits and give even better prices to my clients to book them more frequently. I now offer a full production scale service for Weddings and Sweet 16's between lighting galore, multimedia aspects, photo booths, custom design work, co2 guns, step and repeats, etc.
It sucks to see people come and go, especially after years of giving things a shot... but sometimes the reasons are very obvious.
Be brave..be different...
This is different..creative, unique, etc.
Be like this
Just a clown singing Pinball Wizard to the tune of Folsom Prison Blues
This is different..creative, unique, etc.
Be like this
Just a clown singing Pinball Wizard to the tune of Folsom Prison Blues
Thanks Taso this is gold
If you are having trouble booking events read this and read this again and again. Starting from scratch is hard and not for everyone but by the time you hit the 5 year mark you should be getting a healthy portion of your gigs by referral. By the 10 year mark you should be almost all referral.
Referrals are better than any advertising. they are honest, free, and generally willing to pay a premium to get a known quantity. They are generally easier to work with too because they know what you do and have a trust that Google doesn't provide
Ding ding....one of the main reasons for your continued success Taso. I really enjoy keeping up with what you do and update.
Whatever you do, DO NOT consider this a failure.
It was an experiment.
You went in with the best of intentions, trying to make a living out something you love.
If you still love the actual DJing part...perhaps you should get a full time job that provides healthcare and pays the bills.
For me, it has taken ALL of the pressure and conflict out of the DJ business.
I cannot speak for your situation....
but I hope you find your happy place, no matter what you choose to do.
It was an experiment.
You went in with the best of intentions, trying to make a living out something you love.
If you still love the actual DJing part...perhaps you should get a full time job that provides healthcare and pays the bills.
For me, it has taken ALL of the pressure and conflict out of the DJ business.
I cannot speak for your situation....
but I hope you find your happy place, no matter what you choose to do.
Very nicely said![emoji4] I was never a risk taker... always had great ideas, but not enough guts to quit my steady job and start a business. I admired my dad; he did just about everything in his life he dreamed about. When I graduated from high school, he sold his business, borrowed money against a piece of property he owned, bought a 78 foot sail boat and moved to the Caribbean to run a scuba diving charter business and hunt for sunken treasure. He went broke after a year and had to come back to the US and start over, but it was a GLORIOUS year. He passed away at only 58 years old, but he lived a very full life. Maybe my risk-averse life style will allow me to have a much longer life; I'm still pretty healthy many years after passing 58. I sometimes wish I had not always played it so safe.[emoji4]
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IMHO it seems to me, there's a lot more behind this than being a DJ.
To what thousands of dollars spent are you referring? It costs $0 up front to be a DJ - you don't have to own any gear or music. So, what was this 17 year plan that fell apart - or was there no plan?
If I remember correctly, Mike was targeting Christian parties a few years back. That alone is a tough market.
It's not so much a tough market (at least not here in the heart of the Bible Belt) as it is a low paying market. A lot of these churches have very limited budgets for their events and depend on donations and/or drastically discounted rates. I can do as many Christian events as I want; just very, very rarely at my standard rate.
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You know, I can complain sometimes about competitive market, or clients being cheap yada yada, or having a slow period (I have a 4 week period where nothing seems to be happening, I'm not booking anything, and it seems real slow and I'll complain about it LOL).
However, I'm not sure you have a valid reason to just quit. This profession can easily be done as a very part time in the background application. You never know when someone comes along and needs a DJ. Anybody can be that guy who people know is a DJ, and either refer you, or book you themselves for a party out of no where, and all of a sudden $200, $250, $350 or more just fell into your lap by being available and a DJ someone knows.
I honestly, wouldn't quit. It costs nothing to throw Craigslist ads up. If you are beaten down to the point that you don't want to work the business any longer, but still would like to DJ once in a while, then I would just throw spme free ads up from time to time on Craigslist. Maybe drop your bis cards on the local area community billboard wherever that my be. If you belong to a church, see what you can do about providing DJ services for a church function once in a while. Maybe by fellow church members seeing you there, they may think of you when they need a DJ in the future.
This business is too easy to just outright GIVE UP on. Unless you have a phyical disability occur prohibiting you from actually doing the job, I would just keep truckin' and go with it.
However, I'm not sure you have a valid reason to just quit. This profession can easily be done as a very part time in the background application. You never know when someone comes along and needs a DJ. Anybody can be that guy who people know is a DJ, and either refer you, or book you themselves for a party out of no where, and all of a sudden $200, $250, $350 or more just fell into your lap by being available and a DJ someone knows.
I honestly, wouldn't quit. It costs nothing to throw Craigslist ads up. If you are beaten down to the point that you don't want to work the business any longer, but still would like to DJ once in a while, then I would just throw spme free ads up from time to time on Craigslist. Maybe drop your bis cards on the local area community billboard wherever that my be. If you belong to a church, see what you can do about providing DJ services for a church function once in a while. Maybe by fellow church members seeing you there, they may think of you when they need a DJ in the future.
This business is too easy to just outright GIVE UP on. Unless you have a phyical disability occur prohibiting you from actually doing the job, I would just keep truckin' and go with it.
I was starting from zero, so it would have been hard not to get a little bit of an "up and to the right" move on the chart!
It's far from all sunshine and rainbows over here. It was a year of tough work, and a modest profit. But I appreciate being considered in that group, and just hope to keep learning and sharing.
Mike, I wish you the best, and hope you can find peace with or without DJing in your life.
I agree - and disagree. Not sure why churches have 'very limited budgets'. Have you seen how much gear they have? How much the minister makes?
Owning and operating a business isn't for everybody. If it was, everyone would have some kind of business rather than working for someone else. There are several things that Mike may lack that are necessary for the amount of success to continue. I'm sure we can come up with a list of criteria in this regard: Marketing, salesmanship, performance, customer service, desire to succeed, personality...
Mike either doesn't know why his business never took off or he hasn't disclosed the reason in his post. It sounds like his location is a major factor, yet someone else might have the ability to succeed in his area.
The nuts and bolts of business management can keep many people down. There are those who jsut want to get out there and throw the party and not worry about insurance, contracts, payments, expenses, forecasts, etc. Have you considered working part time for a multi op? Let them do all the leg work for you and you show up and throw the party. yes, you will earn less per event, but maybe the stress level decrease would be worth it. Just something to consider.
After rereading the original post I can relate. It's a wise man who knows his limits. Gotta respect Mike for that.
This crazy biz isn't a good fit for everyone. I loved being a mobile DJ, ran the biz for 19 years. But we grew older and it had become more work than fun. Toward the end, by the time we got loaded in and sound checks done we were beat.
That's not good. It was time to call it quits.
We don't regret a moment of the great times we had. You meet so many interesting people in this business. At the same time we don't miss schlepping kit in and out of venues, back yards and so on. Outdoor shows in summer with 90°F heat and 90% humidity. Loading on ice and snow-covered walks in winter.
Good memories outnumber the not-so-good ones by a long shot. Watching folks dance, party and have fun kept me going. Dancing a turn or three with a lady who had no date... man, there ain't nothing like it.
All the best, Mike. Take care of your health and remember the good times.
This crazy biz isn't a good fit for everyone. I loved being a mobile DJ, ran the biz for 19 years. But we grew older and it had become more work than fun. Toward the end, by the time we got loaded in and sound checks done we were beat.
That's not good. It was time to call it quits.
We don't regret a moment of the great times we had. You meet so many interesting people in this business. At the same time we don't miss schlepping kit in and out of venues, back yards and so on. Outdoor shows in summer with 90°F heat and 90% humidity. Loading on ice and snow-covered walks in winter.
Good memories outnumber the not-so-good ones by a long shot. Watching folks dance, party and have fun kept me going. Dancing a turn or three with a lady who had no date... man, there ain't nothing like it.
All the best, Mike. Take care of your health and remember the good times.
I have to dis
"Costs money" is an understatement. I am 59, am only just starting in this business, and only as a sideline, and I'm already out $15,000, and I'm not even warmed up yet. Not that I am complaining, just observing. I don't even want to know what DJ Taso has spent. 6 figures plus. But of course his fees reflect a business model that emphasizes quality and production. Anyone starting in this business should go to his website just to see what the possibilities could be if you are good and work hard. Inspiring!
"Costs money" is an understatement. I am 59, am only just starting in this business, and only as a sideline, and I'm already out $15,000, and I'm not even warmed up yet. Not that I am complaining, just observing. I don't even want to know what DJ Taso has spent. 6 figures plus. But of course his fees reflect a business model that emphasizes quality and production. Anyone starting in this business should go to his website just to see what the possibilities could be if you are good and work hard. Inspiring!
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Hey Dessicant, thanks for the compliment, and yes... if you look into the current costs of running this business (per year)... they are more than what most people make in an entire year. Between the labor and payroll services, office, branding materials, insurance, and actual equipment to run the business it really adds up. However, there was a strategy going into this and an actual business plan. I didn't just go out buying things in the beginning when my income wasn't as high, and my demand was not where it is now. I didn't want to invest in everything I saw and be in debt and being tied up financially. So to be able to compete I used to subcontract a lot of options I offered at first. I marketed it well, even sometimes taking a loss on it so that it would get booked and I could show it off. Once I saw demand for it (and had it booked on enough upcoming gigs to pay off most of the investment into it) I would waste no time to make the investments myself. I subcontracted uplighting, multimedia tv options, and photo booth's at first. Currently I also have Percussionists and lounge furniture that I subcontract... but maybe book once a year due to its unique nature and just have it so people see that I do it.
This is why I believe there is no excuse in bettering your business and its offerings. Even if you don't make a penny on it, it looks so much better when people come to you and they see that you offer a multitude of items and you don't appear "basic". Even if a particular client doesn't book it, perhaps after rocking their event, they might have friends who come to you and might find interest in one of those items. That's how my growth happened from a sales perspective... From 2008-2011 I offered no subcontracting options (think a basic dj)... my avg event price was relatively low at around $1000 an event... but in 2011 I started to offer it all... and while I made very little profit on em, it changed the impression of my business, and slowly but surely people were booking them and my avg event price went up year over year by about 10-15%. Now just about every event I do has some sort of add on options and my avg booking price for 2017 is holding steady at $2700.
Most of these threads on here are about little nuances in day to day situations, which in reality don't affect the success of a brand. Things like brand perception, performance and energy, customer service, marketing tools and ideas, vision, etc I believe provide more to a businesses success than if you took a request or not for that drunk guest.
This is why I believe there is no excuse in bettering your business and its offerings. Even if you don't make a penny on it, it looks so much better when people come to you and they see that you offer a multitude of items and you don't appear "basic". Even if a particular client doesn't book it, perhaps after rocking their event, they might have friends who come to you and might find interest in one of those items. That's how my growth happened from a sales perspective... From 2008-2011 I offered no subcontracting options (think a basic dj)... my avg event price was relatively low at around $1000 an event... but in 2011 I started to offer it all... and while I made very little profit on em, it changed the impression of my business, and slowly but surely people were booking them and my avg event price went up year over year by about 10-15%. Now just about every event I do has some sort of add on options and my avg booking price for 2017 is holding steady at $2700.
Most of these threads on here are about little nuances in day to day situations, which in reality don't affect the success of a brand. Things like brand perception, performance and energy, customer service, marketing tools and ideas, vision, etc I believe provide more to a businesses success than if you took a request or not for that drunk guest.