Sioux Falls Mobile DJ Blog | BPM DJ Productions

After a month-long gig drought, the Feb 17th wedding reception that I DJ’ed in Canby, MN was like a breath of fresh air!  What a great reception! 

The drive was about two hours from Brandon, SD to Canby, and I wasn’t scheduled to start playing until 9.  I wanted to get there around 7, so I left the house a little after 5.  The reception was in the back-room of the Canby VFW.  It was a pretty good sized room with a table already set up for me.  The most important thing, however, was the location of the door.  It was relatively close to my set-up area, so I was able to get everything unloaded from the trailer in about 30 minutes. 

I had the manager take down the table, and I set up my own.  I decided to rely 99% on my wonderful computer DJ program, Serato Scratch Live.  This program still uses turntables and records to control the computer based music, so I had a nice, neat setup on the table.  One mixer, two turntables, and my laptop.  I went ahead and hooked up my dual cd player and extra mixer under the table as a back-up.  You never know what could happen!  I set up my lighting, and cleaned up my area.  I then quickly programmed my lights, then I was ready to roll.

The rest of the reception went off without a hitch.  It was a younger crowd, so once we finished all of the formal dances and events (plus a really long garter auction by the resident auctioneer, not me,) things really started to get interesting.  I decided not to hold back with the DJ skills and displayed my beat mixing ability.  I even threw some scratching in there as well, and the crowd responded with cheers.  I played the typical wedding music, but I would also mix in some more recent hits.  I also would “mash-up” a few songs, playing some dance music with some rock n roll beat-mixed in.  I don’t know any DJ’s in the Canby, MN area, but I’m pretty sure most of them don’t do what I do.  It’s what make me unique as a DJ, and I think I’ll start to focus on that a little more.

Everyone was having such a great time that I was paid to stay an hour later than the scheduled stopping time of 12:00.  In fact, I played until about 1:20.  The manager made me shut it down in order to clear everyone out before the legal cut-off time.

The drive home was a little long, and very foggy, but I arrived safely in my drive around 4:30AM.  I tried backing my trailer into the garage, but since our drive is on a slope, I kept spinning out on some ice.  I finally gave up and left the entire rig in the driveway. 

It was a great night, but I was tired.  I also had a full day of taking care of my daughter ahead of me, so I hit the sheets.  I have a few weekends off again, but it won’t be long until I’m doing this thing everyweekend (June, July.)  It’s a lot of work, but to me, it’s not really work at all.

Well, we’re starting to enter the busy season again, and I couldn’t be happier.  I haven’t DJ’ed anything since December and am ready to roll.  I have a wedding reception in Canby, MN on Feb 17th from 9-12.  It’s a relatively short reception, but in my experience, the one’s that start later are usually more fun.  The bride-to-be has already submitted her online planner and part of her song list, and so far it looks like a lot of good wedding music that everyone will enjoy.

I’m also excited that this will be the second wedding I will be using my most favorite computer program in the world, Serato Scratch Live.  Friday night, I’ll line up all of the requested songs in their own “Crate” so that I will have everything I need right at my fingertips.  No more digging through CD’s or dealing with stacks upon stacks of jewel cases on my table.

To kick off the new wedding season, I think I am going to find a new table cover.  I’ll have to shop around for something that will work, I’ve used fabric from Wal-Mart in the past, but also have heard of other DJ’s using bed sheets.  Appearantly, they don’t wrinkle as easily and look really nice.

After this reception, I don’t have another gig until late March, but then things start picking up again.  With some of the revenue I earn in March, I would like to buy a triangle lighting truss and rearrange my lighting rig.  Hopefully I can get that done before all of the Proms in April.  Proms are my favorite, and I’m fortunate enough to have 5 booked so far this year. 

So far this year, I have 14 gigs booked for 2007.  I would like to hit about 30 like last year, but some of those were at a budget rate, which I do not offer anymore.  My time is too valuable to sell that cheaply.  Overall, I think I’m off to a pretty good start, and might try a few new advertising options to try and book a few more gigs.

 I’ll post another update after the gig!

Well, I decided to pull the plug on my other domain name for this blog, www.djtales.com.  I downgraded the account to save a little money, so now I just own the domain, and do not have a physical site there to maintain.  Although I was generating a little money with Adsense on the blog, it wasn’t enough to justify spending the time to write keyword rich content.  So, I moved it over to my dj website, www.bpmdjproductions.com, and am going to treat it like a true blog.  I’ll stop worrying about writing articles that will attract the most traffic (for maximum $) and will just write articles about my DJ travels.  I still will maintain www.bestdjsoftware.com, another blog site about a very specific topic, DJ software, but for now, www.djtales.com is dead. 

As most of you already know, being a mobile DJ means that you have to be ready for anything.  And the worst “anything” that could happen is equipment failure.  It was a cold Winter’s evening when I faced this obstacle at a High-School dance.

It was a dance in Missouri, at a local High-School.  If I remember correctly, it was a Homecoming dance.  Anyway, I was just starting out as a DJ along with my friend Norman Dalager.  I was at the dance setting up while Norman was driving back from his day-job in Independence, MO.  Everything was going fine, I had set up the speakers (no telling what they were at that time, I think we used MTX’s), the American DJ CD players, our limited light show, and our fancy Gemini mixer.  I was putting everything through a trial run when I smelled smoke.

 It was coming from the mixer, and it was the only thing coming from the mixer - no sound or anything!  We had no spare, so I had to think of something fast, the dance was starting in minutes!  Well, I got rid of the mixer altogether, and put our American DJ CD Players side by side on the table.  I decided that the only way I could mix between the decks was to plug them directly into the amp, and plug and unplug between songs.

So that’s what I did.  I would cue up a song in one of the CD players (I couldn’t use headphones either), then unplug the current CD player from the amp, and quickly plug in the one with the next song.  Meanwhile, I had to hit “play” with my nose since my hands where tied up with plugging and unplugging the CD players.

Fortunately it worked, and Norman showed up later on that night so that I did not have to use my nose anymore!  The moral of the story - carry spare equipment!  At least a mixer, a small amp, and a couple of cheap CD players.  You won’t regret it!

Every article and every book that I have read on marketing DJ services advises not to do any TV advertising, unless you have about 20 rigs and 50 employees.  The constant complaint is that it is too expensive.  Well, it can be, but it can also be very affordable.  Here is how to effectively purchase TV advertising for your DJ business.

Stand out from the DJ crowd.

The nice thing about promoting your DJ service on TV is that no other DJ’s are there.  Think about it, you see tons of auto dealers and restaurants, but no DJ’s.  The benefit of this is that you can do more with less.  Another auto ad will get lost in the clutter, by a dynamic ad for a DJ service will stand out from the crowd.

Promote your business with sight, sound, motion, and emotion.

No other form of media can really effectively do all of these.  The internet is getting close, with rich media ads, but TV is still the king of dynamic, engaging advertisements.  Just imagine what you could do with a :15 or :30 TV commercial.  How about some upbeat music and video of a recent dance or of your light show.  Most TV stations will produce a commercial “spot” for you fairly cheap, and will also take care of writing the “script” for you if you are not the creative type.  

Contact the TV Station’s Sales Department

In most markets there are numerious TV stations to choose from, so lets narrow down the search.  I would recommend broadcast TV over Cable.  Broadcast TV is television broadcasted over the airwaves to a large area.  Your ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates are all most likely broadcast stations.  Keep in mind, the exact same station can also be available through cable, but the broadcast station’s commercials still air.  So if you purchase a commercial on your local CBS station, that commercial will air on channel 3 (just an example) through the broadcast signal, and channel 11 through the local cable provider.

Now, unless you know which station is the best in the area, you will need to request an “avail” from each of them.  Basically, an “avail” is a list of programs, their respective ratings, and the rates.  I recommend choosing only one of these stations to work with in the end, so that you can concentrate all of your money and effort on a single outlet.  Just pick the best one based on the criteria explained below. 

Cost Per Point (CPP) and Cost Per Thousand (CPM)

In the media advertising world, almost everything is bought and sold on a cost per point or cost per thousand basis.  Cost per point is basically the cost for one rating point.  TV ratings usually come from Nielsen media research and are basically a percentage point.  For example, our market area is 255,000 households.  If a program has a 10 rating, it reaches 10% of those housholds, or 25,500. 

You can also buy based on cost per thousand, which is basically the cost of reaching 1000 people.  For example, if a commercial in a program is $40 and it reaches 5000 people, it is $8 per thousand.

I would recommend requesting your avail be in cost-per-thousand.  This leaves less guesswork than cost-per-point (you don’t have to go figuring out percentages and household numbers.)

Don’t Forget to Choose Your Demo

You are also able to choose your demo or “demographic”.  This represents who you are wanting to target with your advertising.  You could pick Adults, Women, or Men in any age group.  For example if you wanted to focus on weddings, you might want to target Women 18-34, the demo where most brides will be.  When you choose a specific demo, all of your cost-per-thousand information will be specific to that demo.  Afterall, the best program for your demo may not be the same as the best overall program on the station.

Frequency vs. Reach

This can be a fairly heated topic when it comes to advertising.  Should you buy a lot of cheap commercials and have more frequency (reaching a smaller number of people multiple times), or should you buy 1 or 2 expensive commercials that have a large reach (reaching a lot of people one time.)  Well, considering the average person needs to see a message three times in order to recall it, I would say that it would be wise to go with frequency.  Yes, you can reach a ton of people by running a commercial in ”Prime” programming (like CSI), but then you would blow your entire budget on a single opportunity to gain the viewers attention. 

Be smart and buy programming based on the cost per thousand of your target demo.  Choose something with a decent cost-per-thousand (in our market I would consider this to be between $5 and $10 per thousand), and also has a small to medium reach in your demo.  It is wise to “dominate” a program, meaning that you buy that program and that program only.  So if there is a program that your demo watches often, advertise there and nowhere else.  This will give you credibility that you are on TV “all the time” when in reality, you are only in that single program. 

I also recommend chossing a few days out of the week to run your advertisements, and sticking with that schedule.  Statistics have shown that services do better by running advertisements earlier in the week, and retail businesses do better running them later in the week.  So, if you were to choose to run only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays every week, you are reaching an audience dedicated to watching that program on those days.

If you would like to have a constant presence on TV (which is definitely recommended), you might want to run two weeks “on” and two weeks “off” a month.  This has been proven to give the illusion of always being “on” while saving you money.  Afterall, you will only be paying for 26 weeks instead of 52.  The exception to this may be the busy booking times like earlier in the year, then I would recommend running all four weeks of the month.

Another tip is to run :15 second commercials instead of :30 second commercials.  :15’s are usually cheaper, and by running more commercials for the same dollar amount, you will achieve higher frequency.  You may want to also consider running “bookends.”  This is where two :15 commercials are placed in the same commercial break, one at the very beginning, and one at the very end.  This is a great way to hit the same viewer twice in a row with your message.

Creating Your Commercial - The 14 Rules of The Guru 

Jim Doyle, an industry expert in TV advertising, says that there are 14 rules to follow in order to create an effective TV commercial.  You can find them HERE.

In Summary

There you have it, TV advertising can be a complicated process, but if you follow these basic rules, you should be ok.  Here is a quick list to summarize the buying process.

1. Contact the TV stations in your area, speak to the Sales department and request an “avail.”  Make sure to tell them what “demo” you are trying to reach.
2.  Look at the avails from each station to find which one is the best, or in other words, which one has the best programs for your demo (low cost per thousand with a medium reach.)
3. Put together your schedule.  Work closely with your TV rep to choose a schedule that has a high frequency and reasonable reach in your demo.  Try to run two weeks on and two weeks off if budget is a factor.  Consider :15 commercials to gain even more frequency.
4. Create your commercial.  Many stations have script writers on hand to help you with the process, but still be involved in its creation.  Afterall, you are a DJ, so you’re obviously a creative individual!
5. After your schedule starts running, make sure you monitor your results.  Ask your leads “where they heard about you” and keep track of the responses.  If your TV commercial doesn’t appear to be working, do not give up on TV.  You may just need to choose a new program or make a different commercial.

Remember, TV wins elections and creates icons and rolemodels, so I’m sure it can work for you too.

I have always liked the idea of having a gobo projector to project my DJ logo onto a wall or something, but the projectors that I have seen have all been too expensive.  Plus, you have to have the gobo itself made, which is also somewhat spendy.  Here is how to make your very own for very cheap!

You will need:

• A holiday projector-one of those that go in your lawn and project holiday images onto your house.
• Transparency sheets - those clear sheets that are used for overhead projectors, you can find them in the printing supplies department of any major store.
• A computer with some sort of image editing program - Photoshop is preferred, but Microsoft Paint or Publisher should also work.  
• A scanner
• A printer for your computer
• Scissors

From reading the list of supplies, you can probably figure out what we are going to do.  First, grab one of the holiday gobos that comes with the projector and scan it on the scanner.  Once it is scanned into your computer, replace the holiday image with your DJ logo, make sure you keep the size the same as the original gobo.  Print out the new gobo on one of the transparency sheets, then cut it out.  If you would like, you could use the exisiting cardboard gobo ring and just cut out the old gobo and paste in your own.  Or, you can just use the new gobo without a ring - depending on the projector, this should still work.  Then, all you have to do is put your new gobo into the projector, rig up some sort of stand or bracket, and you have your very own gobo projector for around $20!  It’s not as bright as a commercial projector, but it will work nicely for smaller applications.

Most Mobile DJ’s employ direct marketing as a method to reach potential clients.  Even though direct mail typically has a response rate of 1-4%, many DJ’s do find success with this tactic.  Jerry Bazata from DJ Times has a few useful tips that will come in handy when planning your next direct mail campaign.  Check out his article HERE!

Let’s face it, one of the greatest opportunities you have to market your business to new prospects is during gigs.  It’s like your very own bridal show!  But you have to be careful and not be too intrusive.  This is were your very own DJ sign comes in handy.  All you need is a simple sign stating the name of your business, and if you would like, some contact information.  There are a variety of sign materials, and a lot of companies that will gladly put a sign together for you.  I decided to go with Coroplast for my sign - it’s basically like a plastic/cardboard combination.  The lettering is vinyl, and it is light-weight - so you can easily mount the sign with some velcro strips.  The place that I found online is called http://www.signsus.com/ . They have an online design studio, so that you can create the sign yourself.  My sign (pictured below) only cost about $40.  It’s definitely a smart investment!

Book More DJ Gigs Without Investing More Time 

Like many part-time DJ’s with a day-job, I am very busy.  I definitely don’t mind taking the time out of my busy day to talk to someone interested in my services, but I sure am thankful for those easily booked gigs.  You know, the ones that email you, get your rates, request the contract, and send you a deposit – all in a few days time.  Many of my gigs are booked this way, and this is due mainly to the way my website is set up.
 

DJ Intelligence - www.djintelligence.com 

First of all, I use DJ Intelligence on my website (www.djintelligence.com).  For only $100 a year, I have access to a ton of different tools that I am able to put on my site.  They have a Quote Generator, an Online Booking Form, Availability Checker, Contact Form, and many more.  They also have a ton of tools for my clients as well, they can basically do all of the planning of their events directly on my website, and this saves everyone time!
 

Get the Most Out Of DJ Intelligence

In order to get the most out of these tools, here is what I recommend.  Put the Availability Checker directly on your Home Page.  This is a powerful call-to-action, I would say about 75% of those shopping for a DJ will at least check to see if you have the date open.  Then, have the availability checker direct the client to a Contact Form if you are available.  This is very easy to do, you simply set this up in your DJ Intelligence control panel.  I actually have my Availability Checker go to a custom page that I made (again, you can set this up through your DJ Intelligence control panel.)  It basically tells them that I am available for the date, and for them to select their type of gig from a short list, “Wedding, School Dance, or Party.”  From there, there are taken to a page with information about my packages, and can click on a link to get an instant price quote.  Another tip:  On your Quote Form you are able to add additional questions.  I added the question, “Preferred method of contact:  Phone, Email, or Mail.”  This way, I do not follow up with a phone call unless this is what they specify.  90% of the time, the potential clients are happy with an email. 
 

Automatic Email Responses

I also have DJ Intelligence set up to send the client an automatic email to confirm that I received the information.  On the email, I include all of my contact information, in case they would like to find out more about my services.  I follow up a couple of days later with another email to answer any questions.  If things progress from there, then I usually end up calling them on the phone to finalize everything.

So Many Prospects, So Little Time 

In a perfect word, I would be a full-time DJ, and follow up every information request with a phone call, email, and letter, but this world is far from perfect.  In the meantime, by utilizing the DJ Intelligence tools on my website, I can continue to make money with a hobby that I love, and still have enough time left over to spend it with my family.

If you do not have DJ Intelligence on your website, you should really look into it.  Visit their website at www.djintelligence.com to learn more.  Or, use my referral form at http://www.bpmdjproductions.djintelligence.com/referral/ to refer it to others.
If you have taken all the appropriate steps, and still aren’t booking gigs online, you might want to check out my article on DJ Website Optimization.

Numark Virtual Vinyl - Release date 12/29

If you haven’t noticed, Numark is starting to turn out some innovative new DJ products in recent years.  I remember back in the day when Numark DJ gear was one step above Gemini.  In fact, my first pair of turntables were Numark Belt-Drives and I still have one of my first Numark mixers, I believe it is a DM2002.  Now, if you take a second to visit their website at http://www.numark.com/, you will see a lot of new equipment for both the DJ and VJ (Video Jockey.)  One such piece of equipment is Numark’s Virtual Vinyl DJ software.

It’s no secret that many DJ’s simply cannot give up their vinyl records, and I am one of them.  There is something about the hands-on mixing experience with vinyl that connot be duplicated with modern DJ CD players.  In recent years we have seen a few software packages that make an attempt at bridging the analog/digital divide.  Stanton Final Scratch, Serato Scratch Live, and more recently PCDJ Scratch.  Now Numark Virtual Vinyl is a new player in the game, and it might have a slight advantage over its predecessors.  You see, Virtual Vinyl can play and mix video files as well as audio!

Numark Virtual Vinyl Screenshot

Numark’s Virtual Vinyl has all of the features standard in other DJ software programs and some that are not.  Master tempo, seamless looping, instant pitch matching, automatic beat-matching, BPM-aware effects, hot-cues, sampling, and more.  Another advantage of Numark Virtual Vinyl is its ability to play a wide variety of file formats including MP3, MP3Pro, WAV, AIFF, direct CD, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, MP4, iTunes (non-DRM), DVD, VOB, DIVX, MPG, AVI, Karaoke (CDG), and more.  Numark Virtual Vinyl is also compatible with most online music services like Yahoo! Music Unlimited, Virgin Music, Napster Music, and others.  This is another big advantage that Numark Virtual Vinyl will have over Serato Scratch Live.

Numark Virtual Vinyl is due out in a few days (Dec 29th, 2006) and will carry a price tag of $499.  I plan on giving Virtual Vinyl a test drive at our local Guitar Center as soon as possible.

Can Numark Virtual Vinyl keep up with the big boys of the digital DJ revolution? I guess we will find out after the reviews start rolling in.  I do know one thing, Serato Scratch Live has been so successful due in part to its great support network at http://www.scratchlive.net/. If Virtual Vinyl plans on making a serious attempt at our hard-earned DJ money, the better have some sort of Numark Virtual Vinyl Forum to quickly handle all of the issues. 

Numark Virtual Vinyl Video

Below are a few retailers that offer Numark’s Virtual Vinyl:

Pro Sound and Stage Lighting:  Numark Virtual Vinyl $499

zZounds:  Numark Virtual Vinyl $499

Sam Ash:  Numark Virtual Vinyl $499

DJTronix.com:  Numark Virtual Vinyl $499

Six Star DJ:  Numark Virtual Vinyl $499