Saturday, April 28, 2018

Sell yourself and become a top DJ

Sell yourself and become a top DJ

The best way to sell yourself is to give your client the performance they deserve! Give 100% to each party and then make sure everyone knows who you are! Do it with style. Display your business cards, introduce yourself as you visit the different tables, or leave cards at the bar. Develop a positive attitude and combine it with the discipline and skill, and you can be on your way to getting more referrals than you can handle. Incorporate the following ideas into your thinking!

  • Care - genuinely care about the needs of your client. Remember that their party is a special occasion to them and listen to their comments and suggestions. Be creative in combining their needs with what your experience tells you will work.
  • Work - at a party with 200 guests, you will have the opportunity to impress all of them with your style and personality. The more parties you perform, the greater number of people see you. Keep in mind that each person will have at least five reasons to have a party in the next year. Numbers count in the referral game. Most great DJs can do 75 to 100 parties per year easily.
  • Look - keep your eyes open for potential repeat clients. When you are available and flexible with your schedule to handle the needs of these special accounts, you'll see a marked increase in the number of bookings you get.
  • Cell - the idea is so important to your success but is often forgotten. The most effective way to Market yourself is through your performance. Think of each job as live infomercial. Set the stage before the show by calling your client early and making sure you treat each performance as the once-in-a-lifetime event it is to your client. Remember to take advantage of every opportunity to mention your name and your company throughout the party. Plan your sales strategy and packet with your equipment to take to every party. Have confidence in your abilities and sales will become second nature to you.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Thursday, April 26, 2018

10 Commandments of DJing

10 Commandments of DJing

1-thou shall always call the bride 1 or 2 weeks before the wedding
2-thou shall always arrive at lease 1 hour before the wedding
3- thou shall always dress come dress proper
4- thou shall always have the music the bride wants
5- thou shall always have equiptment in working order and back up equiptment
6-thou shall always be positive act like your enjoying yourself
7- thou shall always inter act with your guests at the wedding
8- thou shall respect the catering hall and the workers
9- thou shall always work with the other vendors
10- thou shall always leave ego at home

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Planning Your Wedding Part 2: Let's Talk About Music"

Planning Your Wedding Part 2: Let's Talk About Music

By DJ Tommy Mac 

One of the biggest concerns, hands down, of any couple on the wedding day is what music should be played.
I generally run into two types of couples: Those who have very specific ideas of what they want and enjoy musically, and those who really have no clue and need my help.
Here are some helpful tips and ideas for you in arranging the perfect selection of music for your special day.
(note: while I will specifically be talking about weddings in most of these posts, they can be applied to any type of event as well)
First and foremost: Music selected for your wedding should be FUN. A wedding day is all about celebrating the union of two people and the joy of celebrating with family and friends, and the music selected should reflect that.
While there are no hard, fast RULES to any of it, in general the music selected should be fun and upbeat, appropriate for all age ranges (IE clean, no vulgarity or crude, explicit language) and lend it self to the joy and celebratory mood of the entire day...and of course, part of that celebration includes DANCING, so there should be plenty of songs chosen which are great to dance to.
Music, as with many other things in life, is a very subjective thing: what one person LOVES, another person HATES.
Keep in mind that, at your wedding, you will have a large variety of people there: Friends, family, co-workers...and not all of them will have the same musical tastes you do.
My general suggestion to my couples when selecting music is: allow something for everyone, try not to limit your music choices to just ONE style or era. You may LOVE todays latest club tunes or hip hop tracks, but think about whether your family or friends will enjoy hearing that all night long.
As your DJ, my job is to find the happy medium between what you, my clients, want, and what will make all the guests attending your special day happy as well.
I’m often asked how I as the DJ select the music that I will play for any given party, and my answer is simple: It’s combining selections from three different sources:
1: My Bride & Groom: The Bride & Groom’s requests take priority and are the basis for what ever else I chose to play through out the evening. I base my choices not only on their selections, but also what they have told me they do NOT wish to have played.
2: Guest requests: I am more than happy to take requests from guests, and as long as they fall into the appropriate guidelines I play as many as possible. Appropriate guidelines for guest requests are:
A: They meet with my bride & grooms specifications, IE are not on the “Do Not Play” list.
B: Are appropriate for the crowd: Unless it’s already been cleared by the bride & groom, a guests request for heavy metal or hardcore rap will NOT be getting played. Also any songs in general that are just inappropriate for the day: Break up songs, depressing songs, or songs that are totally obscure that no one else has ever heard of, will generally not get played.
(there are exceptions to every rule: I Will Survive is one of the most popular “break up” songs of all time and is requested and played regularly at many weddings, for example.)
3: DJ Knowledge: As a DJ with 25 years of experience, I bring my own personal knowledge of what works best to get a crowd up, dancing and having fun, and use my client & guest requests along with that knowledge to fill in the gaps and make it all flow together.
I am more than happy to accept any song list requests from my couples, and encourage them to choose at least 10-20 songs they definitely want played. Leaves me wiggle room to feel out the crowd & take some guests request. (On a AVERAGE ONLY 10-15 songs are played in an hour) My job is that much easier when I don’t have to GUESS what my couples enjoy listening and dancing to.
So I refrain from long 50 song list, most events not that long & doesnt leave room for any requests or for me to play something that crowd will dance to (Classics Always work)
Ex. I had a couple wanted nothing but 80's music & provide ALL the music for dinner & dancing, (which I tried to talk them out of, but said it's YOUR day...your wish is my command...Musical Genie) 1/2 way through event they came to me & said no one's dancing. I advised them, they picked the music not me & to break the chains off & let me do what I DO. They said go ahead Dollar & I kept the dancefloor packed the rest of the night.
2nd Ex. A couple picked few songs that wasnt popular & it cleared my dance floor, I immediately faded out song & re-packed dancefloor.  That comes with experience & bride's mother thanked me at the end for not letting entire song play.
That being said, if you find your list getting very long, I always suggest giving me a “Top 10” of your favorite songs that MUST be played, and then allowing me to chose and select the best cuts from the rest of your requests to fill out the party.
I also encourage the “Do Not Play” list; it is almost, if not as important, as your requests. Again it helps me to know in advance the types of songs or music you simply, under no circumstances, want to hear at your party, so that should a request for one come in I know how to handle it. (I'm your BLOCKER)
While I have suggested planning and choosing your music with your guests in mind, this does not mean you can not choose some of your favorite selections and artists to be played at your wedding that may not be considered “standard” wedding music.
I get plenty of couples that enjoy such music as rap, alternative rock, hard rock, country, etc. that would love to hear some songs from these types of groups but worry that they shouldn’t have them played because of how the crowd may react.
Again, that’s where I can step in and help, for instance:
Even some of the most “alternative” or “heavy metal” bands have at least ONE nice acoustic or piano ballad type song that may just fit in as a slow dance or at least something that can be played during dinner.
I’ve also encouraged hard rock fans to choose something from that genre for their introduction music.
Same with rap: While it can be tricky at times depending on the song, there is no reason why some of your favorites can’t get played at your wedding, even if it’s only you and your friends who may dance to it. Not EVERY song played HAS to get EVERYONE involved.
My usual suggestion for these types of things is to perhaps save them for later in the evening; many times the older guests will start to leave early or  at least tire out and aren’t dancing as much, and that’s the best time to work in some of those “alternate” choices. I also always suggest that the bride & groom should make an effort to actually come out and dance to these songs to make it clear that this is something THEY enjoy and chose to have played at their wedding; if the guests see YOU out there on the floor enjoying it, perhaps they will rethink their stance on the music and loosen up enough to join you.
As I said earlier, there are no hard, fast RULES to what can and can NOT be played at a wedding; in the end it is up to you to make those choices.
Select what you like, be willing to compromise, take into consideration your guests, and most importantly have FUN with it...in the end, that’s what  it’s all about.
After All It's "YOUR DAY" and a Celebration !!

Monday, April 23, 2018

Planning Your Wedding Part 1: The Basics

"Planning Your Wedding Part 1: The Basics"

BY DJ Tommy Mac

So you've decided to get married! Congratulations!
By now you're starting to realize just how much planning and organization it takes to make a wedding day run smoothly, and are looking for some ideas and tips on the best ways to do things...that's why I'm here, to help you out.
Most wedding receptions today follow a pretty basic format, and while the order of certain events can vary from party to party, the general outline of events for the reception is as follows:
first hour: Cocktails - guests are just arriving, settling in, and helping themselves to some food and drinks. The Bride & Groom (along with the bridal party) may be there at that point, or may be off doing pictures somewhere and arrive later.
Once the bridal party has arrived and cocktails are over, what happens next?
The basic outline is:
Bridal party introductions
Bride & Grooms First Dance
Bridal party dance (optional)
Blessing of the meal (optional)
Toasts (optional)
dinner hour
At most reception halls I work at in this area, the caterers prefer the DJ's NOT to play dance music during the dinner service, as they wish the guests to remain more or less seated for easier service. There have been cases where there are longer gaps in time between courses and I have been asked to dance the guests for short spurts in between but this is usually a rare case. (Me personally I like to play Classics depending on your type of music you like; to keep guests heads bobbing, feet tapping, sing a long & a few may dance) I've noticed every crowd is different, some will dance during dinner & most wait til after cake cutting.
If there are 3 courses, i.e. Soup, Salad & Entree. I will do Parent dances ((Bride with father, Groom with mother) in between Salad & Entree. Approx hour after Bride & Groom receive their entree than:
Bouquet & Garter Toss (optional)
Cutting the Cake
The timing of these events varies from wedding to wedding, depending on both the timeline of the reception hall and the bride & grooms wishes. Your DJ can also help to coordinate all these events to make the day run smoothly, and in future posts I will go into greater detail with suggestions for the best ways to organize these events, as well as several different options and variations.
There will also need to be time set aside for the bride, groom, and family members to have pictures taken together. Make sure your photographer & DJ work together so that things don't get confused. For example, you don't want your DJ starting the cake cutting if the photographer is out in the lobby taking family portraits. A good DJ will always make sure the bride, groom, photographer, videographer and banquet manager are all prepared before starting any major event. Coordinating all these various events is a team effort and all contractors you hire should be willing to work with the others so that YOU don't have to worry about things the day of. If everyone is working together as a team and have coordinated their timelines beforehand, everything should run smoothly. I am not just your DJ....I'm your MC & Time Keeper (so you can let those of you with wedding coordinators, I got this :)
Keep in mind, there are no hard, fast RULES to what you must do at your wedding reception; some people enjoy things like the garter & bouquet toss, others feel that is not important to them and would rather skip it...the choice is up to YOU.
Some couples like to plan other special events for their reception, such as slide shows, or hire another entertainer, such as dancers, to perform at some point in the evening. Others have a family member or friend who they have asked to perform a live song for the bride & groom, either by playing live with an instrument or singing along to a musical track provided to the DJ.
While these things can be fun and add a special touch to your wedding day, keep in mind they need to be planned out accordingly at the proper times to make the day flow easily. Again, talking these things over in ADVANCE with your DJ, along with your banquet manager, will help things run smoothly.
In future posts, I will go into greater details on each of the special events of a wedding reception to give you a clearer understanding of why they are done and the best times to do them... or if you choose to do them at all.