Disc Jockey News February 2015

Disc Jockey News E-Edition FEBRUARY 2015 • Issue #124

The Monthly Disc Jockey Newspaper

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In This E-Edition Issue:

Disc Jockey News Marketplace The February 2015 Disc Jockey News E-Edition

February 2015 Disc Jockey News Print Version Contents Page 1: Mike Walter Page 1: Tamara Sims Page 1: Brian S. Redd Page 2: Mitch Taylor Page 4: Jake Palmer Page 4: Rob Peters Page 4: Dan Carpenter Page 5: Jeffrey Gitomer Page 5: Ed Spencer Page 6: Ron Ruth Page 7: Matt Anderson Page 9: Carr Hagerman Page 10: Jeremy Brech Photo By Ken Day Of The Disc Jockey News

Page 10: Glenn Mackay Page 12: Mike Lenstra Page 13: Keith KoKoruz Page 14: Alan Berg Page 15: Dean Carlson Page 15: Joe Bunn Page 16: Top 30 Charts Page 16: Different Spin Page 17: Stevie Ray Page 17: Nancy Bleeke Page 18: Recurrent Hits Page 18: Harvey Mackay

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Timber Counting Stars Burn Demons Do What U Want Stay The Night Story Of My Life Let Her Go Dark Horse Wake Me Up Sweater Weather Team Say Something White Walls Pompeii Wrecking Ball Love Me Again Young Girls Replay Adore You

Pitbull Onerepublic Ellie Goulding Imagine Dragons Lady Gaga Zedd One Direction Passenger Katy Perry Avicii Neighbourhood Lorde A Great Big World Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Bastille Miley Cyrus John Newman Bruno Mars Zendaya Miley Cyrus

MSR01113 MSR0813 MSR0913 MSR0114 MSR01213 MSR01113 MSR01213 MSR01013 MSR0114 MSR0813 MSR0713 MSR01213 MSR01213 MSR01013 MSR01113 MSR01013 MSR01013 MSR0114 MSR01213 MSR0114

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Timber Neon Lights Legacy (Save My Life) Thinking About You Pompeii Take Me Home Dare You Unconditionally Loved Me Back To Life What To Do Now MacArthur Park 2013 Thursday So Close To Me Leaving You Atmosphere Boneless Go F**k Yourself We Own The Night All Night United Kids Of The World

Pitbull f./Ke$ha Demi Lovato Nicky Romero vs Krewella Calvin Harris f./Ayah Marar Bastille Cash Cash f./Bebe Rexha Hardwell f./Matthew Koma Katy Perry Celine Dion Robbie Rivera & The EKGs Donna Summer Pet Shop Boys f./Example Kristine W Audien f./Michael S. Kaskade Steve Aoki, Chris Lake & Tujamo My Crazy Girlfriend The Wanted Icona Pop Headhunterz f./Krewella

MSC0214 MSC0114 RC0114 MSC1013 AC0214 MSC1113 RC0114 MSC0114 MSC1213 RC1213 MSC0114 AC0114 MSC1113 MSC0813 AC0913 RC1113 MSC0214 MSC1213 RC1113 MSC0214

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Come A Little Closer Do I Wanna Know?

Team Pompeii Sirens Demons It's About Time Unbelievers House Of Gold I Sat By The Ocean

Cage The Elephant Arctic Monkeys Lorde Bastille Pearl Jam Imagine Dragons Young The Giant Vampire Weekend Twenty One Pilots Queens Of The Stone Age

MRR0913 MRR0913 MRR01113 MRR0713 MRR01113 MRR0513 MRR01213 MRR0913 MRR0813 MRR0913

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All Me It Won't Stop Royals They Don't Know Love More Hold On We're Going Home I Luv This Sh*t Tom Ford The Language 23

Drake Sevyn Streeter Lorde Rico Love Chris Brown Drake F/Majid Jordan August Alsina Jay Z Drake Mike Will Made-It

UR01213 UR0114 UR01213 UR01213 UR0913 UR01013 UR01213 UR01113 UR01213 UR01113

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The Monster Show Me Hold On We're Going Home Timber White Walls Love More Do What U Want Stay The Night Dark Horse Royals

Eminem Kid Ink Drake F/Majid Jordan Pitbull Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Chris Brown Lady Gaga Zedd Katy Perry Lorde

RR01213 RR01213 RR01013 RR01213 RR0913 RR0913 RR01213 RR0114 RR01113 RR01013

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Sweet Annie Stay Don't Let Me Be Lonely Radio Drink A Beer Friday Night Chillin' It Drunk Last Night Whatever She's Got Wasting All These Tears

Zac Brown Band Florida-Georgia Line The Band Perry Darius Rucker Luke Bryan Eric Paslay Cole Swindell Eli Young Band David Nail Cassadee Pope

CR01013 CR01213 CR01013 CR0913 CR0114 CR0613 CR01013 CR0913 CR0713 CR0813

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Cambio De Piel Darte Un Beso Propuesta Indecente Loco Que Vive La Vida

Marc Anthony Prince Royce Rome Santos Enrique Iglesias f./Romeo Santos Wisin

TL1113 TL0813 TL0913 TL1013 TL1113

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Vas A Llorar Por Mi Muchacho De Campo Mi Ultimo Deseo La Doble Cara Relacion Clandestina

Banda El Recodo Voz De Mando Banda Los Recoditos Banda Carnaval Chuy Lizarraga

RL1013 RL0114 RL0813 RL1113 RL1213

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Loco Que Vive La Vida Darte Un Beso Timber Donde Esta El Amor

Enrique Iglesias f./Romeo Santos Wisin Prince Royce Pitbull f./Ka$ha Pablo Alboran f./Jesse & Joy

PL1013 PL1113 PL0813 PL1013 PL1113

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Prometo Olvidarte Alocate Candy El Duelo La Nueva Y La Ex

Tony Dize Alexis & Fido Plan B J Alvarez Daddy Yankee

CRB1213 CRB0114 CRB0913 CRB1213 CRB1113

MODERN ROCK

RHYTHM RADIO

TROPICAL

POP

URBAN RADIO

COUNTRY

REGIONAL

CARIBBEAN

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Disc Jockey News FEBRUARY 2015 • Issue #124

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Q Corner: Where Quality Meets Quantity Talkin’ Bride: The ‘D’ Word

By Mike Walter

Here’s something that has happened to me often in my ten plus years writing for this great publication. I submit an article to John Yo u n g .

Then a few weeks later I get the issue in the mail and read the article.

And when I’m done I realize that I have to follow up to explain something that I just glossed over in that article, or didn’t have the space to expand on.

This happened to me with the January issue and my first article of 2015 (which was awesome by the way – you really should go back and read it if you missed it). In the article, I mentioned the value of not only writing down your goals for 2015, but also listing some

steps to achieve those goals. I wrote “So if ‘Adding 2 DJs to my roster’ is a goal (for example), write that down.

But then underneath it you should also write some steps that you can take to accomplish this.” And as I read that back I thought, “well, why not run through some of those steps in case people don’t know?” I mean, I am pretty qualified to discuss this topic. So, here goes. Here are 7 easy steps you can take if you want to add talent to your roster this year: 1- Jot down some of the traits you’d like to see in your next new DJ. If you paint a picture for yourself of what you want that person to look and sound like, what experiences you hope they’ve had, and how you want them to act and react, you’ll be a lot more likely to notice them as soon as you see them. You should reference this list from time to time (see #3 for why) and especially right before you do a big recruitment push (like in #5).

2- Target the time of year you want to hire someone. For example, I never like to bring in new talent in the winter because it’s the slowest time of year here in the North East. It’s hard enough to keep our current staff busy in January Mike Walter Continued On Page 2

Inside this issue:

Page 1: Mike Walter Page 1: Tamara Sims Page 1: Brian S. Redd Page 2: Mitch Taylor Page 4: Jake Palmer Page 4: Rob Peters Page 4: Dan Carpenter Page 5: Jeffrey Gitomer Page 5: Ed Spencer Page 6: Ron Ruth Page 7: Matt Anderson Page 9: Carr Hagerman Page 10: Jeremy Brech

Page 10: Glenn Mackay Page 12: Mike Lenstra Page 13: Keith KoKoruz Page 14: Alan Berg Page 15: Dean Carlson Page 15: Joe Bunn Page 16: Top 30 Charts Page 16: Different Spin Page 17: Stevie Ray Page 17: Nancy Bleeke Page 18: Recurrent Hits Page 18: Harvey Mackay

By Tamara Sims

The sentence we all dread hearing from potential clients: Do you offer any discounts? Yep, I am going there. We need to ask ourselves a few questions before diving into this dreaded topic: Why do we discount?

How can we avoid discounting? Why do customers ask for discounts?

These are some of the questions discussed at a recent Knot webinar presented by Cheryl Bailey, a successful wedding planner

from Austin, Texas. I found this topic extremely valuable and hope you will all take away a few “nuggets” that you can apply in your business.

1. Why do customers ask for discounts? Consumers are trained to ask for discounts. We are surrounded by coupons, specials, and buy one get one free ads on a daily basis, so it’s only natural for our brides and grooms to ask the same. Don’t be afraid of the question; be prepared to answer the question and establish solid reasons why your company does not offer a discount. Show the “value” in your services and clients will gladly pay the rate you deserve.

The more people pay for something, the more value they put on it and the more appreciative they are. I covet my Michael Kors Bag that I paid full price for, much more than my “knock-off” wallet that I bought on the street in NYC. And Tamara Sims Continued On Page 4

In The Booth: Time For A New System?

By Brian S. Redd

After attending last week’s NAMM Show, I’ve decided to build a brand new mobile DJ set up.

DJs put together new systems all the time. I’ve designed quite a few myself, but the one I built 3 years ago was unlike anything I had ever done, or even seen before.

I had a whole new set of equipment challenges post stroke. I was left with limited balance, strength, and only one functioning arm. That first summer, with gigs on the books, my friends stepped up and became my roadies.

Even with set up people, I had to figure a few things out. For instance, I quickly discovered that one handed, you couldn’t hold a microphone and operate a mixing board at the same time. The solution I came up with was a simple little boom mic stand designed for a kick drum.

Everyone stepping up to help over the summer was greatly appreciated.

However, if I was going to continue to be a Mobile DJ, I felt I needed to figure Brian Redd Continued On Page 7

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PAGE 2 • Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015

What Is Your Legacy?

By Mitch Taylor

“My heart is filled with sorrow today but also great love and gratitude.

We lost my dad Sunday evening. It was very unexpected, quick and a great shock to all of us!

Kleo was an amazing man, filled with faith, integrity and a smile for everyone he met! If he met you once he remembered you forever and knew your story and probably your whole family’s story.

My mother was the love of his Mike Walter continued from page 1 and February without worrying about a new addition to the staff. So for me the best time of year to start seriously looking is the beginning of Spring. Another time that works is late August, right before the big Fall wedding season.

3- Start looking for that person everywhere. I’ve often theorized that at least once a month we come in contact with someone who has all the right traits and personality to be an awesome DJ. Whether it’s in the supermarket or at an event we’re DJing, those potential new recruits are out there. But are we looking for them? And if we spot them, do we have the chutzpah to approach them and tell them about the great world of DJing? This can be a very effective way of recruiting and when I look over my own staff I am particularly proud of the DJs that I simply spotted and approached. I often wonder how both of our lives would be different if I hadn’t had my “DJ Radar” working the day I met them.

4- Approach a local college’s communication or drama department. If you think of the career goals that someone who is majoring in those two fields probably has, DJing isn’t too far of a stretch. Plus, if someone is going to be successful in these fields, they will certainly have a lot of the traits that I normally look for in a DJ (my list from #1). So strike up a relationship with someone in these departments and let them know you have jobs for their students. You may get some references or if things go really well, you might be able to come in and make a presentation to their class.

5- Place an ad in the Jobs section of CraigsList. Do not do this during a busy week for yourself because you’ll have a lot of emails to sift through and appointments to set up. But if you don’t mind looking through 40 candidates to find a great recruit or two, this is the perfect way to ramp up the process of finding talent. Keep the old saying in mind: “you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your Prince.”

6- Have an Entry-Level position for this new person to step in to. Whether it’s as a roadie or a photo booth assistant, you want to have a low pressure, non-essential job that a great new recruit can begin in. If you don’t currently have something like this you need to create it before you start looking for new blood. It will take months and months to mold an individual with no experience into someone who can DJ

life and even after 57 years of marriage never let a day go by without a wake-up and good night kiss and an “I love you”! His children meant everything to him and he made great sacrifices throughout his life to make sure all five of us had everything we ever wanted! His grandchildren were the light of his life and as he held each one for the first time he cried tears of happiness!! He was blessed with 2 great-granddaughters before he left us and they will be taught what a wonderful man he was! Thank you Daddy for the love, life lessons and lasting memories! Have as many sweet rolls as you want now.

I love you!”

This is the recent Facebook status I read from past Mother of the Bride Christine. (Yes…I’m even friends with past Mother of the Brides on their own event under your name. During that time you need to ensure that this person can make a few dollars, that they can witness some of your events and that you can monitor their professionalism. An entry level position is the answer to these dilemmas.

7- Have a Codified Training Program. Just bringing someone out with you on a dozen or so jobs and having them observe you, is not enough to ensure they are ready to lead their own events. You need some classroom type training. You need to hear them on the microphone and have the opportunity to tweak their performance. And you need some written and performance based tests. This type of training takes organization and a written text book. If you don’t have either of those, I know someone who does (www.DJMIkeWalter.com). So whether you buy mine or create your own, don’t try to train someone on the fly. Get organized and take them step by step through the process.

These are seven important steps that you can take if you are looking to recruit some new DJs who have no experience in the business. As I’ve stated many times before, I think this is a much better way to build your business (rather than bringing in experienced DJs). Admittedly it is a slower process but when all is said and done you’ll be happy you took this route. So, roll up your sleeves and get to work. Great DJs do indeed grow on trees, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to plant the right seeds, cultivate the orchard and then harvest them when the time is right.

Mike Walter is the owner of Elite Entertainment of New Jersey and a nationally recognized expert in the area of multisystem company development and staff training. You can contact Mike at mikewalter@discjockeynews.com. www.discjockeynews.com 29442 120th St. Grey Eagle, MN 56336 Phone: 320-285-2323 Fax: 320-285-5264 Published by The Disc Jockey News

Editor/Educational Production Manager: John Young john@discjockeynews.com sales@discjockeynews.com 320-285-2323 office 612-597-4499 cell Sales: Rob Drachler 972-325-4470 Cell robd@discjockeynews.com

FB) ☺ Alison’s wedding (pictured above, dancing with her Grandfather Kleo) happened less than two years ago. It was an extra special moment as Alison’s father died when she was just seven years old. This picture above….and Christine’s status update is WHY I do what I do. It’s WHY I’ve sought out additional training in the areas of sales, marketing and performance.

I share this with you to hopefully inspire you. To help you realize that your next event is NOT just another gig. It’s NOT playing just another song. Your job is NOT just about playing music and making announcements. It’s about impacting people’s memories. Moving people emotionally. Changing lives for the better.

Giving a Grandfather a moment to share with his granddaughter, and to flash that knowing smile of his life’s work left behind. Creating a memory for a Mother who is in the middle of her life’s work. She can see from both sides of the hourglass in her daughter’s eyes, and in her father’s eyes, the legacy she continues on.

If you want deeper meaning and purpose behind what you do, what you create and perform each and every weekend…put yourself in your client’s shoes. How do they want to Tamara Sims Continued from Page 1 yes, you can tell the difference!

2. Why do we discount? Sadly, the main reason we discount is out of fear.

We are afraid to lose a client to a competitor; so instead of standing firm and believing in our pricing, we cave in.

Someone will ALWAYS have a lower price. If you are confident in your pricing, your clients will be confident in you and your services. Share a few of the reasons why you do not discount, and move on to close the sale. Do you really want to be known as “the cheapest DJ in town”?

3. Why shouldn’t we discount?

There are several implications to discounting your services. It shows your clients your services are not worth the prices you are asking. If you don’t think you are worth your rate, then why should they? It also shows inconsistency especially if your business is predominately based on referrals. If you offer Lucy a discount, when her friend Jessie comes to you she will expect a discount as well. This is a vicious cycle and one that is difficult to break once it has started.

4. How can we avoid discounting?

Position yourself as a great value to your clients through your website and reviews. Educate your clients on your services and eliminate any fears they may have on their wedding day. Post Deadlines: Advertisement deadlines are the 20th of the month. The publication is distributed on the 1st of every month.

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feel in each moment that you are creating with and for them? If you truly want to get to the CORE of these values and take your performance and therefore your client’s memories - to new heights, then please seek out ADVANCED training. MarkFerrell. com and BillCreates.com are the two entities that I have studied from who have these core principles at heart and can help you grow from where you are, to where you wish to be.

What’s YOUR legacy? What’s your client’s wedding? Just a ‘show up, push play, make some announcements’? Or is it an event where purpose, meaning and LOVE come together to move people emotionally?

These moments deserve MORE than JUST a DJ. Deliver more. Be More.

Mitch Taylor is an 18 year veteran of the mobile disc jockey industry, starting out on the cruise ships of Carnival Cruise Lines. He is a member of the American Disc Jockey Association and WED Guild™. Mitch owns and operates Taylored Entertainment in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and can be reached at 906.786.6967 or via email at mitchtaylor@discjockeynews.com.

reviews from satisfied customers and include video testimonials. Target your ideal bride and groom through the images you show on your website and be up front on your pricing. In the words of Alan Berg, “Make it easy for them to hire you.”

5. What can I do now? Have a third party or trusted industry colleague review your website and give feedback.

It’s up to you to add pricing on your website. Personally we have had a lot of luck posting our base pricing on the website. We receive more qualified leads and less “tire kickers.” Review your website content as well and avoid phrases like “budget friendly” or “ask about our specials.” Honestly, those sentences translate to “cheap.”

Be confident, be firm, and believe in the service you provide to your clients.

The contracts and bookings will follow.

Please feel free to share your comments with Tamara at: tamarasims@ discjockeynews.com Tamara is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Something 2 Dance 2 DJ Entertainment in Schaumburg, IL, which she proudly owns along with her husband Jay Sims. She has over 20 years experience in the wedding industry and loves creating wonderful wedding memories for her brides and grooms.

Photos: Photos can be submitted to the Disc Jockey News via email. Photos must be in jpg format with a minimum of 1500 pixels (300 dpi at 5 inches wide) for publication.

Disc Jockey News is published monthly by John Young DBA the Disc Jockey News, 29442 120th St., Grey Eagle MN 56336. Periodicals Postage Paid as Sauk Centre, MN and additional mailing offices.

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Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015 • Page 3

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PAGE 4 • Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015

Lend A Helping Hand

By Jake Palmer

Seems to me sometimes this is the part of our “job” that is often over looked. The helping hand part… the part where we go out of our way to help a couple or family make their event unforgettable or even just a success. I think we sometimes get so caught up in our own performances and duties; we might miss the bigger picture.

This might sound like an odd statement, since our industry is so ego driven, but it seems like half the DJs I know think the wedding couldn’t happen without them and the other half only care about their part and their involvement in the day.

In reality, (at least according to what I read in social media groups, and hear around the DJ water cooler), we think of our selves as professionals who expect

to be treated as such. Well then I say, BE that professional, act like the person who knows what they are talking about and help your brides and grooms, guide them where you can, direct them where you can, offer your knowledge and expertise. Look for ways to make their entire day, event, ceremony, prom, office party be the best it can be.

Lend that helping hand, cover ALL the bases, ALL the details, go over their time line with them, make sure it’s realistic, and feasible. Look for timing or scheduling problems. Remember, most of the couples you work with are simply doing what other vendors are telling them to do… they pay a lot of money to the photographer so they simply expect him to know what he’s talking about and that he has their best interest in mind.

It’s our job as professionals to point out the tricky or not so smooth parts and it’s our job to explain to them what the consequences of these decisions are.

Again, they are most likely not aware

of consequences, they simply think they know what they want and how they want it. The way to do this is to ask questions - lots, and lots of questions. Then be willing to help them understand what they are asking of you and the other vendors and staff, and what effect it will have on their event, wedding, reception, meal, and most importantly their guests.

Look for ways to help them make better decisions about what they want included in their event, and look for ways to adjust the timing to help the flow…again don’t be afraid to point out the consequences. Offer suggestions such as releasing guests instead of a receiving line to keep a better flow, have the groom’s parents give speeches at the grooms’/rehearsal dinner, do extended family photos during cocktail reception rather than dinner. Remind the bride and groom that if giant family photos are a must have, then they are probably going to want to skip the bar hopping so they don’t hold up the whole event.

I know some DJs take a “you’re the boss” approach with clients, and think that we are hired to do a job or a service.

Maybe that service includes helping

them create and achieve the event they have always dreamed of. Have ideas, have input, use your creativity to help make the event a success, and more importantly know how to professionally offer these ideas and suggestions in a way that shows you are the professional fun maker, not an egotistical pain in the ass. Remember, awesome starts long before the first dance.

I have a saying I tell every couple and family I work with… “You can’t bore your guests for 2 or 3 hours of cocktails and dinner and then expect them to jump up and lose their minds on the dance floor”. You need to start the fun right away, you need set the tone and the mood right away, create and inject some energy right away. Don’t try so hard to appear professional that you wipe away your own personality. Try approaching your next planning session as a chance for you to help them; lend a helping hand…

Jake Palmer can be reached at jakepalmer@discjockeynews.com.

The Kids Are All Right: It’s Been A While

By Rob Peters

My contributions to the Disc Jockey News have been few lately. But it’s a new year, and with a new attitude I am going to do whatever is necessary to provide you with some great information about kid’s entertainment, and how to make it a profitable part of your DJ business.

For those of you who forgot who I am, or who need a refresher, my name is Rob Peters, and I am the coowner of Rob Peters Entertainment located just south of Boston, Massachusetts. I also am the owner and administrator of Bubble Parties.com and the Bubble Parties Business Program, which is designed to help DJs like you create more revenue with kid’s entertainment. I am a working DJ, and I personally perform at over 200 events a year, from Weddings and Company Parties to Game Shows and Kids’ Parties.

About 10 years ago, I was traveling with my good friend, fellow DJ and mentor, John Allo, to a speaking engagement in Lewiston, Maine. John and I met more than 10 years earlier and became friends. John was one of the few people who told me that I had what it took to be a full time DJ. John did it, and he had a very successful and flourishing business in my market. In 1998, when I “took the plunge”, John was there to be a sounding board, and checked in on me from time to time, offering me business advice and even passing me some of his overflow work.

John had to retire from most of his DJ responsibilities in 2003 due to issues with his health.

During our trip to Lewiston, John was telling me that he came up with a new concept and service for his business that involved entertaining kids. He told me he had found a new revenue stream that was virtually untapped and he started telling me all about these “Bubble Parties” he was doing. I was impressed

and intrigued, especially when he told me how profitable these shows were.

John even recommended to me that I may want to start doing these shows. At the time, I had just released a book and had a few different “irons in the fire”, so I didn’t really pursue his invitation at the time.

A few months after that trip, on Easter Sunday, I received a voicemail from John, asking me to contact him right away. When I called him, I found out that he was in the hospital and that his health issues were more serious. At his request, I visited him in the hospital where he asked me to take over his kid’s entertainment program, as he had a scheduled show 3 days later. After a 2 hour visit, I was briefed on how to do them, and was given 20 dates by John.

The first show reminded me of the day I did my first wedding. When it was over, I discovered that these shows were fun and the time flew by. That was the beginning of what has become an important part of our entertainment company.

We have expanded our service offerings and partnered with a variety of kids entertainers to provide a variety of services in addition to Bubble Parties.

T h i s expans i o n has also provided us with opportunities for more recognition in the community, which has also led to more bookings.

In a highly competitive industry such as ours, I think we sometimes get so wrapped up in competing that we forget about the camaraderie and friendship between us as competitors. We seem to be disconnected when it comes to unity, because we are so concerned about competing for that next booking. For those of us that are serious enough (and that includes you…you’re reading this, right?) to want to take what we do serious enough, we need to begin to stick

together and learn to work together. You may not like some of your competition in your market, but in that moment when you need it, they could be the person or people who step to the plate to help you out.

It was a pleasure to get acquainted/

re-acquainted with you. Stay tuned…I look forward to sharing some of what I have learned in this industry to help you!

Rob can be reached at: robpeters@ discjockeynews.com.

PTDJ: Transitions Part 2

By Dan Carpenter

In last month’s article I took a look at transitions and how we can use this little time between parts of an event to improve the flow and feel; how paying special attention to what many would consider to be a minimal part of the night can have a big impact on how the guests feel and how they perceive the event is going. This month I want to take another look at transitions - however not the type of transitions you have at an event, but transitions we face every day.

If you are part-time like me, you probably wear A LOT of hats. You’re the owner, the DJ, the lighting tech, the salesperson for the company, the person to fill out the paperwork, etc. and that’s just for the business to run. Now add in spouse, parent, employee at your “regular” job and you have a lot of transitions that become important to keep straight.

Doing too many things at once often means little gets done, however letting a few of the positions run together isn’t usually a bad thing. For example, when I’m meeting with a couple there are times that I’ll relate a story about my wife and I, or if there are kids already in the picture I may share something about my son. It makes us a little more human to relate those circumstances, and in the end helps to make a bigger connection with our couples. On the flip

side, letting big things overlap can create a problem. My son is 5, and while I like to think he’s a perfect angel, I’m also realistic and have moments where his actions raise my blood pressure. If I’m about to head out for an event or meet with a client, the last I need thing I need to do is concentrate too much on my frustrations.

We need to find a way to transition from one part of our lives to another.

It’s important to find a way to put some space between the different parts of our lives and I’ve found the best way for me is to actually put in a minimal block of time to create that space. When I need it, my car often serves as my space maker. When I’m driving home, I put something on that causes me to just tune out.

During this time, I don’t think about my 9-5 job, I don’t think about my family, I don’t think about the business, I just tune out. The good thing is that I don’t need to commit a great deal of time, as I start to switch gears pretty quick. Once my mind is clear, then I’m ready to focus on what comes next. I’ve made my own transition. When my car isn’t an option, or I’m not planning on going anywhere for a while, I find other ways to transition, such as taking a deep breath before I answer the phone on a potential client, or moving to my office as I use that room for work. Just going there puts me in that mode.

In some ways this look at transitions is like compartmentalizing what we do, but when we realize it’s not the separation of our responsibilities but the act of switching gears (often having to do so quickly), it becomes the key to making our lives run smoother.

Dan Carpenter can be reached at dancarpenter@discjockeynews.com.

Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015 • Page 5

Proper, Pointed, Precise, Purposful....

By Jeffrey Gitomer

Proper, pointed, precise, purposeful response shortens the sales cycle.

How do you respond to your customer’s words and barriers?

The answer is: CAREFULLY, TRUTHFULLY, and with AUTHORITY. Whether it’s a bold statement in response to a challenge, or a it’s promise you make in order to gain buyer confidence, or it’s a guarantee that provides the prospect with peace of mind, whether it’s an irrefutable fact to prove your point, or it’s your ability to communicate passionately to the prospective buyer, the right words can create a buying atmosphere and complete a sale in a very few minutes.

The challenge to you, the salesperson, is to be prepared to respond to a challenge, not perplexed by what the customer is demanding and offer some weak excuse – or worse, give up.

I know you’re hoping for some examples, but as I mentally go through my ten biggest and most creative sales in New York City, I don’t believe any of them serve as good enough generic examples.

So rather than be specific, and have nonapplicable examples, I can tell you that if someone asks me a question that doubts my ability to deliver, or questions my price, or puts up some barrier to “yes,” I make an irrefutable, comforting guarantee, statement, or video that answers their concern, and moves me closer to mutual agreement.

Or better, I offer a video testimonial of someone else loving my offer and buying. This provides both proof and peace of mind. Having the videos requires work, and many salespeople will try to get by without them. You’ll be able to recognize them at once – they’re the ones that never make sales, and blame others for their failings.

If someone makes a statement that indicates interest, I immediately ask for a commitment. Or at least uncover if that is one of their motives for buying.

When someone throws a barrier at me, I take it as both a test and a challenge. Often times I have found that an objection or a barrier actually indicates customer interest and so I begin my response with a question that helps me

understand what their true feelings are, and I might say something like, “wait a second! Are you saying that (___) is the only thing between you and an order?”

And then I proceed from there. But I have taken the barrier or objection and immediately qualified it as the only one.

It amazes me how many salespeople take an objection or a barrier as a defeat.

Maybe it’s my attitude or self-confidence level, but I have always looked at an objection as a road-bump on the path to a sale.

And if the buyer says that he or she has to consult with others, I immediately ask, “if it was only you, what would your decision be?”

You have to think “bottom line.”

What can you ask or what can you say that will get your prospective buyer to the point of commitment? Or at least to an indication of purchasing interest. And all it takes to make that happen is proper preparation and brass balls. And both of those were developed in NYC. In New York City, you don’t have a choice, you have to walk in razor-sharp and razor-prepared and razor-ready. Dull razors get thrown away. Cheap razors hurt and cause cuts. Everyone knows that.

Here’s what to do: 1. List every possible barrier and ob-

jection.

2. Prepare responses for each one that have value or create WOW! 3. Look for customers that have purchased in spite of the barrier and get them to shoot a short video explaining why they bought and what happened AFTER purchase. (HINT: That’s where the value is!)

3.5 Stay at it until you have at least 25 examples and 25 videos.

Sound like a lot of work? It is! For years I have made the statement, “Most salespeople will not do the hard work it takes to make selling easy. Preparation is hard, but if it’s done right, selling is easy.”

How prepared are you?

How easy are your sales?

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelve best-selling books including The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Selling. His forthcoming book, 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling, will be available September 3rd, and will feature a national public seminar tour. Get the details at www.gitomer.com. It will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at salesman@gitomer.com.

Because developing a USP isn’t easy and it requires a lot of introspection and self review, most people in the DJ industry move to the gear-centric USP. The problem is that the gear-centric USP is a roller coaster of equipment and money being thrown around in an attempt to distract people from the real problem which I may touch on in a future article.

But the problem isn’t just in the DJ industry. I performed at a wedding expo where I was promoting the various companies and I asked each and every vendor at the show what their USP was. More than 2/3s of them didn’t know what it was. Those that did know couldn’t tell me theirs. Most handed me their brochure or fed me a tagline.

change the industry, refer only to others who have a USP. For example, if you hate country music perhaps you should admit that maybe you should pass on country music centric events instead of booking them anyway and then begging for a playlist. Find a DJ that specializes in them. Refer those clients that come to you to that other DJ. Do something CRAZY and be honest with your clients. Tell them the TRUTH. Say, ‘Your event sounds like an incredible night.

But I need to be completely honest with you. I’m not a fan of country music.

It’s just never really been a genre that I connected with. But there is a DJ that specializes in it. He loves country music, country dancing and I think they would be a better fit for your event than I would be. If it’s ok with you, we can give him a call right now and save you some time.’ and then pick up the phone and call him. Put the client on the phone with them right then and there.

What? Turn down business? Sure.

You can TURN DOWN THAT WHICH IS A BAD FIT and guess what? Your other business will grow. When others have a USP, you KNOW who to refer to for certain jobs. You don’t have to worry about people stealing your business. You can network and not worry about people stealing clients because you’re too busy SHARING. If you want to ‘fix’ the DJ industry, starting with you and your company first, begin the journey by developing your own USP. If you don’t know how, or are struggling with the process, I’ll try to provide some guidance in a future article or in a future presentation maybe in the Virtual Disc Jockey News Expo in February. In the meantime, feel free to provide some feedback on your own USP, if you have one or not, or what your own thoughts are on the value of it.

Ed Spencer can be reached at” edspencer@discjockeynews.co

It Just Doesn’t Matter

By Ed Spencer

It’s the same old tired argument we hear time and time again about how DJs who charge too little or slash their rates are ‘destroying’ the industry. The comments on the low point of entry to become a DJ. And here of late, we see the same comments aimed at the ‘fauxtographers’ who are hobbyists, take a good photo here or there and are told that they should shoot weddings or other events for a living. So - the phenomenon is spreading.

Well, I’ve thought about this long and hard and while it can be said that cheap DJs can depress the average pricing in a market, the truth of the matter is this: If, as a professional, you can’t separate yourself from the hobbyists, maybe you should rethink your profession.

Did you feel that? That sensation akin to being punched in the gut? That slap to the face? The proverbial recreation of a particular scene involving someone in a chair, a ten penny nail and a hammer from ‘Serpent and the Rainbow’?

Yep. That feeling you have was because of the comment I just dropped on you. Don’t get me wrong, there are DJs who are worth more. There are DJs who are worth less. And nearly across the board, DJs can be hired cheaper than renting the equipment they bring to an event. But here’s a little secret for you… it’s not going to change overnight. While training, the ‘worth movement’ and other factors can help the professionals learn grow, and even ‘fix’ undervalued DJs, there will always

be scabs and hacks working for peanuts at the fringe. There will always be club DJs, used to making $100 a night who think that $100 an hour for a wedding is ‘great’. You can’t make it disappear any time soon. Even heavily regulated professions like electricians deal with people doing their own work, or hobbyists, or people lying about being a professional - ever see ‘To Catch a Contractor’? Contractors are licensed and even they deal with unlicensed people who lie, are destroying their profession and pulling down prices.

So what is a person to do? How do you separate yourself from the hacks and wannabes? Easy. USP. It’s not a secret thing. Michael Port talks about it in his book and he’s not the first by a long shot.

I spoke on this a few years ago in my presentation entitled ‘Selling the How’. Admittedly, I do wish I had been a little more clear on the development process in that presentation, so maybe I’ll visit it again sometime. But back on point, USP, or Unique Selling Proposition, is what defines you and your company.

Wait. If this isn’t any secret, why are we in the state we’re in? Because almost no one has one. They don’t understand it. People tell them how to ‘develop’ their USP, but even many of these people don’t have one. They talk about ‘selling the sizzle’ or ‘repeating back what your clients say about you’ and the like. And sure, that’s part of the development process and honing of the USP, but when your reviews all say, ‘XYZ DJ company was AWESOME! They ROCK!’ it means NOTHING.

Hint: If you can’t easily explain in a sentence or two how you are ‘different’ from others in your market or industry then how do you expect your potential clients to be able to do it? After all, you’re the ‘professional’, right?

I came to a realization a short time back. DJs spend more time BWC’ing (Female Dogging, Whining, Complaining) about how they can’t book because of cheap DJs, or this or that…it’s not even funny. If they spent even 25% of that time in performance training, developing a USP, marketing and branding themselves with their USP they’d be so busy they wouldn’t have time to complain.

But here we are again talking about putting in the time and doing the work to reap the results. If you want to truly

PAGE 6 • Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015

Big Daddy’s Lessons On Living A Happy Life

By Ron Ruth

Happiness. A number of recording artists have sung about it, and companies like Disney, Coca-Cola, Heinz, Adidas and others have incorporated the words “happy” or “happiness” into their marketing slogans. As individuals, we bestow wishes of happiness on others at times when they’ve reached important milestones in their life and every time the calendar advances to the beginning of a new year. But what is happiness and what role does it play in our lives?

“Happiness”, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is defined as a state of wellbeing, contentment and joy.

To be happy is not an endgame.

The want or need to be happy is a constant motivator. It drives us to seek out new challenges, to achieve our goals and to be more productive. As a matter of fact, research indicates that happy people accomplish more and live longer lives.

Living a life of happiness is not a fantasy or an unobtainable goal. And, happiness is not measured by how successful you might be. To the contrary, whatever your idea of success may be is directly proportionate to how happy you are. According to a white paper posted on the American Psychological Association website, “Numerous studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health.” Who doesn’t want those things?

Who doesn’t need those things?

But the truth is that happiness can also be elusive. You can only avoid negative experiences for so long until life happens. It happens to all of us. But those occurrences are only a test of the extent of our happiness. Dealing with positive experiences is always easy. Getting good at overcoming the struggles of negative experiences contributes greatly to getting good at dealing with life and gaining a better appreciation

of the happiness that comes with winning each battle.

Over the years I’ve had a number of incredible mentors who have helped me become better in every facet of my business and personal life. But, when it comes to advice on leading a happy life and being good at overcoming life’s struggles, I turn to my friend, fellow DJ professional and all around great guy, Sean “Big Daddy” McKee. You’re about to learn why I trust in his point of view, and the 3 lessons of living a happy life that I’ve learned from him that will help you become a happier you.

Big Daddy’s Lessons On Living A Happy Life #1: “Being happy is a life choice and an attitude choice” If you don’t know Big Daddy, he is always the most recognizable guy in any room; a larger than life personality with an even larger heart. He’s that guy who is smiling as loud as he can and is usually surrounded by people who are drawn to his positive nature like the gravitational pull of the moon. They just can’t resist it. He exudes happiness at all times and is the first to offer encouragement and support to anyone who needs it.

If you follow Big Daddy on Facebook, you’ll also discover that he has got to be the hardest working man in the DJ world; working multiple weddings, parties and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs on the weekends and countless club jobs throughout the week.

Perhaps the one thing that stands out about the amount of work he gets is that his popularity and demand as an MC and performer has clients in his hometown of Stamford, Connecticut, clamoring to his door. And, if you ever get a chance to see his high-energy performance as I have, you’d understand why.

Now for some, his choice to live a happy life may seem like a no-brainer. But for Sean, committing to a positive attitude gave him the added strength to recently overcome the struggles of cancer. Not just once, but twice. He didn’t give either cancer the satisfaction of slowing down his performance schedule or allow it the pleasure of changing his attitude. For many of us it would have been extremely easy to throw in the towel or to permit adversity to control our destiny, but that’s not Big Daddy’s style.

Robert Frost wrote, “In three words I

can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” For Big Daddy life doesn’t just go on, it goes forward with the power of a locomotive and with no signs of stopping. At 60 years young and after some thirty-odd years as a DJ, he brings a level of passion, happiness and love for performing that not only rivals that of far younger DJs, but his dedication to living a happy life and to not succumb to one of life’s most difficult struggles is one of the most inspiring lessons of all.

Big Daddy’s Lessons On Living A Happy Life #2: “Don’t focus solely on your own happiness. Commit to making other

people happier than you are. It’s all about heart.”

This lesson is as much about love as it is happiness. This type of love, though, is not exclusive to loving yourself or loving what you do, it’s also about sharing that love with everyone who comes into contact with you. Your success, not just in business but in life, will ultimately be determined by how happy you make others feel.

Big Daddy recently told me, “My purpose in life is to make sure that everybody within the sound of my voice and the reach of my hand is as happy as they can possibly be. I want to be the most positive person I can be, so I can make at least one person smile every day.” Just like Big Daddy, the happiest and most successful people live by the mantra that inner happiness, love, respect, care, value and importance will continually multiply and grow stronger when they help others enjoy those same feelings--the kind of feelings everyone is entitled to enjoy.

If you’re not sharing your love with others, don’t expect them to give you theirs.

Big Daddy’s Lessons on Living A Hap-

py Life #3: “Be yourself. You are who you are. Embrace it and be the best ‘you’ you can possibly be.”

When I was a kid, my dad called people like Big Daddy, “the genuine article,” meaning he’s the real thing, 100% authentic. He’s an original, a one-of-a-kind - but, then again, so are you. To experience happiness is to be happy with who you are and only willing to point out your own flaws and not the flaws of others. Be appreciative of the people who have chosen to care about you and your well being. Be willing to pay it forward to others who may be in need of support. Know when it is time to walk away from people and situations that detract from your happiness and distract you from doing your best work. Smile as loud as you can and make laughter a part of your daily exercise routine.

Don’t take yourself so seriously that you constantly wonder what others will think of you or worry will overtake happiness. Know that life is too short to fret over things you can’t control and that mistakes or errors in judgments are not a fault, they are a learning experience. Trust your instincts and follow your heart wherever your dreams may take you. Show off your eccentricities, celebrate your weirdness.

Define your own purpose in life and reward yourself and others who will benefit by achieving it. But above all, be true to who you are and don’t let the opinion of others lead you away from the real reason you were put on this earth…to star in the role of the one and only you.

My thanks to Sean “Big Daddy” McKee for giving of his time for this article and for being, not just my mentor of happiness, but for being an inspiring example of what it means to live a happy life. And, special congratulations to him, as well, for recently becoming a grandfather to what are sure to be very spoiled grandkids.

Ron Ruth is a 20 year veteran of the wedding and DJ industry and the owner of Ron Ruth Wedding Entertainment in Kansas City. He’s also a self-described “Disney Geek” and a nationally recognized speaker who presents seminars at conferences for DJs and wedding professionals on the topic of delivering quality service.

Ron can be reached at 816-224-4487 or ronruth@discjockeynews.com

Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015 • Page 7

The Referral Coach: Five 21st Century Networking Tips

By Matt Anderson

I’ve been busy building my new Coaching Gym, I have not a new piece this week but one you may not recall from 2011. What’s scary is how prophetic these ideas were then. They really forced me to look in the mirror and say: how well have I applied these?

I was recently reading Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World (2010)

by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams.

They define wikinomics as “the art and science of collaborative innovation” Networkingand devote over 400 pages to global examples of how people have worked together with integrity and interdependence to achieve great things such as Wikipedia, car companies, and micro-lending communities.

Greater transparency/openness and collaboration in business are principles that are here to stay. Networked intelligence (which includes social media) is affecting governments (from wikileaks to mobile phone coverage exposing events in Iran and Syria), healthcare, education – almost all institutions – and your business!

The authors identify five principles for the age of networked intelligence.

How do they impact you and your business and how do you leverage it for more and better referrals?

1. Be more interdependent. Connect on a more human level with your clients.

People are infinitely more likely to refer you when they know you care about them first as people.

Share your story: Bob is an adviser client of mine whose heart is most embedded in helping women avoid ending up in same financial shipwreck that his sister did after her divorce. He has a real story to share. He has a purpose, people can relate to it and they know it’s not a marketing ploy. And specialists are easier to refer.

Be more interested: Eddy, a past client of mine, found that he was not earning the right to ask for referrals when we first started working together because his clients did not have much positive feedback for him. He was being too transactional. So he had to change his way of conducting meetings and take more time to get to know his clients before they could see he really did care about them (and then be open to recommending him).

2. Be more open.

I just got back from a 10 day holiday (spoiled a bit by an upset stomach!).

I called a prospect the day I got back.

When he said; “It’s crazy busy as usual,” I was transparent and replied: “I really did not miss that pace when I was away this past week. I needed a break.”

My fear was that it would sound like I did not enjoy my work and therefore was not a good person to do business with, but he empathized right away and said; “Yes, when I get away, it takes me a few days just to unwind before I can even enjoy myself.” That was a real connection – the absurdity of ‘confessing’ that working 60 hour weeks gets old sometimes.

Real and caring are powerful words for your referral sources to be using about you.

3. Show more integrity: Focus on how you can help others reach their goals – get out of selling and into helping. Consumers are so over sales and your agenda that it’s not even funny. We hate cold calls and we hate spam in our overloaded inboxes and (virtual junk) mailboxes.

In January I remember meeting with a prospect called Richard who generates over £1million/year in revenue. He said when he was first working as an adviser he would meet wealthy people and say, “This person is loaded; I could make ****loads of money!” And he rarely did.

“What I’ve learned is that if I focus exclusively on making it clear to them that I only care about helping them get where they want to go, I get paid handsomely sooner or later.”

And you don’t have to earn £1million to make a difference. Brian Kelm is an entertainment professional based in Wisconsin who MCs weddings and corporate events. He is genuinely focused on adding value to others. On numerous occasions he has sent me books, articles, and greeting cards. He has his own quote of the day email and not long ago organized a fundraiser for homeless people. It truly is his mission to make a difference. This authenticity is the referable piece.

4. Share more: Implement ‘the 5 Love Languages’ in building stronger relationships with people.

Whether you are giving clients a hug; sincere praise; a personalised gift; trying to find a job for one of their loved ones; or taking extra time to get them information important to them – that is not business as usual. The kind of giving mentioned in Gary Chapman’s book can ‘tip’ a relationship into a new client or referral source when done as a sin-

cere gesture.

5. Collaborate more.

Judy, a client of mine in Minneapolis, re-connected with a consultant who targets the same affluent community she does. Over lunch, she complimented him for being “extremely organized, personable, charming and a trusted advisor.” It was not hard to then move the conversation onto “how could we work together more?”

More of your success in the future will come from trying less to be a oneBrian Redd Continued From Page 1 out how to do it on my own. A lot of people were against this. They told me to swallow my pride and just hire help.

What they didn’t realize is that my stress levels were pretty high trying to manage set up people, I needed the independence and with the right design, I really felt I could do this.

When you take on a design challenge like this, every little nuance needs to be taken into consideration. I needed a system that I could safely load up, load in, set up, operate, and break down in a timely fashion without compromising quality or physically exhaust myself.

After all, after I set the system up, I’m going to have to have the energy to perform. Most people said it couldn’t be done, but I did it.

The “Micro System” I designed is small, lightweight, easy to set up, elegant, surprisingly powerful and receives more sound quality complements than any other system I’ve built. What’s really cool is that this concept has encouraged others to build custom DJ systems to accommodate their own physical lim-

man band even though this is what likely appealed to you about your current profession.

Tapscott and Williams consider these five principles to be the new model for twenty-first century business. How are you applying these to build your success?

Matt Anderson is the author of ‘Fearless Referrals’ at: http://www. http://www.thereferralauthority.com or at: Matt.Anderson.intl@gmail.com

itations.

It’s really a great little DJ system, but I’m ready for a radical redesign. A lot of people don’t understand why I’d even consider doing this. I have set up and broken down this system for 3 years now and have found plenty of room for improvement. For instance, a simple set up step that may take the average person a minute to perform could take me five. As you can imagine, those types of steps add up when you have four or five of them in front of you. If I could somehow eliminate a few of these steps, not only would it be a great time saver, but it could also allow time to perform a new step that was considered “too much” in the original build.

When shopping for new “Micro System” components, so many things need to be considered. How much does it weigh? Where is the carrying handle? How many set up steps are involved and could it eliminate more steps than it adds?

NAMM gave me a lot of new ideas and possibilities that I’m looking forward to explore.

So stay tuned for the redesign. If I can build a new system that I can set up in under 3 minutes and 43 seconds, I will have beat the total time of this rebuilds theme song - “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”.

Brian S Redd is a Mobile/Club DJ in Milwaukee WI, DJ Youtuber and an official “American DJ” Artist/ You can reach Brian at: brianredd@discjockeynews.com/

PAGE 8 • Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015

If TED Would Just Stop Talking

Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015 • Page 9

By Carr Hagerman

As a professional keynote speaker one might expect I wouldn’t like anything that costs me a lot of business. But, being a free market thinker and strong advocate for the economics of rational competition I have to accept that competition in all forms is simple a reality of life. To compete is good, healthy and useful for driving innovation and creativity, and for jacking up our instincts to fight our way to the top of the mammalian heap. But there is also a brand of competition that is so ubiquitous and relentless that fighting its presence is tantamount to killing a zombie. Good luck.

For the past couple of decades TED Talks has been pimping a lineup of pointy headed nerds, savants, MENSA deities and a host of preternaturally smart people who speak for 20 minutes on everything. TED talks has been a source of irrefutable evidence that smart sounding people intrigue us, particularly if they have a british accent, and snappy ideas are fun to hear about. Since 1990 when the first TED Talks appeared, people have been addicted to the near non-stop talking by uber-smart guru’s, most of whom we’ve never heard of be-

fore. What started as a few interesting drips has turned into a veritable fire hose deluge of ideas, some of which are not worth spreading. With all due respect is “The Neuroscience of Restorative Justice” something we have been clamoring to hear about? Does a talk on “The 50

smart enough to solve real problems and make contributions every day. They’re CEO’s and line level assemblers, librarians and bar tenders, sales professionals and hair stylists, none of whom would be considered for the hollowed and holy stage at a Ted Talk. Common wisdom, it

Cent Microscope That Folds Like Oragami” bring the house down? Interesting? I guess. Useful? Maybe.

At what point do we start longing for normal talks by regular people? Take Dale, my friendly neighbor, he could deliver a great presentation on “How to grow big ass tomatoes” or a pot head performer I know who might wow us with “24/7 Stoned and Happy”. Okay, it’s a stretch, but they are freakin real.

Life is full of normal, real and interesting people and they live next door, down the block or are on the bus with us. They may not have triple Ph.ds in urban planning and rocket propulsion, but they’re

seems, doesn’t deserve a big stage.

These days TED Talks are just an audition reel for high end motivational thinky-tank speakers and smarty pants conference keynotes. If you score a TED Talk, no matter what your jive, you’ll get calls from the big companies and speakers bureaus wringing their hands to get you in front of their next event.

As far as a few conference organizers are concerned, if you don’t have a Ted Talk on your resume you’re just one of thousands in the plebeian underclass of junk jiving mumbo-jumbo motivationalists working in a league of empty suits and cliches. Hell, you’re more likely to

get offered a great speaking contract if you even attend a TED Talk let alone speak at the thing!

I understand the value of TED Talks and the breathtakingly smart and articulate people that populate their line up.

But as someone who has also spoken on big stages to Fortune 50 companies, audiences mostly want someone they can relate to, who is entertaining, real, and has something cool to say. Sure, some of the Ted speakers fit that bill, but most wouldn’t and who cares anyway. The business of speaking is not difficult and it doesn’t require big money or genius IQ’s to deliver an interesting, useful and inspiring message. We may not all be brilliant astrophysics or cool designers and none of us can brag that we changed the world with origami, but we do get up each morning to contribute to our version of that. We go to work, raise our families, do our best and make the most of it all while we’re here.

So, I will continue to compete against the turrets of Ted Talks, and will be happy enough to continue working and speaking with those of us living underneath the never-ending din of impossible brilliance.

Carr Hagerman is the author of “Top Performer: A Bold Approach To Sales And Service.” (Hyperion). You can contact Carr at: carrhagerman@discjockeynews.com Or visit his website at http://www.carrhagerman.com

PAGE 10 • Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015

Creating Mobile Beat 2015

By Jeremy Brech

If you have not picked up your tickets for Mobile Beat 2015, let me give one more reason to attend. The past 6 months there has been one of the most creative collaboration in progress. Before I give out to much let’s start with where it all started.

A couple years back I was fortunate to be in a workshop called the Entertainment Experience. I listened to good friend Mitch Taylor who told me if you really want to be better at what you do make sure you hit up this workshop

by Bill Hermann and Jason Jones.

Being a couple hours from my place I made the trip and experienced something that would change my life and the life of my clients. My eyes were opened to the true potential of what a couple’s and their guests’ experience could be.

Let’s time hop now! The last DJ Convention that you went to, what was it lacking? As DJ/Lighting/Performers they realized that’s what was lacking!

We are at a DJ conference with some of the best and brightest minds in the industry but aren’t giving the DJ the experience we expect them to give to their clients? Hence the Entertainment Experience was created for the Mobile Beat 2015 DJ Conference. So how did things progress?

Bill and Jason have been working with the show producers and said we want to knock people off their seats.

We want to create this new experience.

They contacted me to see if I was interested in collaborating with them. I then contacted Chauvet DJ to see if they were interested in giving the DJ industry something above and beyond? Without hesitation they were on board and will be providing over 30 some of the best fixtures for any DJ to take a hold of and use in their own shows no matter how

big or how small.

The next realization was performance! We can’t show up to one of the biggest DJ Conferences and play an Ipod! We battle this every day with our brides. So I contacted good friend and industry icon Jason Jani with SCE Event Group. Jason is exciting to listen to, watch and is perfect to energize a group of professionals for this conference. So with the Bill and Jason Jones creating the MC transitions, Jason Jani and his amazing skills, myself powered

by Chauvet DJ we are excited to give the industry something we have been waiting for four years. An experience!

Last but not least with the amazing contribution from Chauvet DJ I have been fortunate to present one of the only lighting seminars at Mobile Beat this year. My goal is to inspire the entry level all the way up to the advanced DJ to allow them to grow their lighting business. I also look forward to inspiring DJs on how to use fixtures to create an even better experience in their performance.

What are the topics I will be sharing? Just as a teaser we will be sharing: “Creating ordinary into extraordinary” and “How to sell your lighting and actually make money!” We will be sharing a brief segment on the new and upcoming gear that is changing the industry, and last but not least we are going to show you exactly how we created the “Entertainment Experience.” A huge thanks to Chauvet DJ and we look forward to seeing you at 5:30 in the main ballroom on Monday February 23rd!

Jeremy Brech is Owner/Entertainer/ Lighting Designer of DJ Jer Events and Lighting Design, and WED TM Member. Jeremy can be reached at: jeremybrech@discjockeynews.com.

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Education Is Key

By Glenn Mackay

One of the questions I’m most asked by other wedding professionals is “how does your company keep innovating and staying ahead of the competition?” This question comes from DJs as well. So the answer is simple.

Education. I’m not talking about my formal education after finishing school, but education that I’ve taken on in the last decade of my life.

Early on in my DJ business, we ran our business based on very little knowledge. I had worked for another multi-op DJ company and therefore I thought the best idea would be to just copy their business model.

This resulted in our company being just another multi-op DJ business looking to undercut everyone else in order to get lots of work.

Because I’m a little slow, it took me a little while to work out that I was not actually making much money by doing things this way. So something had to change. This is where my DJ education started.

I started to research what others were doing and found that there were people out there willing to share how they did and what they did. The more I looked, the more I found. “Develop a passion for learning.

If you do, you will never cease to grow” – Anthony J. D’Angelo.

That quote is so appropriate, because every time I finished watching a DVD, listening to a seminar or completed a workshop, I became even more motivated to seek out more knowledge.

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” – Benjamin Franklin. This quote perfectly sums up my own experience after starting my DJ education. At first, the cost of the various DJ educational products seemed expensive. That was until I started to see the returns. The impact on

my performance was immediate. The referrals increased and overall demand went up, just like my rates did. The best thing about education is that an investment in yourself keeps paying dividends over and over again.

For those of us running our own businesses, there is no need to limit ourselves to just gathering a DJ education. There are countless opportunities to learn and improve your business. Especially as a small business, many of us are responsible for doing everything. If you want to get better at SEO, find a course on SEO. Whatever aspect of your business you feel needs improving, with a bit of research you’ll find someone who can help.

Education can become addictive.

We’ve all heard the saying “You don’t know what you don’t know” and when you start to realise how much you don’t know, you may just become motivated to know more.

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire” – William Butler Yeats. Taking a workshop, reading a book or watching a DVD once is good, but no doubt there will be much you miss as your brain takes in new ideas, and areas for improvement. So I encourage you to re-take workshops, re-read books and re-watch DVDs. You will pick up things you missed the first time and this will help light the fire that will keep you pushing ahead of your competition. “You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward” – Conrad Hall. If you want to know what educational opportunities exist within the DJ industry, be sure to contact me via the details below.

With MobileBeat later this month, plus the multitude of workshops available around it, you have a wonderful opportunity to improve yourself and invest in your future. Along with a handful of other Aussies, my wife and I will be making our way to Las Vegas. I hope to see you there and be sure to say hello.

Glenn Mackay is a mobile DJ from Brisbane, Queensland, Austrailia and owner of G and M Solutions Mobile DJs. Glenn can be reached at glennmackay@ discjockeynews.com

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Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015 • Page 11

PAGE 12 • Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015

The Way I See It: Play Nice With Everyone

By Michael J. Lenstra

The Academy Award winning picture Ordinary People deals with a seemingly perfect American family and how they crumble in the wake of tragedy. In the climactic scenes of the movie, harsh words are exchanged: “ C a n ’t you see anything except in terms of how it affects you!?” the husband screams.

“No I can’t–and neither can you or anybody else!” retorts an angry wife.

Through that exchange, they may have stumbled onto the root of their problems.

But this column is not meant to be about movies or marriage advice, but rather about how we, as Mobile DJs, could maybe help our cause a bit by seeing things in terms of not only how they affect us, but rather the event as a whole, particularly at weddings.

A fellow DJ and good friend of mine, and I’ll call him Bob because that’s his name, and I talk all the time. Sometimes it’s right after our events on a Saturday night and maybe even a few times during the week. Most of our conversations center around shop talk, and in one of those conversations he mentioned giving advice to his nephew who was getting married.

“Wow, you should be a wedding planner with all that you know about weddings,” his nephew said.

Or should he? Maybe he was giving advice on just how he see things in terms of how it affects us as Mobile DJs. For years I would get frustrated with

some of the other wedding vendors in our area: photographers who would want to rush through wedding traditions or take the bride and groom outside right after dinner just so they could get their pictures and be on their merry way. And the banquet managers who couldn’t care less what itinerary you had worked out with the bride and groom because they had their own. Once I started communicating with those professionals, though, I began to see things from their point of view. With that knowledge I began to ask other wedding professionals what frustrations they have working with cowedding vendors on an event.

“A couple different photographers have gotten WAY too close and up in my (or my bandmate’s) grill, stepping over cables and leaning over mic stands to get shots, making everyone nervous that they were about to knock something over,” said Lindsay S., a vocalist and guitar player from Boston. “Another time a videographer asked me to move so she could have the spot I was in to shoot from! She then started picking up my equipment to help me move it even after I had asked her not to multiple times.”

Sacramento florist Monique W. says dealing with time constraints has been a frustration: “The venue … books weddings back to back, and the florist is waiting to set the reception area while prior wedding die-hard guests are still dancing or sitting at the tables, and the venue staff are too timid to throw them out. The florist then only gets maybe a half hour to set up.”

New Jersey celebrant Celia M. has had several frustrations.

“Photographers who are dressed like slobs and then proceed to stand RIGHT NEXT to me or in front of the bridal party, obscuring the view of the groom/ bride and the family. And they’re in the video that way,” she says, or “DJs who miss the recessional cue. It sounds small but it’s really awkward to have that pause, or any pro who is late, especially

make-up artists who can delay the ENTIRE day. Shuttles/limos who get lost/ arrive late/forget passengers, planners/ day of coordinators who don’t bother to contact me for any given detail about the ceremony. Venue coordinators who don’t coordinate, arrange the bridal party, or shepherd the process.”

Another officiate, Nancy T. of Sarasota, Florida, has only one complaint: “I’m a female officiant who really doesn’t need the male DJ mic’ing me—keep your hands to yourself!”

As for some of my issues with photographers, David D. of Wisconsin puts it this way: “In partial defense of the photographer that runs off with the wedding party and delays the meal, there have been times when the bride has asked for pictures that may have delayed things somewhat but when the bride asks for something we go do it as quickly as possible.” He continues, “There are some DJs that seem to think that just because they are just getting started that we are as well. They don’t understand that we may have been running around with the wedding party for the last six hours.”

And his take on some of those in our profession?

“I have had lots of problems with DJs not giving me a heads up about toasts, first dance and that sort of thing, even after talking to them about their plans and asking them to do so. I’ve had a few that I told them I had to go out of the room for pictures or whatever and come back only to find the best man giving his toast or the couple doing their first dance already,” he says. “Thankfully these guys are the exception and not the rule.”

As for my dilemmas with the ban-

quet staff, I learned early on that a call to them a few days before a wedding would get all of us following the same schedule.

In Madison, Wisconsin, the local chapter of the National Association of Wedding Professionals kicks off every year with a round table discussion featuring upcoming couples and just married newlyweds. ”We set the room up to look like a wedding and we set the couples up at the head table,” explains Ally Krezinski, current president of the chapter. Attendees are invited to write down questions, which are presented to the couples through an emcee. The questions are centered on what they are looking for in certain services as they are planning their wedding and what some of the deciding factors were in choosing the providers they did. “We try to keep [the names] anonymous as far as who they did decide to go with,” explains Ally, thus keeping the event from being a promotional opportunity.

What a great concept! Not only does it provide those attendees with great feedback on where to advertise and what message your target client is looking for, it also helps you see things through the eyes of your co-vendors, not to mention the networking opportunity.

The way I see it, we are all on a quest for the same goal–to provide our couples with a wonderful, memorable experience. By ‘playing nice with everyone,’ working together and seeing things from another person’s vantage point, we can help ensure that.

If that couple from Ordinary People would have done so, maybe they could have lived happily ever after.

Until next month, ~ Mike ~ Michael J. Lenstra is a 20-plus-year veteran of the Mobile Disc Jockey Industry, a full-time entertainer, and owner of Alexxus Entertainment in Dubuque, IA. He can be reached at mikelenstra@discjockeynews.com

The Consistent Kind

Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015 • Page 13

By Keith ‘KC’ KoKoruz

I have been speaking at DJ shows for quite a few years now and at the 2013 DJ Times show I was asked a question about what type of marketing was the best. I responded with “The Consistent Kind.”

I wasn’t trying to be a smart ass. I also wasn’t avoiding the question.

I was being honest and it wasn’t until Mike Wa l t e r quoted it in this very publication that I realized I had just always taken what I did consistently as a habit that everyone had.

I have to say that I love when a bride comes into my office and when we ask how she heard about us, her response is how didn’t we hear about you.

A marketing plan/calendar to a business is what a diet/health/exercise plan is to the human body. My nephew, Will, is 13 years old and in his gym class he is required to do pushups, jumping jacks, sit-ups etc. The rope to the ceiling is also still a fan favorite. This is the same as when I was in 8th grade back in 1983. Things haven’t changed that much in marketing since 1983 either.

We still do business with people, bottom line.

The concept is simpler still. Eat right, get to the gym regularly, go to the doctor annually, and you should live to be 100 years old. A good marketing plan doesn’t need to be any more complicated; it needs to be consistent just like this simple rule about living healthy.

Your marketing plan/calendar needs

to simply spell out your goals. How many venues do you want to visit per week in the hopes that they will start referring you, because they have gotten to know you better from your visits? I was referred at one venue for over 3 years because I brought the catering sales manager a box of candy, and the DJ she was recommending took her for granted and never even said Thank You. If it was this easy everywhere I would have a warehouse of goodies ready and on the street 5 days per week. My visits to her after however were regular and sincere, the goodies simply kept changing. I just wish she didn’t move to Orlando. My next question is how do you keep in contact with a previous bride

and groom after their contract is over?

Are they a number? Are they a friend?

Are they your biggest fan? You should decide on a course of action that best fits your company brand.

I love bridal shows. I love the one on one interaction with brides. I always have. I love them so much I now produce 19 bridal shows per year in Chicago and Milwaukee.

I can’t stress how much I feel that bridal shows are a wedding vendor’s easiest way to make their cash register ring. Where else can you have 50-100-200 plus brides in front of you, all wanting to know what you will do to make their wedding day awesome?

Most wedding businesses that exhibit in a bridal show or advertise with a wedding magazine typically get a mailing list as a part of the contract. I ask vendors all the time what they do with the list and they all have the best of intentions of using it, but very rarely ever do. Some may use it one time. This is a waste of money and you are leaving a ton of valuable information on the table. In Chicago, 76% of all weddings happen on Saturday. 12% happen on Sunday and 12% happen on Friday. The

majority of weddings also happen from around the middle of April through the middle of October, based on Chicago weather. When I place all of these brides in my data base, I can specifically choose to market harder to brides that live close or are having their wedding in my backyard - and to the Friday, Sunday and off peak wedding dates, keeping my company busy as much as possible. I talk to wedding vendors constantly who tell me they would love to pick up more off peak weddings but do nothing to make this happen. The difference between a dream and a goal is simple; the work and effort you put into making it real and seeing it through.

I’m not necessarily working harder, I am just working smarter.

I believe that a bride spends 90 days deciding on her various needs for a wedding. Once she decides that she is need of a DJ, she will spend the next 90 days doing her research, interviewing her choices, and ultimately deciding who she thinks is the best fit for her wedding based on what she feels is important to her. I believe this is the case for all services.

I believe one of the best companies that consistently keeps both their brand and a call to action out there is Bed Bath and Beyond. Every 30-60 days I get a postcard in the mail hoping this is the month my blender died or that I will finally buy an ice cream maker, etc.

Your job is to be a proactive, polite, and positive presence in the face of the brides-to-be getting married in your market.

KC can be reached at KC@discjockeynews.com.

PAGE 14 • Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015

What Do Brides Really Think About Your Website and Facebook Pages?

By Alan Berg

I had the privilege of presenting a while back at the Wedding Biz conference in Atlanta.

The highlight of the conference, for me, was the first session where 5 real brides were invited to be on a panel.

They were asked some great questions and here are some of the things I want to share with you: Here’s my Top 10 list highlighting what these real brides had to say about their wedding planning, your websites

and marketing: 1. The brides said that very, very few of the wedding professional’s websites they went to were good. Some even implied that none of the ones they saw were any good. (ouch!)

2. If they didn’t like your website, they checked you out on Facebook. (is your business page ready for Prime time?)

3. They specifically searched for you on Facebook by name, they weren’t just randomly searching for someone in your market/category. (surprise) 4. They weren’t interacting with your Facebook page, rather they were looking for photos of recent events you did.

While they were mostly talking about reception venues and photographers, I asked them specifically if this applied to other categories and they said, Yes! 5. If they didn’t see anything more compelling on your Facebook page... they went on to someone else. With over 1 billion other pages they have plenty of other choices.

6. They will look for and read your

blog, keep it up to date. They want to see recent posts and photos from weddings you’ve done.

7. They were looking during work hours and said that if you have music or videos that play automatically, you’re

getting them in trouble at work. Lose the music or let them ask to hear it. If you’re not selling music, you don’t need it at all.

vest in your own site before you spread yourself too thin with lots of other pages.

So, there it is, whether it validates

8. They all set up a new email address specifically for their wedding info.

Yes, they’re screening their emails.

9. They want you to be more “conversational” in your emails with them.

This also holds true for your websites.

Don’t write the text on your sites the way everyone else does, or the way you think everyone else does. Write it to speak to the audience that’s coming. Let your voice come through.

10. They’re Generation Y, they don’t use Twitter. Enough said.

Your take-aways are these: Have the recent photos, blog posts, etc. on your own website and they won’t have to go to Facebook to find out more. First in-

what you already know, or whether it hurts a little... or a lot. The great thing about market research is not that you hear what they say, it’s when you make a positive change based upon that new information. So, what are you going to do differently today?

Alan Berg has been called “North America’s Leading Expert and Speaker on the Business of Weddings and Events”. Find out more about his speaking, website reviews, consulting, books, DVDs and audio presentations at http://www.AlanBerg.com - email or call Alan, 732.422.6362

Poaching In The DJ Industry

Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015 • Page 15

By Dean C. Carlson

Two days ago I had an entirely different article written and ready to go, when all of a sudden I was made aware of a post by a colleague of my here in Duluth.

He chose Facebook to vent about a problem he was facing; the poaching of talent from one DJ company to another. For me this begs the question; do you, would you or have you ever wanted to, take a DJ from another company?

A little of my background might be in order here: For those of you that didn’t know it, I managed a large multi-op DJ company for 7 years. We had on average 20 – 25 DJs working for us every year. I was adamant about not taking on DJs who had been trained elsewhere for multiple reasons.

But the most important reason was that it is harder to break someone of bad habits than train them with the right ones.

Every once in a while, though, I would take one on as a pet project. In that time we never had a DJ leave to join another company. Not once. Two of them left to start their own companies - one because he moved so far away and the other to

focus more on clubs.

The number one reason people think DJs leave a company, only to join another, is money. And the truth is that although it is some of the reason, it usually isn’t the main reason. Case in point; we paid DJs $30 set up and tear down fee, and $10 to $15 a ‘show hour’ in most cases, plus mileage. So if a DJ traveled 130 miles away for a 6 hour show they would be paid about $190 dollars (at $10 per show hour). Not the greatest pay, but still people stayed – some for years.

In addition to money, people stayed for 3 more different reasons. Promotions, Adoration, and Genuine Care. I knew which of these triggers worked for each of my DJs, and wrote it in their files. Then I used this to my advantage.

If you don’t know which one triggers your employees then you will have them looking at other companies too.

Promotion is the simplest of these.

Some people just need a title. You can push this a bit by dangling the carrot of a future title to them later on. Start with ‘trainee’, and then up to ‘music mixer’, pretty soon they are the ‘head DJ’ and finally ‘master of ceremonies’. After this ran out we made them the equipment managers, company trainer and so on.

This also worked to get DJs to training, by the way, because we offered the same material every year. It was imperative to have the experienced DJs there so that the less experienced ones understood the importance of training. It helped to grow a culture of training in our company. But you received a diploma the first year, the next year you got your “BS” in

DJing and finally we ended after the 3rd year of training with your “Master DJ Degree”. It cost us nothing to do this, but the results were measurably noticeable with retention.

The next building block of successful retention is adoration. Let’s face it this is a big one for DJs. We all have big egos that need to be fed. This could be as simple as reading their best reviews at a company meeting, to as big as a press release for the local news to pick up. Some of the best adoration is when it comes honestly and personally from the boss.

This is also a motivator for the less experienced DJs to keep up the good work, because if it’s their trigger then they will work harder when they see others getting called out for good work.

Lastly, nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. I have to say that hands down this is the single most important thing you can do for retention. Honest genuine care will trump just about every other kind of trick or tool you can use to keep people interested in your company. I wanted to know what was going on in the lives of our DJs, much to the chagrin of the owner, who at the time probably thought I wasted hours with DJs just sitting in my office talking about life outside of work.

But when you think about how many hours it takes to train in a new prospect, this is minor. You can’t fake this care. To this day DJs who moved on from DJing are still my friends. I still care about their lives, and they know that too.

Let me digress for a second to address the problem of DJs starting their

own companies. Again, we only had 2 in 7 years do this. Every time they complained about how much money we paid them, I always took the time to talk about the costs of doing business. I had this conversation again today with a friend. How much does it cost to book a client? If you don’t know that you shouldn’t be called a business in my mind. But, letting your DJs know this isn’t cheap helps keep them from starting their own business and becoming your competition.

I know when my friend reads this column he will be asking “why did you bring this up?” Well, he put it on Facebook, and I want to help. We did talk about this one day last week after his post, and he was quick to point out his rant was about companies poaching, not DJs leaving. But it really does amount to the same thing. Are you giving your employees a reason to even play with the idea of leaving?

You can’t stop a company from asking…heck the business world has an actual job title for this called ‘headhunters’. They look at other companies and try to take their employees from them, because it’s business, after all. It is our duty as employers to make sure when this happens, your employees laugh at them and say that they respect the company they’re with right now. After all, doesn’t that make you smile as an owner, when your employees have that kind of dedication? Good Luck and Great Shows.

Dean Carlson can be reached at deancarlson@discjockeynews.com.

of the DJs waiting to be let in. As DJs, most of us are gear junkies (also known as morons). I’m just as guilty as the next guy. Again, have a game plan BEFORE you even set foot in the place. Have a list of things you NEED before looking at the stuff that you WANT! There are some deals to be had, but make sure you walk around a while before jumping on the first “sale priced” super daddy XLR cable. Another vendor may have the same one for $10 cheaper three booths down. I love the showroom floor mainly for the fact that I can ask all the questions I want, normally from the very people that helped design the product. Most times I don’t even buy there. I just get the info I need to make a smart decision and then I order later. One more thing; don’t forget to factor in shipping! If you can’t carry it home with you on the plane, you are going to have to pay shipping, or ask them to eat it if you buy from them. Remember, NEED vs. WANT! Calm down when those doors open, breathe, then go.

Lastly, if you find yourself just completely overwhelmed by the DJ trade shows, much like many brides at bridal shows, then try something smaller. I

know of an awesome workshop called The PhDJ Workshop (www.phdjworkshop.com) that this guy named Mike Walter does with some other guy with a Southern accent that takes place April

Tackling The DJ Trade Shows

By Joe Bunn

So we all know it’s bridal show season. You have undoubtedly been setting up bridal show booths, selling your services and doing private showcases pretty much since 2015 started. However, it’s also time for DJ show season!

Up first, in February, is Mobile Beat Las Vegas. It is right around the corner (shameless plug alert!), and I am speaking this year. I am hoping to see you at my seminar “Every Little Thing You Do Is Magic” where I’m going to go fast and furious for only 30 minutes to tell you all the things you should be doing for your business, but probably aren’t! OK, enough of that.

Let’s move on to the topic at hand…What is the best way to attend these DJ shows and get your max “bang for the buck”?

Let’s be honest, these trade shows are expensive! Most of us don’t live in Las Vegas or Atlantic City or Nashville (or wherever they take place) so we have to get there. Plus you have a few nights in a hotel, the show pass, per diem for food, a little “entertainment” a couple of nights and BOOM!, you’re in the hole for several grand! However, if you maximize your experience at these shows, it is worth every penny.

First, take a look at the schedule of

speakers and seminar topics. Pick the ones that are most applicable to your business! If you don’t do lighting or other “add ons”, DON’T go to those! I know it sounds like common sense, but you would be surprised. At many of the shows and conferences there are two seminars going on at the same time (not Mobile Beat), and you want to attend both. This is when you have to use the “divide and conquer” plan. So A-send your right hand man/woman to one to take notes, while you hit the other one or B-have one of your DJ buddies you meet go to the other one and you guys swap notes after.

Speaking of meeting “DJ buddies”; you will find no better place to do so than at a DJ conference. Admit it - it is hard being friendly and competitive at the same time. It’s hard to reach out for advice or give advice to a rival DJ company in your market. However, at the DJ shows, there are DJs from all over the world! If you see a group of guys talking shop, go up and introduce yourself!

Give them a card and get theirs! My experience is that most DJs are friendly (especially when you are not a threat).

This group of friends you meet will be at most of the conventions that you go to, and they are also a great “sounding board” for when your business isn’t doing well and you need a pep talk ,or maybe when you are thinking about buying that new piece of DJ gear, etc.

It’s just a great way to network. Period!

Finally, let’s talk about the gear and the showroom floor. When they open those doors, you can literally slip and fall on the drool coming from the mouths

7th and 8th, 2015 in Raleigh, NC. The smaller shows are less “101” type content, and more advanced business and MC knowledge. Maybe that’s more what you’re seeking!

I hope this article helps you formulate a game plan for Mobile Beat Las Vegas and beyond. I’ll see you at my seminar on Wednesday February 25th at 10am. I promise it’s worth waking up for. Bring something to take notes on! Let’s go!

Joe Bunn is the owner of Joe Bunn DJ Company and Next Level DJ Consulting. He and Mike Walter will be hosting The PhDJ Workshop March of 2015. Go to www.phdjworshops.com Joe Bunn can be reached at joebunn@discjockeynews.com.

PAGE 16 • Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Urban Big Sean I Don’t F*** With You Nicki Minaj Only Beyonce 11-Jul Dej Loaf Try Me Rae Sremmurd No Type Wale The Body DJ Khaled Hold You Down Chris Brown New Flame Usher I Don’t Mind Trey Songz Touchin’, Lovin’ iLoveMakonnen Tuesday Ne-Yo She Knows Tamar Braxton Let Me Know J. Cole Apparently B.o.B Not For Long O.T. Genasis CoCo K. Michelle Love ‘Em All Chris Brown x Tyga Ayo Drake How About Now Nicki Minaj Truffle Butter August Alsina No Love Ludacris Good Lovin’ Schoolboy Q Hell Of A Night Nicki Minaj Feeling Myself Rae Sremmurd Throw $um Mo TK N’ Ca$h Mind Right DJ Drama Right Back T.I. G’ S**t Sevyn Streeter Don’t Kill The Fun Wash Can’t Trust Thots

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Country Eric Church Talladega Carrie Underwood Something In The Water Luke Bryan I See You Florida-Georgia Line Sun Daze Kenny Chesney Til It’s Gone Thomas Rhett Make Me Wanna Randy Houser Like A Cowboy Blake Shelton Lonely Tonight Jason Aldean Just Getting’ Started Chase Bryant Take It On Back Brett Eldredge Mean To Me Brad Paisley Perfect Storm Darius Rucker Homegrown Honey Lee Brice Drinking Class Chris Young Lonely Eyes Raelynn God Made Girls Cole Swindell Ain’t Worth The Whiskey David Nail Kiss You Tonight Lady Antebellum Freestyle Jake Owen What We Ain’t Got Dierks Bentley Say You Do Tyler Farr A Guy Walks Into A Bar Kristian Bush Trailer Hitch Sam Hunt Take Your Time A Thousand Horses Smoke Zac Brown Band Homegrown Eric Paslay She Don’t Love You Easton Corbin Baby Be My Love Song Toby Keith Drunk Americans Billy Currington Don’t It Rock Three Days Grace I Am Machine Five Finger Death Punch Wrong Side Of Heaven Foo Fighters Something From Nothing Seether Same Damn Life Royal Blood Figure It Out Papa Roach Face Everything And Rise Asking Alexandria Moving On Godsmack Something Different Pretty Reckless Follow Me Down In This Moment Sick Like Me Nothing More Mr. MTV Halestorm Apocalyptic Nickelback Million Miles An Hour AC/DC Rock Or Bust Marilyn Manson Deep Six Sixx A.M. Stars Young Guns I Want Out Starset Carnivore Arctic Monkeys R U Mine?

Chevelle An Island Bring Me The Horizon Drown Slash Bent To Fly Motionless In White Reincarnate All That Remains This Probably Won’t End Well Linkin Park Rebellion Kid Rock First Kiss Of Mice and Men Feels Like Forever Black Keys Weight Of Love Rise Against Tragedy + Time Like A Storm Wish You Hell

Adult Contempory Taylor Swift Shake It Off Sam Smith Stay With Me Nico and Vinz Am I Wrong Maroon 5 Maps Taylor Swift Blank Space Colbie Caillat Try Magic!

Rude Meghan Trainor All About That Bass Sam Smith I’m Not The Only One Maroon 5 Animals Echosmith Cool Kids Ed Sheeran Thinking Out Loud OneRepublic Love Runs Out Kelly Clarkson Heartbeat Song Hozier Take Me To Church Charli XCX Boom Clap Nick Jonas Jealous Meghan Trainor Lips Are Movin’ Mark Ronson Uptown Funk U2 Every Breaking Wave Vance Joy Riptide Ed Sheeran Don’t Clean Bandit Rather Be Tove Lo Habits (Stay High) Sia Chandelier OneRepublic I Lived Milky Chance Stolen Dance Ella Henderson Ghost Lady Antebellum Bartender Mr. Probz Waves Alternative 1 Cage The Elephant Cigarette Daydreams 2 Arctic Monkeys R U Mine?

3 Imagine Dragons I Bet My Life 4 Walk The Moon Shut Up And Dance 5 Foo Fighters Something From Nothing 6 Milky Chance Stolen Dance 7 Hozier Take Me To Church 8 Bleachers Rollercoaster 9 Royal Blood Figure It Out 10 Modest Mouse Lampshades On Fire 11 Banks Beggin For Thread 12 Robert DeLong Long Way Down 13 Fall Out Boy Centuries 14 George Ezra Budapest 15 Catfish And The Bottlemen Kathleen 16 Andrew McMahon In The… Cecilia And The Satellites 17 Glass Animals Gooey 18 Vance Joy Mess Is Mine 19 Alt-J Every Other Freckle 20 Black Keys Weight Of Love 21 Rise Against Tragedy + Time 22 Bush The Only Way Out 23 Yelawolf Till It’s Gone 24 New Politics Everywhere I Go 25 Kooks Bad Habit 26 Lorde Yellow Flicker Beat 27 Dirty Heads Sound Of Change 28 Joywave Somebody New 29 U2 Every Breaking Wave 30 Milky Chance Flashed Junk Mind 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

We All Take An Oath Of Office

By Stevie Ray

If it was good enough for Lincoln, Truman, and Roosevelt, it should be good enough for all of us; the oath of office. And while our dayto-day duties may not be as weighty as to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, there is a duty that everyone accepts when moving up the ladder of their organization. Everyone who holds a leadership position is charged with preserving, protecting, and defending the actions of their company.

The problem is, too many people secretly add their own addendum, unless I don’t happen to agree with the policy.

In such cases, preserving and defending is replaced with backstabbing and dodging.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard a manager qualify an announcement to his team with “I don’t like this any more than you folks,” I could stop buying my suits at garage sales. Too often, managers give themselves the luxury of cherry-picking which policies and initiatives they will support and which they will simply pass along to the troops with a wink and “I don’t know what they’re thinking upstairs either, gang.”

Good managers not only inspire their team members to do great work, but they guide them around obstacles. Good managers make it clear that their job is not to promise that the employee is going to like everything the company does or that the employee will agree with every decision. Their job is to make sure the company’s position is clear and to help the employee do his or her best work within those parameters. It is tough enough to work with rules or policies that aren’t of your choosing, it is nearly impossible to do it if your leader undermines those decisions as well.

It is perfectly acceptable to say to a team “I know this might make things difficult for some of you, and if you need help to navigate it please let me know.”

Team members need to know that they have a reliable resource. Adding “I know that not all of you will be in favor of this decision, but you should know that I stand behind it,” lets them know that you have strength of conviction. A leader with conviction is not stubborn or unfeeling, simply realistic. This kind of leader demonstrates to everyone that he or she is not about to waste valuable time or energy whining about unpopular decisions.

The reason poor managers resort to “it’s not my fault” tactics is our basal human need for acceptance by our social group. Managers must walk a thin line between being a member of the gang and leading the gang. Having a group of people disagree with you en masse triggers the brain to react. The brain’s foremost goal is to re-establish connection with the group. Out pour statements like “If I could change this, I would,” “I know, I’m not entirely in agreement with this either,” or “If I had my way…” These statements may seem to endear you to the group, and they actually do temporarily divert attention to some other nameless, faceless villain. However, in the long run these methods of dodging responsibility damage your reputation. You are ultimately viewed as someone who, if willing to speak poorly of your own superiors, would be willing to do so of others.

Basically, if you are willing to bad-mouth your own bosses, how can I trust you when it comes to having my back?

This is not to suggest that vice presidents, directors, managers, supervisors, and team leads must think that every decision their boss makes is a good one; far from it. A manager with integrity owes it to his or her superiors to debate decisions passionately. Having the courage to stand behind an unpopular decision should be coupled with the ability to fight against a decision with equal courage. If you believe a decision will have damaging effects, either on the company or on your team, you owe it to everyone to fight it.

Once a decision is made, however, everyone who leaves the room represents the organization, not just themselves. This is, of course, assuming that the decisions from upstairs are ethical and legal.

Frankly, whether you state so verbally or not, every time you accept a position of leadership you make a promise. You promise to be the voice of those mak-

Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015 • Page 17

ing the decisions at the top. Every time you dodge responsibility by telling your team you don’t agree with a policy, you are being a liar. You have lied to those who promoted you. You have lied to your team by claiming to be their leader and not acting as such. You are also being a coward. Instead of facing your superiors directly with “I can’t stand behind this decision,” you say it behind their backs.

Instead of saying to your team, “I stand behind this decision” you downplay your responsibility.

I was driving with my nine-year old stepdaughter Ondine when she said, “My best friend can’t keep her hamster anymore and asked if we could adopt it.”

My face froze in horror. I sincerely believe that if every picture of a cure little furry hamster was accompanied with a scratch-and-sniff of their stinky cage, not one hamster would be sold in America.

And, remembering how many times as a child I promised to take full responsibility for a dog, cat, fish, hamster, emu, or Bengal tiger; and remembering how many times I actually kept my promise, the chances of my little angel getting a hamster were as good as Congress balancing the national budget.

Luckily, my wife and I already had a discussion over a year ago about pets.

Her rule of “Nothing in a cage!” was clear and concise. In responding to my little girl’s request, I could have scored huge Step-Dad Points and said, “Oh sweetie, if only your mother said yes.

But she put her foot down on pets.” Believe me, I was tempted, but in a household of Two Girls Against One Boy, my wife would have eventually discovered my cowardice. And our couch folds out.

So, without hesitation I said, “Sorry sweetie. Your mommy and I both have a rule. We already have a dog as a pet, so no more pets.” Nine-year olds being what they are (and a girl, no less), Ondine said, “But we had Maia. That was two pets.” I didn’t want to go into the difference between a hamster and a fish, especially since the fish died a while back and I didn’t want to speak ill of the dead. Maia’s tombstone still adorns our garden. I said, “You are right, and we can certainly get another fish someday. What I should have said was, ‘No more pets that need a cage; or brushing, walking, or grooming.” Her response was the kind

of “Awww” that only a child can vocalize. After a pause she said, “I don’t like that rule.”

I could have dodged and said, “Well, I don’t like it any more than you do, sweetie. You know how your mother can be.” Instead I said, “Yeah. We’re not going to like every rule in life are we?” I left it at that. Anything less than total support of my wife and I don’t get a nice night’s sleep. Anything less than total support from my staff leaders and I’ll find a way to make them sleep on the couch. This is what Patrick Lencioni writes about in his bestselling book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. When you are a leader you are part of many groups. You have the group of leaders you serve with as well as the group of team members you lead. The higher up the ladder you go, the more teams you join. At the highest point of your personal ladder is your exclusive team. Lencioni calls this your Primary Team. These are your leader-colleagues.

Your first responsibility is to this team. In turn, the people whom you lead are part of your Secondary Team. You owe them a great responsibility too, but your first responsibility is to your Primary Team. A good leader makes it clear that he or she will never disrespect the Primary Team members. This helps the members of the secondary or tertiary teams to know that they will also be respected.

Keep your responsibilities clear and you will avoid trouble. If this is too difficult, there is always an easy way out, don’t accept a promotion. The one luxury always reserved for front-line employees is to complain about policies. It is a great luxury, but it goes away with that first step up the ladder. I think that anyone who is promoted should be required to take an oath of office. I do solemnly swear to preserve the company, protect my team members, and defend my superiors. Even if you don’t have to say this oath out loud, when you accept a position of responsibility the oath comes with it.

Stevie Ray is a nationally recognized corporate speaker and trainer, helping companies improve communication skills, customer service, leadership, and team management. He can be reached at www.stevierays.org or stevie@stevierays.org. 1308

the emotions and context of what they communicate with their tone and body language.

• Flex what and how we share information. We need to be prepared with a lot of information and during the conversation adjust the amount, type, and level of information we give them— they may not need 8 data points; 3 may be enough if they are relevant and address their priorities.

• Connect the data and details into what it means for them. Link the information specifically to why it is important to them. Use stories, analogies, and

pictures when possible to make it come alive.

I’m not going to sugar coat this: right sizing information in the midst of a conversation is TOUGH. It’s much tougher than explaining all that we think they need to know.

If the data and details shared are relevant, focused, and connected to them, you don’t have to dump all you know.

Less can be more.

Your turn! Think about this: what are some ways you have ‘right sized’ the type and amount of information you share to educate your prospects?

Nancy Bleeke, Founder and President, started Sales Pro Insider in 1998 to help companies improve their sales, customer service, coaching, and teamwork results with conversations that count. Her book, Conversations That Sell, was awarded a gold medal for Top Sales and Marketing book in 2013 and is quickly becoming a must-read for sales teams. http://www.salesproinsider.com

Stop The Data And Detail Dump!

By Nancy Bleeke

The last thing your buyers need is more data and detail dumped on their over-tasked and over-scheduled brains, desks, or hard drives.

Much of our value in the selling profession used to be the depth and volume of information we had to share with our prospects.

No more… now there is TOO much information for buyers to access and sift through. And too much information slows down decision making!

Our real value now is in deciphering the data and details to make it easy for buyers to see why our solution is important for them. To help the buyer pause long enough to acknowledge how

our solution will address a problem, opportunity, want, or need specifically for them.

This means that our real expertise is not in sharing everything we know, it’s “right sizing” the information to what they need to know.

To right size the data and detail information, we need to: • Ask relevant questions to identify what they already know, what they’ve done, what they need done, what their risks and rewards are, and how open they are to us helping them.

• Listen to the words they share and

PAGE 18 • Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2015

Recurrent Hits For The Dance Floor for February 2015 New charts weekly on http://www.discjockeynews.com/weekly-music-charts

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Pop Recurrents MR PROBZ Waves ARIANA GRANDE Break Free f/Zedd DISCLOSURE Latch f/Sam Smith IGGY AZALEA Fancy f/Charli XCX ARIANA GRANDE Problem f/Iggy Azalea AVICII Wake Me Up SAM SMITH Stay With Me JOHN LEGEND All Of Me MAROON 5 Maps EMINEM The Monster f/Rihanna BASTILLE Pompeii JASON DERULO Talk Dirty f/2 Chainz MAGIC! Rude NICO and VINZ Am I Wrong TOVE LO Habits (Stay High) ED SHEERAN Don’t JEREMIH Don’t Tell ‘Em f/YG KATY PERRY Dark Horse f/Juicy J IGGY AZALEA Black Widow f/Rita Ora JESSIE J/A. GRANDE/N. MINAJ Bang Bang TAYLOR SWIFT Shake It Off MEGHAN TRAINOR All About That Bass CLEAN BANDIT Rather Be f/Jess Glynne CHARLI XCX Boom Clap DJ SNAKE and LIL JON Turn Down For What ENRIQUE IGLESIAS Bailando f/D.Bueno/S.Paul/GDZ AMERICAN AUTHORS Best Day Of My Life LORDE Team JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE Not A Bad Thing JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE Mirrors ZEDD Clarity f/Foxes LORDE Royals JAY Z Holy Grail f/Justin Timberlake ONE DIRECTION Story Of My Life IMAGINE DRAGONS Demons KATY PERRY Roar JASON DERULO Trumpets CAPITAL CITIES Safe And Sound DRAKE F/MAJID JORDAN Hold On We’re Going Home ONEREPUBLIC Counting Stars MACKLEMORE/ RYAN LEWIS Can’t Hold Us f/Ray Dalton CALVIN HARRIS Summer ECHOSMITH Cool Kids PITBULL Timber f/Ke$ha SIA Chandelier PARAMORE Ain’t It Fun MKTO Classic ELLIE GOULDING Burn PHARRELL WILLIAMS Happy IMAGINE DRAGONS Radioactive

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Urban Recurrents T.I. About The Money f/Young Thug SNOOTIE WILD Made Me f/K Camp JHENE AIKO The Worst TINASHE 2 On f/Schoolboy Q WIZ KHALIFA We Dem Boyz IGGY AZALEA Fancy f/Charli XCX CA$H OUT She Twerkin BEYONCE Partition BEYONCE Drunk In Love f/Jay Z TY DOLLA $IGN Paranoid f/B.o.B LIL WAYNE Believe Me f/Drake MIGOS Fight Night K CAMP Cut Her Off RICH HOMIE QUAN Walk Thru f/Problem RICH GANG Lifestyle f/Young Thug/RH Quan JEREMIH Don’t Tell ‘Em f/YG BOBBY SHMURDA Hot Boy MIGOS Handsome And Wealthy DISCLOSURE Latch f/Sam Smith SCHOOLBOY Q Studio f/BJ The Chicago Kid TEYANA TAYLOR Maybe f/Pusha T and Yo Gotti DRAKE 0 To 100/The Catch Up BEYONCE Flawless CHRIS BROWN Loyal f/Lil Wayne RAE SREMMURD No Flex Zone YOUNG MONEY Trophies f/Drake USHER Good Kisser SEVYN STREETER It Won’t Stop KIRKO BANGZ Rich f/August Alsina YO GOTTI Errrbody MARY J. BLIGE Whole Damn Year MIGUEL How Many Drinks? f/K. Lamar JEEZY Seen It All f/Jay Z J. COLE Crooked Smile f/TLC KENDRICK LAMAR i CIARA Body Party TREY SONGZ Na Na J. COLE Power Trip f/Miguel KENDRICK LAMAR B**ch, Don’t Kill My Vibe YG My Hitta f/Jeezy,RichHomieQuan FUTURE Move That Doh f/Pharrell...

T.I. No Mediocre f/Iggy Azalea JAY Z Part II (On The Run) f/Beyonce AUGUST ALSINA I Luv This Sh*t PARTYNEXTDOOR Recognize f/Drake KID INK Show Me f/Chris Brown RICH HOMIE QUAN Type Of Way SAM SMITH Stay With Me T-PAIN Up Down (Do This All Day) KID INK Main Chick f/Chris Brown

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Adult Contempory Recurrents TOVE LO Habits (Stay High) ONEREPUBLIC Counting Stars KATY PERRY Dark Horse f/Juicy J PARAMORE Ain’t It Fun AVICII Wake Me Up COLDPLAY A Sky Full Of Stars JOHN LEGEND All Of Me PHARRELL WILLIAMS Happy ONEREPUBLIC Love Runs Out ONE DIRECTION Story Of My Life IMAGINE DRAGONS Demons JESSIE J/A. GRANDE/N. MINAJ Bang Bang AMERICAN AUTHORS Best Day Of My Life ECHOSMITH Cool Kids COLBIE CAILLAT Try TAYLOR SWIFT Shake It Off MEGHAN TRAINOR All About That Bass ED SHEERAN Don’t NICO and VINZ Am I Wrong MAGIC! Rude CHARLI XCX Boom Clap MAROON 5 Maps SAM SMITH Stay With Me BASTILLE Pompeii SARA BAREILLES Brave KATY PERRY Roar SIA Chandelier MATT NATHANSON Headphones f/LOLO PITBULL Timber f/Ke$ha ROBIN THICKE Blurred Lines f/Pharrell/T.I. DAFT PUNK Get Lucky RIHANNA Stay f/Mikky Ekko ANNA KENDRICK Cups (Pitch Perfect’s When...

RIXTON Me And My Broken Heart THE SCRIPT Superheroes MAROON 5 Love Somebody PINK Just Give Me A Reason PHILLIP PHILLIPS Gone, Gone, Gone PASSENGER Let Her Go CAPITAL CITIES Safe And Sound CLEAN BANDIT Rather Be f/Jess Glynne ELLIE GOULDING Burn LORDE Royals LORDE Team JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE Not A Bad Thing INGRID MICHAELSON Girls Chase Boys IMAGINE DRAGONS Radioactive ARIANA GRANDE Problem f/Iggy Azalea JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE Mirrors A GREAT BIG WORLD Say Something w/C. Aguilera

Failure Isn’t Fatal

By Harvey Mackay

In 1860 a thirty-eight-year old man was working as a handyman for his father, a leather merchant. He kept books, drove wagons and handled hides for about $66 a month. Prior to this menial job the man had failed as a soldier, a farmer and a real estate agent. Most of the people who knew him had written him off as a failure.

Only eight years later he was President of the United States.

The man was Ulysses S. Grant.

Most of us are afraid of failing. Admit it. We all face fears and anxieties every day, and the only way to overcome them and succeed is to recognize them up front so we can confront them directly. Examine your fears during the light of day. Somehow they always seem worse at night and more difficult to face.

Ask yourself what might happen during the day that you’re afraid of – failure to complete a big project at work, for example, or rejection by someone. Then think of how you could prevent that failure. Be on the lookout for behaviors and

thoughts that add to your fear. Train yourself to change your patterns of action and thinking. Finally, pay attention to what you learn about failure as you confront it. Use the experience of facing and overcoming your fear to confront and defeat the obstacles you face every day.

Start looking at failure as an opportunity to avoid a future mistake.

Failure can be one more step on your road to success. You just have to turn it around in a positive direction. It can strengthen your determination to overcome obstacles. Failure can make you braver in the face of opposition. It can help you learn what you need to do in order to succeed. Failure can teach you to recognize your limitations and your strengths. It can encourage you to change your strategy.

Though everyone faces setbacks in life, few of us should really call ourselves “losers.” Part of success is dealing with, and ultimately overcoming, our failures.

Keep your confidence and follow this advice: • Change your perspective. Don’t think of every unsuccessful attempt as a failure.

Almost no one succeeds at everything the

first time. Most of us attain our goals only through repeated effort. Take the negativity out of failure by viewing it as a learning experience. Do your best to learn everything you can about what happened and why.

• Try new approaches.

Persistence is important, but repeating the same actions over and over again, hoping that this time you’ll succeed, probably won’t get you any closer to your objective. Look at your previous unsuccessful efforts and decide what to change. Keep making adjustments, using your experience as a guide.

• Define the problem better. Analyze the situation – what you want to achieve, what your strategy is, why it didn’t work and so on. Ask yourself if you’re really viewing the problem correctly. If you need money, for example, one option is to increase revenue – but you could also try cutting expenses. Think about what you’re really trying to do.

• Don’t be a perfectionist. You may have an idealized vision of what success will look and feel like. Though that can be motivational, it may not be realistic.

Succeeding at one goal won’t eliminate all

your problems. Be clear on what will satisfy your objectives, and don’t dwell on superficial details.

• Don’t label yourself. You may have failed, but you’re not a failure until you stop trying. Think of yourself as someone still striving toward a goal, and you’ll be better able to hang in there for the long haul.

• Pick your battles. You’ve got to know when sticking to your position is going to be worth the time and energy, and when to back down in order to conserve your resources for the next confrontation. You don’t have to succeed all the time to win in the end.

• Don’t play it too safe. In order to succeed, you’ve got to be willing to fail.

The people around you will catch on to your dislike of risk if you never take on a difficult project or an ambitious challenge. Don’t shy away from hard work if you want your boss, or your teammates, to believe in you.

Mackay’s Moral: Some of the best lessons we ever learned, we learned from our mistakes and failures.

Reprinted with permission from nationally syndicated columnist Harvey Mackay, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller “Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive,” “We Got Fired!...And It’s the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us,” and his new book, “The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World.

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