I don't sell my services 4 hours away. It's self defeating. I focus on services that can be sold right where I am. The price is irrelevant. The 8 hours driving round trip is better spent doing another local gig. It doubles my LOCAL referrals, giving me twice the choices and twice the notoriety locally. The exception of course, is a local client with an event further away. (Typically a child's wedding, or business conference.) This wasn't always the case, but a lesson I'm happy to have learned.
Boston used to be a 30 minute drive for me. Now it's 2 hours or more. I didn't move further away. Traffic has gotten that much more congested. So, I don't advertise or solicit work there. I focus on my local area, and find the gigs that let me do work I like - jobs that teach me new things, and connect me with more local people, more local work. If I get a request for the city I evaluate my local options first as a higher priority - at any price.
Those who DJ part time, available only 45 days out of the year - may think they have no other choice than phishing for the highest bidder no matter the distance or personal cost. Performing 4 hours away however, is a great way to remain anonymous. With no connection to the area in which we work the cycle continues, conditions don't improve and the work doesn't make us happy or fulfilled.
Perhaps distant gigs are necessary to part time DJ work. To run a local business we have to be avaialble to local patrons all week long and not simply on a few key Saturdays of our own choosing. So, that makes it a full time business rather than a sideline, and it's true that most of my own patrons are repeat clients, with decades of history. The attendees typically include other clients, and future prospects. People who see the same vendor at all kinds of events ultimately place them top of mind producing yet more future referrals.
Today, nearly all of my business is within 15-40 minutes of my front door. I love it. The key people in my community know who I am and what I do and every job is a referral, or we've already met at another gig. That doesn't mean I'm mopping up all the gigs around here - not by a long shot. But, even the people who want something different still know what I do, and are capable of referring others.