So A Year Has Passed - What You Been Up To?

[MintyDave 0]

As in the title, lots of familular names still visiting and im wondering what you have been up to in the last year.

 

anybody gone full/partime, semi retired, retired, gone in a different direction....that kind of thing.

 

For me i used to do a 75/25% split with birthdays/other functions and weddings. The last year has seen this reverse with majority of my work coming from the wedding market.

 

I think this is due to the economical status, people are still getting wed, just not bothering so much with other evnets.

 

I know of at least 2 regular functions i used to do anually have ceased and the enquiries about xmas functions have declined considerably.

 

Karaoke nights have gone on the back burner for me due to a couple of bad gigs where i was luck to get out with all my gear intact.

 

A renewed interest in live music and have a couple of low key projects on the go, found a fantastic female singer and was hoping to get some wedding gigs playing background acoustic stuff but she was bone idol and wanted X factor to turn her into an 'Instant Pop Star'

[Raymilkybarkid 0]

Getting ready to hang up my headphones.....

Well taking some time off to spend with my wife (Who has been seriously ill and still is).

 

Moved home to a Village now slowly selling off some Retro Lighting (If you are interested PM me)

 

Am only commited to a few functions this year but am now doing 2 radio shows.

 

 

[McCardle 1]

Well during the last few years I was always the forum prophet of doom when it came to the recession and predicting that the Entertainment industry was going to be hit. However even I couldn't have predicted just how hard it was going to affect Cumbria and the Lakes .

 

Over the past 12 months or so, work has been largely restricted to Weddings, and even they are getting thin on the ground, meaning travelling further afield for similar money. With diesel prices forever on the increase this ultimately means fewer pennies in the pocket by the time you've done a round trip of 70 or 80 miles for the same fee as you used to get 10 miles away, but its better than not working at all.

 

Even the Tourist industry here has been badly affected, the weather this Bank Holiday has been dismal, as it was over Easter, many of the Hotels are at 25 - 40% occupancy. Many pubs are boarded up, others are facing closure if they don't pull something out of the hat during the peak season.

 

I lost two major corparate Xmas bookings last year, not because I was undercut, but largely because both firms had made press covered levels of redundances through the year, and the bosses didn't think it right to be seen to be splashing thousands on a lavish christmas party, when it had made 100's of staff redundant. Although it hit me hard in the pocket, I can see their point

 

Thankfully we both have Day Jobs, but I dont envy anybody who does this lark full time, unless you are in a big city or luck enough to live in one of the few places which hasn't been hit by high unemployment or the affects of the recession.

 

@ Ray - very sorry to hear about your Wife's illness Ray, i'm sure you'll find the switch to village life more relaxing and laid back, although it can feel quite desolate in the Winter, its a move that we've never regretted.

Edited May 6, 2012 by McCardle

[fester 0]

I've been making big efforts to improve my game over the last year.

 

I suppose I could only really have classed myself as a "pub DJ" in the past, catering mainly to birthdays and parties with the very occasional wedding.

 

I've completely got rid of the karaoke and i've been investing a lot into my setup, completely changing my lightshow, playout and PA. There are still a lot of improvements I would like to make but it's an ongoing progress and as money allows i'll keep upgrading.

 

I'm now trying very hard to break into the Wedding and higher end of the market and so far it's going well. I've got 12 confirmed wedding bookings for this year up to now and one booked for 2013. That may not sound a lot but it's a massive improvement on previous years and i've never been booked 18 months in advance before! I've found a big selling point has been offering a free meeting, I get a fantastic enquiry to confirmed booking conversion rate. I also now issue contracts and take deposits which is something I didn't bother with previously.

 

I've also added a few other services that I re-sell such as starlit dancefloors and table magic. I don't make a fortune from them but that's not really my idea at the moment, it's more of something extra I can add to my service that sets me apart from many local DJ's.

 

After getting pretty disillusioned with the whole disco business, i've found a new enthusiasm that i'm sure comes across to my clients. I'd like to think that I might be able to make it as a full time DJ in the future but that might just be very wishful thinking!!

 

I decided that my new improved service is now worth more than the budget/average I used to charge and have increased my prices across the board and i've stopped chasing the lower end work all together.

[vinyl countdown 0]

 

What have i done in he past year....... Grown and invested !

 

Thankfully the smaller gigs and lower paid gigs seem to be filtering out, and my confidence is growing... getting more confident in my pricing too, and turning the cheaper gigs away so as not to be "pigeon holed" as an £80 quid sid...

 

My plans, onwards and upwards, every penny is going back into the business, and as my kit and confidence grow, so will my pricing, but that doesn't concern me, as i have not had any complaints yet.

 

I have also been taken onto the books by a local DJ, as a sub contractor, so expecting more work, and the rates there are also higher than i have been used to (which is nice).

 

Looking forward to BPM this year, and the busy wedding season, and xmas this year (with a higher rate of pay at new year than the last one!!).

 

Adam

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