Business Operations – Page 5

How Do You Perceive Value?

Value.

That challenging little word that so many of us spend so much time working on communicating. It’s easier communicating this with some people then with others, that’s true. But there’s one important factor in the equation to communicating value that I often find is overlooked.

How do you perceive value? Do you often question value?

Do you value what others might not? Or do you not value what others might?

Our business, that of a mobile DJ, is one in which value is not often assigned to anywhere near the level we may believe it could/should/want it to be. The idea that “anyone can be a DJ” is pervasive in today’s society (and even encouraged to a degree within our industry) and it would seem some days, that nothing we can say will get people to believe that we are worth more. Worth more than the $300.00 or $500.00 or $900.00 or $1200 that they had budgeted.

But, are we being hypocritical? How do you perceive value? What do you value?

Would you value what you do, if you were in the other seat? Honestly?

I was out for dinner a couple months ago with some wedding vendor colleagues. We happened to be at a really nice restaurant. One who’s decor, service and quality of food was outstanding. The atmosphere there was magnificent and as you would expect, the prices accurately reflected that.

We were discussing whether or not to place a dessert order, when one of the individuals at the table pronounced that he would not being paying $8.00 for a dessert that he knew only cost them $2.00. The tone in his voice was one of absolute contempt for the idea that he might be paying so much for something, that he understood, cost so little to make.

Know this, I have no problem — zero — with anyone saying they don’t want to pay $8.00 for dessert. That’s totally fine. That’s a lot of money for dessert!

My problem though, was in his expressed reason for not paying the $8.00. If all one believes you’re paying for is the raw materials to create that dessert, you are sadly mistaken and missing out on the bigger picture: the decor, the service, the quality, the atmosphere… every reason we chose that restaurant for. None of that comes for free, and in this case, not cheap.

Don’t want to pay $8.00 for dessert? That’s fine, but if it fits the environment it’s being presented in, appreciate it’s value, even if you’re not going to buy it.

Is someone really only paying a DJ for their music and gear and nothing else? Or are they missing out on a bigger picture?

Do you get the entire picture? Or are you much like the prospective clients who claim you are not worth your price?

How do you perceive value? Do you appreciate value?

What type of prospective client would you be? Your best, or your worst?

~ Dave T.

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Folder Structure & Layout

I’ve often been asked how it is that I seem to fly through my computer so rapidly, finding every file I need with seemingly, very little effort. Honestly, it’s because I hate having everything everywhere and have spent a lot of time organizing things in such a fashion that works well for me. As with most material and ideas on this blog, this is what works for me, your mileage may vary.

The screen shots you’ll see in this post are of a series of folders that I’ve created based on the exact working folders that I use. The content of them, for the purposes of this blog, is fictitious. As well, I’ve chosen to display everything in “column” view so that you can get a better idea of what folder lead to what.
Continue reading “Folder Structure & Layout”

The Game Master coming to Ontario!

The very first time I met Scott Faver was at the Mobile Beat Las Vegas conference in 2011. Myself, Bryan Podworny & Dale Kerik were staying at the Riviera Hotel & Conference Centre where the conference was taking place and had come downstairs for a networking breakfast with this guy apparently known as “The Game Master”. Having no idea what this was all about and having never before attended any DJ conference in the world, I was intrigued to say the least when I saw the man known as, Scott Faver.

This guy was a ball of energy, had a massive 7:00 AM smile and was wound up and going like the Energizer bunny! Shortly after we’d introduced ourselves to the guys sitting at our table, this man walked up and introduced himself (something like this I’m sure).

“Hi, I’m Scott. And your name is…?”

(obvious response)

“Well it’s great to meet you Dave. Welcome!”

During the next 15 or so minutes, Scott introduced himself to those he didn’t know and said hi to the DJs he already knew. There would easily have been 70 or so of us there and if I had to guess, he knew maybe half of them. What happened after he’d finished saying hi to each of us on a one-on-one basis, was that the room went rather quiet as he went systematically from table to table, saying every one of our names! It was incredible!

This man knew how to interact with people in an entirely unique way to what I had ever seen. When he wasn’t sure of one name, he’d move on to the next 1 or 2 people and then, out of nowhere, would spin around and with an excited but military like precision, state the person’s correct name and keep going! This was Scott Faver. The man who could memorize a pile of new names just like that! He went on to share with us a technique for doing just that… and much, much more.

Meeting Scott under those circumstances is precisely how hundreds upon hundreds of DJs have met him. Scott’s now famous, “Breakfast With The Game Master” (BWTGM for short) breakfast networking and educational meetings are extremely popular (even at 7:00 AM in Vegas!) and they reside exclusively at the Las Vegas DJ Show. Scott has inspired DJs with many game ideas, but also much, much more.

His seminar as presented at the recent CDJ Show was on the topic that with sincere devotion to people, your business will succeed. And it’ll likely succeed so much so, that paid advertising will become a thing of the past for you. This, as we’d say in Canada, is simply the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Scott. And the greatest thing is, you don’t have to wait until the Las Vegas DJ Show to experience and learn about some of the precious materials that he shares.

If you’re within a short days drive or a quick flight from Ottawa, Ontario, please join what I can guarantee you, will be a most unique learning experience with Scott. It’ll be just you with 15 other people. The BWTGM breakfasts are good, but they’re nothing like I’m sure this is going to be!

A workshop has been set up to be led by Scott Faver for one day only on May 20, 2014 in Ottawa, Ontario. I’ve heard though, that unless a pile more people don’t sign up in the next 3 days, this opportunity to seriously increase the demand for your services and ultimately the success of your revenue, will disappear. As in, it simply won’t happen.

The networking, client service & performance gems you’ll come out with are going to impact your business in a very positive way. I implore you, please take this opportunity. I’ve learned so much from Scott that has helped to elevate my business in the areas of marketing, communicating with wedding VIPs, interaction and most of all, my corporate work. I plan every year to take on about 4 or 5 somewhat “involved” corporate parties and I only do so because of the knowledge and confidence I’ve acquired as a result of Scott Faver.

Should you have dreams that are bigger then the current size of your business, this will be a great start to assembling the pieces of your bridge to those dreams.

Believe it or not, for less money then what I just bought a bluetooth speaker for, you can take part in this full 1 day workshop by contacting Steve Bourguignon here.

Let’s make this happen. Your business will appreciate it. Your clients will love it.

~ Dave T.

Looking back at the Calgary CDJ Show 2014

On the road now. And during the nearly 1200 KMs we’ve got to drive over the next 12 or so hours, a lot of details of yesterday’s CDJ Show were discussed.

I’m travelling with Bryan Podworny, Dale Kerik & Cory Gulenchin and we’ve all enjoyed our trip to Calgary for the show and found it very worth while. As a regional show, it was very successful at bringing together a series of worthwhile seminars and good product demos and displays. The DJs that attended were also eager individuals that wanted to up their game and work towards bettering what we all know and love about our industry. Very inspiring. It was a pleasure meeting all of you!

Showroom Floor — American DJ booth, CDJ Show showroom floor

The exhibitors had great product displays, knew what they were talking about and were happy to provide well thought out answers. A definite plus for a smaller, regional show, is that everyone has lots of time for everyone (think Disc Jockey News Conclave November 9 – 12, 2014). It may have even resulted in this guy purchasing a new toy for himself… very eager to now learn Serato DJ from the ground up and try out my new Pioneer DDJ-SX (now wish I wouldn’t have missed the Serato DJ seminar at this show)!

The friendly hospitality and welcome of those in the Calgary community of mobile disc jockeys was also outstanding. Huge thanks to the great team of people that really sweated really hard over the last 3 months to pull this show together.

In addition to the presenters I wrote about yesterday, here is a sampling of what we learned about and picked up this past weekend at the CDJ Show:

– The pros & cons to placing your booth in a variety of difference places at a wedding show.
– Don’t “schedule” an “appointment” or a “meeting”, rather, plan visits (thank you Scott Faver).
– Being told what the fines are for improper use of lasers (depending on their classification) was really educational. Being informed of what the unique classifications are in Canada was helpful too.
– Scott Faver really is up for a phone call anytime if you need help brainstorming an idea for a party (for FREE too, thanks Scott!).
– Listening to Vickie Musni talking about the 4 different personality types is a lot of fun! It can be very helpful for not only understanding the people already around you, but also those who you have yet to meet, those that might one day become clients of yours. (I’d witnessed Vickie present this seminar once before and it’s still as good as ever!)

To sum up, it was an absolute pleasure making the overnight trip to arrive just in time for the start to the first Calgary DJ show. About shows and conferences like this in general, Bryan Podworny said it best today as we were cruising along the pavement under a cloud-filled prairie sky…

“Nothing beats the reinforcement of meeting other people in the industry who want to succeed. These shows are a great place to come together as a group and bounce ideas off each other.”

That, my friends, is the truth. And it’s worth something. It’s worth a lot.

Next conference stop? Well I can’t make ARMDJs this year (but you should!) so it’ll have to be sunny, Las Vegas, Nevada for the Las Vegas DJ Show this September. See you there!

~ Dave T.

(By the way, in preparation for a “RESOURCES” page on this blog, what DJ shows are you aware of in addition to these? Mobile Beat, Midwest DJs Live, the CDJ Show, ARMDJs, the DJ Expo, The Las Vegas DJ Show, Disc Jockey News Conclave. Let me know here, thanks!)

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All content is © Dave Ternier but sharing of blog content online (Facebook, chat groups, etc.) is strongly encouraged provided the following two conditions are met: 1) Direct URL to the blog post must be shared and any part of blog quoted must be attributed to Dave Ternier or aDJthought.com and 2) Copying and pasting an entire blog post in it’s entirety is not permissible, but if quoting, please quote no more then 1 – 2 paragraphs.

Seek to specialize.

At our wedding vendor networking event last night, a great question was put to our presenter, the new owner of a bridal salon. She’s been running the salon for the past 12 months and the question was about discovering what she thought her biggest challenge in the upcoming year was maybe going to be.

Among her many answers, she spoke about the idea of trying to please everyone and how impossible that can be to do. Focus on YOUR business she said.

While those ideas can go in many directions and to varying degrees of depth, it reminded me of a decision I made a few years ago. That was to change my business name and focus on what I really wanted to do.

Prior to being known as Special Request Weddings, I was Special Request Disc Jockey & Imaging (how about that for a mouthful?!). I then decided, after much thought and discussion with others, that I was going to rename and brand myself as one that specialized in weddings. Thus, Special Request Weddings was born.

Shortly after the name change took place, I recall being at a local Canadian Disc Jockey Association meeting and handing out my new cards. One of the CDJA members looked at it and exclaimed, “Well now people will think you only do weddings!” Yes, I replied, that’s the point.

I remember the individual being very taken aback by this. No one around the region that I knew of had ever specialized in one segment of the services that an average mobile DJ does. Instead, many “specialized” in weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, christmas parties, school dances, grad, etc (all at the same time). I’m not entirely sure that this needs to be pointed out here, but according to dictionary.com, to specialize is defined as: “to train in or devote oneself to a particular area of study, occupation, or activity”. If you decide to specialize, honouring the generally accepted meaning of the word “specialist” in your message will carry a lot more weight in your marketing.

People seek our specialists everyday. If you seek to specialize, you’ll be rewarded for doing so.

Even though an optometrist is a doctor, my guess is you wouldn’t go to him to have your tooth pulled. But what if that doctor specialized in everything, would that change your mind?

~ DT

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All content is © Dave Ternier but sharing of blog content online (Facebook, chat groups, etc.) is strongly encouraged provided the following two conditions are met: 1) Direct URL to the blog post must be shared and any part of blog quoted must be attributed to Dave Ternier or aDJthought.com and 2) Copying and pasting an entire blog post in it’s entirety is not permissible, but if quoting, please quote no more then 1 – 2 paragraphs.