Advertising

[Method2125]

What kind of advertising do you guys do to promote your business and get gigs? I advertise in the local telco yellow pages as well as an area yellow pages with Mcleod USA (Yellowbook). I attend the big bridal show here in town every year. I also list on one website. I've been thinking about advertising at other sites like eventlinker ($8/month, http://www.eventlinker.com/advertise.php). I saw that some DJ's here in my state are advertising that way. I'm just trying to get as much exposure as possible. I get a lot of gigs word of mouth but additional exposure would be nice.

-Mike

[YinYangDragon]

I dunno if this is related, but FYI vistaprint.com offers pretty damn decent deals on business cards. you can get 250 for free (it may have vistaprint's watermark on the back) or pay $20 bucks for "premium" cards aka design your own or pick from a larger template selection. I believe shipping is free too. Just a heads up. :dj:

[Method2125]

Yeah, I've gotten info from them before. I already have some business cards printed up. What I'm really looking for is any dj/wedding related websites that people are advertising, or even hints on what people do locally for advertising.

I got a suggestion from a guy today to try and partner with a bridal shop and have them do some kind of reference thing where they send clients to me and I give them a kickback if the client books. Might approach a couple of the shops about that next week.

-Mike

[bAd]

I put flyers along with some biz cards at the local shops on the bulletin boards. There are alot of mechanics, car's for sale, and garage sale ad's there too, but I have more than made up for the cost of that with bookings. (Always have a biz card on hand...never know where an opportunity will knock)

[YinYangDragon]

Those are some pretty good ideas. I guess while you're at it, hook up with videographers and wedding planners for refferals too. I know videographers are up in the wedding business as much as djs are. Some friends and I were thinking about joining forces for a videography/dj set.

[Method2125]

bAd: Yeah, never underestimate the power of a well-placed business card or flyer, I guess. I've just recently remembered to start carrying my business cards all the time. I had misplaced my cardholder and wasnt' carrying any round for a while. Definitely worth carrying around.

YYD: Yeah, I've got a friend that's a photographer and I've talked to her before. I need to give her a call and do some card swaps and see if we can work out a mutually beneficial deal. Networking can be really important. Unfortunately, there's one of the mobile DJ's here who's been in a locally well-known band for years and is also a sales guy for the local ClearChannel stations so he pretty much knows all of the bridal places already and has them tied up. I'm going to see what I can do, however. I'm getting my website done up proper and I'll get some nice flyers and start an advertising campaign. Two of the main bridal shops are within half a block of my day job.

Anybody else got any great ideas? We can only help eachother out here. If you've got a secret technique that really works, why not share?

-Mike

[davidjones@a2zm]

the yellow pages (for me) tends to attract alot of bargain shoppers and fruitless phone calls. dump that money into a good website and internet advertisemnets. google the name of "your town dj" and invest in the first 5 dj referal sites ... 1800dj, alltimefavorites,respond, etc,

must people now days use the internet to find info...

[djscrizzle]

I pass out biz cards and flyer up here in town and over in colorado springs as well... ive got a few form a well placed flyer before and talking to people. Word of mouth is BIG for me lately.