5 Cheap DJ Tricks

PLAYING THE BIGGEST HIT 

The easiest pop of all – just play the big one song everyone knows or is expecting to hear. It’s a sure-fire way to get a crowd on the floor quickly and reliably. Unfortunately, you just performed the musical equivalent to eating dessert first – nothing really tastes quite as good after that.

The Creative Alternative: Pick a recognizable (but not overt) loop from the most popular tune and mix it in under a lesser-known track with the same key. You will get that “this DJ is amazing!” response your under-appreciated ego craves without completely giving it all away.

DROP THE BASS 

You all know the drill: count it out with me:

1. Drop out the bass
2. Raise up your hands
3. Drop the bass back in!

Wow, now go take a siesta – because you just pulled off one of the most musically difficult feats known to man. In fact – take the rest of the night off, you earned it.

The Creative Alternative: Use a filter and reverb sweep to gradually carve out the bass and drop a beatmasher in for a subtle fill. It’s harder, less generic, and generally works better anyway.

OVER-HYPING ON THE MIC

Is it just me, or do some DJs seem have authoritarian complexes, ordering the crowd to do strange things every 10 minutes? “Everyone go to the bar and buy 4 drinks, then come back and dance harder! ” In all seriousness, there is nothing more cringeworthy than the typical crowd rousing rally calls:

“Everyone put your hands upppppp!” or “How’s everyone feeling tonight?”

The Creative Alternative: If you want to confound and confuse, try telling everyone “don’t put your hands up!” and then watch blissfully as their left and right brains collide under the sheer weight of your confounding demand. If you really must say something to the crowd,  drop a creative sample over the mix to send an original message.

CUTTING THE MUSIC OUT SO PEOPLE CAN SIGN THE CHORUS

Ok, I admit it, this one is pretty fun. Matter of fact, if you are playing sing-along music then none of these rules really apply anyway. Throw those cakes, spray the champagne and fulfill every DJ cliche ever invented. Extra points if you manage to include all 127.

DRUM ROLLLLL

Looping the downbeat, the one, the kick, the bass, the thump, the bump – or whatever you want to call it and then speeding it up so it get’s f   f   f    f f f f fffffaster is the newest oldest trick in the book. Although technically more difficult to pull off perfectly, it’s still an easy pop and fairly tired at this point.

The Creative Alternative: Most people build up the kick drum, turning the entire song into a stuttering mess. Perhaps loop a sample OVER the main song (an acapella works great) and shorten that loop to create the same build but slightly less reminiscent of Swedish House Mafia

Getting good referrals

One of the biggest challenges that we face in business is getting our happy customers to provide great recommendations and reviews of the services that we have provided to them in the past.  Here are some guidelines to garnering good endorsements.

What makes good review?

The main point of a testimonial or review is to be able to provide a third party endorsement to people that have little or no knowledge of you and your business.  This provides an opportunity, for those that hold your capabilities in high regard, to share that knowledge.  Great testimonial must not sound like your marketing and advertising materials!  So as you continue to gather letters and other messages from your clients, only feature the ones that have the following attributes:

• 1.      Verifiable: Make sure that all of your references and reviews contain the full name and a method of contact for the person providing it.  Never use anonymous references.
• 2.      Authentic: Don’t script reviews for your clients, people respond to real people, not copied scripts.
• 3.      Informal: Don’t modify or correct grammar, the best reviews are conversational in nature.
• 4.      Specific and Direct: The most amazing recommendations are focused on a specific aspect of the service you performed, rather than a general overview of the entire job.

You HAVE to ask for them:

You know you did an outstanding job, but you can’t understand why people don’t write reviews or send you referrals.   Don’t wait for clients to put compliments into words, be aggressive and send out requests.

Give them a reason to respond, with a deadline of sorts included.  For example, you could say the following in an email; “Thank you for allowing be to be a part of your wedding reception.  I am currently updating my website (Facebook page) (reference list) and would like to include your opinion of the services I provided to you.   I am including a couple of past references to give you an idea of how other people have reviewed my work.”

Keep these ideas in mind as you ask;

1. Tell them why you are asking for recommendations and include samples of recommendations you’re hoping to receive from them. This will help get responses and keep them in context with your expectations.
2. Tell them why you are contacting them specifically. This gives you an opportunity to compliment them on an aspect of the event and shows that this request is one of a select few and not a mass mailing to many people.
3. Include a deadline for response citing something you will be doing with their recommendation.

 When you get them….use them!

Even the most wonderful recommendations and reviews are totally useless if they sit in a drawer, filing cabinet or in your computer.  Take them; use them in full if possible, or accurately edited versions on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, your website and sales materials.  Use them in personal presentations, in letters and emails.   You will be amazed at the power they will have.

Online Reviews

Online referrals and recommendations are an essential part of your marketing mix. Today, those reviews are increasingly part of the post-sales experience thanks to the popularity of independent online review sites like Wedding Wire, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Google+ Local, Angie’s List and many more.  However, using those reviews in any other context may be a violation of Copyright’s and you must get the client’s permission to use them in any way other than by linking to the review on the on-line site.

Waiting for reviews and recommendations will not put you in the fast lane to build your brand!  Asking for and properly using great testimonials will!

If you want to be successful, you must do more than is required. What is the difference between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their lives and careers merely following?  It is simply doing more!  Most people will not invest the time and energy to do the little things that will take them to the top.

“You can start right where you stand and apply the habit of going the extra mile by rendering more service and better service than you are now being paid for.”  Napoleon Hill

Adjust yourself

We have all heard about the power of positive thinking, and the benefits of having good thoughts to help us achieve different goals and ambitions. Positive thinking groups and seminars have become a multi-million- dollar industry involving books, videos, boot camps, and the more.

Each year thousands of people spend their hard-earned money in the hope that the information and skills they receive will be the one thing that they need to make them succeed over all of the others. Many times this information is extremely valuable, and can give someone that extra advantage to overcome various hurdles. However, more often than not, this very expensive information goes unused or is neglected due to various other important aspects of our lives. Simply put, there is a lot of excitement at first in starting something new, but no positive action is ever taken. If it is taken, a failure to keep a continued effort brings a less than desired result.

Is there anything that can help us to keep going and not give up on a better path or routine, and really take the necessary action that is needed? Absolutely! It is something that is often overlooked but is most important in helping us take positive action. It is making a positive mental adjustment. This means not just keeping positive thoughts in our minds, but consciously making the necessary adjustments to keep us moving forward.

This is not an easy thing to do because, quite frankly, there are a lot of negative things happening in our lives and in the world right now that can actually affect the way we do business and the way we view each day. If we want to succeed, we need to examine our own thoughts and speech— the words we use every day. Have you heard someone say, “Oh, its good enough” or “It doesn’t matter. This will do?” These are not really positive expressions when it comes to our line of work, are they? Wouldn’t “No matter how many times I have done this, I will do it right!” or “I will do my best to make this gig exciting and do exactly what my client wants!” be more positive views to take?

Don’t simply do what you have to do to get by, but work hard to be your very best, each and every time. How we think about ourselves and how we speak will have a tremendous impact on what we actually do. By examining ourselves truthfully, we can root out any weaknesses, flaws and negative qualities that we may have that are holding us back, keeping us from being excellent.

Positive mental adjustment is not something that we can just turn off and on depending upon the situation. This is an ongoing process in which we work hard to evolve in every aspect of our lives. It means constantly taking some time out of our busy schedules to look at ourselves in the figurative mirror to find those weak and negative aspects of our thinking that impede our ability to do our very best in every area of our lives. Change “I can’t!” to “I will!” Change “I don’t think I can” to “I know I can.” Acknowledge any bad habits you may have that are holding you back, and then change them.

The only way that you can make progress is to first acknowledge the problem. Begin with simple things, such as getting enough sleep, healthy eating, or just making one more sale than usual this month. This works better if you begin to practice this method in all aspects of your life. Evaluate your own personal viewpoints on life, and then look at your business and your performance aspects. That way, your whole outlook on life is moving ahead with positive momentum. By doing this, you are not hindering your progress in any one area, but you will smoothly move ahead in all directions. It will also help you to grow to your best potential in the shortest amount of time.

Of course, it’s easy to read this and say, “Yes, I will do this!” The hardest part is to actually implement this program to move ahead and make these positive mental adjustments. Why not start looking for some of the smaller changes that you can begin right away?