Yep

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Ausumm said:
There are plenty of clients who only want to pay the bare minimum

If you prefer to buy a Mercedes rather than a Yugo, that is your choice, but not everybody has that choice.
Click to expand...
This is fundamentally flawed because you are trying to equate "price" with material value and they are not the same thing, If it were, than anything given as a gift, charity, or from self motivation would immediately be worthless to anyone involved.

More importantly, when we talk about labor it is unlike material goods because it is transcedant not simply material. Many people choose for intrinsic value first, and monetary gain second. That has never been more true for artists or anyone expressing a personal talent.

Your Mercedes/Yugo analogy leaves no room for the customer who wants neither brand, or who has a specific application for the Yugo for which the Mercedes is ill equipped. Example: 50+ year old DJs claiming there's no money in the youth events market. Answer: There's simply no money for DJs who can't connect with a youth market. Similarly, age will eventually intrude upon the wedding market DJ as well. We may still have our DJ skills, but no one wants grandpa dropping anything like it's hot, or breakin' something off. :)

Neither is it reasonable to rate cars on the brand when we know buyers arrive at the dealership with a specific list of expectations and requirements. One of those requirements may be: "I only make short trips" that buyer wants better liquidity than leaving a Mercedes parked in the garage for most of it's useful life. I have a birthday every year but it's not necessary or desirable that I party like Paris Hilton every 364 days out.

I point this out because I've lived through decades of postings by DJs on boards like this knowing all the while I'd outpaced many self proclaimed 'Mercedes' wedding DJs just on mere $175 Karaoke rentals alone (the 'Yugo'.) The depth of a given lake is indifferent to how that water arrived - be it by a suddenly opened dam or continuous rain.
 
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I have a few questions for Rick. Please Rick don't take this as a put down or anything like that. On average with Ryan's Acres how many bookings do you get each month? Are you satisfied with the number of bookings you get each month? I'm asking these questions because it's about anyone of us if we're happy with how things are going for us. It doesn't matter if someone else doesn't like the way we're doing things. What matters is if we like the way things are going for us.

Someone else may not like the way you are doing things. That person is not living your life. So it's about what you need to do for you. Steve Arrington made a song called Nobody Can Be You But You. He was part of the group called Slave.

The thing is we all can't be the same. Not every DJ on here can be the next Taso, Main Event or Tunes4046. Nothing wrong with trying to copy what they do if possible. They have built a great business and brand. Congratulations to you all and others doing well with their business.

Again it's easy to judge someone based on a price. There are those on here that frone on a DJ charging $300-500 to do a wedding for example. Some will easily claim that DJ isn't charging enough. Those DJs have a right to their opinion if that's how they feel. Let's look at Taso for example. He's easily in the top 5% as to him getting paid to do events for clients. That's great. What we don't know is know is his financial situation. I know he has a house as he has told us. With a house there are bills that need to be paid. Even if his house is paid for he still has to pay taxes and other things to keep and maintain his home. So while it may look great for him on the outside, none of us knows what he has to deal with on the inside.

I've been called a hobbiest DJ and that's fine if anyone sees it that way. For me it's what I enjoy doing and what I believe God has blessed me with the talent to be a DJ. For me it's extra income. In other words I'm not depending on the DJ business to get the rent paid.

Now for those who are in the top 5% when it comes to getting paid to do an event as a DJ they all have 2 things in common. They know how to sell themselves to get the price they want clients to pay and they have consistent jobs to do to get paid the price they want. They don't have to lower their price to get bookings because they have clients constantly looking for them to do an event for them and are eager to pay the price they charge. Another factor in this is that are able to constantly show potential clients why they are worth the price they charge.

Now my buddy that's a DJ owns a house and his house is paid for. Yet he still has to pay taxes on the house. He told me his taxes went up. He has to pay quarterly $7000. So in his case he has responsibilities that I don't have. So he does things to maintain his lifestyle that others wouldn't do.
 
MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
I have a few questions for Rick. Please Rick don't take this as a put down or anything like that. On average with Ryan's Acres how many bookings do you get each month? Are you satisfied with the number of bookings you get each month? I'm asking these questions because it's about anyone of us if we're happy with how things are going for us. It doesn't matter if someone else doesn't like the way we're doing things. What matters is if we like the way things are going for us.

Someone else may not like the way you are doing things. That person is not living your life. So it's about what you need to do for you. Steve Arrington made a song called Nobody Can Be You But You. He was part of the group called Slave.

The thing is we all can't be the same. Not every DJ on here can be the next Taso, Main Event or Tunes4046. Nothing wrong with trying to copy what they do if possible. They have built a great business and brand. Congratulations to you all and others doing well with their business.

Again it's easy to judge someone based on a price. There are those on here that frone on a DJ charging $300-500 to do a wedding for example. Some will easily claim that DJ isn't charging enough. Those DJs have a right to their opinion if that's how they feel. Let's look at Taso for example. He's easily in the top 5% as to him getting paid to do events for clients. That's great. What we don't know is know is his financial situation. I know he has a house as he has told us. With a house there are bills that need to be paid. Even if his house is paid for he still has to pay taxes and other things to keep and maintain his home. So while it may look great for him on the outside, none of us knows what he has to deal with on the inside.

I've been called a hobbiest DJ and that's fine if anyone sees it that way. For me it's what I enjoy doing and what I believe God has blessed me with the talent to be a DJ. For me it's extra income. In other words I'm not depending on the DJ business to get the rent paid.

Now for those who are in the top 5% when it comes to getting paid to do an event as a DJ they all have 2 things in common. They know how to sell themselves to get the price they want clients to pay and they have consistent jobs to do to get paid the price they want. They don't have to lower their price to get bookings because they have clients constantly looking for them to do an event for them and are eager to pay the price they charge. Another factor in this is that are able to constantly show potential clients why they are worth the price they charge.

Now my buddy that's a DJ owns a house and his house is paid for. Yet he still has to pay taxes on the house. He told me his taxes went up. He has to pay quarterly $7000. So in his case he has responsibilities that I don't have. So he does things to maintain his lifestyle that others wouldn't do.
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I don't mind. My first year, I ended up with something 32, but keep in mind I was grossly under-priced and was taking anything I could get (not just weddings). After I started doing nothing but weddings, I did 10 events that year and the next. This was at a $6500 price point for the all-inclusive (no photographer). This year I went to $8500 for the basic all-inclusive package for 50 guests. It's $25/head after that to cover the extra food and cake costs. Average event, without photographer or planner is $10k gross. I net about $5k. Adding photographer is another $2500 as is adding a full service Planner. This year I've done 6 weddings and probably 4-5 more misc. events, most of which are freebies (my personal family reunion and a few personal friends whom I let have the building for free).

To be honest, I kinda ran out of steam this year. That jerk groom last year really did a number on me so I just let it cruise without really pushing. I've also been working more on the building & grounds and slowly making some progress. My booking percentages are still in the toilet (1 in 7 tours will book) but that will improve over time. As of now, I'm wondering if I've overshot on the price (considering the level of venue that I have) and I know I've got to start pushing harder on my marketing. I will say that moving my website from wix to godaddy was a great decision. The new format is much more google friendly which has pushed visit up considerably.

Now I know a lot of you are probably thinking "Only 6 bookings?" and I'll agree with you. However, keep in mind also that I have no mortgage and everything is paid off. The overhead for lights and water is minimal. I'm still making money, even at such a low booking level. To be honest also, life has had me distracted somewhat, so the venue has fallen to a lower level in priority. My overall plan is to keep make incremental improvements over the next few years until I retire from the day job. Then I'll start pouring more time & energy into, as it may be my full-time job.
 
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MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
Now my buddy that's a DJ owns a house and his house is paid for. Yet he still has to pay taxes on the house. He told me his taxes went up. He has to pay quarterly $7000. So in his case he has responsibilities that I don't have. So he does things to maintain his lifestyle that others wouldn't do.
Click to expand...

I own about 45 acres, 2 houses, plus the venue building. I pay about $3k per YEAR in property taxes. When I hit 65 that will go to about $300 per year.
 
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rickryan.com said:
I own about 45 acres, 2 houses, plus the venue building. I pay about $3k per YEAR in property taxes. When I hit 65 that will go to about $300 per year.
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WOW that is CHEAP!

My wife and I pay $3260 this year for our end of group row home here in Maryland. Maybe .2 acres. We seperate it into 2 payments once in September, once in December. Property taxes here in Maryland are cheaper than up north like Massachussets Vermont, New Hampshire, New York etc. Even cheaper than in New Jersey from what I understand.
 
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rickryan.com said:
I don't mind. My first year, I ended up with something 32, but keep in mind I was grossly under-priced and was taking anything I could get (not just weddings). After I started doing nothing but weddings, I did 10 events that year and the next. This was at a $6500 price point for the all-inclusive (no photographer). This year I went to $8500 for the basic all-inclusive package for 50 guests. It's $25/head after that to cover the extra food and cake costs. Average event, without photographer or planner is $10k gross. I net about $5k. Adding photographer is another $2500 as is adding a full service Planner. This year I've done 6 weddings and probably 4-5 more misc. events, most of which are freebies (my personal family reunion and a few personal friends whom I let have the building for free).

To be honest, I kinda ran out of steam this year. That jerk groom last year really did a number on me so I just let it cruise without really pushing. I've also been working more on the building & grounds and slowly making some progress. My booking percentages are still in the toilet (1 in 7 tours will book) but that will improve over time. As of now, I'm wondering if I've overshot on the price (considering the level of venue that I have) and I know I've got to start pushing harder on my marketing. I will say that moving my website from wix to godaddy was a great decision. The new format is much more google friendly which has pushed visit up considerably.

Now I know a lot of you are probably thinking "Only 6 bookings?" and I'll agree with you. However, keep in mind also that I have no mortgage and everything is paid off. The overhead for lights and water is minimal. I'm still making money, even at such a low booking level. To be honest also, life has had me distracted somewhat, so the venue has fallen to a lower level in priority. My overall plan is to keep make incremental improvements over the next few years until I retire from the day job. Then I'll start pouring more time & energy into, as it may be my full-time job.
Click to expand...
I really think if you lower the price and offer less service you could have more bookings a more overall profit. Stop trying to decorate the interior let each client decorate to their needs, find a few approved caterers and see if you can get a little kick back from them on the food stuff, keeps you out of the line of fire should anything go wrong. I know you want too keep the DJ in house for volume purposes I have no issues with that but you may want to have a few preferred DJs they could choose from, same with flowers, and photogs, improve the look of the basic building and grounds. There are many “Barn” venues near me that are getting $5000-9000 for a weekend wedding rental, includes nothing but the venue tables, chairs and basic table cloths
 
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tunes4046 said:
I really think if you lower the price and offer less service you could have more bookings a more overall profit. Stop trying to decorate the interior let each client decorate to their needs, find a few approved caterers and see if you can get a little kick back from them on the food stuff, keeps you out of the line of fire should anything go wrong. I know you want too keep the DJ in house for volume purposes I have no issues with that but you may want to have a few preferred DJs they could choose from, same with flowers, and photogs, improve the look of the basic building and grounds. There are many “Barn” venues near me that are getting $5000-9000 for a weekend wedding rental, includes nothing but the venue tables, chairs and basic table cloths
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Good advice, thank you. For now, I'm going to keep the drapery. I get lots of compliments on it and have yet to have a bride who wanted it removed. On the food, I'm already getting it for $15/pp and resale it at $25/pp. It makes a substantial profit for me. My son is primary photog but I do have another as backup. I'm looking to start contracting DJs in the next year or so but I do want to keep it under my contract. The look of the building and grounds is likely my primary problem but also cleaning and grass cutting goes a long way. I see a difference on tours when I've taken the time to clean thoroughly.
 
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Proformance said:
This is fundamentally flawed because you are trying to equate "price" with material value and they are not the same thing, If it were, than anything given as a gift, charity, or from self motivation would immediately be worthless to anyone involved.

More importantly, when we talk about labor it is unlike material goods because it is transcedant not simply material. Many people choose for intrinsic value first, and monetary gain second. That has never been more true for artists or anyone expressing a personal talent.

Your Mercedes/Yugo analogy leaves no room for the customer who wants neither brand, or who has a specific application for the Yugo for which the Mercedes is ill equipped. Example: 50+ year old DJs claiming there's no money in the youth events market. Answer: There's simply no money for DJs who can't connect with a youth market. Similarly, age will eventually intrude upon the wedding market DJ as well. We may still have our DJ skills, but no one wants grandpa dropping anything like it's hot, or breakin' something off. :)

Neither is it reasonable to rate cars on the brand when we know buyers arrive at the dealership with a specific list of expectations and requirements. One of those requirements may be: "I only make short trips" that buyer wants better liquidity than leaving a Mercedes parked in the garage for most of it's useful life. I have a birthday every year but it's not necessary or desirable that I party like Paris Hilton every 364 days out.

I point this out because I've lived through decades of postings by DJs on boards like this knowing all the while I'd outpaced many self proclaimed 'Mercedes' wedding DJs just on mere $175 Karaoke rentals alone (the 'Yugo'.) The depth of a given lake is indifferent to how that water arrived - be it by a suddenly opened dam or continuous rain.
Click to expand...

You keep looking at this from the point of view of an experienced, knowledgeable DJ.
A majority if clients do not.
They only wanna know "HOW MUCH".
 
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tunes4046 said:
I really think if you lower the price and offer less service you could have more bookings a more overall profit. Stop trying to decorate the interior let each client decorate to their needs, find a few approved caterers and see if you can get a little kick back from them on the food stuff, keeps you out of the line of fire should anything go wrong. I know you want too keep the DJ in house for volume purposes I have no issues with that but you may want to have a few preferred DJs they could choose from, same with flowers, and photogs, improve the look of the basic building and grounds. There are many “Barn” venues near me that are getting $5000-9000 for a weekend wedding rental, includes nothing but the venue tables, chairs and basic table cloths
Click to expand...

You got me to thinking over my profit margin. Here is what a basic, all-inclusive package runs me:
1761064837982.png

This is an $8,500 package for 50 people. I do not have any cost in there for my DJ service. Now that I'm looking it back over, $6,770 seems excessive and maybe it's why my bookings have dropped off so drastically. I've raised my prices without offering any new value. A couple of years back I was at $6,500 and had a few clients who told me flatly, "You're too cheap. It was hard to believe you could do it." Wondering if it might be a good time to setup a "special deal" and dial it back to $7,500 or maybe even $6,500. As of now, I have 1 booking for 2026 and 1 that has cancelled. I think it's time to make a change and try to get some dates on the books. Thoughts?
 
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Ausumm said:
You keep looking at this from the point of view of an experienced, knowledgeable DJ.
A majority if clients do not.
They only wanna know "HOW MUCH".
Click to expand...
"People are Stupid" is not an effective business plan.
I have no doubt that anyone who chooses to market on that basis will attract exactly that which they expect.

The lowest common denominator produces the lowest average result.

When an actual prospect cuts to the chase with: How Much?" it is a clear indication that they perceive the conversation to be unnecessarily muddled. They are telling us: "get to the point." The customer experience for many callers is that they've triggered the inflatable DJ bubble - a conversational wall where a prospect is on the outside while the DJ inflates and crushes them under the weight of his expanding "education" bubble. If the inquiry is real - it's a clear sign the DJ is talking when he should be listening.

Speculative calls from people wanting "data" have no real basis in sales, save for the very early prospect who has no plans yet and simply wants to figure out if hiring a DJ is even feasible. We can respond by asking what kind of event are they planning, to which they might retort: "I just want a price." The only valid response to that is: "What capability or competency do you need the DJ to have?" They may say: "I just need someone to play music." I could ask: "is there an age range or specific people skills you want the DJ to have?" Which is truthfully at this point - juts a tactful way of asking for respect. Real people will open up at this juncture and the pretenders will simply hang up.

It's our responsibility to hold the door open for them to enter a conversation while also feeling free to leave any time. If we provide ease and comfort and people remain non-forthcoming we will know it comes from a lack of substance. They can't tell me about the event because they don't actually know anything about the event, or their purpose is logistical - filling out the "other bids" section on a purchase order, or deciding how much to give a school kid who wants to play the Middle School Dance. Then of course there's the adult new DJ who just got his first gig inquiry and has no clue how much to quote.
 
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rickryan.com said:
You got me to thinking over my profit margin. Here is what a basic, all-inclusive package runs me:
View attachment 56263

This is an $8,500 package for 50 people. I do not have any cost in there for my DJ service. Now that I'm looking it back over, $6,770 seems excessive and maybe it's why my bookings have dropped off so drastically. I've raised my prices without offering any new value. A couple of years back I was at $6,500 and had a few clients who told me flatly, "You're too cheap. It was hard to believe you could do it." Wondering if it might be a good time to setup a "special deal" and dial it back to $7,500 or maybe even $6,500. As of now, I have 1 booking for 2026 and 1 that has cancelled. I think it's time to make a change and try to get some dates on the books. Thoughts?
Click to expand...


It's NOT your price. The issue is simply that less people are getting married in 2025, and there will be less or at best the same number of weddings in 2026 occuring as there has been in 2025. Naturally a large percantage of couples inquiring will go with other venues for one reason or another. Less people are getting married. The current downward spiral of an economy we have with horrible job growth and all these lay offs out there, and jobs being deleted out of the system happening doesn't help the situation either.

With that said, considering that you will likely see less or at best the same real inquiries in the near future it might be worth dropping to $7,500 on a promotion for a couple months to see how many bookings it yields. Maybe offer an end of the year special for 2026 weddings where they must book before Christmas to get the deal.
 
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DJ Ricky B said:
It's NOT your price. The issue is simply that less people are getting married in 2025, and there will be less or at best the same number of weddings in 2026 occuring as there has been in 2025. Naturally a large percantage of couples inquiring will go with other venues for one reason or another. Less people are getting married. The current downward spiral of an economy we have with horrible job growth and all these lay offs out there, and jobs being deleted out of the system happening doesn't help the situation either.

With that said, considering that you will likely see less or at best the same real inquiries in the near future it might be worth dropping to $7,500 on a promotion for a couple months to see how many bookings it yields. Maybe offer an end of the year special for 2026 weddings where they must book before Christmas to get the deal.
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I love your thing about a promotion. Other companies have done that. For a limit time drop the price down to a level that's comfortable for you to make the profit you want. Say for example advertise the regular price. Then for example give the discounted price and make it for the last day of November. See who will take the bait. Don't keep it at that discounted price after the deadline. You don't want to make yourself look desperate for bookings.

It's not about competing with other venues. Make yours the best it can be so that people visiting your venue will have the feeling of the WOW FACTOR! Leaving them saying to themselves I got to have my event here.

One other thing let me ask how is your contract structured for payments. Now it got mentioned a number of people have lost their job. Which is unfortunate there are so many jobs are being lost. Things are very tough for a lot of people in this country. What I'm saying is to make it easy for people to afford to have an event in your venue while having a deadline for payments. Let me ask this. How many people in full at the signing of the contract? All those are factor to consider including who are you targeting your venue to? Are you targeting your venue to people who can afford your price to book your venue without it being a struggle?

Let's look at it this way. There are DJs on here and out there that have a premium price and are not advertising to the cheap Charlie client not even close to paying the price they want for their services.
 
DJ Ricky B said:
It's NOT your price. The issue is simply that less people are getting married in 2025, and there will be less or at best the same number of weddings in 2026 occuring as there has been in 2025. Naturally a large percantage of couples inquiring will go with other venues for one reason or another. Less people are getting married. The current downward spiral of an economy we have with horrible job growth and all these lay offs out there, and jobs being deleted out of the system happening doesn't help the situation either.

With that said, considering that you will likely see less or at best the same real inquiries in the near future it might be worth dropping to $7,500 on a promotion for a couple months to see how many bookings it yields. Maybe offer an end of the year special for 2026 weddings where they must book before Christmas to get the deal.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking as well. Booking season has apparently already started as I'm seeing a steady stream of leads come in. I'm going to try $1000 off or $500 off a one-day rental and see what happens.
 
MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
One other thing let me ask how is your contract structured for payments. Now it got mentioned a number of people have lost their job. Which is unfortunate there are so many jobs are being lost. Things are very tough for a lot of people in this country. What I'm saying is to make it easy for people to afford to have an event in your venue while having a deadline for payments. Let me ask this. How many people in full at the signing of the contract? All those are factor to consider including who are you targeting your venue to? Are you targeting your venue to people who can afford your price to book your venue without it being a struggle?

Let's look at it this way. There are DJs on here and out there that have a premium price and are not advertising to the cheap Charlie client not even close to paying the price they want for their services.
Click to expand...

I offer regular payments but so far I've only had a single client want regular payments. Practically all of them will gather up $1000-$3000, then ask me to send them an invoice. My only condition is that the balance is paid off and we have final guest count and food choice done at the 30 day mark. I usually schedule a cake tasting around the 30 day mark as well.
 
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