Ever asked their parents?

We all know that testimonials help communicate the quality and value of the work we do to prospective clients. Most of us, I am sure, request detailed feedback from the brides & grooms we work with in order to collect some of those testimonials. I also ask them, a number of times, to suggest ways in which I could improve my service. That’s where a feedback survey REALLY starts to become valuable. But this post isn’t entirely about that… it’s about the parents.
Continue reading “Ever asked their parents?”

Do You Work For or With Your Clients?

Do you work FOR or WITH your clients? It’s an important question and one that I believe, deserves careful consideration.

Do you patiently wait for all of the answers to the questions you’ve put to your clients? Or do you try to collaboratively discover the solutions to the questions you’ve laid before them?

There is no wrong answer to any of these questions. However, if you choose to carefully consider this question – and your response to it – you will better understand the kind of experience you are providing for your clients. Continue reading “Do You Work For or With Your Clients?”

Scott Faver opens the CDJ Show!

With his popular, likeable and well known high energy, Scott Faver opened up the May 2014 edition of the CDJ Show in Calgary, Alberta this morning!

Scott Faver at CDJ Show May 2014

Scott’s presentation “Promotion is not Devotion” spoke at length about methods through which he “promotes” his name and his company. “Promotion” though, as he sees it, isn’t exactly what you might think in this case. Through an unparalleled devotion to his clients, Scott demonstrated how he stays top of mind with not only clients, but past clients, wedding vendors, etc. In order to accomplish this, Scott insists that proper and real relationships must take place before, during and after any event. This translates, when done efficiently, to a service that requires little to no advertising which is what Scott has enjoyed for many years.

As it seems to have been a common thread in materials that I’ve been reading and listening to over the last few weeks, something else Scott also shared really stood out to me, “If you are everything to everyone, you are nothing to all. FOCUS.”

Wes Straub at CDJ Show May 2014

Later that morning, Wes Straub, DJ and Website designer, spoke under the seminar heading “Power up Your Brand and Business”. Wes’s DJ background has taken him all over the map from clubs in North America to across the Atlantic in Ibiza. He also currently works as a user experience, interaction and graphic designer, technical development and project manager for Inspire Studios Inc.

The information and presentation Wes shared on creating an online presence for you and your brand was very well polished and delivered in a manner that was engaging and easily understood for even the most novice marketing individual. When discussing your brand and the idea of taking it online, his approach to that conversation requires answers to 2 very specific things about you and your business. Before you go online… define who your customers are and define who you are. All you’ll do is waste your time and everyone else’s time if you go online before defining both of those things.

I’ll also share 4 rules here that Wes gave us for creating and maintaining meaningful online content:

#1 Less noise, more voice. Be human online and make it count.
#2 It’s for your audience, not the entire world. You know who your audience is right?
#3 Be original, be unique, be inspiring. Create conversation, whether it’s about what you actually do or not.
#4 Audience first, SEO second. Search Engine Optimization is important, but never forget that your content needs to be written for your audience first.

Near the end of his presentation, Wes brought up a topic that I’ve written briefly on before and am very passionate about: How you represent yourself in every public face is your brand. Your brand is everything you do. Your brand is you.

That sums up this write up for the May 2014 edition of the CDJ Show in Calgary. If all goes according to plan, I’ll put together one more write up tomorrow.

Now… to go and find some sleep…

~ Dave T.

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Event execution is only part of the equation

How can we, as mobile DJs, stay relevant in today’s society of “I don’t need you, I, or my friend, can do it”?

There are already more than 1 billion smartphone users in the world, out of which, well over 95 million are from North America. Nearly over night, this gave each and every person on this planet the entitlement to call themselves a lot of new things because of what they can now “do”. 

If you own a smart phone, you can be a photographer (and in some cases, rightly so). 
If you own a smart phone, you can be a DJ (and again, in some cases, rightly so). 
I’m sure you can think of many other examples.

What makes us of any value anymore? Sure we can read a crowd, but that other person might get lucky and also play music that’s just right. Sure we’ve got tens of thousands of songs, but that other person might have access to iTunes (over 26 million songs).

One of the reasons I’m attending The Business of Weddings conference in Toronto next month is because of the continued inspiration I receive from Sean Low (through his blog) who will be one of the keynote speakers. In response to a question from an interview with Sean (just recently posted on the Business of Weddings website) he states:



“Execution is inevitable and therefore worthless as a differentiator. The only thing that matters today is what happens in between engagement and execution.”

There are many things that matter, but that statement in large part, reflects why some DJs book full calendars, on average, 5 – 6 times the average price of what they’re told “the market can bear”. Those DJs don’t likely sell their entire services, based on what will inevitably be, execution of the event itself. In large part, the reason they’re getting paid more, is because of the service they’re providing from the moment a prospective client initiates contact with them, right up until the start of the event.

I have been surprised by clients twice in the last 14 months, particularly due to the size of wedding fee I already command as a DJ/MC, by getting tipped 3 – 4 weeks before the wedding date itself. I don’t believe there can be any further proof to the statement that Sean Low makes above, than that very fact.

How can we, as mobile DJs, stay relevant in today’s society of “I don’t need you, I, or my friend, can do it”?

Written as originally posted to the CPDJA online Facebook group on October 2, 2013.