The Magazine For Today's Mobile DJ

This is the final installment of Ego and Advancement. The point dear reader...don't let your ego stand in the way of your progress.  We truly all should be on the same path to building a better business and a better self.  We just may be at different places on the path. You NEVER arrive...regardless of what certificate or level you think you've achieved.  You should always be working on bettering yourself in each of these six areas. If you're not...someone who wants it more will be there to take your business. Let's prevent that from happening by taking advantage of the re ... [read more]

All right. It's loud here at HARD Fest, but it's DJ tips in under a minute, today, digital hookups. You see right there it says digital. You see red and white coming out of orange. Over here I have two RCAs, but as you see, I'm not plugged in. I'm plugged into the digital. Over here same thing, that's a split RCA white and red cord. It is going to the digital out of the players to the in of the mixer. Why? Because that's what I use. Does it make a huge sound difference? Some will argue it does. Will it be noticeable on this setup? No. On your setup at a wedding? No. If you're in a huge, huge club with some 200,000-watt sound system, you could make an argument, but for the most part, if you have digitals, input/output on mixers and players use your RCA cables. In my own opinion, you do not need to spend $100 on a cable. DJ tips in under a minute.   ... [read more]

I was nervous going into my wedding yesterday. I had been informed by my bride that the manager of a venue I had never performed at before wasn't too fond of DJs, having been burned by a few in the not-too-distant past. I reached out to another DJ in my area who had visited the venue recently, and he echoed the bride's sentiments. It's never fun to go to a new location knowing that you may be set up for a sour experience from the start, but I was determined to address the event with a positive attitude. When I arrived, I quickly found the manager and, with a big smile on my face, introduced myself with a firm handshake and a promise to help her with anything she needed that evening. I unloaded my equipment and set ... [read more]

Ryan Leaf was able to use some of the same strategies he was taught to move from civilian life to celebrity status in the NFL to move him from being a convict to being a contributing member of society in a positive way. The strategy required for both of these paths is persistence. Persistence is never giving up. Persistence is keeping your eye on the ball and the goal at hand when the whole world around you is trying to distract you from your goal or keep you from achieving it. I can think of no better song to embody this than “Tubthumping” by Chumbawumba from 1997. “I get knocked down…but I get up again…and you’re never going to keep me down.” “   Yeah but M ... [read more]

Cont. from last week… 2: I don’t need to collect data, if they like me, they’ll get in touch and book me I use to think like this, but the reality is, most won’t. Yes, it happened a few times, but I soon realised the truth that brides may well have liked me at the fair and taken my marketing material home with all the others, but what if my card or brochure got lost and could not be found when the bride was ready to contact me? I’d have no choice but to say goodbye to my lead even if the bride was intent on booking because what I effectively did was abdicate the responsibility of the booking to the bride when I should have claimed that essential responsibility for myself. ... [read more]

This is continued from last week's article of Ego and Advancement Part 1. After our workshop I reached out to this young man to get feedback on the training he had received.  He raved about his experience, was very satisfied and one statement he said was very telling of many of us in the DJ industry when it comes to advanced level training.  When asked why he chose to take the workshop after the initial backlash on Facebook he told me that he took the workshop because he realized he had to humble himself and admitted he needed help in this area and that's why he took the workshop.  This i ... [read more]

All right. DJ tips in under a minute. I've got about 30 minutes before I begin and I wanted to bring up social media at your wedding. It is totally cool to do check-ins. In fact, you should. You should let people know what's going on, you should let people know that you're busy, you should let people know that you have a wedding and where, but during the wedding, stay off Facebook. Don't tweet the bride looks goofy, don't tweet the groom is drunk. At the end of the night, if you took pictures, post them, put a review of your wedding, let people know things went really well, this was a challenge or that was a challenge or I played this song and it was a really good song. Be helpful to DJ's, clients, whoever sees your social media connection, especially clients, because they probably follow you or find you and look at you. So DJ tips in under a minute, go on Facebook, check in, but stay ... [read more]

If you've ever watched a DMC DJ competition you've most likely been as blown away as I have by the crazy amounts of talent that the participants possess. From behind-the-back scratching to intense tone-play routines, the DJs seem to always have fresh new ways to mix, transition, and blend the tracks they use in their sets. As mobile DJs, we may not have as many opportunities to utilize such radical mixing techniques in our dance sets, but I contend that the fundamentals, such as beat-matching and understanding phrasing, are some of the most important skills to master. In most circles, it goes without saying that for someone to be considered a DJ they should have some grasp of beat-matching and an understanding of the s ... [read more]

Some may call this a girly girl song – but the lyrics help put things into perspective. The song is “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera. “You are beautiful in every single way…words can’t bring me down.” In life, in sales, in our businesses we can be seemingly crushed by just one rejection from a potential client, a tense contract situation or even worse a lawsuit. In times like these you will certainly feel the fall of your business and sometimes possibly your life. In times like these it’s important to have perspective.   First, take stock of where you are. As one of the more infamous Internet memes suggests “Yes, but did you DIE?” Ask yourself “What’s the WORST that ca ... [read more]

What is an MC? Ask any DJ and you'll get a variety of answers. First, let's start with what an "MC" even means. Some will say it's for a "Master of Ceremonies," others may say "Mic Controller," and others may say "Mic Chief." In a way, these are all correct. For me, however, I believe an MC is a Master of Ceremonies. An MC is not only a host, but also controls the event flow and timeline. Yes, a coordinator may be present, and you may have the timeline, ahead of time, but it is up to the DJ/MC to ensure that the event flows as the client wants it to, especially if there is not a wedding planner or day-of-coordinator, present. So do all DJs also serve as an MC? It depends on the DJ or DJ company. Some DJs will say "I don't MC" and I don't make any announcements, at all." This is quite surprising to me, as a long time DJ. I started in 1991, when I was a kid. Long before the laptop or co ... [read more]

Ego and Advancement Are you letting your ego get in the way of advancing in your DJ career or business? Are you struggling in a certain area of your business?  Every professional that I know from athletes to business moguls have had a coach or mentor at some point in their life who has helped them get to a certain goal.  Our industry is permeated with people who feel they don't need coaching and I hope, dear reader, that you are not one of ... [read more]