Word of Mouth — PART 1

In a world where everyone is fighting for time and space to promote their products and services, being heard above the noise of it all can often be a challenge. But you don’t need to shout and scream in order to be heard above the noise. No, there is a much better way.

As a DJ in the building (or rebuilding) stage of your business, it can be tempting to think that all you need to focus on is marketing. Should I buy Google Ad Words, book a wedding show booth space, subscribe to a listing on WeddingWire, etc. While each of those might play an important role in the development of a DJ business, they should all be secondary to what you as an individual and you as a performer bring to your clients and their events.

If your performance skills are anywhere from beginner to average in today’s day and age of “everyone’s a DJ,” you may be stuck in a vicious cycle of always depending on excessive marketing to fill your calendar. As you develop your talent and skill level (through methods such as 3rd party performance critique, workshops, conferences, etc.), you will become less dependent on that excessive marketing. That is when the real excitement begins.

When you rise above being average, your clients, their guests, fellow wedding vendors and many more will go out of their way to rave about you to the people they know and the people they meet. That idea can be summed up with the well-known phrase, “word of mouth.” This idea that the people you meet, the people you work with, and everyone else in your circles will tell everyone they know about you, is without a doubt, the most powerful form of marketing available.

I think we would all agree that word of mouth is important, but I am not convinced we truly grasp just how powerful it can be. If we did, why would so many of us still be focused on other traditional advertising methods like print ads, paid listings and wedding shows? Sure those may have their place in your marketing plan, but don’t let word of mouth marketing take a back seat simply because you don’t write someone a check for it.

What are YOUR best sources of word of mouth?

Click here to read PART 2.

~ Dave T.

 

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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.

All content of aDJthought.com may be available for reproduction for commercial purposes (print, website, email newsletter, etc.) but a request must be filed to receive approval for such use. Thanks!

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?”

Become a Proactive Team Player

Your willingness to be an amazing team player plays a bigger role in the success and longevity of your DJ career than you might realize. Part of what defines some of the most successful and sought after mobile DJs is their willingness to be an amazing team player (even if at times, it might feel like they’re the only “team” player). In fact not only are they team players, they are very proactive team players.

The reasons for becoming a proactive team player are endless. You will enjoy more successful events, things will run smoother, your clients will Continue reading “Become a Proactive Team Player”

Become Something Worth Fighting For

“I don’t know how many times I have to lose the gig to the ‘In-house DJ’. Ugh!!!”

“Why are wedding couples becoming DIYers? Well whatever, they’ll regret it later.”

“I just lost a potential booking to a DJ that quoted $300.00 for a 7 hour party including lighting.”

There have never been more opportunities than now to become something your clients will stop at nothing to have for their wedding. As many of my mobile DJ colleagues have recently discovered, clients will not only hire you for your asking price, but they’ll even pay you $200, maybe $400, maybe $1200 in travel fees alone!

“Everything went so perfectly and you greatly contributed to the outcome of our day. I hope we work together again soon! (waiting for a sister to get engaged, lol)”

Seanna & Blake

I had a guy at my house the other day fixing some internet issues I was having. He commented that it appeared from my office, that I was a DJ. “Do you have anything in the Cloud?” He asked me. I said that no, I was a mobile DJ who specialized in weddings. The “club style” and posting mixes online isn’t currently what I’m pursuing. He then commented that a few of his friends from Toronto would post their mixes to SoundCloud accounts and that he had a lot of fun, at first, subscribing to them. But now, he finished with saying, “Everyone’s a DJ, it’s not that special anymore.”

Whether or not we’d like to believe or accept it, his opinion is one that is shared by millions and millions of people from every corner of the world. But you can change that. The resources are there to become that something special… once again.

This post comes as a result of the endless reading you can make of DJs complaining within Facebook groups (for a variety of reasons, but often one of the complaints listed at the top) that they’re not being hired for the events they want or feel they deserve. The resources are there to change those fortunes. And they work. They work if YOU commit yourself to them.

I’ve slowly started populating a new page on this site titled Resources. If you were to utilize each and every resource as noted on that page, you can and will become something worth fighting for. The public will stop at nothing to hire you…so long as you’d be ok with that. Would you be ok with that?

“You had us and our guests wanting more! We have, and will continue, to suggest you to anyone we know needing your services – not only so that they can have the same amazing experience we had, but so that we as guests could enjoy you again as well!”

Nicole & Scotty

There have never been more opportunities than now. Become something your clients will stop at nothing to have for their functions. Let’s make that a reality, for all of us!

~ Dave T.

 

Please use the free subscribe form in order to be notified of any future blog entries and to be eligible for future content that’ll be available exclusively to subscribers only.

 

___________
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.

All content of aDJthought.com may be available for reproduction for commercial purposes (print, website, email newsletter, etc.) but a request must be filed to receive approval for such use. Thanks!

Laugh and Applaud… But Don’t Just Follow

Shortly after a wedding from a couple of years ago, I received a Facebook message from the groomsman that had presented a toast to the Groom at the reception. In part, it read as follows:

“Hey Dave!

I was thinking back the other day and the nerves really died off a lot quicker because of some early laughter a few times. I realized that you were right there letting out the chuckles loudly. I don’t know if you were being sincere or just helping a brother out but in either case thanks a ton cause it helped out!”

Ever since that day, I’ve made an extra effort to keep myself seriously engaged with all laughter and applause at a wedding (whether from speeches or something else).

Then, I started noticing something else. I didn’t just have to follow the guests’ responses, I could actually lead the applause. I could make it happen when maybe no one else would.

If I was properly understanding where the guests were at in relation to what was being said in a speech, where they were in a particular moment, I could prompt applause more often and thereby bring more enthusiasm and meaning to these moments!

As I took part in Chris & Jillian’s wedding this past weekend, I conciously caught myself at least 5 or 6 times (yes, I was counting!) prompting and leading the applause. It made for some really great moments and helped build the confidence in the speakers and what they were sharing. It raised the energy of the room. It created further respect for the person speaking. It made people smile. It further connected them to what and who was being spoken about in those given moments.

If you’re looking for happier guests, happier parents and needless to say, a happier bride & groom, of course you should laugh and applaud. But don’t just follow it, lead it.

~ Dave

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