What is your best way of getting more bookings?

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Haven't read other replies...
I'll just add my two cents.

Like a lot of these guys and gals, repeat business and referrals are your most abundant source of gigs.
I have a few "families" that have given me SEVERAL gigs...
and I am still milking that cow! (one gig this month and another next year)

YOUR problem, as I see it...
is that there is ALWAYS some issue at every gig you do.
Sometimes it's small, sometimes...not so small.
And REGARDLESS of whose fault it is...(cause it doesn't matter)...
it will be just enough of an issue that you will lose any future business from that person.

Learn to schmooze.
Learn to sell yourself the most, when the gig is not going so well.
"Hey ____________, how ya doing? Having fun? Anything in particular you wanna hear?"
At the end of the night, keep it positive.
Before they have a chance to say anything...tell them, "I had a great time tonight."

If you say, "But hey, at least we got paid!"
You probably won't be hearing from that client again.
You should end each gig with...."But hey...the client was happy."
 
Customers love him. He can be very fun, but he knows when to be subtle as well.

Being a "Rock Jock"...I didn't know how to mix for the first few years.
But being in radio, and learning to deal with clients on a regular basis...I could talk the talk.
Some gigs, you can say anything to anyone at anytime, and they'll love you more with every comment.
Other gigs, you just shut your mouth and play the music.
The key is knowing when to put up and when to shut up.
 
Being a "Rock Jock"...I didn't know how to mix for the first few years.
But being in radio, and learning to deal with clients on a regular basis...I could talk the talk.
Some gigs, you can say anything to anyone at anytime, and they'll love you more with every comment.
Other gigs, you just shut your mouth and play the music.
The key is knowing when to put up and when to shut up.
As this contemporary philosopher has offered:
 
You can improve on literally everything. From your appearance, your gear appearance, web presence, grammar in your e-mails... I can't think of a single thing that any business does that you can't improve on.

For the gigs Mix seems to chase he may not need to improve and quite possibly improving might do little for him other than cost money...

He is extremely niche. I don't recall the last time he said he did a wedding. I'm not even sure he could handle a 25th anniversary or 30th school reunion it seems he peaked somewhere around 1986 and peak is a relative term here...

Mix if you want more bookings set yourself up to work for a few hundred dollars a gig and do what you like to do. Hire some kid for $50 to lug your gear and hang out with you while you "drop it like it's hot". Axe the 34 partners and girlfriends. Do the group roundups and seniors homes maybe a bar gig for older folks here and there. Forget contracts forget websites take as little as possible gear and stop buying gear until you need it. There's potential to make $1500-$2000 a month like that with very little expense. Put $1000 a month of that in a bank or a sock or something for hard times and in 5 years you have a nice nest egg combined with your pension you live above the style you do now

I know I just wasted 6 minutes of my life typing this but maybe someone will get a use out of it someday
 
quite possibly improving might do little for him other than cost money...

I was thinking about simple stuff just like taping down cables... not necessarily investing in a new rig. But your'e right, investing in new stuff if the gigs only pay $200 doesn't matter. You never see ROI.
 
I was thinking about simple stuff just like taping down cables... not necessarily investing in a new rig. But your'e right, investing in new stuff if the gigs only pay $200 doesn't matter. You never see ROI.

I'm not even sure dollar store duct tape would be worth it to him the clients he's dealing with really don't care and he may have better gear than his competitors from pics I've seen. I would never give this advice to anyone else here Mix is a special case

Another thing he should do is stop doing free gigs. Either get paid to play or just attend that would double his income right now
 
I said it before .. Mix should drop all aspirations of being a big-time DJ/promoter//whatever (it's those dreams that are killing him), drop the partner(s), buy a small set of speakers he can handle himself, and do $100-$150 gigs.
 
I said it before .. Mix should drop all aspirations of being a big-time DJ/promoter//whatever (it's those dreams that are killing him), drop the partner(s), buy a small set of speakers he can handle himself, and do $100-$150 gigs.

Mix needs to accept the fact it isn't 1986 and you don't need big gear to be efficient. There are some fine small speakers that would be more than enough to do what he does and if he were to sell his Yammies and the 160 Lb sub he has he could pay them off without any money out of hand
 
This is a problem when 'just attend' costs almost as much as he makes for an event.

But at least he wouldn't be paying to play the music
 
I'm asking this question because we need more gigs plain and simple. My friend who DJs does remind me that I'm coming off of a major surgery. I had my left hip replacement surgery in January. Now I'm much better. I need more work to make more money of course. Which will lead to more bookings. That's about it. We have a ton of gear. So no big issues there. I do know one thing for sure. We need better social media presence.
How are the multi-op DJ companies in your market doing it successfully? Find out what they are doing, and do the opposite.
 
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If "Macho" is not able to extract the sagacity from all these wonderful responses, you can be assured that many DJs who read the full thread will gain some excellent advice. Thanks!
"sagacity"...Bravo.👏

P.S. Not only will there be no measurable extraction but it is damn near certain that there will be continued and complete misconception...primarily by those most in need of sage advice.
 
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