Help me please....

Dave:

I'm a privacy nut. I will not share my client's name and address with any outside entity, period.

Dave, I know where you are going but when a client puts their privacy information in my hands I I indicate that it will not be shared, I do what I say I am going to do. I believe so much in it that it is in my contract.

Dave...I like the concept but frankly, I don't do enough business to warrant the cost. I do however send a handwritten card and a "repeat booking discount" coupon after each event.

My SOC story.

A very weird situation this summer. I had 4 weddings at one venue. All in August, 4 weeks in a row. I haven't had a wedding here for a couple of years and this year 4 all in the same month. This venue is also an hour from me so unusual for this to happen.

The venue's owner's Dad greets people at the door for weddings in a tux with tails and hat and a cane. After the 4th wedding I took a photo of him and put it on the front of a SOC. I put "Thanks Lakeside" on the front and inside thanked them for a great month and if there is ever anything I can do.....

In September I get a call from the owner thanking me for the card and asked if I would be able to DJ their Halloween Party for them. Now there are a lot of DJs in the area so she could have called on closer. She didn't she called me.

Either I impressed them as a DJ or the card impressed them. Maybe both. I like to think so.

I really didn't want to drive an hour each way so I quoted them double what I normally charge a bar and I added $50 for drive time and mileage.

She didn't blink at it.

I don't use SOC as much as I should. It will get some use for Christmas. I also send each couple a card with their picture in it after weddings but I only have 3 left for the year.

What I don't like is the monthly points that automatically get charged for but I should use them.

Dave, is there a way to drop that part and just buy points when I want them?

Thanks,

Karl

I am a technical idiot, and yet I figured out how to use SOC... but I still haven't tried a photo card, but I don't imagine it will be too hard to figure out.

If my wife inputs all of our info, we'll be doing photo cards for Christmas this year.

That said, I'll be honest and say that I did not want to part with $99 to start. I would have been much happier with a $25 entrance cost and have to buy more points as I need them.

I guess I am just confused on this whole thing! What is the product? What is the purpose of "points"? And what is the whole purpose of the project?

Dave...pick away, we can't be right putting up with this weather for so many years!!..LOL.

No, the $99.00 is not out of the question, but it depends on what the $99.00 is buying. For me, and speaking only for me, I just cant justify it with the amount of business I do. Certainly if I was booking more events than I have been, and I was putting forth a more aggressive marketing plan, I would give it serious consideration.

I think its a unique program and you are an excellent ambassador for it.

And should I ever desire to "give it a whirl", you'll be the one I call.

Dave,

I have always found you to be a gentleman and a positive force on this board. When I found myself in a bad situation a few months back you were one of the few to reach out and say kind words to me.

But, that being said, you asked my opinion and I gave it. My life is too complicated to have to deal with all of that. I need to get to the store and buy stamps so I can send out cards.

I wish you well in everything you set yourself to.

Hugh

Did photos for a wedding a few weeks back. Coreen sent a SOC card to the parents and the next day we get a call from the Bride's sister wanting to talk to us about doing her wedding next year (both photos and music.)

We already had the door open, but the SOC kicked that door open a bit more for us. IMHO.

Randy A said:

Photoshop (to tweak the photo) and Word (to create the actual postcard), along with my Epson Photo printer.......simple & effective.

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I gotta tell you, I do it EXACTLY the same way. I also use a reminder program that let's me know of special event or dates regarding specific clients, or if not, reminds me to contact them after a specific amount of time has passed.

For bar and restaurant venues, I also have a friend on the local paper that sends me updates on new openings, closings, or ownership changes within my work radius....

On top of that, add GoodKnight's response. Our client lists are our bread and butter. I can't justify giving the list to anyone else, nor can I justify compromising client privacy by doing so.

Dave Winsor said:

Tom,

I know where I'm going to! (wink) Then DJI would be out also, correct?

Dave

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Dave: I use DJEP. They give me all of their contact information through DJEP. Yes, I agree that this information is on-line on a secure server just as millions of health care records are on-line on secure servers. However, I choose to not share their information with third parties. That is my policy and that will always be my policy.

I also know that hackers could someday find a vulnerability and hack into DJEP's database just as they could find a vulnerability and hack into the Social Sercurity, Medicare, IRS and so on. All of these databases have some Internet facing aspect and that means that they have a vulnerability.

Long story short, I am a victim of identity theft. It happened a few years ago and I still am struggling with parts of it.

The bottom line is that the theives have a bed of knowledge that they have hardly tapped in the Internet. I can do my part to make sure they don't get my client's information by not giving it to third parties.

I am sorry if that viewpoint puts a damper on your SOC campaign. Other DJs are free to do whatever they want as far as sharing the data but I won't be one of them.