Disc Jockey News MARCH 2017 • Issue #149
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PAGE 2 • Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017
I’ll See You In Vegas
Lucky To Be In This Industry
By Mike Walter
I’ve been writing for this fine publication for many many years now, and I always feel an extra excitement when I submit an article that will appear in an “Expo Edition” (meaning the paper that’ll be handed out a DJ convention). Such was the feeling I had when my esteemed publisher Mr. John Young notified me that my March article will appear in the issue handed out at Mobile Beat Las Vegas. So, if you’re reading this at home, let me assure you, you’re not missing much. It’s only one of the largest DJ conventions of the year, in the wildest city in the world, with tons of seminars and great night-time activities . . . Seriously, we’re probably all sitting around bored out of our minds. But if you’re reading this in Las Vegas, let me be one of the first to say: Welcome to Mobile Beat Las Vegas 21. Let’s have a great week! As I write this, my final preparations are underway to head out west, and I’m ready for a great week. I can’t tell you what I’m looking forward to most because there is just so much! My good friend Marcello is kicking off the entire week of education with a seminar called “Celebrate Life.” I’ve seen Marcello offer this content before, and it is nothing short of amazing, so I’m sure this will be off-the-charts and get the ball rolling on a jammed packed week. In the next few days there are seminars from luminaries like Jeffrey Gitomar and Ted DiBiase and industry celebrities like Ron Ruth and Mitch Taylor and so many others. I plan on being in the seminar room for four straight days, taking notes and looking for nuggets. Then, on the final day of the convention, I get to speak. I am presenting a seminar titled “10 Things You Can Do to Throw a Better Party.” The title is probably self-explanatory, but let me elaborate. I’ll be discussing and showing (via video footage) examples of things that you can do to get more dancing at your events, more enthusiasm and more involvement. I’ll be refuting some of the “excuses” I see and hear from other DJs about why they aren’t doing certain things to make their parties better. I’ll be offering alternatives to the way you’ve always done things and trying to get you to think differently when it comes to your events. I have spoken on some of this material previously, but trust me when I tell you this seminar is brand new, and the video examples I’ll be using I have never shown at a DJ convention before. So even if you’ve heard me speak about performance and/or bought some of my products, you’ll want to see this presentation. There will be takeaways galore! If you want to improve your DJ business, the most important steps for you to take are improving your events. If you throw better parties, and if by your per-
formance at those events the guests credit you for their enjoyment, you will generate more referrals. That’s the reason why some DJs in our industry are able to fill their calendars without an ounce of marketing. Their parties make the phones ring. And when someone calls you because they saw you at an event — and had the best time they’ve ever had — price is far less important than when they call you from a random Google search. Isn’t it great when the first question is “Are you available on my date?” rather than “How much do you charge?” Quality referrals help make that happen. And quality referrals come from great parties. They come from packed dance floors. They come from guests who leave your events covered in a sheen of sweat with your business card in their pocket. If you accept that premise (and why wouldn’t you?) then join me Thursday morning, March 16 at 9:30 a.m. in the main seminar room. In my 45-minute seminar I promise to offer you some new (and maybe even challenging) techniques that you can utilize at your next event. It’s called “10 Things You Can Do to Throw a Better Party,” and I promise it’ll be well worth your time. Mike Walter is the owner of Elite Entertainment of New Jersey and a nationally recognized expert in the area of multisystem company development and staff training. You can contact Mike at mikewalter@ discjockeynews.com.
Mike Walter @ MBLV 2017 Thursday March 16 9:30 am
By Tamara Sims
Happy March! Whether you are Irish or not, I certainly consider myself incredibly “Lucky” (stealing this word from MBLV’s favorite sequined-jacket leprechaun, Jimmy Johnson) to be in this industry. No matter how difficult of a day I am having, the minute I sit down in a sales meeting with a newly engaged couple, all of my troubles d i s a p p e a r. Their excitement and enthusiasm is contagious no matter what the age, occupation or economic background. It is our job to make couples feel good about the planning process and the decisions they have made and not to simply “sell” them. I recently attended a small wedding showcase and overheard a sales pitch that left me scratching my head. The couple inquired about photo booth services for their wedding and the salesperson said, “Pretty much every wedding has to have a photo booth these days or you will really be missing out.” The couple walked away and whispered something to each other without grabbing any information from the saleperson. I get it, you sell photo booths, you want to make the sale, but the approach was one that made the couple feel bad. Why not lead with how much fun a photo booth is for your guests, what great memories you will have and what a great keepsake for your guests it will be? (I still have our photo booth strip from Mike and Kelly
Walter’s wedding that I just looked at on Valentine’s Day, and of course it made me smile.) Leading with the positive will always win, even if you don’t make the sale. We are also lucky enough to have the knowledge and experience to guide our couples in the right direction, and for the most part, this is much appreciated. My most recent example is when couples are unsure about utilizing an overhead sound system at their venue versus hiring their DJ Entertainer for all sound needs. Do you want your DJ in the kitchen preparing your chicken? Same idea, right? If you present things in a manner that is relatable and slightly tongue-in-cheek, the more receptive clients become. The couple I shared this with laughed and said they never thought about it that way. They ended up booking us for Ceremony, Cocktail Hour and Reception and also sent me an email that read: “We really appreciate your clear communication, and even though our venue sound options were a bit lower, we would prefer to use you and your team and have peace of mind.” The groom sent me a subsequent email with one simple line: “Thank you for working with us!” Lucky to be in this industry, indeed! Next month I can’t wait to share what I learned at Mobile Beat 2017. I hope I am lucky enough to meet many of you in Las Vegas! Please feel free to share your comments with Tamara at: tamarasims@discjockeynews.com Tamara is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Something 2 Dance 2 DJ Entertainment in Schaumburg, IL, which she proudly owns along with her husband Jay Sims. She has over 20 years experience in the wedding industry and loves creating wonderful wedding memories for her brides and grooms.
MARCH 2017 In This Issue:
Page 2: Mike Walter Page 2: Tamara Sims Page 4: Brian S. Redd Page 4: Mitch Taylor Page 5: Jason Spencer Page 5: Kristin Cole Page 6: Ron Ruth Page 6: Keith KoKoruz Page 7: Jeremy Brech Page 8: Ruthie Flaa www.discjockeynews.com 29442 120th St. Grey Eagle, MN 56336 Phone: 320-285-2323 Published by The Disc Jockey News
Editor/Educational Production Manager: John Young john@discjockeynews.com sales@discjockeynews.com 320-285-2323 office 612-597-4499 cell Sales: Rob Drachler 972-325-4470 Cell robd@discjockeynews.com
Page 9: Michael Joseph Page 10: Joe Bunn Page 10: Dan Carpenter Page 11: Mike Lenstra Page 12: Dave Ternier Page 13: Ed Spencer Page 14: Justin Miller Page 14: Top 30 Charts Page 14: Different Spin Page 15: Dean Carlson
Deadlines: Advertisement deadlines are the 20th of the month. The publication is distributed on the 1st of every month. Subscriptions: Subscriptions to the Disc Jockey News are $25.00/year for US addresses. Subscription forms and foreign rates are available on the website. Advertising: Our ad takers have no authority to bind this newspaper and only publication of an advertisement shall constitute final acceptance of the advertiser’s order. Press Releases: Press releases can be emailed to the Disc Jockey News at pr@discjockeynews.com
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Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017 • Page 3
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PAGE 4 • Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017
Search Your Past Clients By Mitch Taylor
When I was just starting out in my business, I performed like many people do — the same way that I was taught. However, at some point I hit a crossroads. Have you been there? You feel stuck with what you are doing. You are in a rut and don’t know if it’s really what you want to be doing anymore. When you are at a junction in your career, it can be a huge turning point. For me, it was no different. When I found myself at that point, I decided to search for a past mentor of mine. This mentor reignited my flame of passion for business and performance and set me out on the discovery process of my purpose in my niche in the events industry. This course of action led me to researching my past clients, finding out everything I could about them. I wanted to know what made them tick, why they decided to choose my service, what other event services they were searching for and what my business could provide for them that they couldn’t find in another. In researching my past clients, I wanted to identify which ones I thoroughly enjoyed working with. In business, this is called your “ideal client”, and it is important to identify who that is for you. In its simplest form, your ideal client is one that you do your best work with. If you want to truly understand who that is, there is one more step beyond simply combing through your past clients. What traits, qualities, or interests do you find in yourself? Now consider if you share any of those same characteristics or traits with your best past clients. How can you find this out and analyze the similarities and differences you share with them? My answer: Study personalities.
There are all kinds of different personality types and ways to study them. The characteristics and traits you are observing all go along with different personality types. I have taken the MyersBriggs assessment as well as created my DISC profile. However, the easiest system to understand and apply that I have found is explained in Vickie Musni’s book “Personalities For Business.” In it she outlines the four different personality types and breaks them down into easy to understand language that will assist you in the sales process. NUGGET: Understanding personalities will help your business. Take a few minutes and go to vickiemusni.com/the-basics and read the brief overview. While you are there, take the short quiz on the home page and see how you score for each color. Understanding personalities, researching your clients and defining your ideal client go hand-in-hand. Understanding your own personality and the personality types you work with best is really helpful as you aim to define your ideal client. Complete the following rehearsal and then read the last portion of this chapter to get a better understanding of who your ideal client is (and is not) and how to better market to them in the future. This article is an excerpt from the newly released book Sales 4 Event Pros - Revised and Expanded by Mitch Taylor. The book will be first released at Mobile Beat Las Vegas on March 14th. To get your copy go to TayloredSales. com. Mitch Taylor is an 18 year veteran of the mobile disc jockey industry, starting out on the cruise ships of Carnival Cruise Lines. He is a member of the American Disc Jockey Association. Mitch owns and operates Taylored Entertainment in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and can be reached at 906.786.6967 or via email at mitchtaylor@discjockeynews. com.
What The Heck Verizon?? By Brian S. Redd
Have you seen the new Verizon commercial? Some guy goes up in front of an audience with a microphone and starts telling people about a new mobile phone plan. When he’s done, mic drop. Then, he remembers something else he wanted to say, so he pulls out another mic from inside his jacket, starts talking about data or price or something, and does a second mic drop. He does this a third time as well. Gee, thanks Verizon.. Mic drops are nothing new. This commercial is concerning me, though, because it’s getting played a lot as part of Verizon’s new marketing campaign. If people start to think of mic drops as normal, and a great way to get laughs at the end of a speech, we might start running into problems this wedding season with toasts and such. If you are anything like me, you want to hand your clients a solid wireless microphone for a couple of reasons. I mean, you want them to be heard clearly over your PA system. You also want the ease of wireless for both you and your clients’ convenience. Cheap wireless mics won’t do either because you want something that transmits a solid signal without interference or drop-outs. So, how do we handle this potential problem? I’ve done a few videos on the subject and have gotten some interesting feedback. Some say that this is as easy as just
telling the client not to do it. This reminds me of a holiday party I did back in December. I handed the microphone to my contact person to do a welcome speech. She then handed the mic to the boss. He handed it to three other women who were holding a raffle. Every employee went home with something. Each employee got to pick the next winner by announcing them on the microphone. I didn’t feel like I needed to tell a 55-year-old executive to not do a mic drop. Even if I did, would she have told everyone else? Some people are convinced that the capsule in their Shure SM58 is bulletproof, so there’s nothing to worry about. This is a solid mic, no doubt, but after a few good drops, it may never sound quite the same again. Neither one of these responses are
wrong. A good course of action would be to at least do a combination of both warning against drops and picking the right guest microphone. If you are in the market for one, you may want to consider something that’s both Dynamic and Supercardioid. Without going all Ben Stowe on you, the term dynamic describes how these types of microphones convert sound into an electrical signal. They typically don’t sound as good as condenser microphones. However, they are a lot more durable. Because of this, they are what most bands end up using on the road for live performances. I’m not suggesting they won’t get damaged if dropped, but their chances of survival will be much greater than what a condenser microphone would have. Supercardioid is a type of microphone sound pickup pattern. It’s very directional, so it picks up sounds it’s pointed at and eliminates most everything else, including background noise. This is cool because you get a lot more mic gain before feedback. Loads of benefits. Just remember you do have to get these mics good and close to your mouth to be heard properly. There’s nothing wrong with going with cardioid (a wider pick up pattern), but supercardioid seems like it solves more problems than it creates, making it my recommendation for our purposes. Ah, it’s always something, isn’t it? Here’s to wishing you, and your guest microphone, a happy and healthy wedding season . . . *Mic drop* Brian S Redd is a Mobile/Club DJ in Milwaukee WI, DJ Youtuber and an official “American DJ” Artist/ You can reach Brian at: brianredd@discjockeynews.com/
Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017 • Page 5
The 5 Reasons Coaches And Experts Are Hurting Your Business By Jason Spencer
Do you remember the 1988 movie “Cocktail”? Let me quickly sum it up: Brian Flanagan, played by Tom Cruise, takes a bartending job at night while studying for a business degree by day. His boss/mentor, Doug, teaches him the tricks of the bartending trade. At one point in the movie, his mentor says to him that “not a goddamned thing any one of those professors says makes a difference on the street.” Well, he was right. And truth be told, I might lose a lot of friends after this story is published. The problem today is that everyone is an expert. It’s because the Internet has made information all available, all the time. I can go on Spotify and be my own DJ. I can go on YouTube and watch a video, and all the instructions are there on how to set up my own photo booth with my iPad. I know it’s the best way because the guy on YouTube told me so. But YouTube and Google and the Internet — heck, even our friends — everybody has a better, faster, cheaper solution. Everyone is an expert because the Internet says so. There’s always a “better” solution out there, and someone else knows it, claims to be “the expert” and they are going to try to teach it to you.
Don’t get me wrong, we all need experts. Should the Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive on my Subaru ever go out, I absolutely want an expert to make sure it gets fixed right. And sure, if my business is lagging in the sales department, I want an expert to help me kick it into gear. Thing is, I want a real expert, not someone who is going to feed me line after line while I’m filling the coffers of his bank account. Hiring opportunistic, unqualified or inexperienced experts can unequivocally hurt your business. Here are five warning signs that you might be working with an expert who is anything but: 1. Enormous words, pint-sized action. Let’s start here. It’s incredibly easy for an expert to gain credibility by becoming an author. (Hey, look at me, I’m in the Disc Jockey News!) Many of these so-called “experts” will quickly dominate their industry by offering up clever advice by writing a book, blogging or through video reviews and tutorial content. Those all mean zilch if you can’t implement. You want to look for coaches or experts who practice what they preach. This means they both write (or speak) about what they do and do what they write (or speak) about. 2. Been there, done that? Chances are they haven’t. You’ve got a real company with realworld problems and challenges. And while a coach may have training in your field, the last thing you need is an expert that has only studied these situations in a textbook. Nothing beats hands-on experience. Look for a coach or expert who has real-life experience and understands what it is you do. In fact, it’s why one of the first steps when I become a Certified Profit First Professional
Winners Focus On Winning By Kristin Cole
I recently read a very powerful quote: “Winners focus on winning. Losers focus on winners.” Let that sink in for a minute. Losers focus on winners. Winners focus on winning. I have spent a great deal of time pondering on this quote and have found great power in it. It brought me to the truth that what we focus on is what we become. Where we direct our compass is the direction we will go. Let’s be honest, in our often-competitive industry, it can be tempting to spend too much time focusing on our competition. We wonder what they are doing to be successful, how many events they have scheduled, what their prices are, etc. We see their updates on social media, the photos of time spent networking and amazing events they are producing. Our head starts to spin and we wonder if we are doing enough — if we are enough. This sounds like a recipe for disaster for any business and our own self-worth. When we stop comparing ourselves with our competition, we are free from the burden of envy, self-doubt, anxiety and stress. I don’t know about you, but I have no room in my life or business for any of these negative feelings or experiences. A man I very much admire (J. Devn Cornish) once said, “We must stop comparing ourselves to others. If we must compare, let us compare how we were in the past to how we are today - and even to how we want
to be in the future.” How about that for a philosophy of someone at the top of their game? Let’s stop comparing ourselves to others and start focusing on how we are improving, growing, thriving and being winners. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is important to be inspired by other successful people, in and out of our industry. There is much to be gained from admiration of leaders — learning about them and from them. The problem arises when we spend too much time focusing on others (especially our competition) in a non-productive way. It can drag us down, and quick. So let’s stop focusing on other “winners” and start focusing on our plan to be a winner. It’s time to start focusing on our own businesses — on winning! Point your compass in the direction you want to go and start moving that way. If you created a plan to change your focus, what would that look like? Would it include one of the following? •Time for self-evaluation •Scheduling time with a business coach •Goal setting sessions •Less time on social media •More time working on your business •Attending an industry networking event •Nurturing your clients •Strengthening industry relationships through collaboration •Attending workshops or conferences As we put our focus on something productive (like one of the above ideas), we move toward our goals and successes and away from negativity and failure. We move toward winning. By making this a habit in our daily lives, suddenly the winning results appear day after day. We will see ourselves growing, thriving and reaching our goals. I don’t know about
and Pumpkin Plan Certified was to implement, run and experience both system in my own entertainment business. 3. Only tells you what you want to hear. We all want to hear that we’re magnificent trendsetters, destined for wealth beyond our wildest dreams — and that’s not just to inflate our DJ ego. But what if we’ve put the proverbial cart before the horse, resulting in pie-in-the-sky projections that put those dreams at risk? What if we need clarity about our strengths and weaknesses so as to not kill our ideas before they get off the ground? What if we get caught up with our emotions and they start driving bad decisions? A good coach acknowledges all the positives and contrasts them with the negatives where we may need help. Beware if an expert is overly complimentary and assuring of your greatness. Instead, seek out coaches or experts who aren’t afraid to burst your bubble, break through your emotions and tell it to you like it is. 4. Offers up advice when they shouldn’t. Some people will claim to know if your idea is magnificent or garbage when they have no use or desire for it. Seeking advice from those people is no better than seeking advice from the Zoltar machine in the Tom Hanks movie “Big.” Even if they do have years of consulting experience as an expert in your industry, if they are not hiring your service as an entertainment company, there are probably wrong. The consumer knows what she wants — you should listen to her first. Matt Radicelli, the founder of Rock The House in Ohio, says that he has a personal Board of Advisors consisting of a handful of his best clients. This is who
you bounce your next great idea off of to see if it’s a winner or not. Any good coach or expert — if not one of your end consumers — should suggest you do the same act of asking your clients. 5. Doesn’t have their own experts. Fellow DJN contributor and Gitomer Certified Advisor, Mitch Taylor, retains my services as a Certified Profit First Professional Coach. Truth is, most coaches will tell you that everyone benefits from a consultation with an expert, so also seek out their own coach to counsel them through their own issues and goals. When an expert considers himself to be an exception to that rule, it’s either because he thinks he has nothing left to learn or he doesn’t truly believe coaching is effective. Always look for a coach who also uses the services of an expert to take their own efforts to the next level. In conclusion, and to be honest, I’ve never really liked titles like “guru,” “expert,” or “coach” — but I do think they are appropriate in describing what they provide. Bringing in a consultant to help you grow your business is a fantastic idea. Thankfully, we have a handful of credible coaching options right here in our own chosen profession. However, should an expert ever try to sell you on something that you know is just plain wrong or goes against your own business ethics, it’s time to move on. Jason Spencer is a Certified Profit First Professional Coach and founder of Profithood Academy. He has over 20 years of wedding and event industry experience and is the owner of Spencer Weddings and Entertainment in Northern California. He can be reached at 916-264-9777 or by email at jasonspencer@discjockeynews.com.
you, but that sounds like the kind of life I want to live. So, with that in mind, let’s go win! Kristin Cole is the owner of Sound Wave Events in Boise, Idaho. Her passion for unforgettable customer experiences, relationship marketing, and online branding have been the driving factor
behind the success of her company. She is a committed small business coach and teacher, who helps business owners develop into their full potential. You can reach Kristin at kristincole@discjockeynews.com
PAGE 6 • Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017
You Can’t Do It Unless You Can Imagine It By Ron Ruth
Just when you thought you and your business were the best thing next to sliced bread and that your universe of customers will love you until the end of time, an American Express survey stat comes along to remind you that there are no such things as unicorns. What is that stat, you ask? Some 80 percent of businesses believe they deliver extraordinary customer experiences. That’s impressive, until you read the rest of the survey which concludes that only 8 percent of consumers believe those very same companies deliver extraordinary experiences. So why so much disparity between what a business believes to be true and what a customer believes to be true? I believe the answer is two-fold. The first answer is one I have addressed on any number of occasions in my articles — surveying along with poor feedback measures (or usually none at all) and less than stellar customer engagement. A business that does not prioritize and value customer feedback as the ultimate lead measure and the key driver of present and future success is living a fantasy in today’s customer-empowered world. As Guy Arnold writes on customerthink.com: “There is no room for complacency . . . you need proactive paranoia!” The second answer is that most businesses are unable to concisely tell the story of the emotional journey they want their customers to enjoy. A large number of businesses think they know what the client experience really looks or ““feels” like from their client’s point of view. They also believe that they’re addressing the emotional needs of their
customers at every step along the way. But, “thinking” and “believing” are far removed from actually knowing. “You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.” - George Lucas I believe that DJs are part of one of the most creative industries on the planet. As such, you have a tremendous leg-up on most other businesses because you can utilize your imaginative spirit to think of the client experience delivery process as a creative process — the same creative process used in storytelling, with your customer as the lead character on an emotional journey that has a very distinct beginning, middle and end. Describe the five-star interaction they’ll have with your business down to the most minute detail. From first contact through the planning or prep process through the actual delivery completion of your product or service — that all leads to a happily ever after ending. Writing it out will allow you to imagine it in a way that gives you a very clear mental picture of how service excellence should be experienced by your clients and how you want them to “feel” throughout each step of the process. And then share that story with everyone on your staff so they can visualize that experience themselves. Ask them to add to the story using what they’ve learned through their interactions with your clients. There are no limits as to how extraordinary you can make the experience — especially if it provides an extraordinary benefit to your business — and to the people you serve. Although most consumers would never consciously notice, Go Daddy is one of the greatest examples of a company that openly conveys the story of the emotional journey they want their customers to experience. Go Daddy knows that I’m just one of a ton of people who look at anything having to do with the Internet, websites, domains, emails and servers as being stuff that requires technical expertise. They
also know that there are people like me who find all of that technical stuff to be intimidating and something to be feared. They also know that if I’m forced to deal with those technical things, I want the easiest, least complex way to get them accomplished. So, last year when I was building a new website and had to change servers, I went to the Go Daddy website and it spoke to me. Although Go Daddy deals in technical stuff, there’s nothing about their homepage that is technical. As a matter of fact, they produce fun videos and articles about technical stuff, removing a great deal of any fear I have. It’s a welcoming experience that makes me “feel” comfortable and secure, knowing that I’m not going to be judged for my lack of technical expertise. They give me three easy ways to contact them: chat, email or phone. If I must contact Go Daddy, it’s usually because I’m having an issue with a problem I can’t solve on my own, which also means I’m probably stressed out about that issue. So, email and chat aren’t going to cut it. I’m that guy who still picks up the phone to call. There’s another reason I do that — so I can hear the calm, cheery, welcoming voice of the recorded, outgoing greeting that says, “We love helping our customers.” Every time I hear how they love helping their customers, I “feel” like their talking me personally. I also “feel” a sense of relief because I know that everything is going to be OK, and I “feel” confident that whatever issue I’m having will be resolved. Even though I’ve not even spoken to a live person yet, I already “feel” like they’ve wrapped me up in a warm, fuzzy blanket of “We’ve got your back.” And if there’s going to be long wait to talk to someone, they offer to call me back within a set amount of time because they respect my time. Regardless, when I finally speak to a Go Daddy representative, who probably has more technical expertise in the tip of their little finger
than I do in my entire body, they never make me “feel” like an idiot. They talk to me as a person. They respect my fear and make me “feel” comfortable by addressing it in a calm tone. They never rush me off the phone and have never left an issue unresolved. They make me “feel” valued, special, important and as though the experience was designed solely with me in mind — and it’s hard to argue otherwise. It’s difficult to believe that any part of the process is organic. I’m guessing it is all the result of a well-written, detailed story of the emotions Go Daddy wants their customers to “feel” with every interaction. There’s no way the results of the experience would be successful unless there were a buy-in from every employee in every department and every pay grade. And trust me, as someone who has called Go Daddy dozens of times, I can tell you the experience is always consistent. So, what’s the story of your client’s emotional journey with your business? How do you want them to “feel” during or at the completion of the sales consultation? What emotions do you want to touch throughout the planning and prep process? How do you want them to “feel” during and after their event? If your story includes a happy ending, you’ll be rewarded with a strong, trusting, long-term personal relationship dominated by “feel”ings of undying loyalty and a large percentage of customers who will tell others that you don’t just claim to deliver an extraordinary experience, but you actually do it. Ron Ruth is a 20 year veteran of the wedding and DJ industry and the owner of Ron Ruth Wedding Entertainment in Kansas City. He’s also a self-described “Disney Geek” and a nationally recognized speaker who presents seminars at conferences for DJs and wedding professionals on the topic of delivering quality service. Ron can be reached at 816-224-4487 or ronruth@discjockeynews.com
of. If the client is left-brained, they will most likely have a pre-determined bud-
to earn their business. Just like reading a crowd while DJing, you need to read your clients and shift your consultation to appeal to the way that they think in order to secure their business. In general, the left and right hemispheres of our brain process information in different ways. While we have a natural tendency towards one way of thinking, the two sides of our brain work together in our everyday lives. The concept of right-brain and leftbrain thinking developed from the research in the late 1960s of an American psychobiologist, Roger W. Sperry. He discovered that the human brain has two very different ways of thinking. One (the right brain) is visual and processes information in an intuitive and simultaneous way, looking first at the whole picture, then the details. The other (the left brain) is verbal and processes information in an analytical and sequential way, looking first at the pieces, then putting them together to get the whole. Sperry was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1981. This is just one more aspect to keep in mind when creating your marketing materials and selling your services. KC can be reached at KC@discjockeynews.com.
Left.. Or Right Brain?? By Keith ‘KC’ KoKoruz
Who are you selling to? Who are you marketing to? There are a ton of articles talking about selling to millennials. Let’s drill it down a little deeper. About 45 percent of the world thinks with the left side of their brain. Another 45 percent of the world thinks with the right side of their brain. Only 10 percent thinks with both sides. Do you find yourself being drawn to ads that are based on emotion and creativity, or do you find yourself wanting to skip around the headlines and pictures and get right to the facts, figures and costs? Do you find yourself annoyed by “cute and clever” ads or commercials because they don’t answer your ques-
tions? Do you find yourself bored by “facts and figures” ads or commercials because they simply cut right to point? The reason that you feel the way that you do is because of how your brain interprets the information. People who are left-brained tend to favor logic, facts, figures, mathematics etc. These people are often lawyers, accountants or doctors. People who are right-brained tend to favor creativity, imagination, intuition etc. These people are often actors, artists and musicians. The reason that you need to understand how people think is because you need to know how to cater your marketing to cover both types of thinking to reach the largest audience possible. If your marketing is too creative and doesn’t specify your company’s strengths somehow, you will lose your left-brained thinkers as possible customers. If you are too statistical in your marketing, your rightbrained customers won’t find you interesting and will search elsewhere to meet their needs. In sales, it is imperative that you ask some polite yet probing questions in the beginning to see who you are in front
get and idea of what they want. You need to stick to your strengths, track record and price in order to earn their business. If the client is right-brained, they will tell you their dream and want to know every possible thing that you can do to make that dream come true. The more creative you are, the more likely you are
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Now What? By Jeremy Brech
As I wrote the title of this article, I started to brainstorm above and beyond what my initial content was going to be about. Then I started to write, and it made me change my title from “Gearing Up” to “Now What?” As I am prepping for Mobile Beat, I can only think about how this show is going to impact hundreds, but most important, how it will impact me. This will be my third year involved in the lighting production and direction for this show. I have to go back to think about year one as I saw a Timehop photo pop up of me behind the controls for the lighting of Mobile Beat. I have to take the time to thank a mentor of mine who thought of me and believed in me to be a part of the show. Bill Hermann and Jason Jones put their reputations on the line because they believed in me. I can’t thank them enough, and it pushed me beyond what I thought I could do. I think that is what I love about Bill Hermann. He is always proud of what I have achieved, but then he asks the question, “Now what?” Okay, back on track. As you can imagine, there is a lot of time and preparation that goes into a show like this. I am always visiting with the team, and our goal is to raise the expectation. The
first year, nobody really had an idea of what this “Mobile Beat Entertainment Experience” was all about, and truthfully, neither did I. As we brainstorm how to put together a killer show for our peers, we are always looking to bend the mind — to extract the DJ from the box. I think so many feel content with where they are in their work, and they aren’t ready, or willing, to take a leap of faith. We reach a comfort zone and we stay still until someone shakes us up. So this year at Mobile Beat Las Vegas, we are hoping to inspire our industry to look at themselves and ask the same questions Bill Hermann is always asking me. “Now What?” What are you going to do to innovate, to change the game and be a leader, not just in your market, but in your industry. What are you comfortable with and what are you uncomfortable with? First, tackle your comfort level, then go after what makes you uncomfortable. I have put myself in many uncomfortable situations that allowed me to be
way more than expected. Believe it or not, I was working a 50-hour job just two years ago, while running a very successful DJ company. It took a lot of guts to leave a well-paying job to be a “DJ.” I wasn’t going to allow failure, so I knew
I had to put in my time and energy to be the best I could. I would love to see others not follow my lead but to be the leader in creating a profession out of this industry I love some much. If you love it, then love it full time. If you don’t love it that much, then find what your true love is and follow that. So, let me ask you again. Now What? Well, let me tell you what I am doing to hopefully inspire all of the attendees at Mobile Beat Las Vegas March 13-16. I have put in hours — no, days — work-
ing with the light show that Chauvet DJ, one of the biggest lighting companies in our industry, has entrusted me with. There are many people who have put a lot of faith in me and my work. Chauvet DJ, Mobile Beat and the DJ community. Want to talk about putting yourself at risk and feeling uncomfortable? Without taking that risk three years ago, I might still be in the same place I was four years ago. A huge thank you to Chauvet DJ for always allowing me to inspire and trusting me. Thank you to Bill Hermann who gave me a shot and still inspires me to be better than my current status. Thank you Mobile Beat for creating such an awesome collaboration with Jake, Jani, myself and the new Todd Mitchem. Last, thank you to the readers, YouTube viewers and Mobile Beat attendees for allowing me to do what I love. Now What? Jeremy Brech is Owner/Entertainer/ Lighting Designer of DJ Jer Events and Lighting Design. Jeremy can be reached at: jeremybrech@discjockeynews.com.
PAGE 8 • Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017
Jason Yoshino: Building Brands, Reaching Goals and Growing Empires By Ruthie Flaa
“I was carrying gear for a friend,” said Jason Yoshino, describing the moment he fell in love with the entertainment industry. Yoshino — now a Mobile DJ, Event Producer and owner of Energy Event Group — was only 18 years old at the time. Could such casual and humble circumstances catalyze such a love and passion for the DJ world? For Yoshino, the answer is yes. “We were playing a show at Lake Shetek in Minnesota, and from there, I just got hooked,” Yoshino said. But he was only getting started. 1998 marked Yoshino’s first year running his own business, Energy Productions. From hosting college and high school events to working weekends as an on-air radio host for Hot 104.7, Yoshino was building his brand and making valuable connections. In 2006, Yoshino continued to move forward in his career. “I had been work-
now been hosted there for the past seven years.” Through the Sioux Empire Wedding Network, now the largest bridal show in South Dakota, brides are educated and inspired for their big day. The bridal show includes Informational booths as well as the ability to have in-person conversations with wedding professionals and experts. Yoshino and his business don’t just stay in one place, either. For the entertainment side of his career, Yoshino travels throughout the Midwest, continually making connections with clients. “Some people hire wedding entertainers without meeting them until the week of the wedding,” Yoshino said. “Our team meets the couple three to four times prior to their big day. We become friends with our couples and create a wedding experience that leaves their guests saying, ‘That was the best wed-
ing for a local entertainment company, but decided it was time to go on my own,” Yosino explained. “The wedding industry became my focus.” Honing skills through workshops and events, Yoshino wasn’t afraid to set goals and reach higher. By 2010, Sioux Empire Wedding Network was born. “There was nothing like [Sioux Empire Wedding Network] in the state at the time,” Yoshino said. “My goal was to put together a network of wedding professionals with the ultimate goal of bringing the best wedding options directly to clients. The industry needed some unity, and bringing them together in one place would provide that.” By the second successful Sioux Empire Wedding Network bridal show, Yoshino found himself turning vendors away. “This brought on the decision to expand the event and move to a bigger space,” Yoshino said. “The Sioux Falls Convention Center was the perfect location to accommodate this need for growth. I approached them with the idea of a partnership for collaborating and growing. The wedding event has
ding ever!’” That same love and passion for clients inspired Yoshino’s next steps in his career. In 2013, he made a big decision. “I wanted to create a brand that would encompass all aspects of what we offered,” Yoshino explained. In order to so, Energy Event Group was created. This brand included the wedding showcases, bridal blog, photo booths, DJ and cinematography. “We love and want to bring outside influences . . . and not wait three years for trends to hit the Sioux falls market, and our clients love us for that,” Yoshino said. Having received more local reviews than any local entertainment company, and being the only local wedding company awarded to the TheKnot.com Hall of Fame, it’s safe to say Yoshino is right — Energy Event Group stands out. But Yoshino’s experiences and achievements are much more than just success stories. He would be the first to admit that none of it came easily, and none of his journeys to success were absent of hard work and perseverance.
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“Keep the motivation and [keep] grinding away at what you do, and success will happen,” Yoshino recom-
no said. “I make the time for the kids, [take] a day off during the week and [shut] down most days by 7 p.m. Man-
mended. “Sometimes you just have to make the decision that you’re going to do something, and don’t let up no matter what.” Yoshino also surrounds himself with encouraging people who want to see him succeed. In this aspect of his life, Yoshino’s wife and kids play a big role. “ I couldn’t have a more supporting and loving wifey, Jess, and two amazing kids,” Yo s h i n o said. And while being an entrepreneur is hard work, finding the balance between work and family is important as well. “I have to make the time for the kids with my crazy hectic schedule,” Yoshi-
aging during busy season can be a little crazy, but my wife and I are a team, and we make it work.” Can someone with so many past successes still have goals? Yoshino would, again, answer yes. And those goals are? “Loving what I do,” Yoshino said, “and creating experiences for people to enjoy and forget what’s going on in the rest of the world — one event at a time. To learn more about Energy Event Group, visit energyeventgroup.com or follow updates on the Energy Event Group Facebook page (facebook.com/energyeventgroup). You can also find Jason Yoshino at facebook.com/JasonYoshino or follow his Instagram: @siouxfallsdj.
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Will Technology Make The DJ Obsolete? By Michael Joseph
“Will technology make the DJ obsolete?” Before you give your answer to this question, let me take you on a journey. People tend to have a short memory. They forget what it’s like to be a kid. They forget bad choices they’ve made in the past. They even forget what it was like when they started DJing. We didn’t always have computers, controllers and CDJs. We didn’t always have key correct or sync buttons. We didn’t always have a searchable database. You had to know your music by m e m o r y. You had to know what genre the songs are in and how they started and ended. Let’s take a look at DJing and technology just 10 or 15 years ago. PCDJ was released in 1999, Traktor in 2000, Virtual DJ in 2003 and Serato in 2004. The first DJ controller also showed up in 2004. We can’t forget about one of, if not the biggest part of the DJs world now: Social Media. 2005 brought us both Youtube and Google Maps. In 2006 we got both Twitter and Facebook. In case you forgot, we didn’t have this thing called the smartphone until the iPhone showed up in 2007. Pioneer didn’t release its first controller until 2010. If we have had that much change in those few years, what is coming our way?
We already have programs and apps that can beat match and are close to mixing with perfect post ins and post outs. The app Shazam says they can predict the next hit song. Some software auto suggests songs based on what other DJs played. We can download and play songs on the fly. People can send requests to the DJ remotely. Serato Flip and VDJ 8 let you edit songs live like in the studio. Gain control and key transposing are now automated. We can control our DJ software and mixing boards via apps. We even have wireless, battery-powered speakers and lights. That doesn’t leave much for the DJ to do right? What about talking on the mic? Technology is already on the way to taking over that as well. Siri, Alexa and Google Now are already a part of our lives. We talk, they listen and then they answer. Siri didn’t hit the scene until 2011. Ten years in the future our devices may not only be talking to us, but for us. There are already algorithms that “humanize” sounds. The algorithm accounts for the inconsistencies of humans. Instead of being perfect, the software purposely makes mistakes. Adobe already has a program called VoCo. After recording you talk for 20 minutes. VoCo takes samples from that recording and talks back in your voice. It can say anything back in your actual voice that someone types. It has beaten voice recognition passwords and fooled loved ones into thinking they are actually talking to the person they know. Hiring your perfect “Virtual Emcee” is just around the corner. We looked back a few years and compared it to what we have now. What
Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017 • Page 9
might it be like ten years from now. The picture I’m about to paint is in no way a reflection of my wants. I’ve been told I have an overabundance of observation skills. Pair that with my ability to remember in detail how things used to be, and it’s easy for me to see where things are going. Imagine you are now living in the third decade of the 21st century. Moore’s Law predicted that technology (or the speed of technology) would double every two years. Computers are not only smaller, but also faster. I saw where things were headed 10 years ago, so I got busy. I created a software/app called Event Music Creation Environment Emulator (aka, EMCEE). This software/app can now play and mix music perfectly. It can even “humanize” the mixing style so it’s not the same each time. It creates an organic feel to the song transitions. The tracks themselves have been engineered in both tone, volume and clarity to be pleasing to the human ear. The program can even “edit” the original song to suit different events. I added facial recognition to the EMCEE software. It is so sophisticated it can read the facial expression and body language of people. It can tell if they are enjoying themselves or not. At that time it can change the songs and the style they are being mixed until it sees everyone is having a good time. EMCEE can draw from multiple online databases of music or videos. Not only can it get the song you want, but it can also make a mix or redurm to fit the current need. EMCEE also has the ability to detect what party lights are in range and put them to use. All songs in the database have pre-pro-
grammed lighting cues. These cues can be different for different environments or choice of moods. If a venue hasn’t already purchased one of my lighting and sound packages, one can be delivered and set up for a small fee. OK, you now have your party, but you need a host. Of course you want the person talking and announcing to be special. You could choose one of my many celebrity voice packages. Or you can send in some recording of your late loved ones so they can be the voice of the event. Now that we have the voice, what will they say? You can write what that special voice will say or choose one of my many pre-written packages. The show can be manually started or auto start at a predetermined time. Maybe you might let the software determine the optimal starting point. The only thing left to do is show up and enjoy your party. Where does that leave us as DJs? Well, it all comes down to adapting. None of this wonderful technology will happen overnight. It will be little by little, year by year. Just like we did things differently 15 years ago, we will have to adapt to doing things differently in the future. We just have to be smart enough to see the change coming, be open enough to accept it and then adapt to it. Even if you don’t want it, the future is on its’ way. Will you be ready? Michael Joseph (MJ) is the host of The Rewind Report and My DJ Obsession on DJNTV and has been a DJ in residence in Pittsburgh for a number of years. You can contact MJ at MJ@discjockeynews.com.
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How Will You Answer? By Joe Bunn
As I was working on my latest training program, “Selling the Music,” which you can now pre-order at www. djjoebunn.com (shameless plug, I know), I started thinking about some of the questions that brides ask during consultations. Let’s go over a few of the ones that we hear the most here at Bunn DJ Company: “We have met with other DJ companies. Why are you guys more expensive? What makes you worth it?” There are definitely several answers to this. For us, it’s something like this: “The reason we are more expensive is because of experience. If you notice, most of my guys are around 35-45 years old and have been DJing for a long time. In addition, when we do hire new talent, we only hire folks with experience.” Of course, you can also throw in stuff about your equipment or how
many hours it takes to prep a wedding, etc. etc. But sometimes they just want to feel reassured that they are getting a pro. Every once in a while I get asked why my personal rate is more than my associate DJs. I simply explain that I get a premium because you are getting the owner of the company, and some people want that. I also explain to them that most people that come see me are directly recommended by a vendor or venue, or they have been to a show where I performed. I ask them if that’s true, and 99 times out of 100, I get a “Yes.” I also explain that I do a limited number of shows a year (I wish that were really true) and I don’t want to work every weekend so that I can stay married and my kids will still like me. I usually get a laugh out of that. “Are you insured?” There is only one answer for this question: “Yes!” Honestly, this is Business 101 stuff. If you don’t have your gear insured for theft and your show insured for liability — say Aunt Jenny gets hammered and trips over a speaker stand and knocks out her teeth — then you’re just being an irresponsible business owner. I have used a company called RV Nuccio for a few years. They have a form online where you can list out the number of
employees you have, the value of your gear, your music, etc. and it will spit out a quote. It’s not very expensive, and if something tragic does happen, you’ll be so glad you budgeted for this expense every year. I got robbed of a backpack full of gear once and the company took out my deductible. I immediately got a check so I could get a new laptop. I’ll be completely transparent here, that policy was not with RV Nuccio, and as soon as I got my check, they dumped me, so be prepared that that may happen. “Do we need to feed you?” Our answer: “It’s not required. I always eat a late lunch or late dinner on show days.” If you’ve heard me speak before, you’ll know that I’m against eating at shows. As I once heard someone put it: “You’re eating your tip!” I couldn’t agree more. Don’t get me wrong, I’m often asked by the couple a few weeks before the wedding if I prefer beef or chicken, and I always pick one. Or the banquet captain will come up to me and tell me they have food in an adjacent boardroom for the vendors. At this point, they have budgeted for me to eat. I’m going to head to this side room of whatever hotel
or country club I’m working, wolf down the food and get right back out to my DJ table. I would never have a seat at a guest table and I never go through food stations or buffets. How do the guests know that the couple told you to do so? It looks like the DJ (that’s getting paid a ton of money) is just casually filling his plate with food as his music runs on autoplay. I have a plethora of snacks and bars in my bag, I’m not going to starve to death during my six-hour gig. I hope these answers help you with your next tough bride or groom. This may be a two-part article because I can think of quite a few other questions we are asked during consultations — and some of them are just plain absurd! I’m looking forward to seeing you all at Mobile Beat Las Vegas! Come ready to learn! Joe Bunn is the owner of Bunn DJ Company in Raleigh, NC. He is available for consulting and speaking engagements. His DVD “Marketing the Music” is now available at www.djjoebunn.com. Contact him at joebunn@ discjockeynews.com.
as I could be to perform for them, they smiled, nodded and kept the conversation going. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t from just down the street. The real advantage to the bridal show is that it also gave me a chance to network with some of the vendors. I got to connect in a way that will hopefully lead to more interactions with them. I also got some of the secrets they use when working with the couples in that area and what other shows I should look for if I want to continue to expand there. While
the break into the new area hasn’t paid off yet, I’m hopeful that it will soon. And who knows? If this Friday-Sunday thing really takes off, I might just have to change from the PTDJ to the FTDJ. If you have any tips that have worked for you on how to break into a new geographic area, please reach out. Together, we all can grow. Dan Carpenter can be reached at dancarpenter@discjockeynews.com.
PTDJ: Breaking New Ground By Dan Carpenter
Every once in a while, I look at my business and how I might be able to grow financially. Lately I’ve started to see a problem; the area I live in typically only does Satu r d a y weddings, and the majority of those are bet w e e n April and the end of O c t o b e r, limiting myself significantly. Do I ever get Friday or Sunday weddings? Sure. However, only about once a year, and it’s not every year that it happens. And yes, I do occasionally get a wedding sometime between November and March, but again, those are usually few and far between. So, how can I make more? One option is to bring another person onto my team. You may recall me mentioning I had someone lined up to start being an assistant with me, and that I was hopeful I could start to develop some talent and grow to multi-op status. Minor setback. The person who seemed interested in being an assistant already changed his mind. So, before I can go back to looking for multi-op talent, I need to restart my search for an assistant. Another option I’ve looked at is to raise my prices, and I’ve done that. Each year I go up, and this year I did it twice. However, while the income has increased, I still feel like I have limits by only doing weddings on Saturdays. So what can I do to change that when most of the locals just aren’t willing to try another day? I’ve even tried to really encourage a few who called me back multiple times because they kept striking out on finding a DJ (they forgot they
had called before). Then it hit me: Go to another area. For the longest time I towed my trailer with my Corolla, but I would limit my driving so I didn’t overwork my car. When it was time to replace it, I upgraded to an SUV, one that could tow the trailer without having to limit myself on distance. As a result, I’ve done a few weddings about one and a half hours away. In talking with the manger, I found out that some of those venues would do weddings Friday night and then turn around and have another wedding Saturday. This could be my answer. So, I started looking for a new area to target. I didn’t want to just open up my territory, but rather focus on a specific geographic area. However, how do you break into an area where you’ve never done an event, never worked with any of the vendors and really have no way of getting your name out? What I did was reach out to some of my DJ friends who don’t live in the areas they serve and ask anything I could. One talked about creating a special website (or at least a webpage) just for those couples in this new area. By creating keywords and proper SEO, I would get ranked and come up in their searches. Admittedly, I suck at SEO, so that part of the project is on a “to do” list. Another suggestion was to get myself in a bridal show in the area. This past Sunday, that’s exactly what I did. The area I wanted to branch out to is around Seneca Lake in New York. It’s a beautiful area, full of Friday-Sunday weddings during the summer — and summers are when I can do Friday and Sunday weddings without detriment to my teaching job. They had a bridal show that I just happened to catch a flier for, and so I inquired about it and leapt at the opportunity. It was a good show. I met a lot of brides and I was honest when they asked me about performing at a particular venue. When I said I hadn’t, but had already been in contact with the managers to make sure that I was as prepared
The Way I See It: Has The Needle Moved?
Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017 • Page 11
By Michael J. Lenstra
In 2015, at the now-leveled Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, Mark Ferrell was about to re-emerge on the mobile DJ scene as part of the 19th Annual Mobile Beat Las Vegas Show. His entrance, with music blaring, lights flashing and an entourage parading in front of him, resembled something from Elvis P r e s l e y ’s V e g a s H e y d a y. Yes, Mark knew how to capture p e o p l e ’s attention. He was back, and ready to inspire a group that had seemingly grown uninspired. A Brief History In 1998, Mark Ferrell took the mobile DJ industry by storm by unveiling his “Getting What You’re Worth” seminar. In an age when most in the business were making $500 or less per event, Mark was advocating that the minimum standard should be at least $1,200 for each of those gigs. “People pay more for the veggie platters!” he was known to say. The Movement, as it came to be known, was embraced by some and vilified by others, but was, without a doubt, revolutionary. Many of those who have gone on to substantially raise their fees in this business now reference that movement as the turning point. “Monumental” is how well-known DJ and author (“Sales for Event Pros”) Mitch Taylor describes it. “The summer of 2000 was when I first saw Mark and, whether people admit it or not, [the “Getting What You’re Worth” Movement] was absolutely, unequivocally monumental.” Mitch went on to attend many of Mark’s workshops, and credits him for
giving him the direction that has been a huge part of his success. Bill Hermann, creator of the Entertainment Experience Workshop and a former co-host of the Mobile Beat Show, described the “Getting What You’re Worth” Movement as life-changing for him as he introduced Mark Ferrell for that 2015 seminar: “I personally went from $350 to $1,200 overnight,” he said. Mark himself described the “Getting What You’re Worth” Movement this way: “For one time in the Mobile DJ industry, DJs united. They all came together from 2001 to 2003 and joined associations and formed associations and collaborated and raised prices and prices doubled in less than two years, and nothing has happened like that since.” Now Mark was back, ready to once again reignite the base. He talked about red pills and blue pills, the metaphor made famous by the motion picture “The Matrix.” As described in a Wikipedia entry on the phenomenon: “The red pill and its opposite, the blue pill, are popular culture symbols representing the choice between embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality (red pill) and the blissful ignorance of illusion (blue pill).” He asked the gathering of DJs who they thought they were, or, better yet, who we thought WE were as an industry. Perception is a reality, he explained, and our perception is what the public sees and expects. He implored us to once again unite. “We need to come together. We need one overarching non-profit national trade association with leadership that changes, board members that make decisions, a membership who participates in those decisions,” he argued. He said clowns were more organized than DJs. He then invited those who wanted to take leadership in those principles to join him on stage. “If your reasons for leadership is to serve others, stand up,” he implored. “If your reason for leadership is to make the world a better place, stand up. If your reason for leadership is to bring people
together, to change public perception, to tell the truth and take the high road, to create meaning and inspire other leaders, to do something beneficial and lasting for something that’s bigger than yourself, stand up!” Dozens stood and joined him on the stage. Has the Needle Moved? As we approach another Mobile Beat convention, the question has to be asked: What has happened since that Come-toJesus moment? It’s been nearly two years now. Has another movement been born? Has that inspirational seminar inspired a new generation? Has the needle moved in terms of making the Mobile DJ industry a recognized true profession in which someone can make a decent living? “I don’t think as an industry we are even ready to talk about whether we’ve moved needles because there are no statistics to back it up, and with no statistical evidence, who’s to say?” said wellknown wedding DJ and creator of the Audiomazing Love Story, Ron Ruth. “I know with my business and personally with other DJs that I know, we have substantially moved the needle in our own businesses. Does that do anything to move the needle in the industry? I have no idea.” In the days that followed that rallying cry in Vegas, a new entity was born: The International Disc Jockey News Academy (IDJNA), an in-depth training and certification program that includes some of the best in our industry to help mobile DJs improve in all areas of their business. In addition, Mark Ferrell began “The Red Pill” Movement Facebook page. But the effectiveness of either of those has to be debated. To date, fewer than one hundred have joined Mark’s Facebook group and even fewer have pursued the training of the IDJNA, and, although Mobile Beat Magazine published an article, “State of the Industry” (January 2017), which said 68 percent of the nearly 1,300 respondents answered they had seen their
revenue grow in 2016, a more complete survey by The Wedding Report, long considered the authority in wedding costs throughout the country, revealed that the average amount couples paid for a DJ for their wedding this past year was only $735, a far cry less than the $1,200 benchmark that Mark Ferrell proposed nearly 20 years ago, and was only approximately 3 percent of a couple’s average wedding budget. So where did that group go — those who stood on the stage with Mark at the Riviera in 2015 and pledged to be the next generation of leaders to help bring the mobile DJ community together? It’s not certain, but some of those in attendance may have went out for a race. A Race to the Bottom In an article posted by Mike Fernino, administrator of the DJ Idea Facebook Group, titled “The Race to the Bottom,” Mike questions the logic of the DJ Industry. It is, he said, “one of the only industries I know where the participants go out of their way to make less money than a competitor. How is this logical?” A DJ with no training or skills can only compete on price, he surmised, but then counseled, “A client who is looking for the lowest bidder does not value you at all.” Jake’s Story One might think Jake Riniker, owner of Riniker Rhythm in southwest Wisconsin, may be the type of DJ Mike is talking about. Jake readily admits he has never been to any type of DJ conference. “I just have not had the opportunity because of other things going on,” he said. “But I do believe I’m very keen on what’s going on [in the industry].” He also confesses that he has no idea who Mitch Taylor or Bill Hermann are, but he has heard something of Peter Merry and is somewhat familiar with Mark Ferrell — “The Veggie Platter guy, right?” He doesn’t subscribe to any publications and is not part of any Facebook groups, but says he does folLenstra Continued On Page 13
PAGE 12 • Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017
This Blows My Mind By Dave Ternier
There is a grave misunderstanding out there, with many of you, about an important element of my work. It is something that comes up in conversation every now and then, and today, I’d like to “set the record” on this matter. The matter is really quite trivial and unimportant to me. But through conversations with many of you, it has become very apparent that this needs to be shared. So allow me just a moment, if you will, to put this on the record. I don’t live in metro-(fill-inyour-city) or even a city itself. In fact, I live nowhere near a city. The countryside is my home. Well, not quite. Our current home is in a lovely little town called Minnedosa in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Population 2,587. We’ve got a post office here, two grocery stores, two gas stations, a Subway restaurant, elementary and high schools, a train track, a beautiful lake, a dam that holds it back from flooding the town, the Dari Isle (*The* place to get ice cream in the summer), a couple of little hotels, some small-town restaurants you’ve never heard of…I think you get the picture. Getting to “the city” requires a 35-minute drive South, down the open highway, surrounded by wheat fields, canola fields, scrub bush and, currently, loads and loads of snow. Some days in the winter they close the highways around here. But that depends on how much the polar bears are shivering. (I’m kidding about the polar bear part.) At the end of that drive, you’ll be greeted by the lovely city of Brandon with its population of 58,003. If you head East from Brandon for two hours on the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway #1), you’ll find yourself in the city people love to hate and hate to love: Winnipeg. Winnipeg is the largest city between Calgary, Alberta (13 hours West) and Toronto, Ontario (21 hours East). Winnipeg has a population of not quite 780,000 people. So why do I tell you all this? I tell you this to illustrate the region where I live and to dispel any misconceptions about the size of — or lack thereof — community that supports my work as a mobile DJ and MC. An endless expanse of farmer’s fields and wideopen skies without a building for miles upon miles upon miles is what surrounds me. Suffice it to say, I live around very few people. Well, “few” people relative to most of you. And why is that important? Here is why: My current DJ/MC business was built here and it is thriving here. Surrounded by the barns, legion halls, tents in farm yards, small town halls and the occasional hotel banquet room in the city of Brandon, my work, at my pricing, thrives here. I was speaking with a friend from Toronto last week — Danny Floh Back of DJ Floh Back Productions — and the conversation turned towards the places that we live. Where we live provides the context from which we all work and the context from which I share my experiences on this blog. As I described to Danny the area in which I live, he expressed surprise, as many others have done in the past, that what I’ve built for myself here was actually built here. And functions here. Danny was sure I lived in Winnipeg, at least. Doing what I was doing, at the wedding pricing I work for (weddings start at $4,000), would surely require that, wouldn’t it? The wedding budgets I work with here seldom crest the average $29,000 price of a wedding in North America. And only occasionally, do the weddings I work with reach even close to the $50,000+ range. Most of the weddings I am asked to participate in would sit very comfortably below the $25,000 mark and many would sit below even the $20,000 and $15,000 mark. And then, of course, there was the wedding from a few years ago where the mothers and aunts of the bride and groom prepared all the food themselves and served it cold. That wedding wouldn’t have come even close to $10,000. I have another wedding like that coming up later this year (and others that skip serving din-
ner altogether in order to save even more money). Where I work, the wedding couples I work with and the places I load my gear into are most often exceptionally, and very reasonably, average. That’s not to say I work with average people, of course. They are generally quite exceptional people. But I think you know what I mean. I don’t work with people who drive BMWs. And I don’t set my equipment up at the Ritz Carlton. That’s not to say that I don’t occasionally work with wealthy individuals or in exceptional place likes that. But those situations are rare exceptions to my “normal.” Most of the time, I am working with everyday people like teachers, nurses, bakery department managers, restaurant servers, paramedics, car salesmen, farmers, etc. Regular, normal, everyday people. On average, I personally work between 40 and 50 events per year. (I have no employees.) They’re mostly weddings (20-25 total, as weddings rarely take place on days other than Saturdays here and
mostly in only the summer months) with the occasional corporate party, fundraiser, wedding social (I’ll explain those another day) and the very rare school dance thrown in for good measure. From that, I earn a basic living. It’s not an exceptional living, but combined with my wife’s full-time job and some pretty stringent money management, we live quite comfortably. (I know there are a few more topics in there too, but those also, will be for another time.) Where I live, the couples I work with, the budgets for the weddings I am involved in, probably surprise you. Let this end the surprise. I often wonder where I might be with my service and pricing if I lived in a region with high population numbers — numbers in the hundreds of thousands or places with populations of over a million people. With more potential clients to choose from and a wider variety of wedding budgets and locations with which to work, where would my pricing be then? $5000? $7,500? $10,000? $15,000? I don’t know. Now back to you and that city/town/region you live in. Do you think you can’t make higher quality pricing work where you live? You might be right. And you might be wrong.
It blows my mind, daily, that I am doing what I do out here in the middle of nowhere (sorry, neighbours and friends), in the middle of the average countryside. (Or out in the boonies, as some might call it!) If you live in a region where the population is many times more what the population I live around is, please think long and hard about what I am sharing here. This. Blows. My. Mind. Don’t let your region define you. Define yourself for your region. Don’t let your competition define you. Define yourself for the competition. Don’t let your market define you. Define yourself for your market. If I can do this in Minnedosa, who says you can’t do it there? ~ Dave Based in Manitoba, Canada, Dave Ternier is a single operator DJ/MCfor his company, Special Request Weddings and he is the founding author of aDJthought.com. Dave Ternier can be reached at DaveTernier@discjockeynews.com.
Biggest Problem with DJs Today By Ed Spencer
I recently saw an ever-so-common post where a DJ who was doing a photo booth at an event was complaining about the DJ. He berated the DJ and a variety of other things on Facebook. I read this and could only ask one question: Why? You see, I’ve never understood tearing down another DJ’s performance publicly. Management 101 is “praise in public, reprimand in private.” T h i n k about it, what did this DJ’s comment really change? The answer to that is a big fat nothing. Well, almost nothing. You see, the person posting the complaint wasn’t DJing, which means they hired the other person for a reason. It doesn’t matter what you might say. At the end of the day, it’s a value proposition. This person didn’t think the DJ was worth as much as him. But let’s dig even deeper. The DJ who posted this also gets to talk smack about someone behind their back to feel superior. And what mistakes did this DJ made? Mixing up the terms “bridal party” and “wedding party,” which are often used interchangeably in professional wedding publications. He also stumbled on the couple’s name. Neither of those are a hanging offense, last time I checked. Could it have been better? I’m sure it could have. But that doesn’t matter. You
see, I learned that couples sometimes have different things that are important to them and differing levels of expectations. What they want and what you think they want aren’t always the same. But let’s get back to the topic at hand. If you really want to make a difference, you have to talk with the DJ. You have to find a way to open the communication channels and start dialogue. You can’t tell someone they’d be better if they would only watch this DVD, take this class or whatever. You have to treat them like people first. You have to build a relationship with someone before you can tell them they suck and they’ll believe you. You see, this person made a few slips, but to provide a proper critique, you need to provide constructive criticism, not just criticism. You have to tell someone something beyond what’s wrong. You have to tell them how to make it better, and not by taping cables and skirting stuff. We’re talking about something that goes much deeper. As an actor, model or any other performing artist, you are your choices. To provide feedback, you have to provide information on how to make better choices. You can’t refer to someone else’s material to make that happen. Someone asked on a forum for feedback on their website. I asked them the same question I always ask: Do you want me to be nice? Or honest? Nice means they want me to tell them how great it is. I don’t even need to look at it to fake that. But if they want honest, like they did this time, it’s a substantial investment in time I take very seriously. I went through the site page by page taking notes and making recommendations. I told them
Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017 • Page 13
my concerns and why they were a concern. I explained that red text on a green background is a bad idea because there are people who can’t see it very well (or at all, in some cases) because they’re red-green colorblind. I went into detail on each item. And they appreciated my feedback. They took nearly every recommendation to heart and adjusted their site. If you can’t tell someone how to make it better, then you’re not qualified to provide them feedback. I don’t mean telling them to watch a DVD or take a class, I mean real, critical feedback. And if you aren’t going to tell them about it, you’re just trying to feel superior without really
wanting them to get better. So, what happened today? The DJ industry sucked a little more. A DJ was vilified even though his clients were likely happy. We all take another one for the team, because if they can’t tell you apart by your website or other marketing then you might as well be them. In the future, how about making a difference by talking to someone instead of vilifying them semi-publicly? How about making their future clients have a better event by talking with them instead of figuratively kicking the entire industry in the groin? Ed Spencer can be reached at” edspencer@discjockeynews.com.
Lenstra Continued From page 11 low Mobile Beat on Twitter. You might think Jake is one of those $500, bottomfeeding, part-time DJs you need to compete against. But no, Jake is actually the price trendsetter in his area, getting more than double of what the national average is for a wedding reception (per The Wedding Reports figures) despite being in the rural community of Platteville, Wisconsin, population 11,000. With such a lack of being “in the loop,” so to speak, how is it that he can achieve such a higherthan-average price? “I’m not afraid to take a risk,” he stated simply. “There are a ton of people not charging a whole lot of money to make their efforts count. We’re considered a hobby, and whether we like it or not, that’s what people who are not performing the work look at us as. For a lot of industries, there are standards and regulations to make sure that the work is done
correctly,” Jake said. Those standards are absent in the DJ industry. “It’s very difficult to up that price point because of the unknown.” Jake continued. “Every time I’ve raised my rates, it has been an extremely tough decision.” Jake surmised: The roadblock many DJs fail to overcome is not being aggressive enough and not seeing the real value in your company or as an individual. The way I see it, there is still more to discuss, and we’ll do that in part two next month. Until then ~ Michael ~ Michael J. Lenstra is a 20-plus-year veteran of the Mobile Disc Jockey Industry, a full-time entertainer, and owner of Alexxus Entertainment in Dubuque, IA. He can be reached at mikelenstra@discjockeynews.com
PAGE 14 • Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017
Your Staff Isn’t Ever Going To “Get It” By Justin Miller
This month, I want to start by getting a common misunderstanding out of the way: Your staff is never going to “get it.” They didn’t start your business. T h e y haven’t had the experience you did before the business. They haven’t been through the same school of hard knocks you have (and you don’t want them to inside your business). For this reason, you have to create and give them exact processes. The only thing you can really criticize them for is if they don’t follow an exact process that you clearly laid out and
trained. If you give them what they need to succeed, you will be pleasantly surprised. If you don’t, they will likely fail, and you will blame them for not being able to do the job, while in reality, it is your own fault. They are employees, not entrepreneurs or business owners. They can be taught to make decisions like you would, but they need to know the criteria you use when making a decision. This applies to DJs as well as any office or administrative staff you have. If you are like most, your business probably isn’t set up to where you have all those processes and documents in place. That’s okay, but it is one thing you have got to work on. You need to get the processes laid out to where people know what to expect and that way they can get it done. And yes, it’s a constant battle. In theory, you believe that you can setup the systems once and they work perfect forever. In reality, things change and people come and go. Your business is a living entity that evolves, but overall, an hour spent implementing systems may yield
hundreds of hours of repeat work. If your company gets big enough, you can even document a training system and have another staff member train your system to new employees. The biggest thing that holds back businesses is the business owner getting in the way of himself or herself. In fact, if you are successful, your business can, and likely will, outgrow your skills. You either adapt and learn new skills or keep doing the same thing. But if you keep doing the same thing, then eventually your competition is going to catch up. Let’s talk about the most limiting belief that business owners have: “I can do it better than anyone else.” Let’s just accept it as a truth for the sake of argument (even though I don’t think it usually is). At one point or another, every other business owner feels this way, including myself. Regardless of how qualified someone who comes in is, you are going to see it and think that your way is better. It may or may not be, but that actually doesn’t matter here. What you have to figure out is what is the “good enough” level for any given job task? Now, you don’t necessarily want to specify to that staff member the minimum
good enough. I am also not encouraging subpar work. You want to push them. Within your head, you need to know what that acceptable level is. You do need to express to your staff member what is expected of them (even if your minimum acceptable level is even lower). From that point, you need to set up the staff for success, get out of the way and even allow them to make non-catastrophic failures. Once that is done, you can actually become a manager instead of a front-line worker. You will need to now focus on managing your systems and making sure your methods are being followed. System design, implementation and automation are my areas that I help others with. While this seems mundane to many, it is the foundation upon which the business is built for major growth. It is what yields consistent results for your customers. If you have any questions or would like a free one hour strategy session on the phone with me to discuss your business and how to prioritize getting this done, then just shoot me an email at the address below. You can reach Justin at: justinmiller@discjockeynews.com.
Top 30 Music Charts
By www.PrimeCutsMusic.com The full weekly Top 50 and Recurrent Charts are available in a printable PDF format for subscribers and DJNTV Insiders 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Pop Ed Sheeran Shape Of You Zayn & T.Swift I Don’t Wanna Live Forever MGK x Camila Cabello Bad Things Rihanna Love On The Brain Weeknd I Feel It Coming Alessia Cara Scars To Your Beautiful Chainsmokers Paris Shawn Mendes Mercy Maroon 5 Don’t Wanna Know Jon Bellion All Time Low Clean Bandit Rockabye Bruno Mars That’s What I Like Katy Perry Chained To The Rhythm Marian Hill Down BeBe Rexha I Got You Drake Fake Love Julia Michaels Issues Maroon 5 Cold Noah Cyrus Make Me (Cry) Ariana Grande Everyday Kygo x Selena Gomez I Ain’t Me Lady Gaga Million Reasons James Arthur Say You Won’t Let Go Starley Call On Me Hey Violet Guys My Age Linkin Park F/ Kiiara Heavy Adele Water Under The Bridge Big Sean Bounce Back Migos Bad And Boujee Sabrina Carpenter Thumbs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Urban Big Sean Migos Drake Chris Brown Future Khalid J. Cole Rae Sremmurd PartyNextDoor Amine Gucci Mane Migos Rihanna DJ Khaled Kevin Hart Bibi Bourelly Fat Joe & Remy Ma Rihanna Beyonce 6lack Big Sean MadeinTYO Kehlani Rae Sremmurd 2 Chainz x Gucci Mane DJ Esco 21 Savage & Metro Boomin’ Travis Scott D.R.A.M. Kyle
Bounce Back Bad And Boujee Fake Love Party Used To This Location Deja vu Black Beatles Not Nice Caroline Both T-Shirt Love On The Brain Shining Push It On Me Ballin Money Showers Sex With Me All Night Prblms Moves Skateboard P Distraction Swang Good Drank Too Much Sauce X Goosebumps Cash Machine iSpy
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Country Little Big Town Better Man Chris Young Sober Saturday Night Michael Ray Think A Little Less Brad Paisley Today Jon Pardi Dirt On My Boots Eric Church Kill A Word Luke Bryan Fast Lauren Alaina Road Less Traveled Jason Aldean Any Ol’ Barstool Dustin Lynch Seein’ Red Kelsea Ballerini Yeah Boy Brantley Gilbert The Weekend Josh Turner Hometown Girl Kenny Chesney Bar At The End Of The World Garth Brooks Baby, Lets Lay Down And Dance Sam Hunt Body Like A Back Road Dierks Bentley Black High Valley Make You Mine Trent Harmon There’s A Girl Chris Janson Holdin’ Her Dan + Shay How Not To Luke Combs Hurricane Darius Rucker If I Told You Rascal Flatts Yours If You Want It Runaway June Lipstick Craig Campbell Outskirts Of Heaven Miranda Lambert We Should Be Friends Lady Antebellum You Look Good Brett Young In Case You Didn’t Know Keith Urban The Fighter
Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017 • Page 15
This Is It
By Dean C. Carlson This is it, the slow season. Well, it is up here in the great brown tundra. March and November are our slowest months of the year. It’s time to kick back and take a deep breath. A time not to worry a b o u t anything. A time to let your mind bec o m e r i g h t again. Wrong! It has been my experience over the last 28 years that if you take this month off, you can lose the race. Or, as Ozzy would say, there is no rest for the wicked. For me, it is because I have extra time that I don’t normally get during any other period of the year that I set in motion my game plan to keep everyone else chasing after me this year. First, we need a game plan, and usually I have made one in late December or early January. In fact, I once heard a speaker say, “What you don’t see, you don’t do.” So, I have that game plan in my wallet, and every time I pay for something, I see it, and it is a constant reminder that I have things to do. This year I plan on doing two major DJ trainings, one of which is in March, just before Mobile Beat. Other things on my game plan include taking an acting class at the community theater. If I can find an improv class closer than 175 miles away, I am going to do that, too. Theater teaches me things like staging, presence, line memory, vocal techniques and, above all that, it is just fun. Improv is going to teach me how to step outside of my current comfort zone, how to take healthy risks and, hopefully, how to add a bit more humor to portions of my performances. The next thing on my list is to take a few dancing lessons. Why dancing? Well, we are in the making-peopledance business for one thing, and any time I can help people enjoy that more, it’s a better thing. It also puts me in the position to maybe instruct a few people on simple dance moves. And finally, body movement. People that gracefully move are more watchable. The more watchable I am, the better attention I will get from my audiences. On to reading a few extra books. Readers are leaders. Period. I have preached that here for years. Articles in this paper are great, but books have the room to delve deeper. Normally, I read two to three books a month. When I have a slower month like this, I will always add more. One the shelf for this month: “Ninja Innovation” by Gary Shapiro, mostly because I am always looking for creative sparks in performance and business; “A Different Spin” by Michael Buonaccorso, mostly because I feel guilty that I haven’t yet; and finally, “Raving Fans” by Ken Blanchard, which is all about worldclass customer service Now, my favorite thing to do when I have spare time is mentor other DJs. Just two nights ago a DJ acquaintance that works at another multi-op here
in my town came over and we, along with Barb Allee, did four hours of mic work together. His company doesn’t offer much in terms of extra training, and he is well aware of where I am at performance wise. Helping DJs grow is probably the thing I miss most about running a large multi –op. We video-taped everything and reviewed. Not only did it help him, it helped me to get a different perspective on how I handle the mic. Practice makes better, because I don’t believe in perfect. Thinking you’re perfect is the enemy of growth. Along the line of mentoring another DJ, I also love to shadow other DJs’ shows. Recently, Mike Anderson from Mike Anderson Weddings in St Paul, Minnesota, needed an extra bit of help, and even though he is two hours away from me, I jumped at the chance to ride along. I had done this with Mike three years ago and to watch the growth in him over that period was awesome. Working every Saturday prevents us from seeing other people do what we do, and not only do you get a different perspective on the overall wedding,
you can also help them by giving them feedback at the end. You never want to look at someone else’s performance from a critical eye but from a helpful eye. Having to pay attention like that has shown me a great number of details I either no longer think about or, more
important, things I am just missing in my own performances. Although there are more things you can do to crank up your game, I’ll end with this one: Music. For some of you this may be a simple thing, but for me, I have played so many songs over the last 3,800 events, and music has become so disposable over the last few years that I have forgotten more great songs than I care to think about. As I have gotten older, I found that I have
actually worked harder at music than when I first started. So I review lists. Heck, just last night I was listening to several playlists I did at weddings 15 years ago, and I came across several songs I haven’t played in years. Also, I am always looking for great music for different spots at my events like dinner and cocktails — yes, they should be different types of music. So, I tend to make new lists for those areas. Obviously researching music is something we always need to be doing, but during the slow months, I tend to dig deeper. My best advice is to just do something. Doing nothing nets just those results — nothing. The DJ industry has changed a lot in the past 15 years, and to stay relevant both in business and in performance, you always have to hone your skills. Pick one or two things and start working on a better you today. Not only will you feel better about it, your loved ones and clients will notice a difference too. Good Luck and great shows. Dean Carlson can be reached at deancarlson@discjockeynews.com.
PAGE 16 • Disc Jockey News • MARCH 2017
SOUNDS SO GOOD!
Come hear for yourself!
RCF Demo Room T10: Tuesday 1-7 p.m. / Wednesday 1-6 p.m.
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