What You Need To Know About DJ Advertising

The Wedding DJ business is very competitive. Dozens of DJ companies try to attract your attention and get your business with persuasive advertising. As an informed consumer, you should be aware of the real meaning behind some popular statements and claims found in DJ advertising.

Hotel and Resort Recommended

Many hotels and resorts have a recommended vendor list of established wedding DJ's but usually encourage clients to shop around and select the DJ of their choice. If the catering director at a hotel or resort is strongly recommending one particular DJ company while discouraging you from considering others or requires you to hire their recommended DJ, it's likely that the heavily recommended DJ company is paying a kickback or payment to that catering director for the referral.

Some DJ companies whose ads claim to be "hotel and resort recommended" have been known in the industry to engage in the practice of kickbacks. These high volume companies are always hiring new DJ's. Do you really want to entrust your wedding reception to someone a company hired from a "no experience, will train" classified ad they recently placed in a local paper?

We're Not Afraid to State Our Prices Up Front

DJ companies who make this claim usually have a "one price fits all" mentality and provide a very basic cookie-cutter service at a low rate. Your date, location and the extent of services you request all impact a DJ's preparation, equipment, travel and performance and should be reflected in the rate you are quoted. Events for 250 guests in a large resort ballroom require twice the equipment of events for 50 guests in a small meeting room. Expect the minimum from the "one price fits all" DJ's.

$100 Off Website Coupon and Free Gifts

These are incentives used by high volume companies to attract your attention and lead you to believe you are saving money. With or without the coupon or "free gift" which is usually worth just a dollar or two, you'll receive an attractive rate quote from a company that sends out dozens of DJ's on a given Saturday to perform basic DJ services. Some of the DJ's who work for these high volume companies have little experience and are paid only a fraction of what you are charged by the company. The quality of the DJ you get from a high volume company is often based on the luck of the draw.

Unlimited Hours

This claim implies you are getting something extra. The fact is most wedding receptions last about four or five hours. Usually, this offer is limited to afternoon weddings which must end at a certain time to allow for an evening event scheduled at the same venue. In most cases, this phrase means very little.

See a Video of our DJ's in Action

DJ promotional videos show receptions with colorful flashing lights and dancing people who look like they are having the time of their lives. There's usually a DJ in a shiny silver vest leading the Electric Slide with tacky blinking lights in the background. The video implies that if you hire their DJs, your party can also be wild and crazy too. The fact is these promotional videos are highly edited and often capture a few moments from several receptions and do not necessarily reflect what will happen at yours.

Get Two DJ's for the Price of One

Most receptions do not require two DJ's. In many cases, the second DJ some companies are promoting is simply a new DJ in training or a friend of the DJ (or spouse) who is there to help set up the equipment, take requests and line up the wedding party for the grand entrance. Some companies state that one of their DJ's plays the music while the other DJ serves as the MC. Do you really want a DJ with a microphone on your dance floor talking at your guests for the entire reception?

Unlimited Consultations

Planning the music for your ceremony and reception usually requires a personal meeting with your DJ and, perhaps, several follow-up emails or phone calls. Any DJ who suggests numerous consultations are needed for this purpose either lacks experience in coordinating a reception or has too much time on his hands.

Money Back Guarantee

This incentive is usually used by DJ's desperate for business. Professional wedding DJ's are confident of the high quality of service they provide. They have no reason to make this claim. Any DJ who makes this claim and then fails to deliver can simply return your payment and then take no responsibility for the poor service he delivered.

The $350 Wedding Show Special

Such low-ball pricing combined with the pressure of having to book today is often used by start-up DJ's at wedding shows looking for business. DJ's whose rates are extremely low often use amateur equipment, have poor music selection, little experience and may not even be in business by the time your wedding date arrives. If these so-called bottom feeders could deliver quality service, they would soon put everyone else out of business. Obviously, they haven't.

The $500 Wedding DJ

One step up from the $395 Wedding Show DJ is the $500 Wedding DJ. You'll find them online with a simple website or a classified ad that puts down other DJ's who have "outrageous" fees. Equipped with a laptop or iPod and the experience of just three or four weddings, they offer to DJ your wedding for a "simple" fee of $500. They usually offer no back-up equipment, no liability insurance, little or no experience in hosting a reception at a major venue, no identity among established wedding professionals and, most importantly, no concept of customer service.

Their testimonials, if they offer any, frequently state that they were hired on short notice. Why were they available on short notice? Because they don't have many bookings. They hope to earn some easy money while finishing school or supplementing their main job. Will they still be in business by the time your wedding day arrives? Who knows? Every established Phoenix wedding DJ has received that panic call from a bride whose $500 DJ backed out the week, or even the day, before her wedding.

100,000 Events and Millions of Satisfied Clients

Nationally franchised DJ companies with a local office will make this claim which worked for fast food chains selling cheap hamburgers but has nothing to do with the quality of the DJ they will be sending to your wedding.

Best Phoenix Wedding DJ

There are many excellent wedding DJ's in Phoenix. Some work for large companies while others work as independent operators. Unfortunately, certain local wedding publications will attempt to boost their circulation by featuring a "best of" issue for Phoenix wedding vendors based on a survey of their readers. The problem with such surveys is that those responding have attended only one or two weddings during the past year and have not had the opportunity to view dozens of excellent Phoenix wedding DJ's.

Not only is the survey misleading and meaningless, but it is interesting to note that the readers' choice for the so-called best Phoenix DJ company is, not so coincidently, the DJ company who advertises most heavily in that publication or invests a great amount of effort networking with its owners and publishers. It's also interesting to note that the only wedding publications who engage in these "best of Phoenix" articles are the lesser publications with the smaller circulations.

Copyright 2006-2008 DJ Billy James

This information is intended exclusively for clients of DJ Billy James and cannot be copied,
reproduced, linked to or utilized for any other purpose without written permission from Billy James.

DJ Billy James   602-992-0605   billy@billyjamesmusic.com

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