January and February events

[DJ Ricky B]

I am staring at my Calendar, and I literally have ZERO events booked in January and February.

February is always a dead month. I have not worked a February event since 2014. So I am pretty sure I will have that month off any way. ...I am considering just taking January off too. Take a 60 day break from doing any events, and start off in March completely energized.

If anything comes in for January or February, I will still quote on them for my other DJs, and just collect some money on bookings that way. Also, we have had 2 MILD winters in a row here in Maryland. I believe we are due for some big snow storms this winter. I hate dealing with the snow and events.

I am just contemplating this right now. I will probably hold out another 2 more weeks to see if anything really does come in for January. However, at this point it's going to start getting slim in terms of wedding inquiries for those 2 months. Last year I did book 2 weddings in January, but both were booked in the summer prior to that. So at this point the chances are growing smaller of booking a wedding for January, but of course you never know!

 

[Jeff Romard]

I am staring at my Calendar, and I literally have ZERO events booked in January and February.

February is always a dead month. I have not worked a February event since 2014. So I am pretty sure I will have that month off any way. ...I am considering just taking January off too. Take a 60 day break from doing any events, and start off in March completely energized.

If anything comes in for January or February, I will still quote on them for my other DJs, and just collect some money on bookings that way. Also, we have had 2 MILD winters in a row here in Maryland. I believe we are due for some big snow storms this winter. I hate dealing with the snow and events.

I am just contemplating this right now. I will probably hold out another 2 more weeks to see if anything really does come in for January. However, at this point it's going to start getting slim in terms of wedding inquiries for those 2 months. Last year I did book 2 weddings in January, but both were booked in the summer prior to that. So at this point the chances are growing smaller of booking a wedding for January, but of course you never know!

Pretty quiet here so far too and traditionally it's that way.I have my regular gigs with the disabled but I don't really count them. The last few years I picked up some different events in Jan and Feb....last year there was a doctors conference and I provided support for a couple of press conferences. and a couple of birthday parties but I've seen some years with nothing that two months.

I'll take it if it comes but I don't mind having a little time off either

 

[djtaso]

Personally I have 3 Sweet 16's and 3 teen dances that I do. I also have 1 Wedding on Presidents day weekend. I seem to always book that Saturday or Sunday of that weekend the last couple of years. Generally it is a much slower time of the year for most. A lot of dj's advertise discounted pricing for those dates.

 

[DJ Ricky B]

Personally I have 3 Sweet 16's and 3 teen dances that I do. I also have 1 Wedding on Presidents day weekend. I seem to always book that Saturday or Sunday of that weekend the last couple of years. Generally it is a much slower time of the year for most. A lot of dj's advertise discounted pricing for those dates.

I have always advertised discounted rates for the off season. However, things are pretty quiet this year for off season dates. Likely the deadest I have ever seen it...at least at this point no inquiries for either month at all. I don't mind this year though. My heart is telling me to lay low this winter right now. October is going to be BUSY...Looking forward to a couple weekends off in November after the next 6 weeks.

January/February, I think I'll only book something for myself if a nice wedding comes in, or a client really wants me only.

 

[Proformance]

Diversify.
There is work for DJs all year long - but, you have to be able to do a whole variety of event types.

 

[Jeff Romard]

Diversify.
There is work for DJs all year long - but, you have to be able to do a whole variety of event types.

Not everywhere there's not

 

[DJ Ricky B]

After deejaying the wedding last night, I got "DJ Burnout" real quick. My only focus was tearing down and getting out of the venue as quickly as possible. I also cant wait until my next full weekend off. I gotta go to work in the morning and certainly not looking forward to it.

I think working Monday thru Friday is putting a drain on me. It has certainly decreased my enthusiasm with Deejaying. Don't get me wrong. I love being a DJ, but after 17 years, and doing so many gigs I am definitely experiencing a bit of burn out. I am sure working 6 days a week lately (and still taking time to unload my vehicle back into storage on Sunday) is a big part of the reason. I feel a good bit more stressed because of it.

Last night while performing I was thinking I don't want to do as many gigs moving forward IF I am going to continue to work during the week. I don't have a full weekend off until November right now, and working every day for so many weeks straight just sucks.

I'm thinking for next year cutting the amount of gigs I book almost in half. Make it a point to only book 26 weekends for the year. Perhaps a couple of weekends will have 2 bookings instead of just one, but make sure I keep half my weekends off for the year. Strongly considering that, BUT what happens if the job doesn't work out at some point? Then I'll wish I had booked as many gigs as possible

I dunno. I just can't see myself working so much next year and not totally stressing myself out. This week I barely saw my wife!

I think I will need January/February off to re energize if I'm working Monday thru Friday job for sure.

 

[djtaso]

After deejaying the wedding last night, I got "DJ Burnout" real quick. My only focus was tearing down and getting out of the venue as quickly as possible. I also cant wait until my next full weekend off. I gotta go to work in the morning and certainly not looking forward to it.

I think working Monday thru Friday is putting a drain on me. It has certainly decreased my enthusiasm with Deejaying. Don't get me wrong. I love being a DJ, but after 17 years, and doing so many gigs I am definitely experiencing a bit of burn out. I am sure working 6 days a week lately (and still taking time to unload my vehicle back into storage on Sunday) is a big part of the reason. I feel a good bit more stressed because of it.

Last night while performing I was thinking I don't want to do as many gigs moving forward IF I am going to continue to work during the week. I don't have a full weekend off until November right now, and working every day for so many weeks straight just sucks.

I'm thinking for next year cutting the amount of gigs I book almost in half. Make it a point to only book 26 weekends for the year. Perhaps a couple of weekends will have 2 bookings instead of just one, but make sure I keep half my weekends off for the year. Strongly considering that, BUT what happens if the job doesn't work out at some point? Then I'll wish I had booked as many gigs as possible

I dunno. I just can't see myself working so much next year and not totally stressing myself out. This week I barely saw my wife!

I think I will need January/February off to re energize if I'm working Monday thru Friday job for sure.

What brings in more income? Do you need the dj income to survive or is it just supplemental. It was mentioned before by not only me, but also others... once you start decreasing the amount of events you do, the lack of exposure can quickly catch up to you and without any other sources of leads, can have you closing shop fast. I was in the same position in 2012 and went the route of being a dj full time.

Personally, I do have to say that even though I do this full time, and around 70 events a year, I still make it a point to take a few weeks off at a time. This year I had around four periods where I didn't have a single event for at least 2-3 weeks, and 1 of those periods I didn't have an event for a whole month. Next year I have already decided that I will not be taking any events for the month of July (with exception of July 1st which is booked). I know that means from April-June I will have to work at least 2-3 events per weekend every weekend (I did that this year too)... but without periods of time off, I wouldn't be able to do that.

 

[rickryan.com]

Yes, it gets tiresome. It's called work and hitting it hard is what separates the men from the boys.

 

[Jeff Romard]

What brings in more income? Do you need the dj income to survive or is it just supplemental. It was mentioned before by not only me, but also others... once you start decreasing the amount of events you do, the lack of exposure can quickly catch up to you and without any other sources of leads, can have you closing shop fast. I was in the same position in 2012 and went the route of being a dj full time.

While I agree with you Taso I don't know if that would affect Ricky like it would you and I and others that are predominately referral. Ricky has said that he has very few referrals and gets most of his gigs through advertising. For me I would just have to hang it up if I were to take half the year off

Personally, I do have to say that even though I do this full time, and around 70 events a year, I still make it a point to take a few weeks off at a time. This year I had around four periods where I didn't have a single event for at least 2-3 weeks, and 1 of those periods I didn't have an event for a whole month. Next year I have already decided that I will not be taking any events for the month of July (with exception of July 1st which is booked). I know that means from April-June I will have to work at least 2-3 events per weekend every weekend (I did that this year too)... but without periods of time off, I wouldn't be able to do that.

I did 70+ events several years and worked a regular job beside that. In that period of time I had a couple of other DJ's that I was booking out so we were doing 120+ events. I got pretty burnt out between everything and scaled back. I did learn that you really need to take a bit of time for yourself for sure if not for the physical you definitely for the mental you

 

[DJ Ricky B]

What brings in more income? Do you need the dj income to survive or is it just supplemental. It was mentioned before by not only me, but also others... once you start decreasing the amount of events you do, the lack of exposure can quickly catch up to you and without any other sources of leads, can have you closing shop fast. I was in the same position in 2012 and went the route of being a dj full time.

Personally, I do have to say that even though I do this full time, and around 70 events a year, I still make it a point to take a few weeks off at a time. This year I had around four periods where I didn't have a single event for at least 2-3 weeks, and 1 of those periods I didn't have an event for a whole month. Next year I have already decided that I will not be taking any events for the month of July (with exception of July 1st which is booked). I know that means from April-June I will have to work at least 2-3 events per weekend every weekend (I did that this year too)... but without periods of time off, I wouldn't be able to do that.

Deejaying obviously brings in more income than my day job.

However, my wife prefers me working Monday through Friday. I also would like more weekends off. ...It's hard to balance taking weekend time off, and booking enough gigs to make enough money when Deejaying is your sole income. Last year DJ was my sole income until I got this job that started on Dec. 27th. Outside of that in 2016 I worked about 15 shifts for Amazon Flex making some extra money before that stopped panning out.

Anyway, I basically have a choice between 3 different options...

Option A: Continue working the day job, and continue to book as I always have for deejaying. I know that will lead to the most money earned. So this is obviously the best course of action for earning the most income. However, I will also get burned out as time marches on, and likely lose a portion of my interest in actually being a DJ since my life will be spent working. DO I want to live to work moving forward?

Option B: Keep the job, but scale back deejaying. Cut the amount of weekends I book DJ gigs through out the year from an average of 39 to 44 down to around 26 to 29 weekends a year. Cut back overall bookings from roughly 60ish per year down to 27 to 32 or so. Balance out my weekends off through out the year, and keep working Monday through Friday. ...The hope would be to not get DJ Burnout, but still book a good number of events, and continue to bring home a nice income. ...With this option I ensure a continuous income stream through out the year, especially during dead months of January/February/March (November is also usually slow) by working the day job.

The downside? Jobs come and go. The current job I have may not be available, or maybe something happens at some point in time and I am laid off. ...Then what? I lowered the amount of bookings I was doing. So...I will have to work even harder to get back to where I was before all of this. ...

Option C. Make the decision to quit the Day job, and go back to Deejaying full time. ....Uncertain, and varying levels of income stream through out the year. However, I easily have more time during the week to focus on booking the most number of events, and improve on booking higher quality, higher paying events as well. ...Have my time back during the week, and not feel burned out during the weeding season next year. I would keep the passion and enthusiasm up with the DJ biz. With a lot of time to put into the biz, the potential for maximizing income in ratio to overall time spent working is best.

Downside to Option C? ....Not knowing what the future holds. How will the market be? Also, my wife prefers that I work Monday thru Friday. She believes it is more stable. She is right about that. Times are okay now. 1 to 2 or 3 years from now, Who knows about how good things will be looking on booking DJ gigs.

 

[tunes4046]

Keep your day job and raise your DJ rates significantly become a premium option work less make more

 

[Proformance]

Deejaying obviously brings in more income than my day job.

However, my wife prefers me working Monday through Friday. I also would like more weekends off. ...It's hard to balance taking weekend time off, and booking enough gigs to make enough money when Deejaying is your sole income. Last year DJ was my sole income until I got this job that started on Dec. 27th. Outside of that in 2016 I worked about 15 shifts for Amazon Flex making some extra money before that stopped panning out.

Anyway, I basically have a choice between 3 different options...

Option A: Continue working the day job, and continue to book as I always have for deejaying. I know that will lead to the most money earned. So this is obviously the best course of action for earning the most income. However, I will also get burned out as time marches on, and likely lose a portion of my interest in actually being a DJ since my life will be spent working. DO I want to live to work moving forward?

Option B: Keep the job, but scale back deejaying. Cut the amount of weekends I book DJ gigs through out the year from an average of 39 to 44 down to around 26 to 29 weekends a year. Cut back overall bookings from roughly 60ish per year down to 27 to 32 or so. Balance out my weekends off through out the year, and keep working Monday through Friday. ...The hope would be to not get DJ Burnout, but still book a good number of events, and continue to bring home a nice income. ...With this option I ensure a continuous income stream through out the year, especially during dead months of January/February/March (November is also usually slow) by working the day job.

The downside? Jobs come and go. The current job I have may not be available, or maybe something happens at some point in time and I am laid off. ...Then what? I lowered the amount of bookings I was doing. So...I will have to work even harder to get back to where I was before all of this. ...

Option C. Make the decision to quit the Day job, and go back to Deejaying full time. ....Uncertain, and varying levels of income stream through out the year. However, I easily have more time during the week to focus on booking the most number of events, and improve on booking higher quality, higher paying events as well. ...Have my time back during the week, and not feel burned out during the weeding season next year. I would keep the passion and enthusiasm up with the DJ biz. With a lot of time to put into the biz, the potential for maximizing income in ratio to overall time spent working is best.

Downside to Option C? ....Not knowing what the future holds. How will the market be? Also, my wife prefers that I work Monday thru Friday. She believes it is more stable. She is right about that. Times are okay now. 1 to 2 or 3 years from now, Who knows about how good things will be looking on booking DJ gigs.

[Disclaimer: Fragile people beware. The following opinion contains harsh realities and brutal honesty not intended for the timid or self-soothing. It is not recommended to read this reply if you are currently on anxiety medications, drinking heavily, or otherwise entangled in persistent negative thought patterns. Side effects include elevated blood pressure, rage, increased typographical errors, and obsessive rationalizations. A small percentage of readers also experience nausea and gastrointestinal distress.]

FYI: I don't think you're being realistic. You a have far greater than 3 alternatives yet, you choose to constrain yourself to only these three options. Your three alternatives are all rooted in what is familiar, comfortable, and historical. Not good.

Get uncomfortable and make real changes!
Because:

DJ: You need an exit strategy.
1.) As professions go this is a dinosaur, at least in the historical practice that you have been groomed. The future of wedding & event entertainment is stratified and DJing as you have known it is not going to remain on the high plane of existence.
2.) Another reality is your age - you can't possibly compete with the more daring, and fiscally unconstrained young people who will continue to carve out new niches.
3.) You're already citing burn-out. You no longer show the enthusiasm, health, and sheer grit, it would take to make this successful. Consider the possibility that you have already past your prime in the DJ field.

Day Job: You need work that is meaningful to you.
You describe this as a position with little or no job security, you can't depend on this field anymore than you can DJing. You also express absolutely zero passion or interest in whatever this job is, and mention having traded in/out of other equally uninspiring jobs like Amazon.

Demand more for yourself by demanding more from yourself while you can still provide it.

Your best bet is to get really UNCOMFORTABLE now, while it's still your choice and assess your real potential; either in untapped skills and resources you already have, or new ideas and training you've never considered before. You are going to be very uncomfortable in the near future - the real decision to be made is whether or not it will be by choice.