Direct mail – I am firm believer in direct mail as a means to market to schools. Names and addresses of schools are free and easy to come by and direct mail is still relatively cheap. In addition, in an age where people are communicating digitally more frequently, old-fashioned mail gets more attention than it used to. Don’t expect to mail out a flyer to 50 schools one time and see huge results. Direct mail is most effective when you cast a broad net and you follow up with repeat mailings.

Set a “Kick Off” Date – I announce one specific date when I open my calendar for bookings the following school year. This helps to create a sense of urgency for my clients to get their dates in before our availability is taken. I would never decline a booking that is requested before the date, but for most of my clients this marks the beginning of my booking season. Be sure to announce this date in your emails, newsletters, and direct mail pieces.

Understand that some schools AREN’T ready to lock in dates for their dances next year, so don’t give up on schools you don’t hear from right away. However, make sure your materials are what your prospects see first and most often, so when they are ready, you’ll be the first call they make.

I imagine most of the time the conversation goes something like this:

School Dance Advisor: “We’d like to book you for Saturday, February 11^th for our Valentine’s Day dance. Are you available?”

You: “Unfortunately, we’re all sold out that day, but we’d love to work with again you in the future!”

School Dance Advisor: “OK. I understand. Do you have anyone else you can recommend?”

This is where the slope can become slippery for retaining future business. Instead, I suggest the conversation go something like this:

School Dance Advisor: “We’d like to book you for Saturday, February 11^th for our Valentine’s Day dance. Are you available?”

You: “Unfortunately, we’re all sold out that day, however, if you have any flexibility with your date, I do have openings on February 18^th and 25^th. Will either of those dates work for you?”

School Dance Advisor: “Let me check with the committee and my administration and get back with you.”

Many schools are very flexible with their dates and are picking them rather arbitrarily in the first place. They are often willing to move their date in order to retain the services of a DJ they trust. It also sends a much stronger message of your desire to work with the school, than simply deferring business to “the future”. Finally, it can avoid the potentially uncomfortable situation of having to recommend someone else to perform their dance, business you may or may not get back.

You’ve spent hours crafting the perfect cover letter. You’re certain your rates are just right for your market. You’ve spent hundreds of dollars printing flashy brochures. Plus you’re good at what you do! You’ve been endlessly spinning your wheels trying to break into the school dance market. Why aren’t you getting the bookings?

The best marketing materials in the wrong hands is useless. Can you be certain your materials are actually landing on the desk of the decision maker – the person who is ultimately responsible for hiring the DJ at the school’s dances? Some DJs incorrectly believe that the building principal or other administrator makes this decision. Some DJs attempt to market their services directly towards students for school events, thinking they’ll have the pull influence the decision.

Most schools have one or two teachers, working under supplemental contracts as co-curricular advisors, that are ultimately responsible for organizing the dances and hiring the DJ. These advisors take different titles depending on the configuration of the school. In middle schools and junior high schools, it’s usually the student council advisor or athletic/activities director. In high schools, it’s often class advisors, the student council advisor, or co-curricular director. Sending your materials directly to the right person is a critical step in being hired for their next dance. Do not rely on a secretary or administrator to forward your “junk mail” to the right person.

Before you send out your marketing materials, take the time to research your target schools and determine who is responsible for organizing the dances. Most likely a phone call to the school’s general phone number will net you the information you’re looking for when the question is tactfully posed. Commit to yourself to eliminate the waste of your time and marketing dollars and ensure that every contact you make with a school is directed to the right person.

Using free services such as TwitterFeed and Ping.fm, you can effortlessly syndicate the articles you publish to your Twitter page and Facebook wall (as well as countless other social networking sites) using your blog’s RSS feed. If you do not yet use Twitter and Facebook for your business, consider setting up accounts. These are two great methods for communicating with clients and prospects, while further spreading the word about your professional services through the power and reach of social networking.

As you know, DJ Intelligence is also fully integrated with MailChimp, a leading broadcast email provider, so you can send mass emails to your past, present, and future clients. Using your RSS feed, you can set up an “RSS-driven campaign” to automatically email your clients the day after you publish an article to your blog. This is another great way to stay in contact with your client base. If you do not yet use MailChimp to send broadcast emails, consider signing up and integrating with your DJ Intelligence account.

To find out the URL of your DJ Intelligence blog’s RSS feed, visit your blog’s home page and click on the “RSS” icon. The URL which appears in the address bar after you click the “RSS” icon will be the direct URL of your RSS feed. If you have any questions or need our assistance, please contact the DJ Intelligence support team anytime 24×7 at http://support.intelligenceinc.com

So the only question that remains is, what will you blog about? Share company news & information, author and publish articles pertaining to your company or industry, tell stories from past events, share client testimonials, or post any other important information you wish to share with your customers and potential customers. The possibilities are endless. If you do not yet use DJ Intelligence for your business, please sign up today and start reaping the rewards of blogging!

Did you digg it?  http://digg.com/music/Year_End_Charts_The_most_requested_songs_of_2009

MARKETING TIP: Use this list at Bridal Shows to reiterate to your client that you use reliable sources, and are current with the music their guests will want to hear!

Here’s the shortcut key points to getting your website ranking higher:

(1) Choosing Keywords – What keywords are you targeting?   If you’re looking up “Robert Starkey’s Wedding Entertainment” then of course I’m going to show up as listing #1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10 (figuratively speaking).  However, a client isn’t likely to find a DJ in that manner, they’re more than likely going to use their city, event type, and the initials “DJ” or words “Disc Jockey” — ie. “Lake Havasu Wedding DJ”.

(2) Keyword research – Google offers an awesome realtime reference to keywords you enter, and even offers alternatives.  Are you targeting the right keywords?  Find out here: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

(3) Ranking Results – Is a competitor ranking higher for a keyword then you are?  Visit their page, and count how many times they are using that keyword.  Then, include it just 2 or 3 times more than them.

Final note before I leave you today — Google is checking relevancy of keywords throughout the site, and making sure it is inline with your <TITLE> tag (what shows up at the top of the browser window next to the browser icon).  Make sure your content is all relative to the keywords you are trying to target, and KEY: “Only try and target 3 – 5 keywords, don’t try and target to many or you may find your spreading your site thin.”

Until next time,

Robert Starkey

With Halloween now behind us, can Christmas be nearer than you think? Indeed it can be, and is.

When acknowledging your customers and industry contacts, it’s not necessarily bad manners having two or more tiers of communication and appreciation.

• Lowest Level: Ecards – Send to casual friends or business acquaintances (perhaps people you know, but have no actual business relationship with, as yet).
• Highest Level: Gifts – Long standing customers and industry contacts who refer you, or hire your company, regularly. (Note: This will be a special focus in a future blog).
• Medium Level: Holiday Cards – Send to those people who fall in the middle, such as: Annual customers, fellow members in trade associations, your accountant, and the like.

Notice, I said holiday cards, not Christmas cards. No it’s not a religious issue, really.

It’s a timing and attention thing.

My experience says, the best strategy is to send Thanksgiving cards. Yes, Thanksgiving cards!

“Why?” you ask. Here’s the logic… Many companies are deferring their decisions about holiday parties (yes, no, how opulent, how understated) as long as they can. Their final plans may be influenced my sales, profits, layoffs, the presidential election, or any number of factors you’re unaware of.

Rather than wait until December, if your product or service is tied to a holiday party or December business (such as gift baskets, balloons, or stationery), then get out in front with a Thanksgiving card. Send a card that is received between Wednesday, November 19th, and Monday, November 24th.

Your holiday wishes will be among the first received, and you will be top-of-mind with people who know you, like you, and are in a position to rehire you or refer you business.

And, by the way, it’s OK to put ONE business card in each envelope. Final thing, make sure the card is signed by ALL your office staff, if possible. Not just you.

Looking for a marketing edge to trump your competitors? Stand out from the crowd by sending Thanksgiving Cards. Then listen for the phone to ring.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority ]]> http://www.mobilebeat.com/its-november-whats-your-plan-for-holiday-cards/feed/ 0 http://www.mobilebeat.com/three-3-different-ways-to-make-your-dj-intelligence-quote-generator-work-for-you/ http://www.mobilebeat.com/three-3-different-ways-to-make-your-dj-intelligence-quote-generator-work-for-you/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:48:24 +0000 Robert Starkey http://www.mobilebeat.com/?p=2014 Even if you’re against pricing online, read this…

In speaking with many DJs, offering your prices online seems to be a preference of choice which, varies from company to company.  I want to take a moment to share with you “Three (3) Different Ways To Make Your DJ Intelligence Quote Generator Work for YOU!”

1) Pricing Up-Front: To do this, including your pricing alongside of the package/option description. This allows a potential client to add the pricing up themselves if they choose to not submit any information.  This then allows you to know that any leads you DO receive will be higher qualified and likely to book, as the Price Objection is no longer an issue.

2) Behind the Scenes Pricing: This is the manner in which this tool was created to work – The customer provides their information, selects the package that best fits their needs, adds some options, then upon submitting is able to view the quote in real-time on screen even having the system send a copy via email to them just as fast.

3) On The Call Quoting: For those that feel they wish to only provide a price AFTER they have spoken to someone – this solution is for you.

Simply bookmark the Quote Generator form in your favorite web browser.  Then, when a caller calls in, you will have all the questions to ask (event date, time, location, etc) on the screen, you can then discuss packages with them while your selecting the agreed upon package on your computer, click the tick box to send a copy of the quote to the customer via email – and at the same time, the system triggers off your customer auto-responder which might say, “Thank you for your call – it was a pleasure to speak with you today…”

FOOD FOR THOUGHT — [submitted by Jeffrey Mufson, a DJ Rebirth Member]:   Have you thought about doing a take-away pricing structure?  You can see an example of this which I created to re-iterate Jeff’s idea, as found at http://tools.havasuweddingdj.com/quote/index.asp?ID=Event_Lite

—

The Quote Generator is only one of over a dozen tools offered by DJ Intelligence.

Robbie recalle barbershop sign “Haircut $5″, and next door another shop advertised “We fix $5 haircuts”.

Every high quality wedding business should have that message (in some iteration) on their website or as signage in their office. It would be a not-so-subtle wedding marketing message that working with a price-cutter is risky business.

With haircuts, one gets a second chance. With weddings, there is no ‘do-over.’ And with some categories of wedding services, the risk of failure is simply not worth the money ‘saved.’

My standard response to clients seeking a lower ‘price match’ was simple: Trying to shave down a few hundred dollars out of a wedding budget of $30,000 can be a critical mistake, if you try to save it in the wrong place. At the end of the night, there won’t be a sign around my neck showing how much you paid. Either we will be successful, and you will be happy, or will have saved some money on another service, and you won’t be happy.

Nothing closes a sale like self-confidence. In Robbie’s words “Stay positive — there is always a way.”

One other thing is important. Be SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN YOUR COMPETITION. Don’t just believe your own hype!

Andy Ebon

The Wedding Marketing Authority

Follow me on Twitter

In my recent seminars on New Social Media, one of the common questions is: What about Twitter? Are you on it? Should I be on it? What’s the deal?

Beginning last summer, my answers have been: “I have a Twitter account, but I’m still figuring it out. I think too many people are using it as just another outlet for their status line from Facebook, LinkedIn or some other social media site. Just because it uses the same length as a text message or a status update, doesn’t make it a good way to use it.”

For the uninitiated, signing up for a Twitter account is a simple and short process. Once logged in, your account can, essentially do two things.

• Select people or businesses that interest you and follow them.
• Post Twitter updates, called Tweets. People following you, will be notified of your Tweets.

You can follow your favorite wedding consultant, media consultant, marketing guy, or just a friend. You can deselect someone you are following, anytime. Conversely, if you’re starting to bore people, they can deselect you.

How will I use Twitter?: Occasionally, I will use it to point to a particular blog post of mine. More often, I will use it to direct you to other news articles, blogs and websites about wedding industry news.

Most important, I don’t expect to Tweet more than 5-10 times a week… tops.

The goal is really quite simple. If I’m to be ‘The Wedding Marketing Authority,” I should be a major resource in wedding industry and wedding marketing information. I should not be a nuisance. I should not be unnecessarily redundant. I’m not a chef or restaurateur, so nobody much cares what I had for lunch.

I encourage you to sign up for Twitter and follow a few people you may find interesting. You may elect to never post Tweets, and simply be a follower, using your subscriptions as a news resource. Don’t be seduced by the notion of being your own 140-word publisher. If you publish Tweets, have a reason and plan for doing so.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority ]]> http://www.mobilebeat.com/why-you-should-consider-following-me-on-twitter/feed/ 1