Another meeting with restaurant owner tomorrow.
- Thread starter MIXMASTERMACHOM
- Start date
Yep! I can pretend I am MRMIXTHEMASTERMACHOMANFROMJOISEY
Mix --- Heed the recommendations of the others.
You shouldn't even consider a place that NEEDS security .. I don't really care if the owner is too cheap. It just means you are playing the wrong places. Someone will play there .. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE YOU.
Maybe I need to take all this information that Mix posted and write a Book. "Days In The Life Of A Dysfunctional DJ"!
Best seller!!
Here's the low down. We talked and it came up that we will be doing the last Friday of the month starting in February. We collect the money at the door and he gets the money at the bar. I've never been crazy about such an arrangement. I just like to get paid from the owner itself and be done with it. That way we agree on a set amount for us to get paid. That way you're guaranteed to make money and then that leaves the responsibility of getting people to come into the place on the owner.
It's a risky venture. The owner said he would split the cost of the security. He agreed on a 3 month trial and after that we'll see what happens. He said he wanted to have a meeting with us and the security at the place. So sometime next week we should all meet up at the place. We'll get postcards made up and the cost to get into the party will be $5.00. We'll be playing a variety of music and not just one thing. We'll play house music, Hip Hop and R & B and reggae.
I can get 1000 postcards double sided made up for $75.00. I said we should leave 200 postcards in the place and the rest go with us. I might change that and give the owner 300. That way we both get 350 each to pass out to people we know.
So we'll be starting on February 22. I told my partner that we'll get the postcards made up and also put it up on Facebook. Just need to come up with a gimmick to get people to come.
The one problem I had was when the owner said after things get up and running good he would want us to pay him money to have the party there. I don't agree with that at all. If we get him enough people to come to the place and he makes a ton of money off of that then he should be happy with that. If he wants to get greedy and try that then I'm out. I'm just happy he is giving us some time to build up on things.
I plan to take plenty of pictures and post them on Facebook to do more promoting. I also have some pictures that I can use for the postcards that have a big crowd in a place where I played at.
It's a risky venture. The owner said he would split the cost of the security. He agreed on a 3 month trial and after that we'll see what happens. He said he wanted to have a meeting with us and the security at the place. So sometime next week we should all meet up at the place. We'll get postcards made up and the cost to get into the party will be $5.00. We'll be playing a variety of music and not just one thing. We'll play house music, Hip Hop and R & B and reggae.
I can get 1000 postcards double sided made up for $75.00. I said we should leave 200 postcards in the place and the rest go with us. I might change that and give the owner 300. That way we both get 350 each to pass out to people we know.
So we'll be starting on February 22. I told my partner that we'll get the postcards made up and also put it up on Facebook. Just need to come up with a gimmick to get people to come.
The one problem I had was when the owner said after things get up and running good he would want us to pay him money to have the party there. I don't agree with that at all. If we get him enough people to come to the place and he makes a ton of money off of that then he should be happy with that. If he wants to get greedy and try that then I'm out. I'm just happy he is giving us some time to build up on things.
I plan to take plenty of pictures and post them on Facebook to do more promoting. I also have some pictures that I can use for the postcards that have a big crowd in a place where I played at.
So your going to be in for $75 for postcards and half the price of security? How much do you plan to pay your bouncer? Somebody willing to keep the peace should be paid atleast $20 an hour. Then you have to hire someone you can trust to collect money at the door. How much are you going to pay them? Oh wait, one of your partners can do that.
Mix, I hope your DJ skills are better than your negotiating skills.
Mix, I suggest you appoach this in a different manner.
Go to the restuarant owner yourself, just you, no partners. Negotiate a low starting fee with an agreement to raise your rate if business materializes. Don't charge a cover and don't worry about having security unless you have peps lined up out the door. Make the job of promotion yours AND his. And park your van in a safe place.
Go to the restuarant owner yourself, just you, no partners. Negotiate a low starting fee with an agreement to raise your rate if business materializes. Don't charge a cover and don't worry about having security unless you have peps lined up out the door. Make the job of promotion yours AND his. And park your van in a safe place.
So you will work for nothing now. let's put this out there. $100 - $150 for a bouncer. $75 for postcards which do not work at all. They are trash laying on the street. It is not a party it is a friday night at a bar which will draw just the regulars and those regulars will be pissed off and most likely not have to pay a dime to get in because the owner will not want to piss them off. So the total you will make is ZERO and you will be in the negative. Split that 3 ways oh wiat you will absorb the cost because your "partners" are just taking advantage of you.
Here is what you should do. Go back to this owner and tell him no thanks that you have changed your mind. If your "partner" wants to do it still, then you chnarge him a fee for the use of the gear and you stay home. Your friends are cheap and will not spend the money to come out to see you just like you will have a terrible turnout for your retirement party because people are not going to put out the money to go to it.
Mix do not take this the wrong way but you will never ever make a business out of DJing. You just do not have the backbone for it and honestly it appears you are just not smart enough for it either.
Here is what you should do. Go back to this owner and tell him no thanks that you have changed your mind. If your "partner" wants to do it still, then you chnarge him a fee for the use of the gear and you stay home. Your friends are cheap and will not spend the money to come out to see you just like you will have a terrible turnout for your retirement party because people are not going to put out the money to go to it.
Mix do not take this the wrong way but you will never ever make a business out of DJing. You just do not have the backbone for it and honestly it appears you are just not smart enough for it either.
There are no regulars in this place. He's doing this I know because he doesn't have a study flow of people in the place. He said he used to have a study DJ in the place but opted out of doing that and has promoters now in the place.
The postcards will work if there is a nice gimmick to get people in the place and they are given to people that know about us. It can work but it will take time. In the mean time it's also about finding somewhere else to do my thing so I get more exposure. I was thinking of trying that route but haven't found a spot yet.
I'm going to suggest for now to just have one guy by the door to check people coming in and out since we're just getting started. That also means getting the cheap wrist bands to put on paying customers so you know who has paid and who has not. For right now I don't suggest doing a if you leave and come back you must pay again policy as right now you want it to be a friendly thing.
The other thing is that it's just a trial run thing. Just want to see what would happen. My partners girlfriend will be collecting money at the door. So no need to pay someone else to do that. We might just be able to talk him into giving up drink specials to get people to come in the place. Put that on the postcards to entice people to want to come besides just having people to come hear a DJ. We'll see how he feels about that at the next meeting.
You laid the issues out right there. You do not have a gimmick (which i never needed to get people to come to a bar) nor do you have a name out there that makes people really want to come and see you. Also knowing what you have told us so far. Why in gods name would you trust the GF of your partner to collect any money. Who is to say she does skim money off the top. Let me tell you what is going to happnen. You will not make a dime and there will be no people in there. STOP with the promotion crap and for the last time go find a multi op DJ and see if you can work for them. That is the only way you are ever going to make any money DJing. Otherwise just face facts and admit you are a hobbiest DJ and you will just do whatever it takes to call yourself a DJ.
Oh yeah uyou are not a professinal DJ untill you file a TAX return from the money you have made from DJing and I doubt that will ever happen.
Oh yeah uyou are not a professinal DJ untill you file a TAX return from the money you have made from DJing and I doubt that will ever happen.
I also want to see if this owner is willing to work with us. Have some type drink specials the 4th Friday we're there. Have the postcards list some type of drink special.
For me just looking to charge people to come to a place just because a DJ is there. People need to feel they are getting something other then just a DJ playing music. They need to feel they are getting something. So a drink special if it's good enough should bring people in the place. I hope the owner will be smart enough to do so or I'm out of it and they can do what they want.
Some are smart enough to listen and others aren't. If the place is dead with people not coming there then there should be some type of incentive to get people to want to come to the place.
A friend of mine said a great thing. It's the owners job to get them there and our job as dj's to keep them there and keep them coming back. Hopefully bringing more people with them.
For me just looking to charge people to come to a place just because a DJ is there. People need to feel they are getting something other then just a DJ playing music. They need to feel they are getting something. So a drink special if it's good enough should bring people in the place. I hope the owner will be smart enough to do so or I'm out of it and they can do what they want.
Some are smart enough to listen and others aren't. If the place is dead with people not coming there then there should be some type of incentive to get people to want to come to the place.
A friend of mine said a great thing. It's the owners job to get them there and our job as dj's to keep them there and keep them coming back. Hopefully bringing more people with them.
DjDennis
RIP- My Dad (2011), Sister (2013) and Mum (2017)
Mix nobody likes to pay at the door, unless your a real big name band or DJ. If you charge 5 bucks per person 20 people is 100.00, you put out $75.00 for the cards, which ill bet you don't give all of them out, makes a grand total profit of ------------------Wait for it 25.00 , i wont hook my DJ trailer to my SUV for no less than 250.00