Disc Jockey News October 2019 • Issue #150
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PAGE 2 • Disc Jockey News • October 2019
Handling a Tough Crowd By Mike Walter
On a recent Facebook debate about why I still DJ, someone asked how I handle the mediocre or even “sucky” events. I began to compose a reply and then realized it was way too long for just a Facebook post. So I will share my thoughts with you here. First of all, I may be one of the few DJs who will publicly admit this but, yes, I do have some mediocre (and even sucky events). Fortunately, they are few and far between, but if I told you I never stared at an empty dance floor wondering what to do, I’d be lying. If you follow some DJs’ timelines, every one of their parties is a 10. I tip my cap to them. They must be awesome at selecting their clients because great parties are as much as about the guests as they are about the music. So kudos to them for never booking a bad client. I wish I were so lucky. After 31 years of DJing, I feel I’m better equipped now to handle bad events than ever before. First of all, I have more ways of getting people dancing than ever. More techniques. More things to say. More songs that might work. So when I’m faced with a crowd that just won’t get up, I roll up my sleeves and get to work. There’s no quit in me. I consider it a challenge (before
the whole human race, and I ain’t gonna lose - sorry, musical interlude there). Plus, unlike earlier in my career when a bad gig would send my confidence reeling and make me question whether I had the chops to make it as a DJ, I’ve gotten enough experience under my belt now to know that when a crowd won’t dance, it says more about them than it does about me. I don’t get home from events like this and start looking in the Help Wanted section of the newspaper for a new job like I used to. (Are there even Help Wanted sections in newspapers anymore? God, I’m old!) So that’s the first mental hurdle to clear. It’s not you. Assuming, of course, that it’s not you. I know I have the talent and experience to throw a great party. I also know I don’t quit on crowds. I keep trying to get them going. I’ve had events that sucked for three hours, but because of my sedulous approach, they finally got going towards the end. If you can look in the mirror and say the same thing, then I can confidently say, it’s not you. You’ve done all you can. Some crowds just won’t dance. Don’t question whether or not you’re cut out for this career. Once you accept that fact, it’s easier to realign your thinking. I always tell my DJs not to impose their standards of a good party on other people. I offer the same advice to you, dear reader. My expectation of a fun party is dancing. My wife, Kelly, and I go to weddings to dance. We go to see bands to dance. We’ve been told more than once to sit down at concerts because the people behind us can’t see (sorry but when Cyndi Lauper’s playing “She Bop,” I ain’t
Don’t Fall Behind in Sales Skills By Tamara Sims
In the height of our busy wedding season, it is easy to fall into a pattern of being complacent when it comes to honing your sales skills. After all, we are overloaded with events every weekend and planning meetings during the week. That also includes the day-today business activities (payroll, equipment maintenance, scheduling, accounting… the list goes on and on). When I find myself feeling a bit stale, I love to look back at the numerous sales seminars I have attended over the years to rejuvenate my sales skills. And guess who most of my sales seminar notes are from? That’s right… Alan Berg! If you don’t know the name Alan Berg, stop reading and look him up now! I have listened to Alan Berg speak too many times to count, and every single time, I always have multiple “aha” moments during his presentations. Alan is very in tune with the millennial generation and knows exactly how to speak their language, which is a necessity in sales these days. This generation is fast-paced, tech-savvy, and always on the go. Most of my couples tell me that they have other sales meetings before
and after my meeting as they search for the best vendors for their wedding celebration. They know what they want AND what they don’t want, so speaking less and listening more is key when dealing with this population. If they like you and the services you are providing they will buy! They are going to buy from someone, and as Alan always tells us, “make it easy for them to buy from you!” Keeping your website up to date, making it easy for clients to contact you, posting reviews, and showing your couples how your services will make their wedding planning stress-free are
sitting down!), so that’s our standard for a fun night. But it’s not universal. Some people would rather hear good music and not dance. So I provide that — good, happy, upbeat, singalongable, music with no guilt to dance. I create an atmosphere that’s inviting but not intimidating. Dance if you want to. Sit and smile if you don’t. My parties are like Planet Fitness gyms: judgment-free zones. Another mental hurdle to clear is keeping your head in the game. It’s easy at rough events to give up and start watching the clock. I don’t do that. Like I’ve said, I see these crowds as a challenge, and I take the attitude that I just won’t give up. One of the things that helps me is thinking about the money I’m making compared to other occupations. I worked a school maintenance job when I was a teenager — mopping floors, cleaning kids’ vomit, setting up tables and chairs in the gym for Bingo. In a week, I made what I make the first hour of my events. That cheers me up and keeps me motivated. Maybe it won’t work for you but try it next time you think, “this gig sucks, I wish I weren’t here.” Substitute what you’re making at the event for what else you’d have to do to make that same money. Unless you also have a law degree or doctorate, it would probably be A LOT of work compared to this four-hour event. Also, it is my experience that mediocre to bad crowds are often your best referral source. Great crowds are usually great. They’ll dance to just about anything. So being an awesome DJ, we might take them from an 8 to a 10. But they’ll often not notice and credit you as making much of a difference. But a rough crowd that you get going, even in the slightest way (maybe getting them from a 2 to a 5) will notice you. They’ll
think “I’ve NEVER danced this much” and they’ll grab a card and think of you for their event. So think about your future business when you face a rough crowd. Instead of quitting on them, keep plugging away. And don’t be surprised when you give out more cards than you did the week before when your dance floor was packed all night. My final piece of advice is about perspective. I think everything in life is enhanced when you put it in perspective. Events are the same way. If every one of my parties were a 9 or 10, I’d get used to that and not love those crowds so much. I’d expect it. But it takes the occasional clunker to make you really appreciate the great parties. So when I’m stuck staring at that empty dance floor, I think of that. I’m grateful for this tough crowd because I know they will make me love next Saturday night’s guests all the more. Are all of these things simply head games? I’m sure they are. But head games are important in our line of work because we have to look like we’re into our jobs. This isn’t the Department of Motor Vehicles where we can be as cranky as we feel. We’re not entitled to bad days, and we can’t let a rough crowd ruin our mood. So I come armed with some head games that will keep me into the party. Or at least looking like I am. So that’s how I handle the mediocre and even “sucky” crowds. If you’ve got your own way, feel free to share with me. I’d love to learn even more strategies. 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.
extremely important to this generation. Once you are in the sales meeting, don’t forget to engage. I know this sounds simple, but asking open-ended questions, being a good listener, and not overwhelming your couple during the initial meeting will result in sales. Alan continually preaches that we should focus on selling the client “what they need.” Once they have booked, you can continue to reach out to them via e-mail, social media, newsletters, etc. to upsell them on services that they want. They may not be ready to buy at the initial meeting. When you educate your couples and build trust with them throughout the wedding planning process, they will appreciate that you are looking out for their best interest and not simply trying to make more money.
Taking the time to review, refresh, and rejuvenate your sales skills will help your business, elevate your confidence, and increase your bottom line. Please feel free to share your comments with me at: tamarasims@discjockeynews.com or tamara@something2dance2.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.
October 2019 In This Issue:
Page 2: Mike Walter Page 2: Tamara Sims Page 3: Mitch Taylor Page 3: Kilma Page 4: Alan Berg
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Page 4: Jeffrey Gitomer Page 5: Dave Ramsey Page 6: Ron Ruth Page 7: Harvey Mackay Page 8: Mike Lenstra
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Disc Jockey News • October 2019 • Page 3
DJ VS MC... By Mitch Taylor
DJ versus MC. This argument has been made ad nauseam over the last few years and recently sparked a heated online debate. Does the public care if they hire a DJ or an MC? Is it an industry only argument? Is one more important than the other? I would argue that they don’t care, and it is an industryonly argument... with a small caveat. Hear me out. The public doesn’t care. What they do care about is the outcome of their event. They care about is everything going to come off as planned. Are you going to play the right song at the right time? Are people going to dance? Will people feel a part of their event? Will everyone know what is happening when? Unfortunately, the bar for being a DJ or a Master of Ceremonies is that we didn’t screw their event up. There’s good and bad to that. To those who are truly creative artists on both the Master of Ceremonies and on the DJ side, it doesn’t take much to stand out from the crowd or to go above that bar if you will. The bad side is that you as a business owner have to address the marketing and sales issue of the “bar” DJs (read: average) saying they do the same thing as you do and the public BELIEVING them because that’s all the public knows. You attend and perform at events EVERY WEEKEND. For the vast majority of the public that hires you and the attendees of their event, they don’t know the difference between atrocious, bad, average, good, great, and PHENOMENAL. Their understanding of the price point is average at best, leading them to make an average investment vs. really being tuned in to what
they should spend to get the outcome they want out of their event. Let’s explore those differences a bit more by discussing the outcome of the same event with two different talents at the helm of the event. Our company has been doing a fundraising event for the past several years now. Early on, I had done the event, and it was a success. We raised some money for the cause, and everyone had fun. The last couple of years, I sent two of my senior MCs to work the event. Even though they get rave reviews at their weddings, they didn’t receive rave reviews on this event. They were given specific instructions on how to approach it, and in the end, the client said it was just “OK.” As the owner I decide to put myself back on the event to try and save the client for us. After the event was over and the numbers were tallied, they found out they had a record year of growth for the event in regards to fundraising. They went from raising six thousand dollars the year before to TWENTY-SIX thousand dollars in the year I came back. What’s the difference? In some part, I would say TALENT. Now, it certainly wasn’t ALL ME (I don’t have that big of an ego lol) but it does make a difference in how the talent approaches the event and what skill set they bring to the table. There were other things they changed to help make that huge of a difference in growth. However, when you can move the needle and add a lot more money to a client’s bottom line, they realize it and want the same talent again next year. I’ll be back next month with part 2 of this topic. 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. 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.
This Month With #AskKilma By Kilma
This month on #AskKilma show we chat about everything from why tracking your time is crucial, the #1 productivity killer, what is in a great mentor, my top 4 book picks for running your business and lastly dealing with the hate mail without losing potential clients. Starting off with Episode #87 on managing your time. Have you ever wondered if you were optimizing your time? Have you considering giving yourself less time throughout the week verse one lump sum all at once? In this video I give you some insight on this topic and what I personally do to manage mine. In Episode #88 I talk about how I avoid or at least try to limit that number one productivity killer. Notifications!!! Whether it’s a beep from your phone or the random messages popping up on your screen, I will share how to take control and focus on the most important tasks first. When we hit Episode #89 We jump right into mentors and what I believe it takes to be a great mentor. It’s probably no surprise
to you, but someone that is being the change they are trying to encourage in you, leading by example and willing to and constantly learning and adapting, as the industry and technology continues to change. Nearing the end of the month we get into Episode #90 where we chat about some of my very favorite books when it comes to running your business effectively. May surprise you but these 4 books aren’t specific to music, let alone the DJ industry, which is why I believe they are that much more valuable because they hit on things we might not be considering. Ending things off with Episode #91 on dealing with the dreaded hate mail. It happens to the best of us in the worst and sometimes the most random of times. We get that awkward business review or a hateful comment that leaves us scratching our head. For some it might have gotten so bad that they don’t know if they are opening up a message from a potential client or an angry internet troll with nothing better to do. So how can you deal and not miss out on a potential business opportunity? I’ve got some perspective you may not have considered yet. DJ Kilma Sunday DJ Spotlight: https:// djntv.com/category/sundayspotlight/ #AskKilma Monday Tips: https://djntv. com/category/askkilma/ If you would like to be part of the Sunday DJ Spotlight Interviews with DJ Kilma, please share a short bio and a suggested topic with Kilma at the email below. You can reach Kilma at kilma@discjockeynews.com
PAGE 4 • Disc Jockey News • October 2019
Following The Rules? Or Pleasing The Customer? By Alan Berg
Every business needs to have a set of rules or guidelines, so everyone is singing from the same songbook. It’s important to teach those rules to your employees and for you to set a good example by practicing what you preach. That said, you make the rules, and you can change them. Every rule and every policy can be amended from time to time, to reflect the current state of your business and the environment in which you operate. We’ve always done it this way! I’m sure that most, if not all of you, at one time or another, has been told to do something “because we’ve always done it this way.” How did you feel when you were on the receiving end of that? Did you feel like you’ve been heard? Did you feel like whoever was telling you that was really concerned with helping you get an answer? Probably not. I’ve always been someone who wants to know why we do what we do, the way we do it. I like to know how things work. My mother used to say that when I was a little kid, I’d take apart my toys to see how they worked. Of course, I didn’t always get them back together, but that wasn’t really the point. Those are the rules! There are good reasons for many of the rules that guide our business practices. Washing your hands and using gloves before preparing our food are rules that
shouldn’t be ignored. Taking a deposit to reserve your services for their wedding day is a rule that shouldn’t be ignored. How much deposit you take, and the payment terms for the balance should have guidelines, which will be followed the same way, most of the time. Reduce the friction If you’ve read some of my other articles, books or heard me present at an event, then you’ve likely heard me say that we should reduce the friction in our interactions with our co-workers and customers. Our mission should be to help our customers, and co-workers get the results they want, with the least amount of hassle. We can deliver exemplary results, but if it was difficult for the customer to do business with us, they will remember the experience as less than it was. Don’t punish the masses, for the ills of a few Too often in my consulting, I come across a set of restrictions that seems too harsh. When I ask why that particular rule or rules are in place, it’s usually to prevent a situation that has happened before, with a negative result. I get that. But, when I ask how often that situation occurs, it’s usually a rare situation. Once those types of rules make their way into your business, they tend to multiply into other onerous rules until, one day, your ‘rules and regulations’ looks like a compilation of worst-case scenarios. All of your good customers (which is most of them) are punished because of a few bad actors. I was having a conversation with a friend recently about a missed-appointment fee for their medical practice. When someone misses an appointment without giving 24-hour’s notice, there’s a fee imposed. A patient missed their appointment and asked if the fee could be
waived as it was their first missed appointment. Sounds like a reasonable request to me, and one that many of you could see yourselves making in that situation. The medical practice assisted in rescheduling their appointment (sooner than they would have otherwise gotten in), but it held strict to its rules and imposed the fee. I asked why there was no consideration for it being their first offense and was told that, from their data, people who miss appointments tend to miss future appointments. That may be the case, but I suggested that we shouldn’t punish the masses, for the ills of a few. You don’t know if this patient will miss again, and if they do, then impose the fee. But it’s in the contract! Another thing I see, a lot, is wedding pros complaining that customers aren’t following the terms of the contract. I have a few thoughts about that. First, when is the last time you read every word of a contract? Sure, some of those contracts are more important than others. How many times do you ‘accept the terms and conditions’ without reading them all? I also once heard that we remember about 60% of what we hear and 40% of what we read. So, realistically, how can we expect our customers to remember and follow every term and condition, especially weeks, months, or a year or more after they’ve signed them? It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it! What if instead of making our rules sound punitive, we made them helpful? What if during the planning you reiterated the most important, or most overlooked, rules and regulations, but you framed them in a way to make it feel like you’re helping them have the outcome they desire? Send them a professionally designed “Helpful tips to make your wed-
ding day go smoothly” or “10 things you need to know for your wedding day.” In most cases, we can say the same thing in a positive, helpful way, instead of a negative, punishing tone. And, if you can’t explain why a particular rule is in place, how can you defend it? Even our Constitution has amendments. It’s not easy to make a Constitutional amendment, but when there’s a good reason to change, update or eliminate a policy, it’s been done… Thirty-three times, so far. What would you want if you were the customer? All of us are in business to provide our customers with the results they want. Very few, if any of us have a monopoly, so our customers have choices. They need ‘what’ you do by the time they reach out to you, but do they need ‘you’ to do it? There’s always someone cheaper (possibly you, when you were new to the industry), so we need to not only provide the best results, we need to make it easy to do business with us. Reduce the friction. Make sure your customers understand the non-negotiable items (such as noise restrictions and curfews) but don’t be the rules police. Eliminate outdated policies and be flexible when you can. When they post their reviews, you want them talking about how easy it was to do business with you, not how restrictive you were. Ask yourself what you would want if you were the customer, and then do that! 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
The Biggest fear of Salespeople is NOT… fear itself! By Jeffrey Gitomer
Salespeople have two major fears: #1 is rejection and #2 is price or fee. Most salespeople (not you, of course) are hesitant when it comes to talking price or fee. The reason is, in their own mind, they think their prices are too high. As a salesperson, I’m sure you’ve all shopped the competition – and they all offer similar items at lower prices. And you’re worried your customer will look at your price structure and say that your prices or your fees are too high. LET ME GIVE YOU A CLUE: That is the single biggest fear of every salesperson in the world, you included. When it comes to price, the first thing you have to have, as a professional salesperson, is a deep-rooted belief that the value of what you’re offering far exceeds the price or fee that you’re asking. If you don’t believe this, the highest level you will rise in your sales career is to the level of mediocre. And worse, your prospective customer will sense that your belief system is not deep enough by your language. Here are the telltale signs that you don’t believe deep enough:
1. You try to justify your price. 2. You apologize for your price. 3. You rationalize your price. 4. You have to go back into your presentation to clarify your price. 4.5 You try to ignore the signs that are evident hoping that they will go away. And worse than that, you go back to your boss and say, “We lost one on price.” Let me share with you – you did NOT lose on price, you lost on perceived value and you lost on perceived difference. If the customer doesn’t perceive the value of your offering, if the customer doesn’t perceive a difference between you and the competition, then all that’s left is price. When is that last time you walked into a Lexus dealer and had a price battle? Answer is never. But Ford and Chevy, $50 can swing a deal on a $30,000 car because there is no perceived difference between one car or one dealership and another. I’m certain you’ve seen the new car ad for a “dollar over invoice.” I don’t want to ruin your belief in Santa Claus, but that means that if they sell a hundred cars, they make a hundred dollars. I don’t know about you, but I’m not buying that. I think they’re lying to me. Wouldn’t it be cool if one dealership put an ad on TV and said, “Our cars are $250 more than anybody else because the service we provide after you buy the car will not only blow you away, it will also enhance the lifelong value of your car. You invest another $250 in our dealership, and you win back thousands
when you trade your car in.” Doesn’t that seem obvious? In a price fight, everyone loses, especially all the sellers. The price or the fee for the products or services that you offer must be presented, clarified, justified, and affirmed during the sales presentation – not at the end. If the presentation is perfect, the value is clear, and the differentiation is obvious then a reasonable price will not only be accepted, it will be accepted without a fight. Too much emphasis in any sales environment is placed on price. Salespeople moan that their product or service, whatever it is, is becoming a commodity. Commodity is your word, not theirs. If you spent as much time concentrating on value and differentiation as you do moaning about price, the issue would disappear. There’s one more key. Your customers are better at justifying and extolling the virtues of your price than you are. If I were you, I would have a few one-minute videos on my laptop of existing customers who believe in you, who have gladly paid your price, and who are proud to do business with you. Those customers will help you gain new customers, faster and better than your sales presentation. BUT they do not replace the sales presentation. They enhance the sales presentation. The key to mastery of price is a combination of the belief system set in place by past wins, and the voices of encouragement from the customers with whom
you’ve built a relationship. The combination of those two elements will breed self-confidence so evident, that when you walk into a room, you’ll be attractive (I don’t mean pretty, I mean attractive in that people want to do business with you). You become attractive by the manner by which you present and the obvious superiority of your offerings versus others. It’s pretty interesting to me that in sales, you often hear the phrase “no brainer.” I don’t believe in that phrase. In fact, I think the phrase is as insulting as any phrase in our language. What someone is saying is that the offering was so powerful, the offering was so different, and the offering was so value packed that the decision was obvious. But let me share with you, plenty of brains went into that process, and plenty of brains went into the preparation. And so the secret to price is combining brains and sales balls. You got both, use them. Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelve best-selling books including The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude, and 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling. His real-world ideas and content are also available as online courses at www.GitomerVT.com. For information about training and seminars visit www.Gitomer.com or www.GitomerCertifiedAdvisors.com, or email Jeffrey personally at salesman@gitomer.com.
Six Common Money Myths To Avoid By Dave Ramsey
Most of us have made a few foolish money mistakes here and there. It’s the car we can’t afford, the personal loan we never should’ve made, or the mortgage that nearly sent us to bankruptcy. So why do we keep making these same money mistakes? M o s t likely, we mismanage money because of a faulty belief system. We’ve bought into some of culture’s most popular money myths. And a lot of times we’ve learned them from a well-meaning yet misinformed parent, teacher or friend. While it would be easy to sit back and blame others for falling for these money myths, the most important thing to do is realize they are myths. Myth: Debt is a tool. Truth: Some tools help you fix things. Other tools help you break things. So in that sense, debt is a tool — it’s a sledgehammer to your financial future. Another way of putting it: Debt is the enemy of your income. The monthly payments you send to credit card companies are monthly savings you could be putting toward your retirement, your kids’ college, and your down payment on a new house! Your income is your most important wealthbuilding tool. Don’t surrender it to debt.
Myth: Car payments are a way of life. Truth: If you believe debt is a tool, you’re just as likely to believe car payments are a way of life. The average car payment these days is $504 per month. That’s over $6,000 a year you’re putting into something that decreases in value. Instead, save that money every month for a year and buy a nice, used car for $6,000. The best car is the one without a payment.
Myth: Loaning money to your family shows you care. Truth: Loaning money to family members is a terrible idea because it rarely gets paid back. And if it does, the time between always makes for awkward family dinners. When Uncle Jim mentions his upcoming vacation at Thanksgiving dinner, you’re left wondering, “If he still owes me $500, how did he just pay for a vacation?” If you’ve got the money, make it a gift. Never make it a loan. Loaning money to a family member is one of the quickest ways to ruin a relationship. And you’re essen-
Disc Jockey News • October 2019 • Page 5 Truth: Prepare for retirement now. tially gifting debt to your family. Myth: You can’t go to college with- But make sure you’re out of debt, and have an emergency fund of three to six out student loans. Truth: You absolutely can. Will it be months of expenses before you start. easy? Maybe not. Will it be worth it? To- After that, you’re ready to start buildtally. Whether it’s through college-spe- ing for your future. Don’t put off precific scholarships and grants or federal paring for retirement if you’re able to and state aid (that’s aid, not a loan), go- start today! According to the AICPA, ing to college without debt is complete- 49 percent of Americans say they aren’t ly possible. And what about paying for confident they’ll reach their retirement college out of your own pocket? Rachel goals. The more you save now, the less Cruze talks about college planning all you’ll worry later. Chris Hogan exthe time. There are alternatives to loans plains how to retire with dignity in his when it comes to funding college tuition. national best seller, Retire Inspired: It’s Many colleges offer work-study op- Not an Age; It’s a Financial Number. Myth: You already keep track of your money, so you don’t need to budget. Truth: If you go online and know about how much you have in your bank account, that’s good. But that’s not a budget. When you just track your spending, you’re looking back at how you already spent your money. A budget looks forward. You plan how you’re going to spend your money. When you do this, you can prioritize paying off your debt, saving for your emergency fund, and planning for the future. Without a plan, you’re wandering aimlessly portunities, which are essentially part- through your paycheck. You don’t have to keep falling for time jobs offered on campus. And no one’s stopping you from getting a part- these money myths. Reshape your betime job off campus. Working as a baris- lief system today and positively change ta, waiting tables, or even finding a retail your future! Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted job can bring in some cash to offset your voice on business and money, and CEO school expenses. Consider even creating your own side business using your skills of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored — tutor other students, pick up some seven best-selling books, including Enfreelance gigs, or start a pet-sitting ser- treLeadership. The Dave Ramsey Show vice. There are plenty of options to gen- is heard by more than 11 million listenerate income while you’re still in school. ers each week on more than 550 radio Myth: Eventually, you’ll make stations and digital outlets. Follow enough money to catch-up on retire- Dave on the web at EntreLeadership. com. ment.
PAGE 6 • Disc Jockey News • October 2019
3 Lessons To Take Your Business A Cut Above The Competition By Ron Ruth
Here’s a question I never hear. How many years have you been going to the same hairstylist? One year? Five years? Ten years? If you’ve been going to the same stylist for three years or longer, allow me to ask you---why? In all likelihood, it’s not just because they know your hairstyle preference. Yes. That is important. But it’s not the only reason. Its also because you have developed a strong relationship---an unpenetrable connection if you will---with your stylist. T h i n k back to your first visit to your stylist. At the moment you sat in their chair, they started a relationship-building process with you, asking questions far beyond your preferences in hairstyle. Chances are they asked about your significant others, your kids, your hobbies, or what you’ve been binging on Netflix. By the 4th or 5th visit to your stylist, they have a pretty good grip on your life history. They know many of the things your loved ones do to annoy you and the things they do to make you love them even more. And, chances are, you’ve gotten to know as much about your stylist as they have about you. That’s the foundation of a relationship with mutual trust, respect, and loyalty that comes from making you, the customer, feel valued, special, important and as though the experience your enjoying
was created solely with you in mind. It’s not only a relationship you’d be hardpressed to give up, even if it meant saving a few bucks, it’s a relationship you treasure and enthusiastically share with your family and friends who may also be in search of a stylist and will want to enjoy the same experience as you. Does every stylist deliver this same “WOW!” level of customer experience? No. But those who do, excel by setting themselves apart from the competition and always being a cut above the rest by focusing as much on the detail and quality of their work as they do on the detail and quality of the relationship they have with their customers. There are 3, valuable lessons DJs and other wedding professionals, just like you, can learn from your stylist about relationship building that generates “WOW!” customer experiences that will also set your business a cut above your competition. Lesson 1. Relationship-building begins with the very first conversation you have with your customers. How much time do you invest in getting to know your couples when you meet with them for the very first time? “Tell me about yourself.” “Are you from this area?” “Where do you work or go to college?” “How, when, where did the two of you meet?” “When did he propose?” How did he propose?” “Were you surprised?” Etc. I’ve had DJs tell me that their couples don’t want to talk about those things. It’s too intrusive to ask. My answer to that is “bull hockey!” I have yet to meet a bride that doesn’t jump at the chance to tell the story of the proposal. And, I have yet to meet a groom who doesn’t enjoy lis-
tening to her recap that special moment because he knows that at the end of the story, he will always be praised as the hero. It’s part of our make up as humans to enjoy talking about ourselves. As a matter of fact, research conducted by a bunch of Harvard neuroscientists found that when we are asked to talk about ourselves, it stimulates the same signals of pleasure in the brain as food and money. Think about it. How many times
have you ever recoiled when someone has asked you to share a special moment from your life because you thought the question to be intrusive? Don’t be afraid to engage in a personal conversation
with your customers. It’s an indication that you care about them and their event as something more than just a transaction. Lesson 2. The fastest way to a base of high-spending, loyal, raving customers is to demonstrate that you care about them as more than a transaction. The value of relationships has gotten so high in business today that a recent study by the Gartner Research Group found that 89% of companies say they are now competing primarily on the basis of customer experience. That number is huuuge. It’s so huuuge that it actually defines customer experience as a brand in and of itself. The results of this study also means that the relationship you have with your customers is more important than the product or service you sell. In other words, people are investing more in the relationship they have with you than in your stuff. It is not about the haircut; it is about the relationship you have with your stylist. It’s not about your fancy sound equipment and lights. That stuff is nothing more than props to engage your customers. The good news, though, is just like your stylist, as a small business owner, you have an advantage over large corporations. You can connect more easily one-on-one with your customers and strengthen those relationships more quickly and nurture them far longer. And, like the relationship you have with your stylist, your customers would be hard-pressed to leave you for the competition---even if it means saving money. But, what must also be remembered is that customers will leave a business for any number of reasons. Feeling like Ron Ruth Continued On Page 9
Never Give Up … Never Quit By Harvey Mackay
Never give up… never quit! That is the motto of Travis Mills, one of only five surviving quadruple amputee soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I firmly believe and often preach that one person can make all the difference in the world. Travis is a shining example. What a story of perseverance. I was amazed at his positive outlook, humor, confidence, and devotion to help people, especially disabled veterans and any amputees. Travis recently met me in Minneapolis for a coaching session. In some ways, I felt like I was the student. A good friend of mine, Jac Arbour, called and said he wanted to surprise me and bring a couple people to Minneapolis for a session on street smarts. The “surprise” was Travis and his father-in-law, Craig Buck, who is also his business manager. U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills was serving with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan during his third tour of duty. On the night of April 10, 2012 – four days before his 25th birthday – he was on patrol when he was critically injured from an improvised explosive device (IED) that blew off portions of both his legs and arms. Travis thought he was going to die, but didn’t want to show fear. Two of his fellow soldiers suffered shrapnel injuries, and he asked the medic to treat them first. He spent 19 months at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, and went through 13 surgeries. At first, he was angry, embarrassed, and upset. But he soon realized that was selfish on his part. He understood that sometimes, bad things happen to good people. Dwelling on the past was worthless. He was determined not to just lie around. He felt empowered to lead a life as close to normal as possible and help others. Travis said: “It’s amazing what you can accomplish once you make that all-important decision to go forward. I could choose to quit. If I’d wanted, people would have spoon-fed me for the rest of my life. I could have stared at the ceiling for the next 60 years and spent the rest of my life angry, frustrated, grieving, and dismayed. But I chose to heal. I was the same ‘me’ as I’d always been. I was a man with scars who chose to live life to the fullest and best.” The key was believing he was going to get better. He said: “Keep going. Keep persevering. You’re going to get through tough times. Never give up. Never quit.” Travis understands that attitude is extremely important. He knows that enthusiasm is contagious, and he wants to start an epidemic. Understanding that people need a bit of a push from time to time, doctors called on him regularly during his recovery to give soldiers a push. He said he was fortunate that he had a great support group, especially in his wife, Kelsey. He had a strong network of family and friends to lean on. These
mentors let him know he could get better. He told me, “It’s amazing what good things can happen when somebody knows you’re cheering them on.” I mentioned that Travis has a good sense of humor, and he doesn’t shy away from his past. For example, when we first met, he said we are going to have a BLAST. Since he knew I wrote the book “Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive,” he said that he was bitten by a shark. To put me at ease, he said he wanted to “disarm the situation” and looked at where his right arm should be. After we finished dinner that first night, Travis took off his prosthetic hand and quipped, “Let me lend you a hand.” In September 2013, he founded the Travis Mills Foundation, a nonprofit organization that assists wounded and injured veterans and their families get a new chance at a better life. Through
Disc Jockey News • October 2019 • Page 7 the Travis Mills Group, he consults going to get better!’ Then work with all your might toward with and speaks to that goal.” companies and orMackay’s Morganizations national: Travis Mills is wide, inspiring all more than a war to overcome life’s hero – he’s a life challenges and adhero. versity. Reprinted with Travis’ main permission from message is one that nationally syndimany people can recated columnist late to: “Hard times Harvey Mackay, come to everybody. author of the New When hard times York Times #1 happen, we have bestseller “Swim a choice to make. With The Sharks We can become disWithout Being couraged and bitter, Eaten Alive,” or we can choose to “We Got Fired!... never quit. When And It’s the Best life gets hard, the Thing That Ever key is just to keep Happened to Us,” pushing forward. and “The Mackay Instead of saying, ‘It MBA of Selling in could be worse,’ the the Real World. key is to say, ‘It’s
PAGE 8 • Disc Jockey News • October 2019
The Way I See It: Stories By Michael J. Lenstra
This month I have a couple of stories to share about recent events that made an impact on me and got me thinking about how I do business. STORY NUMBER 1 After the wedding season winds down for our company each summer, most of my “offseason” is spent doing a trivia program for fundraisers and bar & grill type places throughout the week. With the answer sheets and other documents associated with that program, I tend to go through a lot of paper, so I’m frequently visiting my go-to office supply store in town. We get along quite well—even though their staff seems to constantly be changing, I still know most everyone by first name. During one of my frequent trips to the store, I discovered that its long-time manager, who had been there for years, had moved on to another place of business, which was a surprise to me. The store’s new manager, “Lily” (not her real name), had previously worked at another location but had recently been promoted to manager of this particular store. I could tell there was friction between the new manager and existing employees. They whispered comments to me that she was trying to run the store like a sergeant running a military squadron. Even though I tried to be outgoing with the new boss and strike up a bit of conversation with her when I
popped in to do my copying, she was at best only as polite as she needed to be, but never what I would describe as friendly. Maybe she was trying to protect her image as a no-nonsense boss, or maybe she noticed me being friendly with the rest of the staff and felt I was on “their side.” Either way, I went about my business, not making waves, always making an effort to be as cordial as I could. That dynamic changed one Saturday morning. I stopped in to get some copies made for an upcoming event. Because I was such a well-known, regular customer, I had an arrangement with the store where I could just step over to one of their computers and proceed to go about my business without taking up the staff’s time. On this particular day, I noted when I entered the store that Lily was behind the counter without her usual company uniform on. As I proceeded to make my copies, it became apparent to me that she was the only one there because as the line grew longer, no one else came to help. I surmised that she was not scheduled to work this day and someone—maybe even two people—had not shown up. As manager, however, it was up to her to open and work the store. In time, an elderly lady made her way to the front of the line and asked, “Is there anyone here that can help me get some large boxes out of my car?” And Lily replied in a somewhat shaky voice, “No. No, there’s not. I am the only one here.” The elderly lady, who had been in line for 10 to 15 minutes at that point, let out a sigh. That’s when I spoke up and offered, “I can help you. Where is your car?” I already knew where the store’s cart was, so I fetched it and made my way out to the parking lot with the elderly lady. We
loaded up the boxes, and I brought them inside and put them on the counter. Starting that day, Lily’s whole attitude toward me changed. From then on, she was as friendly as a puppy to me every time I walked into the store. We got to be good friends. She even came to one of my trivia events. Finally, not that long ago, she pulled me aside and said, “I need to talk to you. I’m getting married next June.” As you have probably guessed, she wanted to book me for her wedding. The moral of the story here, of course, is you never know where your business might come from. I could have decided long ago to get my copies made elsewhere. I could have watched her struggle on that Saturday morning and muttered “Sucks to be you” under my breath. But I chose to be helpful and remain friendly, and it’s turned into a net financial gain for my business. STORY NUMBER 2 Last month I did my first ever Lithuanian wedding. The bride and groom were from the Chicago suburbs. They desired a rustic, country-esque wedding and they traveled miles from home and had their ceremony and reception at Oak Hill Weddings—a beautiful farm setting right along the Illinois–Wisconsin border. Luckily for me, they brought their own MC to guide them and their guests through many of the Lithuanian wedding traditions. And even luckier for me, I did not have any of the guests come to me and request any Lithuanian music—since I’m not at all familiar with that culture or their popular songs. But I did think to myself how fortunate— or maybe unfortunate, depending on how you view things—I am that I have a really homogenous demographic in the area that makes up most of my clientele. In my 25 years in this business, I’ve done only a couple of weddings where both the bride and the groom were from an ethnic and/ or religious background other than white/ Christian. And because of that, our business has a pretty standard database of
songs that have proven to work well with our clients. But I got to thinking about other DJs who I’ve seen on chat boards who talk about how they do an Italian wedding one weekend and a Polish one the next. Would my music database and traditional playlists be adequate for their needs? Probably not. Are the songs that get people dancing in the Midwest, where I’m based, the same that get them grooving in the major cities? Not necessarily. That got me to thinking: When we give advice on the DJ life—which many in this social media era do—do we assume what works for us works for everybody, or do we take those individual differences into account? Over the years, I’ve heard many different people’s takes on how to be a successful DJ: Some emphasize marketing, some emphasize equipment, whereas other emphasize music, the consultation, or their showmanship. Some DJs measure their success in positive reviews, and others base it solely on what they earn annually, or per event. And the great thing is, even with these differences, DJs can still have success in their businesses. There’s not just one way to be a DJ. Think about it like a chocolate chip cookie recipe—almost all use sugar, flour, vanilla, eggs, and chocolate chips, yet they don’t all taste the same—even when two different people use the same recipe. Over time, people find the recipe and technique that works best for them. The way I see it, the next time we give advice, maybe it’s best to present it as something that works well for me, rather than something that will work for you. Until next month. ~ Michael ~ Michael J. Lenstra is a self-described Wedding DJ and is celebrating over 25 years in the Mobile DJ industry. He is a full-time DJ/Entertainer, and is owner of Alexxus Entertainment in Dubuque, Iowa. He can be reached at mikelenstra@discjockeynews.com
Disc Jockey News • October 2019 • Page 9
Top 50 Charts for October 2019
The Weekly Printable Charts (Top 50, Recurrent and Billboard Singles) are available at http://www.DJNTV.com/charts Sponsored by iDJPool.com Pop 1 LIZZO Truth Hurts 2 SHAWN MENDES & CAMILA CABELLO Senorita 3 LEWIS CAPALDI Someone You Loved 4 ED SHEERAN & JUSTIN BIEBER I Don’t Care 5 POST MALONE Goodbyes f/Young Thug 6 BILLIE EILISH bad guy 7 ED SHEERAN Beautiful People f/Khalid 8 ARIANA GRANDE & SOCIAL HOUSE Boyfriend 9 KHALID Talk 10 JONAS BROTHERS Only Human 11 SHAED Trampoline 12 POST MALONE Circles 13 SAM SMITH How Do You Sleep? 14 NORMANI Motivation 15 NF Time 16 CAMILA CABELLO Liar 17 TAYLOR SWIFT Lover 18 LIL NAS X Panini 19 HALSEY Graveyard 20 MARSHMELLO & KANE BROWN One Thing Right 21 ELLIE GOULDING & JUICE WRLD Hate Me 22 LIZZO Good As Hell 23 MAROON 5 Memories 24 MONSTA X Who Do U Love? f/FrenchMontana 25 CAMILA CABELLO Shameless 26 CHRIS BROWN No Guidance f/Drake 27 ARIANA, MILEY, LANA Don’t Call Me Angel 28 ZARA LARSSON All The Time 29 WHY DON’T WE What Am I 30 LIL TECCA Ransom 31 DAN + SHAY Speechless 32 ILLENIUM Good Things Fall...f/J.Bellion 33 KYGO & WHITNEY HOUSTON Higher Love 34 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 35 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER Easier 36 ONEREPUBLIC Rescue Me 37 TWENTY ONE PILOTS The Hype 38 AJ MITCHELL Slow Dance f/Ava Max 39 ALESSIA CARA Rooting For You 40 SAWEETIE My Type 41 KATY PERRY Small Talk 42 STEPHEN PUTH Look Away 43 SAM FELDT Post Malone f/RANI 44 MEGAN THEE STALLION Hot Girl Summer f/N. Minaj... 45 KHALID Right Back 46 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER Teeth 47 LAUV f***, i’m lonely f/Anne-Marie 48 Y2K & BBNO$ Lalala 49 MAX Love Me Less f/Quinn XCII 50 DOMINIC FIKE 3 Nights Urban 1 WALE On Chill f/Jeremih 2 MEGAN THEE STALLION Cash S**t f/DaBaby 3 CHRIS BROWN No Guidance f/Drake 4 DABABY Suge 5 MEGAN THEE STALLION Hot Girl Summer f/N. Minaj... 6 LIZZO Truth Hurts 7 DABABY Baby Sitter f/Offset 8 DRAKE Money In The Grave f/Rick Ross 9 SAWEETIE My Type 10 CARDI B Press 11 DJ KHALED Wish Wish f/Cardi B/21 Savage 12 CHRIS BROWN Heat f/Gunna 13 YFN LUCCI All Night Long f/Trey Songz 14 YOUNG THUG The London f/J. Cole/T. Scott 15 ARI LENNOX BMO 16 LAYTON GREENE Leave Em Alone f/Lil Baby ...
17 LIL TECCA Ransom 18 QUALITY CONTROL/LILBABY/DABABY Baby 19 MUSTARD Ballin’ f/Roddy Ricch 20 SUMMERELLA Pretty Bitches In The Trap 21 BIG SEAN Single Again 22 BLAC YOUNGSTA Cut Up 23 LIL NAS X Panini 24 ROTIMI Love Riddim 25 CHANCE THE RAPPER Hot Shower 26 FRENCH MONTANA Wiggle It f/City Girls 27 YELLA BEEZY Restroom Occupied f/C. Brown 28 AMBJAAY Uno 29 TROUBLE She A Winner f/City Girls 30 THE BONFYRE U Say f/6LACK 31 DANILEIGH Easy 32 TEYANA TAYLOR How You Want It f/King Combs 33 RICK ROSS Gold Roses f/Drake 34 MARLO Soakin Wet f/City Girls/Offset 35 YOUNG DOLPH & KEY GLOCK Water On Water On Water 36 FUTURE 100 Shooters 37 FETTY WAP Birthday f/Monty 38 SWAE LEE Won’t Be Late f/Drake 39 DJ KHALED You Stay f/Meek Mill... 40 ALICIA KEYS Show Me Love f/Miguel 41 BIG SEAN Bezerk f/A$ap Ferg, Hit-Boy 42 JUVENILE, BIRDMAN F/LIL WAYNE Ride Dat 43 SUMMER WALKER Playing Games 44 BIG K.R.I.T. Addiction f/Lil Wayne,Saweetie 45 DOJA CAT Juicy 46 FAT JOE Yes f/Cardi B, Anuel AA 47 DDG Hold Up f/Queen Naija 48 KHALID Right Back 49 KOFFEE Toast 50 YOUNG THUG Hot f/Gunna Hot Adult Contempory 1 LEWIS CAPALDI Someone You Loved 2 SHAWN MENDES & CAMILA CABELLO Senorita 3 ED SHEERAN & JUSTIN BIEBER I Don’t Care 4 JONAS BROTHERS Sucker 5 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 6 BILLIE EILISH bad guy 7 SHAWN MENDES If I Can’t Have You 8 P!NK Can We Pretend f/Cash Cash 9 ED SHEERAN Beautiful People f/Khalid 10 LIZZO Truth Hurts 11 SAM SMITH How Do You Sleep? 12 JONAS BROTHERS Only Human 13 PANIC! AT THE DISCO Hey Look Ma, I Made It 14 MAREN MORRIS The Bones 15 ONEREPUBLIC Rescue Me 16 MAROON 5 Memories 17 KHALID Talk 18 ROB THOMAS Can’t Help Me Now 19 KELSEA BALLERINI Miss Me More 20 GOO GOO DOLLS Miracle Pill 21 TAYLOR SWIFT Lover 22 CAMILA CABELLO Liar 23 DEAN LEWIS Waves 24 FOR KING & COUNTRY God Only Knows 25 ARIANA GRANDE & SOCIAL HOUSE Boyfriend 26 DOMINIC FIKE 3 Nights 27 KASKADE & MEGHAN TRAINOR With You 28 X AMBASSADORS Hold You Down 29 KYGO & WHITNEY HOUSTON Higher Love 30 POST MALONE Circles 31 JOHN K If We Never Met 32 ELLIE GOULDING & JUICE WRLD Hate Me 33 POST MALONE Goodbyes f/Young Thug
34 TWENTY ONE PILOTS The Hype 35 KATY PERRY Never Really Over 36 HALSEY Graveyard 37 LAUREN DAIGLE Rescue 38 DELACEY My Man 39 KATY PERRY Small Talk 40 MARSHMELLO & KANE BROWN One Thing Right 41 WHITNEY WOERZ Little Bit More 42 ILLENIUM Good Things Fall...f/J.Bellion 43 ANDY GRAMMER Wish You Pain 44 ZARA LARSSON All The Time 45 DERMOT KENNEDY Outnumbered 46 INGRID MICHAELSON Young And In Love 47 ALEXANDER CARDINALE Simple Things f/C. Perri 48 JOHN MAYER Carry Me Away 49 FREYA RIDINGS Castles 50 MADDIE POPPE Not Losing You Country 1 CHRIS LANE I Don’t Know About You 2 DIERKS BENTLEY Living 3 MATT STELL Prayed For You 4 CARRIE UNDERWOOD Southbound 5 COLE SWINDELL Love You Too Late 6 CHRIS JANSON Good Vibes 7 B GILBERT & L ELL What Happens In A Small Town 8 RUSSELL DICKERSON Every Little Thing 9 LUKE BRYAN Knockin’ Boots 10 KEITH URBAN We Were 11 KENNY CHESNEY Tip Of My Tongue 12 LADY ANTEBELLUM What If I Never Get Over You 13 OLD DOMINION One Man Band 14 THOMAS RHETT Remember You Young 15 MIRANDA LAMBERT It All Comes Out In The Wash 16 LUKE COMBS Even Though I’m Leaving 17 TIM MCGRAW Thought About You 18 JON PARDI Heartache Medication 19 GARTH BROOKS & BLAKE SHELTON Dive Bar 20 JIMMIE ALLEN Make Me Want To 21 MIDLAND Mr. Lonely 22 DUSTIN LYNCH Ridin’ Roads 23 JORDAN DAVIS Slow Dance In A Parking Lot 24 BLAKE SHELTON Hell Right f/Trace Adkins 25 ZAC BROWN BAND Someone I Used To Know 26 JASON ALDEAN We Back 27 RYAN HURD To A T 28 TRISHA YEARWOOD Every Girl In This Town 29 INGRID ANDRESS More Hearts Than Mine 30 KANE BROWN Homesick 31 KELSEA BALLERINI homecoming queen? 32 RUNAWAY JUNE Buy My Own Drinks 33 DYLAN SCOTT Nothing To Do Town 34 BRETT YOUNG Catch 35 TRAVIS DENNING After A Few 36 CAYLEE HAMMACK Family Tree 37 RILEY GREEN I Wish Grandpas Never Died 38 SCOTTY MCCREERY In Between 39 JAKE OWEN Homemade 40 LOCASH One Big Country Song 41 MAREN MORRIS The Bones 42 MICHAEL RAY Her World Or Mine 43 GONE WEST What Could’ve Been 44 CHASE RICE Lonely If You Are 45 KING CALAWAY World For Two 46 ERIC CHURCH Monsters 47 RASCAL FLATTS Back To Life 48 MORGAN WALLEN Chasin’ You 49 MADDIE & TAE Die From A Broken Heart 50 BILLY CURRINGTON Details
PAGE 10 • Disc Jockey News • October 2019
We Will Meet You In Vegas! By John Young
So, what are you doing next February? I have an idea.. Let’s head to Vegas for a DJ convention! Coming up on February 24-27th, 2020, the Disc Jockey News and DJNTV will be hosting our FIRST Las Vegas DJ convention at the South Point Casino! This event is co-located with the very successful Photo Booth Expo! The Photo Booth Expo has been the fastestgrowing event in the mobile entertainment world with nearly 4000 attending last year! What does it mean we are co-locating a show? In a nutshell, there will be a DJ track of educational content going on in the Disc Jockey News/DJNTV seminar room over here; and the Photo Booth Expo educational content going on in the PBX seminar room over there. All in the same building, but in different rooms. Then, we will both have access to the largest exhibit hall in the mobile entertainment world!!.. Oh yeah... and the evening parties and fun activities planned for the event attendees. This will be our first year producing a show in Las Vegas. Bringing a Disc Jockey News event to Las Vegas has been something we have looked at many times over the years. Then, for 2020, things lined up so we could bring a Disc Jockey News/DJNTV level event to Las Vegas in conjunction with the Photo Booth Expo. Tired of reading? Then go buy your pass at: http://www.djntv.com/tickets and use DJNTVSHOW202 to get the best rate on your show pass! More about the show: This year’s event will be a combination of business training (the theme is Building Your Business In 2020), and a chance to hang out and reconnect with the team from DJNTV. This is a great time to get away from the winter season, see old friends, make new friends, learn new methods to grow and improve your business, and score some amazing deals in the exhibit hall! Let’s look at this year’s educational lineup: Monday, February 24th:
Noon: Ben Stowe: Ben will be bringing his down-home charm and crazy tech knowledge to kick off our first Las Vegas event. Ben Stowe is the tech guy on our Tuesday Night With Ben Stowe show and will be presenting some DJ tech topics with his fun, unique style! 1:00 pm: Glenn Roush: Glenn will start our business sessions as he shares growth ideas from his own personal experience growing a highly success DJ business in his market! 2:00 pm: Dean Carlson: Dean knows weddings. Dean knows sales. Dean knows higher-end events. Dean knows selling services for higher-end weddings. Dean shares some real-world tips on selling your services in a bit different way to show value and move to being more than just music. 3:00 pm: Dave Ternier: Dave is 1/2 of the Dave and Jeremy Wednesday Night Wedding Chaton DJNTV! Dave will be bringing his unique look at weddings and creating exceptional experiences for your clients. 4:00 pm: Sara and Jeremy Brech: Jeremy is the other 1/2 of the Dave and Jeremy Wednesday Night Wedding Chat. In this seminar, Jeremy joins Sara Brech as they share some insight about working with your spouse in the business. They will include some tips for those looking to bring their significant other into the business. 5:00 pm: Mitch Taylor: Mitch Taylor is the sales guy! Mitch will be teaching how to use today’s preferred client communion tools to get the ball rolling in the right direction to get you on course to make that sale. 6:00 pm: Ross Akselrad: Ross runs a very successful DJ business and photo booth company. If you are thinking about adding a photo booth to your DJ company, Ross is the guy who will give you the tips on what it takes to make this company addition successful. 7:00 pm: DJ Michael Joseph: MJ will be doing a live Virtual DJ Q and A mixing session in this ‘after hours’ session to wrap up day one at the DJNTV DJ Convention. Tuesday, February 25th:
8:00 am: Scott Favor: Breakfast With The Game Master 9:00 am: Scott Favor and Mike Fernino: Scott and Mike will facilitate and share ideas to help you grow your business with real-world tips and ideas! 10:00 am: Rick Web: Rick is one of the DJ Industry stars on social media! In his session, he will be sharing insights on connecting and communicating more with today’s couples effectively. 11:00 am: Brandon Steward: Brandon has created a brand and a business like no other! He has traveled the world as a wedding service provider and has taken his DJ business to a new level with the diversification of his services... All done at an extremely high level! Noon: DJ Supafly: Supafly will be doing a live Serato Q and A mixing session and tutorial. 1:00 pm: Jordan Marshall and Sean ‘Big Daddy’ McKee: Jordan and Big Daddy are here to rock the house! Learn tips for developing and re-enforcing your brand and your style, along with how to engage your audience! 2:00 pm: Byron Gunter: Byron is the business system king! He has built a very successful multi-system DJ business, and he will share steps and tips to automate your business systems. He will help you move from being the primary labor to truly the owner of the business. 3:00 pm: Johnathan Simmons: DJ Woo Pig will bring it! Johnathan is here to share tips you can use TOMORROW to grow your business for 2020! 4:00 pm: Nick Spinelli: Nick is going to bring you a new understanding of working with today’s younger couples. Nick will cover using social media in today’s world, how today’s younger couples use social media, and how you can position and prepare to be where your future clients are. Wednesday, February 26th: 8:00 am: Scott Favor: Breakfast With The Game Master 9:00 am Leo Ridge: Leo likes to be super prepared! In this seminar, he will share his tips and thoughts on back up plans for those times when the unthinkable happens!
9:30 am: Jodi Harris: Jodi Harris from Las Vegas is the destination wedding Queen! She and her staff work with many out of town clients who are having a party or reception in Las Vegas. Jodi will share some tips and ideas on working with and planning events remotely when doing destination weddings. 10:00 am: Drew Wash: Social Media specialist Drew Wash will share some marketing tips you can use with your business to save $$ and yet make more sales! 1:00 pm: Jason Jones: Jason Jones is back in Las Vegas sharing about The Sales Conversation. This is a new way to connect and communicate value to your prospects to help build working relationships for stronger sales and better events. 2:00 pm: Erik Massengale: Erik is a master of setting up and using automated systems to communicate effectively with your clients. Erik will cover ways to seemingly add an extra office person to your team, all with his automated workflow. 3:00 pm: Jason Klock: Jason Klock is a businessman and a great DJ. He has been a very successful part-time DJ as well as a full-time DJ. Jason will be wrapping up our day with tips to make you successful as either part-time or fulltime… with some Q and A time at the end for you to ask those questions from an expert that has been there, done that! These are the main seminars your full show pass purchased at http://www. djntv.com/tickets with discount code DJNTVSHOW2020 will get you. There will be a few Master Classes also offered at an additional fee that I will talk about next month! One word on those though; anyone buying a Master Class ticket will also get access to the recordings from the main seminar room seminars that are going on opposite that specific Master Class... so you won’t miss a thing! It will be an AMAZING event, and I hope you can make it out because I would love to get a chance to meet you in Vegas! Questions.. message John directly at http://m.me/johnyoungmn or john@discjockeynews.com
least, audible. Quick coaching on how to be sure that they talk to the back of the room by projecting their voice is also very helpful. Your reassuring them that everyone in the room WANTS them to succeed, and that everyone in the room likes them, can help ease the anxiety that they are probably feeling at that moment. Third, as the master of ceremonies, I introduce each of the presenters with a little more information than just who they are and their title. I ask the couple WHY. Why is this person more than just another person in the wedding party? Usually, it has a lot to do with their importance in the bride or groom’s life. Once you do this, you can also validate the coaching (that you’ve done BEFORE
the wedding day) telling the presenters to not use “in case you don’t know me my name is…” at the beginning of their toast. You’ve already introduced them twice, if somebody doesn’t know who they are by now, they’re not paying attention. LOL. Helping your couples have a great experience with toasts from friends and family that hit all the marks (brevity, humor, sentimentality, and a close) sets you and your business up for better reviews and more referrals. All you need to do is: Do some research into who is going to be speaking Coach those folks on what will make their toast great Introduce them in a meaningful way. Your events and the guests will enjoy themselves and certainly raise a glass to what you helped create. Cheers! Thomas Heath is the owner of A+ Event Entertainment of Boyne Falls, Michigan. You can reach Thomas at thomasheath@discjockeynews.com.
The Thing About Toasts By Thomas Heath
The thing about toasts “In case you don’t know me…” LOL. Got your attention there, didn’t I? We’ve all heard them; the toasts that ramble on incoherently and never REALLY hit the mark. W i t h awkward stories that really don’t add a lot to the wedding celebration at all, more often than not we, the entertainment professional, are looked at as if it was our fault. The old “Who gave them a mic” look. Wouldn’t it be great if we could mitigate that in some way, and make every time we open the mic an amazing experience for everyone? In today’s article, I will talk a bit about educating your couples and the
people giving toasts at their weddings, so that they have better, more engaging, and more meaningful toasts. First, it is imperative to “head ‘em off at the pass,” Being proactive and talking about the toasts and the presenters during the planning process with your clients is huge. Find out who the presenters are, and what they might talk about. Ask if they have experience doing any public speaking. The more you know about them, the better you can help. Second, offer your expertise as a master of ceremonies. We are on the mic all the time. We know how to use a microphone, but most people really don’t. Giving them tips on how to hold the microphone is a huge step in making the toasts, at the very
EARN Your Way To Success! By Brian Kelm
The only way to create a solid business foundation, reputation, credibility, and trust in this industry is to EARN IT. In the beginning, you must be willing to give your all with little sleep and pay. You have to have belief in yourself enough to prosper, get better at your skills, and never give up on yourself. DJ’s and Entertainers who are passionate about what they do, love it so much that they will risk it all. They will do whatever it takes to make this their profession and are truly passionate about it! Being in the “trenches” every day in a humble way consistently will generate success for you over time. You need to find your magic formula of how you serve customers, deliver on your commitments, and ultimately the performances you give! No matter how fastpaced our society gets or how much content online is at our fingertips, it still doesn’t replace the actions you take consistently. Your belief
system must be rock solid that no drama or noise gets through to you. Consider the following practices to consistently assess the success you are earning: 1. Consistency / Day-by-day – This is how you become successful every day! 2. Do what others are not willing to do – Be willing to do the HARD WORK! 3. Try the opposite of the majority – Take a risk and go down a different path and see what happens! 4. Voice of the customer – Will always speak the truth! Make it your guide. 5. Turn off the noise and drama – For the creation and development of your belief system! 6. Humility – Everything you do is for others! 7. No integrity or commitment = No action! Be willing to pay the price every day so you can benefit and be rewarded with the life and success you never knew you could have! Brian Kelm, CWEP, CGWP, WED Guild is a 25+ year wedding entertainment and planning professional that has been all over the United States. Based in Wisconsin. Serving Anywhere. He can be reached at briankelm@ discjockeynews.com
Disc Jockey News • October 2019 • Page 11 Ron Ruth Continued From Page 6 the company didn’t care about them is “84% of consumers cite recommendations from family, colleagues, and always at the top of that list. Lesson 3. Your goal is to not to friends as the most influential source “WOW!” just one customer. The goal for trustworthiness.” In other words, is to “WOW!” an army of loyal, rav- you can have thousands of 5-star, online ing customers who will bring even reviews but those are far outweighed more customers marching to your door. by the trusted referral from one friend That’s the beauty of being consistent in to another. Next time you visit your stylist, pay the delivery of amazing experiences. The relationship your stylist has with closer attention to the interaction you you is not solely for the purpose of mak- have with them, and how they make ing you feel valued, special, and impor- you feel. Think about why you’ve retant. He or she is relying on you raving mained a loyal customer for so long about that experience, that relationship and how many others you’ve told about with everyone you know so they, too, your stylist. Then double his or her may become loyal customers who will usual tip and thank them for motivating rave about the experience to others. It’s you to elevate your own business a cut like the circle of life---but for growing above your competition. To learn more about “How To a business. And, your business can enjoy that same, perpetual cycle if you are Speak Fluent ‘WOW!:’ The Language Of High-Spending, Loyal Raving consistent in your experience delivery. According to research conducted by Customers.”---the customers you want one of my favorite websites, Hubspot. to attract most to your business, please com, “Word of mouth is a key element visit my website at http://RonRuth.com of the buyer’s journey, bridging the dis- or email me at RonRuth@DiscJocktance between awareness, interest, con- eyNews.com sideration, and ultimately, sales.” Plus,
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