I have the same issues being in NJ. While the numbers are different the concept is relatively the same. I'm one of a very few number of single op dj's that competes in the $2k+ starting price point with packages well into the $3-$5k price range. Multi ops here can spend $100k in advertising to fill the needs of their business, with many companies doing 400-600+ events a year. However, I only need 60 events to meet my minimum threshold to be satisfied, and 70 events to beat my goals... last year I did 74, this year I'm at 71 already. My business succeeds currently because of three effective areas that I focus on. One was word of mouth, and exceeding my clients and guests expectations at my actual events... I don't need to formally advertise, bc my clients and guests do it for me. My second area of success that allowed for my ease of standing out was the 300+ recap videos that I have of all of my events from past years. It does a better job selling than anyone can do at those silly wedding shows with their choreographed performances. Third thing that has attributed to the success was a strong social media platform, with around 8000 followers between the top platforms (instagram, facebook personal, and facebook business). This allows me to get my content and brand out to the perfect target market.