March 5, 2003 Website Help & Promotion Chat

[Jim Casey]

JimCasey Well...now that we got a few here...lets talk about web marketing

BillyT okay lets

artdj Do you really have to spend money to make money?

JimCasey And what resources we use to market our websites (and hopefully we don’t all get kicked out like last night)

BillyT simple answer

BillyT yes

artdj Amen!

artdj kicked out

artdj Did you have gate crashers?

JimCasey Last night was rough so we are doing it again tonight...

JimCasey No, just the server was freaky

JimCasey Tonight we are just fine

JimCasey So...I use WeDJ as my biggest source of incoming wedding traffic

JimCasey I know there are many other sources...party pros, prodj,,,

JimCasey others?

artdj Have you been getting spontaneous emails lately from wedding sites?

artdj I have.



JimCasey catering

artdj You got it.

JimCasey I have...Billy Johnny...you getting the same?

artdj How about the one where they list you and then send you a billing...or at least say you've been listed for almost a year?

BillyT I have been getting alot of hits from my availability calendar



JimCasey But what search engines are you being found from...

artdj Me, too. However, I can't tell where they are located within the states.

JimCasey DJ search engines, traditions such as Yahoo, google?

BillyT yahoo, google, all the major engines

artdj msn

JimCasey How about you Johnny?

BillyT alexa really shows my website well with over 3,000,000 hits a month

artdj I believe WeDJ and MDJN has a lot to do with my prospects and hits.

JimCasey I know I can credit WeDJ, my aggressiveness with the major search engines (particularly Yahoo) and others

JimCasey Billy...you are getting 3,000,000 hits a month?

BillyT that’s what Alexa says

BillyT ????

Johnny_Dee Sorry...I had an e-mail come in that I had to jump on

artdj When WeDJ submits to the search engines, is it "WeDJ" only?

JimCasey That’s cool Johnny...working the leads!

Johnny_Dee That's hits...not unique visitors

artdj Surfers?

JimCasey We DJ had software that is supposed to submit the URL to many search engines

dj4sale Login

dj4sale IP63.6.72.2

dj4sale UserList_

dj4sale hi

Johnny_Dee WeDJ seems to have slowed down for me

JimCasey Hey dj4sal

JimCasey sale

JimCasey Yes We Dj has spurts for me...

dj4sale hi Jim

artdj I agree with that comment, Johnny. Last hit was February and that was anonymous (sp?)

JimCasey I had FOUR reservations today...

artdj Oh go away!

artdj Cool. Were you all ready booked?

JimCasey I'll only be able to book one as the others are days I have 2-7 weddings

JimCasey I will be sending the others along soon Art

dj4sale all I get are anonymous from WeDJ

Johnny_Dee my thinking is that one they went to the new site they lost their ranking with the search engines

artdj WeDJ?

artdj you mean site rework?

Johnny_Dee yes

artdj I liked the old one better.

JimCasey I did too...

JimCasey I think he did too much work for really very little return

artdj Too fancy and very busy

21 JimCasey DJ4sale...we are talking tonight about our web marketing with dj databases and traditional search engines

dj4sale I get a lot from all-time favorites, but haven't booked any yet

JimCasey Same here...forgot about ATF

Johnny_Dee if he renamed pages to a different name the engine data bases will not have these new pages in their data base

00 JimCasey I have been getting consistent leads recently from ATF, but NO ONE wants to book

JimCasey I think he actually kept the pages the same

dj4sale and they want a commission if you do book

artdj ATF--commission? It pays to advertise?

Johnny_Dee Respond has been pretty good for us

JimCasey ATF will list you for free, but expect a commission in return for any you book

artdj what percent?

21 JimCasey Respond is terrible here

dj4sale I wouldn't go with respond

JimCasey It's actually kind of unclear...ATF is now doing a regular monthly ad program too

JimCasey Johnny...knowing your rates, how are you able to turn Respond customers into dollars?

Johnny_Dee with Respond you have to jump on the leads right away with their limit of 5 only

dj4sale I only do the free listings.

00 JimCasey Do you get a lot of low balling budgets in those leads?

artdj How many other djs get the same lead at the same time?

BillyT I do free listings and advertise only in the local area here, and we do very very well at bridal shows

Johnny_Dee we don't quote on most of them but some come thru in our price range

dj4sale I've been in the free listings for over 2 years+ and no bookings

JimCasey That sounds similar to me dj4sale

dj4sale I won't pay for a listing unless I find one that gives good leads

dj4sale and none have worked

dj4sale I follow up every lead

dj4sale many are other dj's

artdj searching for your rate structure?

dj4sale yes

dj4sale + how I sell

21 dj4sale What I offer

21 artdj Or bogus because the site wants your money?

Johnny_Dee our fees are right on our web site for the world to see

JimCasey I don’t mind the other Djs...gives me good practice

JimCasey Same here..Johnny’s site was the reason I decided to post my prices (I've never revealed that before)

Johnny_Dee LOL

artdj I'd just as soon have the dj contact me personally and ask for my rates....recroprocity.

JimCasey I'm serious...that was impressive...

artdj can't spell ugh!

JimCasey I getcha Art

dj4sale I asked all the dj's at the last bridal show for their rates and shared mine

artdj Jim...we had a couple of low ballers at our show?

Johnny_Dee It's not that expensive to be listed on a number of these sites. If you book just one job it will easily cover your costs

JimCasey I did the same...we had one (art can attest to this) that was $300 for EIGHT hours

JimCasey Exactly...Johnny...

artdj when does he sleep?

JimCasey I paid $2 for one year of gold with WeDJ

dj4sale Jaws dropped when I asked, but they understood that we are all getting a good rate and after talking we had lots in common

Johnny_Dee we have gold with WeDJ also

JimCasey $ with Partypros, $ with Pro DJ

JimCasey $0 with Party pop that was a TOTAL waste of money

Johnny_Dee how is party pros?

dj4sale asking a DJ their rates is a great icebreaker when you introduce yourself to a fellow dj that you don't know

JimCasey Ok...hits here and there...I got a surprising wedding from www.jcpenney.com

artdj How about Good v Evil Yellow Pages? What are they?

Johnny_Dee we are also with ProDJ (paid) and have not had much luck with them

artdj Dj4...how to make friends and influence competition.

JimCasey I am starting to get a few leads from Pro DJ recently

JimCasey lol @ Art

00 dj4sale got no leads from the N.A.M.E. listing--just a few visits

JimCasey NAME I would not count on much

JimCasey Anyone use Find Your DJ?

21 dj4sale prodj listing just dies for me

dj4sale died

Johnny_Dee we just dropped Bar Mitzvah Find-It

artdj got leads from name...but doesn't everyone in the general bride's vicinity get the same lead?

00 JimCasey Not work for you Johnny...I was just thinking since I am jumping in about going that way

JimCasey Yes and No Art

JimCasey It depends on how they fill out the form

JimCasey Has anyone tried "Rainbow Weddings" .com

21 Johnny_Dee Only one lead form Bar Mitzvah Find-IT in one year and it came in at renewal time so I'm not sure that it was a real one.

artdj Dangling the carrot to keep you wishing?

Johnny_Dee I did Rainbow a couple of years ago...no luck

21 JimCasey I keep getting asked by them...I guess $99 a year to list

Johnny_Dee the Gay market has a lot of money to spend

JimCasey I had my highest paying gig ever ($) from a commitment ceremony two years ago

artdj Is it the prices we charge that causes lack of commitment on behalf of the brides who contact us vs. or vs. those sites we pay for referrals?

JimCasey I think it is all on how you present your service Art...some brides just will never get it and settle on price o matter what

artdj That's the trend I see, too

Johnny_Dee I think brides fill out info forms all over the place and then see what comes in

JimCasey I don’t worry about it...I'm about to book a Bar Harbor wedding for $999

artdj how far away from Maine was the couple?

JimCasey I like calling a bride within minutes of receiving the info (I have my WeDJ info sent to my cell phone) They are usually amazed

Johnny_Dee I love Bar Harbor

JimCasey Couple in Exeter New Hampshire

JimCasey I will stay in Winterport that weekend

dj4sale The only people who booked me from my site found my site through a search--usually typing in town wedding dj etc.

artdj Jim...need to talk to you about NH and VT or MA listing on WeDJ gold. Later.

Johnny_Dee a tremendous amount of my new business is from our web site

JimCasey MSN is awful lately

artdj Go digital Jim.

BillyT yea baby go

artdj define awful

BillyT rotten, no good, miserable

JimCasey did I miss anything?

BillyT nope

JimCasey LOL

BillyT we all decided that the you were gonna start an advertising site for us lol

artdj And how do you find Superpages....com? via Verizon. Get many calls from that resource?

JimCasey I stay FAR away from them

00 artdj "reach out and touch someone"

JimCasey touch my wallet you mean

BillyT I use verizon for my yellow page ad

JimCasey touch

artdj me too...but not a display.

BillyT just a one liner

dj4sale I dropped YP ads

BillyT I do very well with them

artdj had my web address added.

dj4sale 4 calls in a year

JimCasey I did too, Verizon messed up and left mine in so I have a FREE year to get ZERO sales

22 JimCasey It’s kind of funny to see how it is different strokes for different folks

artdj Remember, Jim when I told you that it does not pay to be first on the list? with super pages?

BillyT People in my area use the YP alot

JimCasey They do here too, but they are looking for a bargain from what I can see

dj4sale Price checkers use YP here

artdj I got the first calls...set the rate ceiling and no more calls back.

JimCasey HAOLE!

DJ_Haole hey

artdj How do you pronounce that....I won't go there. Giggle

JimCasey From Idea Sharing 4........itssssssssssss Shane!

artdj silent H.

DJ_Haole haha

DJ_Haole HOW - LEE

DJ_Haole hehe

JimCasey We got a juicy announcement tonight for Idea Sharing 5

BillyT go ahead

artdj leak it for us

BillyT announce away Jim

dj4sale Same business volume here without the YP advertising bill

JimCasey Not yet

JimCasey That’s after 9pm

artdj you heard it first on ....

00 artdj c'mon jim

00 JimCasey This is a GREAT one....

artdj who is merging with whom?

DJ_Haole haha

21 BillyT Are we all going to get lots of money?

artdj just a guess.

JimCasey Nope

artdj name rates going down?

BillyT more money?

00 artdj Probably.

BillyT less time

artdj jim is thinking about it....

JimCasey Oh NAME rates not going down

dj4sale free keychain? lol

artdj Two years for one low price?

BillyT Jim my clock says 9

DJ_Haole Logout_

JimCasey 9

00 BillyT yep

BillyT okay for you military folks

DJ_Haole Login

DJ_Haole IP4.22..4

DJ_Haole UserList_

DJ_Haole haha

JimCasey ohhhhhhh

JimCasey wb haole

BillyT goota go to bed soon 4am comes early

00 DJ_Haole oops followed a command a little late

JimCasey alright...are you coming to Idea Sharing Billy?

DJ_Haole wish I was going to be there

JimCasey Oh you will want to be there Shane...this is gonna be a great one!

DJ_Haole I can’t

DJ_Haole very busy here

DJ_Haole too bad about the band and dj show

dj4sale Who is going to the N.A.M.E. show?

JimCasey I wish I could...

DJ_Haole I was looking forward to that one

JimCasey I wanted Americas Band and Dj too

JimCasey Alright...time to give a tube away

BillyT drum roll

BillyT drum roll

BillyT drum roll

DJ_Haole jumps up and down

artdj trumpets

JimCasey ART!

DJ_Haole pick me

DJ_Haole pick me

JimCasey Congratulations!

BillyT congrats art

JimCasey Art you are the first hour's winner

DJ_Haole go art it’s your birthday

dj4sale ways 2 go

artdj Art...me...wow!

artdj Thanks. What's a tube?

BillyT look down

00 JimCasey Yes...call Sure Glow at 888-920-GLOW tomorrow and talk to Dan Segel...tell him you won the contest last night

artdj I don't use props.

DJ_Haole well it enlarges certain areas of your body

DJ_Haole hey rob

JimCasey Good giveaways though

DJ_Haole how are u

artdj how...d rob

Rob_Peters Shane...keep it clean in my chat.......

BillyT hey Rob

DJ_Haole haha

BillyT great giveaways Jim

JimCasey Alright...well I now turn the chat over to Rob Peters...

JimCasey and now......................................

See the DJ Idea Sharing 5 Chat Archive for continuation

[ March 12, 2003, 12:16 PM: Message edited by: Jim Casey ]