Is our Industry in Serious Trouble

[Jim Casey]

Seeing WeDJs announcement tonight, plus MB more than likely being sold to Ryan Burger or Sid Vanderpool and many high end Djs struggling to make ends meet this year has got me to thinking.

I am one of those High end Djs struggling - 15 events booked for 2006 which is close to where I was at this time last year, but well away from my comfort zone of over 30. Part of my problem is that I am a sucky salesman on the phone. That's another topic altogether.

We seem to be at a troubling time where IPod weddings are starting to become more normal...brides are looking for every way to save a buck and they are quite frankly choosing the wrong areas (Photography and Music)

What are we, the leaders of our industry, prepared to do?

[dj4sale]

It's the economy, not just our industry. Young people (marrage age) are putting of weddings like never before. Corporates are scaled down (no parties), and new good paying jobs with benefits are gone in leu of Wal Mart/Medicaid. Many young are in the war, further putting off big receptions while WMD's are a myth at the cost of 100's of BULLIONS sucked out of the US economy. Our clients who used to pay our rates don't get a tax break, while wealthy clients get the breaks and want us at half price.

Like you, I have a handfull of gigs lined up, but no where near 30 or 40 I'd like to have booked by now.

SALE

[Wolfie]

Greets, Jim.

I suck at phone sales, too. If they're just price-shopping they're wasting my time. We don't work cheap.

Agreed. It's simply a sign of our times. Hopefully, when this damn war is finally over (if that ever happens) there'll be a boatload of horny GIs coming home with money in their pockets wanting to get married.

If one cares to review the history of entertainment, one may find that entertainment in one form or other has always managed to flourish in difficult economic times. During the Great Depresssion, people still found money to be entertained. They went to movie theaters and shows. They bought radios, record players and records. To be sure, they didn't buy the most expensive radios or record players on the market but they bought 'em just the same because they wanted to be entertained.

We're seeing much the same in this industry today. The upscale mobile DJ entertainment companies are the Scotts and Atwater Kents of yesteryear. Very high in quality but also very expensive. They're all gone. Competitors like RCA, Zenith and Philco survived by offering cheap radios. And you know how consumers think -- a radio is still a radio, no matter who's name is on it so why pay all that money for one?

For my part I think we need to re-examine how we are viewed by our prospective clientele. We need to do some introspection as well.

Florists, caterers or other food providers and photographers are very high on the bride's priority list. These things are necessary for a wedding reception. A full dance floor, lighting, MCing and the other things we provide are unnecessary expenses. The wedding will happen whether a pro DJ service is there or not.

We've all been in this business long enough to know that most wedding guests don't give a damn either way. They show up for the free chow and booze. How many guests are going to ask the B&G why they didn't book a DJ service? The B&G will look at their wedding photos later and remember the fun time they had. There wasn't a DJ but they had a fun time anyhow.

What does a bride really want in terms of reception entertainment? Music to dance to? A professional, yet personal MC? Surely, a family member or close friend can do that with a living room stereo and/or rented PA system.

Let's look at what people are buying. Can we offer it?

In conclusion, we must put ourselves in the customer's shoes. Goods and services are only worth as much as the customer is willing to pay for them. How much would we be willing to pay for the services we provide? Could we truly afford our own rates? Are we pricing ourselves out of the market?

Hope it helps.

[HeadlineDJ]

Maybe it's time you American DJs started working like us UK DJs do [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

Instead of offering all the ceremony stuff and being Master of Ceremonies for the rest of the day, why not focus 100% on the evening party!!

Stand out from other DJs in your areas by offering a wide selection of programmable lighting, customize the lighting for each client.

Ipod DJs won't have this level of gear so you have an edge there, and with many weddings being based on a colour scheme use this to your advantage.

This Saturday I have a wedding where thr Bride asked for NO Angry Colours. She then specified "REDs" and "YELLOWs" were angry colours, so I have simply removed those colours from 3600 dmx steps. Took me a couple hours work to get em sorted but hopefully the referrals from doing this will more than make it worthwhile.

Also moving heads can be effectively used inremote applications for uplighting or slow colour sweeps of the ceilings, walls or floor.

DMX lighting can be purchased in Black, White or Silver so can be suitable for a wide range of venues where the visual amount of gear is kept to a minimum but maximising on the finished effect.

Also here in the UK, Lighting is simply part of every DJs setup, it's not an extra, the simple fact I can take out about $20,000 of equipment for the basic hire fee sells itself, add to that the customer care and DJi tools makes it at a very desireable service when times get hard.

[Free DJ America]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(HeadlineDJ @ Feb 20 2006, 11:18 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'> This Saturday I have a wedding where thr Bride asked for NO Angry Colours. She then specified "REDs" and "YELLOWs" were angry colours, so I have simply removed those colours from 3600 dmx steps[/b][/quote]

This is actually really interesting... The bride may sound like a lunatic, but she's probably right. I watched some special on Discovery or PBS about colors and how they affect the mood. Red and Yellow are colors which induce impatience which is allegedly why McDonald's and Burger King incorporated those colors in it's restaurants, so people would hurry up, eat and get out.

[Free DJ America]

I'm not sure if the gloom and doom is economic driven or just what. Don't read too much into what I'm about to say - It's just my opinion:

I read Wolfie's post and it made me think that someone had seen the light - Almost three years ago, I sent out a newsletter giving "average" budgets for party planning clients nationwide, which was followed by a landslide of angry comments and replies about how I was crazy and all DJs should charge $1500 minimum, etc... This one email managed to catapult me to a whole new status of moron on the ProDJ boards back then. The data for those averages was derived from all the DJ Leads I had processed, where I was privy to the client's budget goals.

Fast Forward a couple of years, I published the results of a survey, where DJs from around the Country devulged their avearge rates along with plenty of other info. Unlike a couple of years ago, I had very little protest from DJs about the findings with rates. Here's a link to that info: Average National Rate for Weddings and Parties $500 - FDJA Members Survey Results Summary

There are many DJs who use the tried and tested method of advertising their lowest rates first, instead of clubbing their prospects with their dream rates first. I say it's better to give the client some realistic idea of what they'll be spending upfront... BUT START WITH YOUR LOWEST PRICES! Others may disagree, but when was the last time you bought something , or inquired about it when NO PRICE was shown? Or what about a really high price? Even if you knew absolutely nothing about the product or service you are buying (and therefore have very little idea of it's value), you still know what makes you interested in it at first.

How's this - Which would you be more likely to call:

"Great Sounding DJ Micrpohones" 888-micsrus
or
"High Quality DJ Microphones starting at just $9.95" 800-djmicro

or where would you get your oil changed at:

"Raldolpho's Luxury Automobile Lubrication Specialists" Periodic Automobile Lubrication Services
or
"Quick Oil Change Place" Most makes and models for $19.95 while you wait.

It's all an illusion... Either microphone place may have a $50 microphone. Either oil change place may have a cheapo oil change or an expensive one... The later examples simply show that they know what appeals to people's emotions. People want deals... Even if they are only attracted by the low price and then actually want more - It's up to a good salesman to help them compromise between what they want and what they can afford.

Sure - There's the exception... The aristocrat who wants only the best and the more it costs the better. Honestly though, MOST people don't think like that.

[Wolfie]

This is true.

Location plays an important role as well.

Delaware is a small state. It measures only 20 some-odd miles across and has but three counties. Yet Delaware's population is currently growing at a rate that's second only to Los Angeles. People are moving here in droves from New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, Northern Virginia and Maryland where taxes and the overall cost of living can be more than double what we have here.

The developers have taken over Central Delaware. It seems that every few weeks a large field is being surveyed and developed. Farms are becoming neighborhoods. The Amish are selling out and houses, apartment complexes and subdivisions are popping up everywhere. The school districts are floating referendums for funding every year because they lack the needed space for all the new students.

In '02 we paid 60K for a 2 bedroom house with 2 acres. New homes situated on a postage stamp start at 275K and the folks from out of state still think it's a bargain.

These newcomers also think $450.00 for a DJ for a 3 hour reception is a bargain.

Here's the rub: Delaware is still a trailer park state and the natives are notoriously tight with a dollar. This area is up to its neck in DJ services. It's been this way for many years. There's more supply than demand and many of these DJs work cheap or cutthroat to stay busy. I think it's sad because there's a better way to do business around here now.

There's Dover Downs with the slots, the state fair in Harrington and two NASCAR races every year. Then you have the beach traffic all summer. There's money to be made in this town. I just wish the lowballers could wake up and see the potential. It would be nice if they'd overprice us for a change instead of the other way around. We don't expect it to happen... but it would be nice.

To be honest, the majority of our wedding bookings come from B&Gs who are new to the area. We've done quite a few backyard receptions in new developments. Shirl and I joke about being the "Welcome to Delaware" DJ company. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

[HeadlineDJ]

hehe You might be onto something there Wolfie.

You should pop an ad in some real estate magazines where New comers would see your advert.

Moving to Delaware?, Getting Married? why not hire xxxxxx for your reception and take advantage of our "Welcome to Delaware DJ" service.

You could possibly give out information during the evening onlocal eateries and other places of interest they might not yet know about. LOL

You'd be the first DJ Tourist Information Service.


Going back to colours.. I often use Magentas, Purples, Pinks, Shades of Blue etc, to create nice colour combinations for weddings, such as the first dances I always use Blue and Pink, as they are traditionally the Boy/Girl colours... I most often half select the colour filters so each light puts out a 50/50 blue/pink colour.

It must owrk as I get a lot of compliments from my lighting, which many UK DJs simply do not get.. in fact 90% of them think lighting is not important and no one notices it.. LOL Wonder if they talso think 90% of the population are blind also.

go figure.

Pic of setup

This image shows a simple setup with no moving heads. What annoys me most about this setup is the room isn't symetrical, so it never looks right on photo's.
The archway is off-center and the dance floor started at once side and as people used it during the night it moved over and looks off-line too.

LOL, but then I'm very picky about things looking perfect.

In the rig are 4 x discharge units, 2 x halogen moons, strobe tubing, 4 mtrs truss, 2 x flame lights and my Martin Audio speaker system.