Weddingwire

Waste of money.

The 1 booking you received did not pay for the ad unless it was a BIG money booking. After you factor in your costs, and time to perform the gig, you are likely in the negative with your ad. Also, $1,600 for 1 PAYING CLIENT is horrible ROI. For every $25,000 in sales that you do, your client retention cost should be about $100 per client.

Under normal circumstances:
$25,000 in annual sales - $100 per client Average booking around $833 at 30 bookings per year. Client Retention costs roughly 12%
$50,000 in annual sales - $200 per client Average booking around $1,250 at 40 bookings per year. Client Retention costs roughly 16%
$75,000 in annual sales - $300 per client Average booking around $1,500 at 50 bookings per year. Client Retention costs roughly 20%
$100,000 in annual sales - $400 per client Average booking around $2,000 at 50 bookings per year. Client Retention costs roughly 20%
$200,000 in annual sales - $800 per client max Average booking around $4,000 at 50 bookings per year. Client Retention costs roughly 20%

...You don't want to go over 20% CRI in any business. ...Honestly, should be lower than 20% CRI when your sales grow to above $100,000 per year. If someone were spending $20,000+ a year on advertising, bridal shows, and referral fees to make 100K in sales, I would say they are missing the mark. My costs were too high this year, and I did not even have wedding wire. They are way too expensive. For a DJ in my area, a pro listing should be like $39 a month with them. Featured, maybe $80 a month, but many DJs are getting manipulated into agreeing to pay $300+ a month. It's kinda sad if you ask me. Spot Light ads cost upwards of $8,000+ ...No way.

I never paid for any of them, and never will.
You end up being one in a million...in a BAD way...
so you never know how many OTHER people you are competing against.
Could actually BE a million.

well being that the event is today it sure does look odd.

Wow...WW seems to be getting desperate!

rickryan.com said:

I've suspected this same behavior for several years now. I'd go weeks/months with zero leads then, a few days before renewal, several leads would pop up. You'd have just enough time to respond back to the "lead" before it was time to make a decision on whether or not to renew. My gut tells me that the majority of the so-called leads are all fake (based on response rate). Of the entire run I had with them I'd say it resulted in 1-2 gigs per year. Now for venues I'm thinking it might be a different picture. My friend that owns the farm venue said he's getting 6-10 leads PER DAY and on a consistent basis. In his case, they haven't perfected their follow-up and sales pitch. His close rate is a lot lower than mine is.

Click to expand...

Yup, certainly fake leads!

Wedding Wire, and TK are both over priced. Wedding Wire is outrageously over priced. Highway robbery really!

Yes, Venues will get more leads. They are often the first thing to nail down for a couple. They don't know wedding venues, so they are lead to Wedding Wire for venues. Contact a number of venues they saw on Wedding Wire. ...Then other factors of their wedding will end up getting referred, or they may find through other avenues.

Often for DJs, Photographers, and Officiants. ...Many people know people who do what we do. ...So often, the Photographer is referred, or could be a friend. Same goes for the DJ. DJ could be a cousin or a friend. Same for the officiant. ...I see more weddings with officiants who are friends, or a Aunt/Uncle of the Bride/Groom than I see professional, hired officiants now.

Really, the two vendors who will see the most ROI out of Wedding Wire will be the Venue, and the Caterer. After that , wedding planners, decor/favors, Florists, Cake Bakers....then photographers, Videographers, DJs and Officiants at the bottom.

The sales reps at my old station used to try crap like that.
They'd sell ads to a new client. Spots run.
When it was time to sell them MORE advertising....
the client would say that they didn't receive ANY calls from the ad.
(this is before internet)
So, the rep would talk them into trying another flight of ads....at a lower rate....
and then ask his fellow sales reps to randomly call the client and say,
"I heard your ad, and I want to know more".
Didn't always work.
Sometimes the client was lying about not getting a response...
just to get the cheaper rate.

Ausumm said:

The sales reps at my old station used to try crap like that.
They'd sell ads to a new client. Spots run.
When it was time to sell them MORE advertising....
the client would say that they didn't receive ANY calls from the ad.
(this is before internet)
So, the rep would talk them into trying another flight of ads....at a lower rate....
and then ask his fellow sales reps to randomly call the client and say,
"I heard your ad, and I want to know more".
Didn't always work.
Sometimes the client was lying about not getting a response...
just to get the cheaper rate.

Click to expand...

LOL...This is one reason why Radio has no one to blame but themselves for becoming a deathbed medium ...The whole business relies on the smarmy practices of the Herb Tarlicks of the world peddling unquantifiable data to desperate companies who end up seeing zero to no results

A friend of mine worked at a local nightclub that had decided radio would save their business.... they sunk thousands into a radio package...with dozens of spots over the course of 4 weeks....and a live remote...they then booked half the cast of MTV's The Real World to come out as special guests... They sat their empty all night...the Real World people ended up at my club after their contracted time was up at 1am...

cc

djcrazychris said:

LOL...This is one reason why Radio has no one to blame but themselves for becoming a deathbed medium ...The whole business relies on the smarmy practices of the Herb Tarlicks of the world peddling unquantifiable data to desperate companies who end up seeing zero to no results

A friend of mine worked at a local nightclub that had decided radio would save their business.... they sunk thousands into a radio package...with dozens of spots over the course of 4 weeks....and a live remote...they then booked half the cast of MTV's The Real World to come out as special guests... They sat their empty all night...the Real World people ended up at my club after their contracted time was up at 1am...

cc

Click to expand...

That is absolutely NOT true.

"The whole business"?????? REALLY?

What is killing radio is newer technology....which allows people to pick their own music, get it instantly, and take it with them everywhere.
Kinda like he Mobile DJ business.

While I'm sure there are plenty examples of a bad radio experience, like the one you mentioned....
there are WAY more examples of success.
Otherwise, radio stations would not exist in 2018, and I'd be doing something else.

There are probably good reasons why that particular club's radio campaign didn't work.
Perhaps the station wasn't the right fit. Perhaps the schedule was not thought out properly.
Perhaps the club owner didn't want to pay for prime air time.
I have seen hundreds of business owners who think they know everything, won't listen to people who do this for a living,
and then cast the blame on someone else when it all goes south.

I'm pretty sure you'd agree that you CANNOT judge the whole mobile DJ business
by using one low-life dumb-ass as an example.

Ausumm said:

That is absolutely NOT true.

"The whole business"?????? REALLY?

What is killing radio is newer technology....which allows people to pick their own music, get it instantly, and take it with them everywhere.
Kinda like he Mobile DJ business.

While I'm sure there are plenty examples of a bad radio experience, like the one you mentioned....
there are WAY more examples of success.
Otherwise, radio stations would not exist in 2018, and I'd be doing something else.

There are probably good reasons why that particular club's radio campaign didn't work.
Perhaps the station wasn't the right fit. Perhaps the schedule was not thought out properly.
Perhaps the club owner didn't want to pay for prime air time.
I have seen hundreds of business owners who think they know everything, won't listen to people who do this for a living,
and then cast the blame on someone else when it all goes south.

I'm pretty sure you'd agree that you CANNOT judge the whole mobile DJ business
by using one low-life dumb-ass as an example.

Click to expand...

Lol..sorry...*hug

cc

djcrazychris said:

Lol..sorry...*hug

cc

Click to expand...

I love you too, man!

Not starting a fight, just clearing up a misconception.

Jeff Romard said:

Radio works...we have the two biggest furniture stores and biggest car dealership here doing a remote most every week and they get results. That's $50-$75,000 a year each one spend plus their other ad packages and they get good ROI they know what they are doing

Click to expand...

I would argue that they don't have a clue as to what they are doing!

If they knew how to market themselves properly, and offered great service at good prices, then they would not need to spend thousands of dollars on radio ads, and "remotes" in order to bring people in to buy their products!

These businesses are in prime locations, and have major exposure just from their location. If they have been in business for more than a few years, why would they need to advertise at all? ...They should be earning more money year after year by referral, and being the buzz of conversation among social circles!

I hear from every DJ on here that DJs who know what they are doing don't need to advertise, and operate 100% off of referral and word of mouth, and break record sales every year. You also have DJ Taso who is killing it with his marketing not spending any money on advertising! ...You mean to tell me a DJ can figure it out, but furniture store owners/executives, and dealership owners/executives/managers can't figure it out, and have to spend thousands of dollars on radio ads?

..Don't tell me they are different either!

...If Radio worked, the top Mobile DJs in every area including YOU would be spending $$$ on radio ads to increase your sales/profits, BUT you say you get "plenty" from Referrals and word of mouth. There is always room to grow profits. So why not start radio campaigns so you can earn more money with your DJ biz...After all you probably would get a discounted rate being an employee! ...

rickryan.com said:

I think I must've gotten under the WW sales rep's skin. He took the time to send another fake reply.
View attachment 35866

Yes, I'm making assumptions. Yes, it's POSSIBLE that this was a legitimate prospect who just happened to immediately fill his vendor hires and without giving me a chance to pitch him. I think we all know, however, this was a WW rep, trying to lure me into wasting another $2k with them.

Here's my reply. Wanna bet he responds back with "I'm not Nate"?
View attachment 35867

Click to expand...

That's what is up!

Every wedding vendor should cancel their paid advertising on Wedding Wire. Everyone would be free and listed on the directory any way. So much money savings, and Wedding Wire would be forced to start charging brides to stay in business, after about a year, they would fold. Maybe quicker These directory sites had their run. They are now in decline. It will just take a while for vendors to smarten up and cancel their advertising on there.