Ten Ways To Get More Gigs in 2012

TEN WAYS TO GENERATE MORE BUSINESS FOR 2012

1, Promote yourself.

This might sound obvious but if you sit at home waiting for the phone to ring then trust me it won’t.  You need to be proactive and make sure that people know about you.  That might just involve putting a few business cards in your local pub or putting on a suit and booking appointments with venue managers. Whatever you decide is right for you just make sure you do it!

2, Be different.

Google mobile DJ’s in your area and no doubt there will be lots of results. Take a look at their websites and the services being offered. You will find that most people offer the same old bland service. Think about how you can stand out from the crowd and find your unique selling point.

3, Invest in you.

This is one of the hardest things to do. Look at yourself or get honest opinions from people as to what you can improve about you as a person. Could you benefit from a training course of sales or maybe your mic work could do with improvement. Remember it’s not all about the kit you have, people are booking you for their event and maybe some personal investment would help.

4, Less is more

Take a look at your set up. Do you really need four lasers, 8 moon flowers and 6 scanners on a 6 meter truss with a 4000 watt sound system for a 60^th birthday party for 30 people? That might sound common sense to many of you but I see this time and time again. Sometimes a more subtle but quality set up will give potential clients looking for a more sophisticated party a reason to contact you.

5, Networking

It sounds very cliché but networking does work. I know from personal experience that the groups/associations/supper clubs I have been invited to do work. It does take some time to generate a trust within these groups but I have seen firsthand how DJ’s are swapping work between the groups.

6, Be diverse

As well as being different like mentioned earlier you might want to also look at being more diverse within your own business. I know some DJ’s offering wedding disco packages are now also offering chair covers or dance floor hire. There are many ways to up sell to your clients you just need to look at the other opportunities that arise and maybe diversify your business to accommodate them.

7, Target your audience

Websites, business cards, flyers etc, we all have them but what about having marketing material that is more specific. If you target mainly weddings then tailor your media towards that market, if you mainly do club nights or birthdays then again try something more specific. If you are offering all these services as a general DJ then why not get a few different cards or flyers or even a few different landing pages for your website and use them appropriately.

8, Embrace technology

Whilst most DJ’s are running around looking at the latest controller or innovation in lighting technology why not have a look at how you are going to present all these new amazing products you can offer to your potential clients. I personally use an ipad but there are many other affordable tablets out there that can be used in a host of ways to show clients video or photo media of the services you are able to offer. If you don’t have one of these then maybe a short presentation on a laptop would give the same effect.

9, Stick to your price but negotiate!

I have no intention of talking about price structures here as that always creates a debate on its own however if you have a price then stick to it. With the economy as it currently is by all means negotiate but negotiate on other services you are able to offer. Example: If you are charging 500 for a wedding event and the bride and groom are trying to negotiate then maybe offer them a small up-lighting package to clinch the deal rather than knocking 100 off the price.

10, Meet your clients.

If you take nothing else from this top ten list then ensure you take this one away with you. Meet every one of your clients! This has built my business to where it is down to the fact that 95% of other DJ’s don’t do this, they seem to take a call for a booking and that’s it. The amount of opportunities for up selling other services like up-lighting, confetti canons or anything you are able to offer is lost not to mention the fact that it will ensure you look extremely professional and will avoid the embarrassing walk of shame you have to do asking people “who is the event organiser that is supposed to be paying me” at the end of the night.

I am not saying that doing the above will guarantee to gain you more business but these are things that I have used throughout 2011 and have worked for me !