Oh thats what my Sites supposed to look like

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This is really opening up my eyes. Instead of me trying to become a DJ, I should just put two to three systems together, hire a couple of experienced DJs and then every 6 months just build another system until I have 6-8. Just do a bunch of advertising for Discount DJ services. Take any job I can get my hands on, dominate the area with low cost DJ gigs, put everyone out of business and then hire them to work for me...

Make a few hundo per gig without even having to lift a speaker, I like it.

$300 net per gig x 8 gigs per weekend = $2,400 per week = $120,000 per year net
add a few corporate dances, some school proms and walk away with a cool stack of cash.

Now lets see, $10,000 per year advertising, $20,000 per year equipment and music, $6,000 a year for phone/insurance/electricity, $24,000 per year office expenses, vehicle expenses $15,000 per year, wait a minute that's $75,000 in expenses and I still have a bunch of expenses I haven't included. Something is wrong here, how do I get to $10,000 a week?
 
Thanks for all the banter about why i do what i do.

Wizard brings up good points. When I was a single op i did the $900-$1200 wedding in this market (greensboro NC) I worked 2x a month in all months except May June and September and taking club gigs which in this market thanks to the "kids" pay $150-$200 for 4 hours

So then as a single operator I changed my rates now mind you as a single op i still worked full time and reinvested all my djing money into djing which is what i love this is a passion non working job for me..

anyway back to the story..

So as a single op working 2x a month for say $2000 total gross I decided to drop my rates to $595 (600) to $795 (800)
the $595 had a restriction it had to be an early evening wedding done by 9pm (so i could still get into a club) so then i started working every weekend. Then i kept my rates like that and added another guy and another guy and another guy so that stayed the same

I come from the school of thought that id rather make $500 than no hundred.
$495 is not our regular rate but its a rate that is inline with everyone else just check out my multi op competition in this market.

Wiz- I think where we have the discrepancy is that I am NOT a single operator sure if i was a single op i could go out there and charge $1200 for a job, sometimes I do, in fact theres a $300 kicker premium if the client demands ME which they understand. Although I have some guys with lots of experience all the experience varies for instance i have a guy named Robert he djd country bars in virginia for 8 years and never did a wedding now he's done some weddings and a dynamite job but i couldnt book him out under my company for the same thing I could get for myself. Does that makes sense? im not a booking agent we're a multi operator and my guys (and girls) have to work in order to sustain.

Gregs numbers are a little off.

Our average Friday is 6 jobs
Our average Saturday is 9 jobs
Our average Sunday is 3 jobs
and we typically do 3 weekday jobs

So our average week lets just say is 20 jobs
According to event planner our average rate right now is $593.22

Again im certainly worth a lot more. I just take into consideration a fair rate that I can book every one of my djs out at.

Wiz- you said:
Someone new to the business who charges a low rate to get some experience and get established in the area is understandable. An established company charging the same amount as a rank beginner is puzzling. I would be willing to bet that there are DJs in North Carolina, in the same market area getting 2-3 times as much per wedding.

I can see setting a strategy of targeting the mid priced segment of the market and generating a large volume of business, but why do that if you can charge a lot more AND GET IT?

I know there are djs out there that charge more than me and get it, Greg for instance is one of them, but i have to keep my guys going and we havent had a dark Saturday in 4 and a half years

But without rambling here are my concise answers:

1. Bottom feeders here charge $125-$200 per SHOW. Also their equipment is WAY sub par
2. If I was a single op I would charge $900-$1200 per show and perform as often as i could
3. The girl who busts her butt and her parents wont pay a dime because they dont like her hard working fiance and she can only afford $600, $700 or $800 for their wedding DJ i think deserves just as good an experience as everyone else
4. I co-market with 3 single ops who do the huge 4 hour load in upscale weddings which works great for all of us, the three of them know that a bride that cant afford them can get a good show, I know when someone needs that and i get it to them.

Kyle
 
Flow of consciousness. Sorry, I didn't mean to derail this thread. I went and looked at the new website and started reading about the company and that's when the can of worms opened up and bit me in the a$$...
 
Thank you and thank you for not taking offense. I went and looked at spakieg's web site and I was surprised to see that he is in fact charging a basic rate of $500. I really didn't expect that because I got the impression he has a lot of high quality and expensive gear.

As a single op you can't make a living at $495 and that was partly the gist of all my rambling. If you did 50 weddings a year at $500 that's only $25,000 a year GROSS. No one can live on that. Hence, most DJs are part time because they can't, won't or are afraid to charge more.
 
No problem no offense taken.
Wiz- I used to be the General Manger of Creative Deejays in the first couple of years of the decade they are based in DC we commanded $800-$1400 per job markets are way different. In north carolina we are going through a major transition there are a lot of northerners moving down here a ton, according to some magazine out there we were the most moved to state in the country, this makes me optimistic about rates increasing
however our economy is doing a huge shift we used to be all about furniture and tobacco and now we are big bio-tech, state and more traditional businesses are moving here so the economy has done a huge down turn (even moreso than the rest of the country)

so that may be why rates are down.

When i was here in 1997 and met my now wife i was working in radio and i had a residency at a club here called daddios that paid $500 a night if it was slow and $700 if it was good the clubs here now pay $150-$200 for ALL night
 
You know - I got to thinking the same thing that Dan mentioned. This did not start out as a worth thread. The original topic was about website tweaking on Kyle's part.

And to be honest, I am getting so damn fed up with the "worth" topic springing up, I'm tempted to just start deleting posts and putting them where they frigging belong.

As an admin, I'm going to exercise my right and flex a little admin muscle with this post -

If from this point forward, I find your posts to be negative or derogatory or contextually inappropiate for the thread or forum, I'll move them and give you an expalanation as to why.

Flaming someone because of what they charge or don't charge just screams "I'M BETTER THAN YOU!"

That kind of behavior doesn't belong on this board.

(Ok - stepping down off the soapbox now)
 
The Wizard Of OZ said:
Thank you and thank you for not taking offense. I went and looked at spakieg's web site and I was surprised to see that he is in fact charging a basic rate of $500. I really didn't expect that because I got the impression he has a lot of high quality and expensive gear.

As a single op you can't make a living at $495 and that was partly the gist of all my rambling. If you did 50 weddings a year at $500 that's only $25,000 a year GROSS. No one can live on that. Hence, most DJs are part time because they can't, won't or are afraid to charge more.
Click to expand...

Sooo what do you charge and how many do you do?
 
Wiz,

One thing you have to come to grips with, many of the DJ's who you think are getting the big bucks really aren't getting big bucks.

Some are just flat out lying about it, others are spending 20 to 40 hours in planning and practicing for a single wedding, others live in singular markets which will support such pricing.

You can look at it this way as well..... You can work your regular job all week and do a wedding once or twice a month for $1500 or you can DJ and do 4, 5 or 6 weddings a month at $600, plus your weekly bar gigs, and occasional school gig at $250 or $300 per gig.

I know which income I would rather have coming in! My entertainment business alone left me owing over $6000 this year in taxes after my quarterly payments! How did yours do?
 
Thunder said:
Wiz,

One thing you have to come to grips with, many of the DJ's who you think are getting the big bucks really aren't getting big bucks.

Some are just flat out lying about it, others are spending 20 to 40 hours in planning and practicing for a single wedding, others live in singular markets which will support such pricing.

You can look at it this way as well..... You can work your regular job all week and do a wedding once or twice a month for $1500 or you can DJ and do 4, 5 or 6 weddings a month at $600, plus your weekly bar gigs, and occasional school gig at $250 or $300 per gig.

I know which income I would rather have coming in! My entertainment business alone left me owing over $6000 this year in taxes after my quarterly payments! How did yours do?
Click to expand...

Great post thunder.. i do this for one reason and one reason only... i love it and thats enough for me to do what we have to do and pay uncle sam. Its funny you said that about taxes because theres a thread going about the stimulus checks for which i wont see a penny of...

Our accountant had us paying over on our quarterlys <sp> for two years then we just kept overpaying this last year (07) and still owed $5100 or so.

kyle
 
So there are two of us who are paying for the toys the rest of these guys are buying with a "stimulus" check.

The IRS may have stimulated some but I didn't get stimulated very much, hell they didn't even bother using vasoline on me!
 
Thunder said:
So there are two of us who are paying for the toys the rest of these guys are buying with a "stimulus" check.

The IRS may have stimulated some but I didn't get stimulated very much, hell they didn't even bother using vasoline on me!
Click to expand...

Although not related the smokers in our organization (myself included) now call "Smoke Breaks" "Stimulating the local economy" as we only smoke north carolina brands so there is some stimulation.. but whats a stimulus check i think i did get one the first time around a few years back.
 
Kyle,

Where are you located in Carolina, I hail from Irdell county (land of 600 miles of dirt road) Statesville being the closest town.

I like the smokers line I may borrow that for my smoke free bar gig!
 
Thunder said:
Kyle,

Where are you located in Carolina, I hail from Irdell county (land of 600 miles of dirt road) Statesville being the closest town.

I like the smokers line I may borrow that for my smoke free bar gig!
Click to expand...

we're based in greensboro but serve the whole state, mostly central though think Raleigh south to Rock Hill, SC. Statesville and Davidson are most definitely in our "circle". One of my djs did a wedding at the old train depot in statesville last week


Kyle
 
The Wizard Of OZ said:
This is really opening up my eyes. Instead of me trying to become a DJ, I should just put two to three systems together, hire a couple of experienced DJs and then every 6 months just build another system until I have 6-8. Just do a bunch of advertising for Discount DJ services. Take any job I can get my hands on, dominate the area with low cost DJ gigs, put everyone out of business and then hire them to work for me...

Make a few hundo per gig without even having to lift a speaker, I like it.

$300 net per gig x 8 gigs per weekend = $2,400 per week = $120,000 per year net
add a few corporate dances, some school proms and walk away with a cool stack of cash.

Now lets see, $10,000 per year advertising, $20,000 per year equipment and music, $6,000 a year for phone/insurance/electricity, $24,000 per year office expenses, vehicle expenses $15,000 per year, wait a minute that's $75,000 in expenses and I still have a bunch of expenses I haven't included. Something is wrong here, how do I get to $10,000 a week?
Click to expand...

Why would you pay $10,000 a year for advertisements when all you would really need would be your website and a YP listing (personally I don't use either one of those) If you are doing daily bar gigs with 3 or 4 people you already have the best advertisement in the world. Word of mouth from weddings are self perpetuating for business.

You spend $20.000 a year for equipment purchases! Wow you need to learn to operate a smaller system for most gigs and realize if you buy dependable equipment, learn how to operate it and take care of it you don't need to spend that much in 15 years! Learning how to purchase good used gear would help some too!

$24,000 a year for office expenses! You must have some office, I built my office/studio/storage building for less than $10,000 and yearly office expenses don't even close to that?

$15,000 for vehicle expenses per year, maybe if you include the payments on the new vehicles, insurance, fuel cost, tires etc. on all five work vehicles, but that is probably stretching it a bit.

Now you have to add in income from the 6 to 8 weekly bar gigs you will be doing besides the weekend gigs. You might be shooked at what a little prudent planning can do! :sqbiggrin:
 
Personally I never post my prices on our website. But I have no problem letting anyone know how much I charge on this board. For a local wedding we charge 700 dollars if a ceremony is added its 100 dollars more. If its out of town then 750 and 150. For a local non holiday party such as birthday we charge 500 if out of town and I mean maybe 50 miles then 550.

I live in California and there are tons of DJ's here. My goal has been to always raise our price according to my work school of thought. When I feel I'm excellent at what I do then the prices go up. Its easy for me to sell myself when I believe in the product :sqwink:. I know for many my prices are cheap especially for our ceremonies which after last nights they might get a bump up depending on what we have to do. I'm paying my dues right now. Gaining in the market by word of mouth.

I also try and work with other DJ's in my area about uping there game. Getting a website and being as professional as they can be. I want this industry to be shown the respect that it can deserve. And for people to know quality when they have it.

I keep saying that I want to be the best DJ in my area and I will persue it with a passion. Will it happen? hell I don't know but you can't blame a guy for trying :sqbiggrin:.
 
nextgen1 said:
Personally I never post my prices on our website. But I have no problem letting anyone know how much I charge on this board. For a local wedding we charge 700 dollars if a ceremony is added its 100 dollars more. If its out of town then 750 and 150. For a local non holiday party such as birthday we charge 500 if out of town and I mean maybe 50 miles then 550.

I live in California and there are tons of DJ's here. My goal has been to always raise our price according to my work school of thought. When I feel I'm excellent at what I do then the prices go up. Its easy for me to sell myself when I believe in the product :sqwink:. I know for many my prices are cheap especially for our ceremonies which after last nights they might get a bump up depending on what we have to do. I'm paying my dues right now. Gaining in the market by word of mouth.

I also try and work with other DJ's in my area about uping there game. Getting a website and being as professional as they can be. I want this industry to be shown the respect that it can deserve. And for people to know quality when they have it.

I keep saying that I want to be the best DJ in my area and I will persue it with a passion. Will it happen? hell I don't know but you can't blame a guy for trying :sqbiggrin:.
Click to expand...

Im friends with a lot of the other djs in our area. Its good to help each other out.
 
Thunder said:
Why would you pay $10,000 a year for advertisements when all you would really need would be your website and a YP listing (personally I don't use either one of those) If you are doing daily bar gigs with 3 or 4 people you already have the best advertisement in the world. Word of mouth from weddings are self perpetuating for business.

You spend $20.000 a year for equipment purchases! Wow you need to learn to operate a smaller system for most gigs and realize if you buy dependable equipment, learn how to operate it and take care of it you don't need to spend that much in 15 years! Learning how to purchase good used gear would help some too!

$24,000 a year for office expenses! You must have some office, I built my office/studio/storage building for less than $10,000 and yearly office expenses don't even close to that?

$15,000 for vehicle expenses per year, maybe if you include the payments on the new vehicles, insurance, fuel cost, tires etc. on all five work vehicles, but that is probably stretching it a bit.

Now you have to add in income from the 6 to 8 weekly bar gigs you will be doing besides the weekend gigs. You might be shooked at what a little prudent planning can do! :sqbiggrin:
Click to expand...


Wiz are you a multi op or considering a multi op or are you considering full time.

Thunder/ the YP isnt what it used to be. We ask everyone where they heard about 1st Carolina DJ's and i think weve had 2 calls in 12 months from yellow pages and we're in 3 books.
We spend at least 10 grand in advertising but have a much larger operation.
and the bar business is not what it used to be around here.. not much at all... but you're from around here so you probably know a little more about our market then others.

I agree with you wholeheartedly on equipment both the buying used and buying quality.
 
Kyle,

It's been well over ten years since I used YP in any form and yes bar/club gigs are getting a lot more rare these days. The bars where we work continually put adds in the paper, on the radio and from time to time TV spots using our company name so we have probably benifitted from that quite a bit.

We are also a small multi-op (only 4 people full time) and really am not looking to expand in the future. My wife and I have been picking up property over the last 15 years as rental property and with this last down turn in property value (sale prices) are looking to pick up at least two more homes to use as rentals. It seems that as more people have trouble holding on to property it gets easier to get good renters into the places we have available. So we are looking more to that end of the business now and less at the DJing. Although to be honest DJing is what allowed us to purchase the properties that we have now.

I haven't even been to visit in Carolina in 5 years and then it was only for a funeral, and I had to be back that night for a gig so it was in and out.

While I have just purchased a domain name I haven't gotten a web page up yet.
 
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