What Mobile Disc Jockey’s Won’t Tell You
With todays recent economic situation finding a quality
mobile Disc Jockeycan be more difficult than ever
before. It has created a problem for quality businesses
and consumers alike. One example is the influx of self
madeDJ’s who offer below average part-time service, at
rock bottom rates. With little to no experience or training,
they low ball the competition just to makea quick buck
and cash in on the budget strapped consumer.
These opportunistic wanna be’s with to-good-to-be-true
offers are leaving many consumers wishing they would
have given more time & considerationto established
professional businesses with a proven track record of
success.
Below are just some of the disparate deceptive tactics
many DJ companies practise each day. I promise to
never adhere to my competitors low standards and poor
business ethics. After 20 years in the mobile DJ industry
I will continue to give each one of my clients the best
quality service with most value for their money.
Comments you won’t hear mobile DJ’s tell you before signing up.
1. “I Would Charge You More if I Could.”
Some DJ companies will proudly show you their low pricing
packages.You can find these guys everywhere. They are
known in the industry as “hobbyist’s” or “guys with
equipment”, not real professionals.
Everybody wants to be a DJ, with the thought of making
easy money.
They illegally download music, buy cheap equipment, and
with little to no experience, practice on your wedding or
event with NO formal training. Trust me these guys would
charge more if they could, but they have you believe you
would be getting the same service at half the price.
Since they can’t provide professional service, they can’t
charge a professional price. If you charge very little for
your service, that’s what its worth. At first you may think
you’re getting a great deal, but in the end you lose when
your wedding or event is a bomb with bad entertainment.
You get what you pay for.
2. “We’ll nickel & Dime You to Death.”
Some DJ companies will try to entice you with a low 3 or 4
hour pricing package. Sure you can get the price they
quoted if you survive the pressure sales tactics on how you
need much more.
The price they quoted you may just be for basic equipment
rental.
Then they will tell you that you will need an MC, or
microphones & lighting is extra etc. The additional cost will
make the total price much more then the initial price.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
3. “We Pay Kickbacks to Be on Preferred Vendors Lists”
Venue Coordinators, photographers and others will be
happy to
provide a list of recommended vendors.
But don’t always believe they’re doing you a favor.
More often than not, insiders admit, the businesses
that pay the highest price are the ones who get the
referrals. DJ’s should be on preferred vendor lists
based on performance, and clients feedbacks, not
by how much money they can kickback to the vendor.
4. “I DJ Part-Time”
Would you be confident hiring a part-time photographer,
caterer, florist, etc for your wedding? 80% of mobile DJ’s
are part-time and work full-time jobs during the week.
Yet most all mobile DJ’s call themselves professional. I
don’t think you would allow a part-time dentist to fill a
cavity, so why would you want a part-time DJ be your
spokesperson, in front of your friends & family for
the first time on one of the biggest days of your life?.
The most successful weddings are the one’s where Brides
hire the best professionals.
Part-time is not professional.
5. “I Help myselves to the Open Bar”
When Michael Sullivan and his wife Suna got married
in California two years ago, they were in the mood to
celebrate, so was their DJ. He arrived several hours
before the reception with a friend and began drinking.
“When it finally came time for him to play music, he was
totally blasted and seemed to be on drugs,” says
Lesley Stein, one of the two photographers at the event.
Sullivan says the music was lousy, the DJ missed his cues
for the father-daughter dance and the cake cutting, and
guests left early. “It was really obvious that it was
fun for a lot of people, “ Sullivan says. “He really ruined
the day.”
A DJ can make or break a wedding reception.
6. “We Pay to be Voted The Best DJ Service”
Some of the smaller local wedding publications will feature an 
annual “Best of” issue for the local wedding vendors to boost
their circulation. The readers (Brides) vote for the vendors
they hired or used for their wedding.
There are many very good DJ’s in the Valley, I have a hard
time believing these same readers (Brides) have had the
opportunity to view all other DJ’s in action.
So they really have nothing to compare to. This makes the
“Best of “irrelevant.
Ironically the “Best of” winners year after year are always
the ones that advertise in the publications the most.
7. “We Charge the Same Price for Any Kind of Event”
Weddings are unique events that require much more
responsibility from the DJ. If a DJ charges the same
price for wedding as he would for a kids birthday
party, they will more than likely will bring the same
equipment, no matter how big or small, play the same
music, and give you the same kind of service.
This usually means just show up and play music.
Cookie-cutter price = cookie-cutter.
8. “Our Promotional Video is Highly Edited”
Bigger companies with many sub-contracted DJ’s offer you
to see a video of a DJ first before you sign up. What they
don’t tell you is the video is highly edited, clips of highlights
of dancing from multiple events, the DJ in the video won’t
be your DJ. Most of these DJ companies also offer video
service too, so they can capture hundreds of events every
year, some of those events can be a great party. That does
not mean your wedding will be like what you see in the video.
9. “You Pay For Our Advertising, Office, & Overhead”
Most muli-operational companies have outside offices,
managers, and huge advertising budgets to keep all
their DJ’s booked. When you hire their services, most
of that money goes to the company, leaving a small
percentage for the DJ.
Most cases the DJ for your wedding may get less then
50% of the price you pay. If the DJ uses company
owned audio equipment, he gets much less. What you
may end up with is a DJ that gets paid very little, and
may not put forth much of a effort in planning, &
performing for your wedding. What you should pay for
is talent, quality of service, experience, & expertise.
10. “Our DJ’s Are Not That Experience”
It’s always good to find a DJ with lots of experience.
Many of the big named DJ companies claim to have
many years of experience. That is, combined
experience with over the hundreds of DJ’s they’ve
hired in the past 30 years.
DJ’s come and go with multi-system companies like they
do with fast food chains. So how do you know the DJ
that they assign to you wasn’t just hired last week, or
has any experience at all?
Are you sure the DJ you choose will be there the day of
your wedding?
The DJ you think you might have may quit to start his
own business or move on to something else. Since your
contracted with that company you may have a DJ you
meet for the very first time the day of your wedding.
