The Clever DJ
Meet the dynamic duo discussing everything DJ related. Diverse perspectives from a Novice and a Pro.
The Clever DJ
Mastering the DJ Business & Who Can Be Trusted To Work With? - Ep #37
What if you could turn your passion for music into a thriving DJ business? This episode of "Clever DJ" is your roadmap to doing just that. Join Ilia on a heartfelt journey as he transitions from a duo to a solo podcast, sharing the inspiring story of how the show started from passionate conversations during long drives to gigs. With a promise to keep content engaging and valuable, Ilya offers a fresh perspective on the challenges and triumphs of growing in the DJ industry.
Discover the pivotal moments that shaped Ilya's career, from his early fascination with instruments to overcoming technical struggles in DJing. Hear about his first nerve-wracking gig and the vital mentorship from Nino that helped him navigate unfamiliar musical territory. This episode is packed with practical advice on balancing multiple roles, the necessity of consistent practice, and how to face and conquer your fears in the DJ world.
Ilia dives deep into building a successful DJ business, covering everything from legal considerations and budgeting tips to effective networking and marketing strategies. Learn how to stand out in a competitive market, negotiate fair prices, and secure gigs with confidence. With insights on managing professional relationships, understanding contracts, and leveraging word-of-mouth referrals, this episode is a treasure trove of knowledge for DJs at any stage of their career. Join Ilya and take your DJ business to new heights!
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Welcome back, welcome back to another episode of the Clever DJ. Before we begin today, allow me to introduce myself and tell you what this podcast is all about and inform you of some news, because if you're tuning in on YouTube you can tell it looks rather different today. Now, since the beginning of this podcast, it's always been a banter podcast between two DJs. I, ilya, was considered the beginner and my co-host, nino, who's been doing this a while longer, was the pro. We would carry fun conversations and share stories which all tied into DJing in one way or another. Additionally, every episode we would introduce a new topic which we found would be interesting to DJs, whether they were experienced or just starting out, and we just discussed it together and just had fun with it. Now, due to personal reasons, nino had to step away from the podcast, at least for the time being. We each really enjoyed doing this, so it is definitely in the plans to continue as we were, but going forward it will be a solo project, a solo podcast, and it will be just me, unless something changes, unless something else comes up. But, uh, I'll try to keep it as consistent as possible.
Speaker 1:Uh, now, we started this podcast as a passion project. Uh, really, it was a very random thought. We were Nino is the one who really taught me how to DJ and took me to gigs with him, and if you listen to the or watch the first episodes, you'll see how it really started. But on one of the drives to one of the gigs and it was a faraway gig we just we had a really interesting discussion about DJing and you know certain things that I brought up. Uh, nino did not see the same way and he said you know what? I didn't see it like that and and and it was interesting to him, even though he's been doing this for 20 years plus and we were just discussing it from the point of point of view of a beginner and a pro, and it was just, we really dissected a couple topics and it was just really cool to see how, uh, like how I brought in pretty much a different point of view which interested him and uh, he could tell that you know, maybe when he's teaching his um crew, maybe there's a beginner DJ he's bringing on to his team, maybe this would be a better way to explain something to them. So we said, you know what I told him, let's start a podcast, let's start a podcast and just help people, help beginner DJs and a lot of the stuff we were saying was also really funny, so the more experienced ones will just have a good laugh. So that's really what it was just a passion project and we wanted a lot of people to tune in and listen, but we weren't really after any specific goal other than just having a good time and hopefully people would trinkle in and just listen and view our podcast.
Speaker 1:Now, we valued each person from the beginning. We had a handful of listeners and viewers and we really valued each person from the beginning. We had a handful of listeners and viewers and we we valued, really valued, each person who actually took the time to tune in wherever it was, especially if they went on YouTube and actually watched the whole thing, cause it was a lot of work to do some video and, yeah, it was just awesome to see that there are some people who are listening and viewing from the from the start, from the first month, and then it significantly grew at least it's significant to us with every week to the point where now, just over half a year later right, because we started January 1st of 2024 and we are now on October 9th yes, sorry, september 9th, september 9th, I jumped a month by accident, so just over half a year and we're already standing at 50 devoted monthly listeners, slash viewers. So if you put everyone together from all the platforms. So if you put everyone together from all the platforms, websites, youtube and I'm not sharing, I'm not considering TikTok and YouTube shorts just because there's hundreds per video there, but they are more random, right, it's really the ones who are coming in to listen to the episodes and view the episodes. And I can't tell you how grateful I am, because it's it's just an incredible feeling to create something and then have a complete stranger, or even a family member or a friend, sitting from the computer or drive somewhere and listen to the podcast or watch it, if, if it's safe to do so. So we had so many fun things planned, so many fun things to do and, uh, other than just, you know, sitting here, um, in my apartment and recording the episodes, uh, you know we were going to go outdoors, we're going to do contests and competitions like um prizes, all the all kinds of stuff. So there were many fun things planned and I promise to continue keeping it fun and interesting and, even though it's a solo project. Now, at least for the time being, nothing changes. It's still going to be what it was, other than the banter, because I'm going to be here by myself Now. For now, we will remain a weekly podcast, so there's going to be a new episode, available every week on Monday at 12 pm on all the platforms except YouTube and TikTok. Youtube and TikTok will be 9.30 am, so 12 pm. Everywhere else, 9.30 am, youtube and TikTok, and that's Eastern time because we are in or I'm saying we, I am in Toronto, Canada. So exclusively on YouTube and TikTok it's going to be almost three hours earlier, but everywhere else 12 PM. So that's just how it always was and I'm going to try and keep it like that. Now a little bit about myself just a bit before we jump into the topic here and keep it like that. Now a little bit about myself just a bit before we jump into the topic here.
Speaker 1:I was always into music. I always enjoyed singing, since a very young age playing the piano. Then I got into guitar. I tried the saxophone, the violin. I, just, I always loved music. I was always fascinated by it. I did some theory, I did the saxophone, the violin. I, I, just, I always loved music. I was always fascinated by it. I did some theory, I did, I picked up some things on my own, um, I started teaching, um I'm I'm already at a level where where I'm uh, teaching um absolute beginner DJs. So, yeah, it's funny, uh, we, we, we planned this podcast to to planned this podcast to kind of show the contrast between an absolute beginner and a pro. But you know, it's been a couple of years already and I guess I'm not that much a beginner anymore. But, yes, comparing to somebody who's been doing this for 20 years, definitely a beginner still. But yeah, so how did it start?
Speaker 1:I was a bartender for about a year, year and a half. I was working. Yeah, a year and a half I was working. Yeah, about a year and a half. I was working as a bartender, uh, mostly in um wedding, like venues, uh big wedding, uh big halls. But, um, you know, I also did, uh, I also did some, uh some chains and uh some private events. But during the wedding bartending gigs I loved it.
Speaker 1:I still bartend, I still enjoy it from time to time, but I would always look at the DJs and I was thinking I could do this. I mean, I love music. I'm a pretty technical guy. I can learn this. I have the money to start, like to buy the gear, and actually I already had my ddj sb2 by pioneer, which is right over there. But, um, I went and got myself a ddj sr2 because I was like, let's upgrade um. So I spoke to a couple djs who were right.
Speaker 1:Whenever I found the time to kind of chat with them and, um, uh, I w, I w. I would say something like hey, um, I love music, I, I want to get into DJing. It's a bit complicated for me cause I'm just not getting it yet. I don't understand how to like I don't understand what I'm doing. It's just it's getting away from me. It's so fast, right, Cause you gotta start and and and and do it. Like you gotta plan and execute right away because the track keeps going right, like you don't have time to to think too much. Depending on the, on the genre, but especially open format, you have like a few seconds to to to transition.
Speaker 1:So I wasn't getting it and I was watching some, some tutorials and it was hard. I needed somebody to show me in person, um, and and the schools were really expensive, right. So I was and I was thinking maybe they're just money grab, like just a money grab, uh, and it's, there's no way it should cost as much money, right? So one of the guys I spoke to was Nino. Um, it was yeah, it was towards the last half a year or maybe even, yeah, last four to six months of me bartending Um, so what happened was he was DJing and I would always kind of compare between the DJs and I would say, if it sounds good to me, if I would hire this guy, I'll go and ask to you know, ask that that DJ to let me shadow them.
Speaker 1:Um, and actually there were. There was only one female DJ. So I'm saying guy, cause it was mostly DJ, male DJs. Funny thing, I actually ended up working with that female DJ two years later, recently. So small world.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I approached Nino and I told him listen, I, I approached a few DJs but I really like the way you're DJing and I would love it if you could teach me. And I told him I'm a beginner, like I'm a hobbyist producer. That's how I called it, you know, I didn't want him to think that I'm telling him oh, I'm a pro producer. You know, I'm going to create this and this for you. I told him the truth, I dabble in it, I enjoy it, I compose here and there. So I'm sure you could use that skill, I'm sure I could bring something to the table. And he didn't really have much time to talk, but he said you know what? Give me your phone number and we'll discuss it. So that wasn't enough for me. I wanted to make sure he remembers me Right.
Speaker 1:So I, I would, um, I was a bartender, so I would keep on bringing him drinks. Well, I, I would ask him what he wants to drink and then he would say that, um, he, he doesn't drink. Uh, he does, but he didn't that night, um, and normally he doesn't drink on the during a gig, which is something really nobody should do. Um, some of you guys somehow manage to still stay focused. I, I don't. I don't drink. When I, uh, when I dj, I may have a small drink, one drink, but that's it, um, so I just brought him cokes, the whole, the whole, uh, the whole event. I brought him like close to 10, 10 Cokes and you could see it already piling up there, um, you know, like a bit in each cup, um and uh, every time I would come in.
Speaker 1:I would like, I would, I would talk to him about something. Anyway, I love, I made an impression, um, kind of hit it off right away, and but then there was nothing right. He, he never called or messaged. And then a few months later he calls me and tells me hey, I would. I don't know if you remember, but my name is so-and-so DJ, so-and-so Uh, I, um, I'm one. I I wonder, are you still interested in DJing? Because you spoke to me back then. I stopped him at his tracks. I said yes, I am. Thank you for calling me back. Uh, so that's really how it started. Now, if you want the full story and whatever, uh, the very first episode actually has that, but we spoke about it a few times.
Speaker 1:Um, now, ever since then, I, I was stubborn, I, I thought, you know, I'm going to learn it a certain way. I'm going to, I'm going to do it much quicker than the, the regular person. It's gonna. You know, I'm going to be ready to to DJ weddings, like in two or three months. Now it's possible if you, you know, at least have somewhat of what it takes. You know, you're not lacking any major skills when it comes to DJing. You're kind of like an average, you know, potential DJ. You could do it in two to three months if you really put in the work six to eight hours a day, research practice, you know.
Speaker 1:But you know I had a full-time job, I was bartending, I had some other things on the side, so that was not happening. But I, I started learning and uh got into, uh, got into, uh, got into, you know, just DJing at home. And then Nino pushed me to do gigs, um, actual gigs. He said you know what, like, you'll never be ready until you actually go and do a gig by yourself. Now I was terrified of it because not only did I feel not ready, cause I really wasn't, um, and later he agreed with me but he said you know what, it would have still been a great experience for you, and I agree, but I'm happy I waited a bit longer, um, but I could have. I could have waited less, considering. You know how I felt. When I finally actually went and did it, I was like, wow, I was ready. Like at least six months ago Uh, maybe not a year before that, but at least six months prior to that gig I was already good to go.
Speaker 1:Now I really care about the client, their event. So whether it's a wedding, a birthday, it doesn't matter what it is. I'm really particular when it comes to hiring someone and I want them to do a fantastic job. I'll pay them, I'll tip them, I'll you know, I'll treat them right, everything, but they need to do what I paid them to do. So that's also how I saw myself. I was like there's no way I would take a gig and not be ready for it. I'm not going to ruin someone's event, right, and plus, it's you know who knows how they'll react. I don't want to deal with it, right. So every beginner has that or most beginners have that fear, right, and that's not just in DJing. But we are discussing DJing today.
Speaker 1:Um, now, my very first gig that I got by myself was a corporate event and I told Nino that there is no way I'm doing this by myself because, um, they said the kind of music that we're looking for, and back then I was listening to it. Like I w, I was barely listening to that type of music and, um, maybe here and there, but like it was hip hop, it was R and B and I w, I wouldn't listen to that too much. I would mostly listen to electronic dance music, some top 40s right, which of course had some hip-hop and R&B, but just a mix of everything. But mostly I would listen to like I play guitar, so I would listen to like Ed Sheeran, or I would like play some Sam Smith on the piano. You know wasn't really into hip hop and R&B, especially not hip hop and I was like you gotta come and help me. There's no way I'm doing that gig by myself because I'm gonna crash and burn Now. He agreed that he'll come but I'll have to do most of the work, so it ended up being me doing like 40, 50% and then he did the rest. Uh, I remember splitting that gig with him because I was really grateful that he actually came and did this with me, right?
Speaker 1:Um, and that was my very first gig and I I feel like I really did need his help. I was, I was not ready yet but, um, I was getting there. I was getting there and it was just. What was missing was just a bit of practice, a bit of consistent practice, like a month or two of like consistent practice. And I would be fine for the next gig by myself Maybe not a wedding, maybe not something too intricate, but something simple, definitely. So what happened was I got, oh, I took a break. Yeah, that's what happened. I took a break from taking gigs. I just it scared me that first gig. I was like, wow, if he wasn't there I don't know what I would do, right? So, but then I was a part of this community. I started this EDM community of beginner DJs, we all cause.
Speaker 1:I went to school, right, I went to like, I did a course of, like a three month course, and I thought you know what this course is going to be great for me? It's going to show Nino, who back then we weren't that close, like such close friends back then. So I was still trying to prove myself. I didn't want him to drop me as as like apprentice, right. So I want to show him. Hey, I'm doing things on the side, I'm, I'm trying, I'm learning, I'm gonna get this and, um, I decided to, uh, you know, take that course. It wasn't cheap, but there was, there was, there was a sale, so I decided to go for it. I knew I'm gonna meet some people, you know, and and that's really the name of the game in this industry you, you got to really network, which we'll get to, uh, in this episode. Now, um, I know I said it's going to be a little bit about myself, but this actually ties in a lot into everything. So I'll continue if I may, if you're still listening and watching. Um, if you're still listening and watching.
Speaker 1:Once we were done that gig sorry that course or towards the end of it, yeah, we decided let's start a community. So I would still perform with a bunch of beginners. A few of them, a few people who joined were like friends of friends and they were either like intermediate level DJs or even pro djs who have, like you know, a team and like weddings and all that stuff. But most of the people there were beginners and it was nice. So I felt way more comfortable there, uh, and we kind of grew together. So between that first gig and my next gig, which I did by myself, there were all. There was this experience I had with those people I studied with for those three months.
Speaker 1:Now, the next gig, nino actually came again. It was, but he didn't do anything other than help me set up on time because I was rather nervous. It was a sweet 16 and it was at a large banquet hall. It. Honestly, with all the details that the client threw at me and the venue and how many guests were there, this could have pretty much been a wedding. That was my first gig really that I did by myself other than, you know, came there for moral support. That's what he wanted to do at the first gig, like at the very first one, the corporate one, but I wasn't ready yet. I did some, I did a lot of stuff by myself, but he needed to jump in and kind of like liven things up. I was like in the screen. I was hardly watching the crowd, like the people dancing, like maybe 50-50, but still looking at the screen half the time. That's a long time to look at the screen.
Speaker 1:But then the second gig, which was my first gig that I did pretty much by myself, completely. He'd never touched the deck and I did it all by myself. Um, it was incredible. It was incredible and and I really saw that, hey, I can do this, I'm ready. I was ready Like I've I've been wasting time. So a lot of beginner DJs will relate to this story. A lot, a lot, and I spoke to a lot of DJs and, whether they're beginners or pro at this time, everyone's been through this, or 95% of people have been through this, and this is true to any industry really.
Speaker 1:But yeah, going forward, I started getting gigs, one after another. It was incredible. I'm pretty sure that one was my first gig on my own. And then there was another one which was like a birthday 30th birthday and I retained that client actually for more gigs. And then there was a school Halloween. That was actually Nino's client, who he passed on to me. There were a couple other gigs and then I had a corporate Christmas party in December of last year. So I was like you know what? There we go, my business has started, I'm getting clients, I'm getting phone calls, I'm getting messages online and you know I actually have a business that's starting up. And then we started the podcast and it slowed down a little bit, but then it picked back up once. I started promoting myself again, which is again something we're going to talk about today.
Speaker 1:Why am I telling you all of this? First of all, I wanted to tell you a bit of a story about myself, if you've never been here before. Second, because this is a quite a special episode where you know I'm taking over this podcast completely by myself and I wanted you to kind of get a little refresher about who I am and what this is all about. And third, because this episode and I really tried to come of get a little refresher about who I am and what this is all about. And third, because this episode and I really tried to come up with a good title and right now all I have is how to build a successful DJ business as a beginner, aka also known as how to not devalue yourself and work with the right people, whether it's clients or a team people you work with. Work with the right people, whether it's clients or or a team people you work with.
Speaker 1:Um, this is important because, even though we spoke about in the past, when we were here together, we spoke about this topic, this exact topic. It can be dissected in so many ways and there's always something new to say about it. And with my recent experiences working with some like high caliber djs and you know from, like you know, professional to like extremely high caliber djs in the area I learned quite a bit. I learned a lot about my value, about how to value yourself and how to remain true to yourself, and also how to, of course, uh respect the relationships, uh, that you develop along the way.
Speaker 1:Now I I would love to go into detail with every point that I'm going to bring up. There's 15 points, and then there's some something that I want to say towards the end, which is, I believe, very important for everyone to listen to. If you're a beginner, and I think if you're a pro, you already know this. But that's going to come towards the end. Now here's the thing If I go into each point in detail, it's going to take like three to four to five hours, and we're already at 24 minutes. So if there's something you want to know, if there's something that maybe I did not cover enough in depth, then just message, message on, you know, if you're on YouTube and you're watching this episode, message right there and be and tell me hey, can you, can you go into more detail when it comes to this topic? Or, you know, email us. Our email is on just below the video and also it's on our website, so you can always contact us and I'll help as much as I can.
Speaker 1:Now let's start with the first point starting your business, your DJ business, from scratch. So I want to break down the essential steps to start a DJ business and really it's like a lot of other businesses. It will be the same like other businesses, but particularly when it comes to DJing, legalities are very important, because you're dealing with the public and you're dealing with music, which is often copyright music, and you're dealing with venues, and it's just if you don't do things correctly in this industry and you start growing, that whole business can collapse on you, even if you're a beginner and you started and it just goes so well from the start. It's been six months and and you're you're just extremely happy with how things are going, but you're cutting corners. It's not a good idea in this, in this industry, it's definitely not a good idea. So, when it comes to starting your dj business, make sure that I know it sounds silly to to do this right from the beginning. Make sure that I know it sounds silly to do this right from the beginning, but make sure you're licensed. Make sure that you have contracts, make sure that, um, you are protecting yourself when you work with other people. Now I'll get into into it in more detail.
Speaker 1:Um, let's let's get into the second point budgeting, uh, for your first year as a DJ. That's something that I myself experienced, um, in so many different ways. At first I thought, hey, I'm going to save, I'm not going to spend too much money. But then I started gigging and I was like, hey, but if I, if I get these lights, it's going to look better. Or if I do this, it's going to. I'm going to look so much more professional. And I would look at gear to make me more professional, which is, again, a very beginner mistake. Nobody really cares what deck you have, or if you have CDJs, if you don't know how to use them, so you might impress someone and then it'll all come crashing down because they'll be like oh, I guess he just has a lot of money, but he, or maybe he had a lot of money, he doesn't have it anymore. Um, but he doesn't know how to DJ. So that's why it's important to. So that's why it's important to focus on the actual skill.
Speaker 1:Get yourself, especially in the beginning, if you're not planning to DJ in front of people and you're just trying to learn it get yourself a basic controller. The FLX4 is probably one of the best controllers out there right now, but anything around that class, that's not a toy. Honestly, even those tiny ones I forget what they're called those mini controllers. You can do some incredible stuff with them, but for many reasons, you know, kind of get that control, the FLX4 or anything that's within that range. It's 400 Canadian dollars or I think, like two something, 300 US.
Speaker 1:You need a pair of headphones, a decent laptop, because if the laptop crashes and that's it, the event is done. So a decent laptop, something that is not too old, and preferably it's just for DJing, but again, you know, is not too old and and preferably it's just for DJing. But again, if you're just doing it from home just to learn that, whatever you have, uh, a couple of cables that you might need to connect to the speakers that you probably already have at home, and you're, like I said, you already have the, the entry-level DJ uh controller. You already have the entry-level DJ controller. Now, other than that, you don't need anything else. Did I skip something? I said headphones, controller, speakers, a few cables. Well, obviously you need music. Now, in the beginning, a lot of people will download stuff. They'll find a way to download it and not pay for it and I'll be realistic, I'm not going to condone this here on the podcast, say, yeah, go ahead and pirate music, but if you're just doing this to learn, and Nino and I said that before you're just doing this to learn, you're just doing this to see if you like it and you know and how you know you're trying to understand the concept of djing, then I guess it's okay. Again, I'm not gonna kind of get into the rules and laws. I mean really legally it's not okay, but, um, I know all of you will be doing this. That's why I'm saying this. So really, that's what I to say.
Speaker 1:I was buying my music from day one, because I don't remember for how many years, even since, before I became an adult, I was already buying my games and my software and everything. So when it came to music, it was no different to me. I was like you know what I want? To become a DJ, let me purchase my music. It was no different to me. I was like you know what I want to get become a DJ, let me purchase my music. So I would uh, go on um. I would go on um the right channel, so DJ record pools and just really anywhere where you'd pay for the music and you get good quality tracks, remixes and acapellas. And I was like you know what Better this way no viruses and I know what I'm getting and it's all high quality. So, honestly, if you have $30 a month, $60 a month, you can subscribe to one or two of those DJ record pools. That's what I would recommend. But really, that's all you need. That's all you need. That's all you need and, honestly, one month you get all the music you need and that's it. You don't have to get any more. Learn it, understand it, practice for a few months. You don't need to spend any money.
Speaker 1:Once you get your first gig, whatever you need for that gig, get it. If you need up lights, if you need look, if you need moving heads, you just start it out. Maybe don't buy them, maybe rent them, because they're we're talking like fifteen hundred dollars per per moving head, per light, and then you got to get the actual stands and it just, and also to set them up. You probably won't know what you're doing. So even pros sometimes get all kind of confused during the setup process and something is not working the way it was working at home. So now they have to reprogram it.
Speaker 1:So think logically and if it's something affordable and you know you need it for the gig, get it. Don't return it. Get it, keep it for the next gig, um, but yeah, within reason, right, if you need a projector, again, I'm sure you can rent that because you'll likely won't need one need one for every gig. But certain things like lights, you'll need a microphone you'll need. Right, I didn't say microphone at first because when you're home, if you want to practice, you know, talking on microphone you can just like act like you have a microphone, but you know that's a wired microphone. Then you can go wireless. You know it's a bit more expensive.
Speaker 1:So just budget, don't spend a lot of money because, first of all, you don't know if you're going to actually stick to it and, second, even if you're going to stick to it, trust me, you're going to stick to it. Trust me, you're probably not going to listen. Half of you are probably not going to listen. But trust me, I've done the same thing. I spent money I wasn't supposed to spend and stuff was just sitting there collecting dust or I was just using it for like, like, house parties and stuff, like really I was not making my money back on the stuff that I purchased until I started gigging and using those, uh, that gear. Right, luckily I didn't go too. I didn't go too crazy, so I ended up using everything I got.
Speaker 1:Um, like, I'll give you an example right now I'm I'm upgrading my lights. It's been a year or so that I've been gigging consistently and it's time to upgrade my lights, that I've been gigging consistently and it's time to upgrade my lights. I need better lights. Now. Lights are expensive, so I was waiting until I really had no choice. Right, I wouldn't get to the point where somebody complained, but I knew the gigs I'm taking and if I needed to rent something, I would, and at this point I need to purchase a certain type of lights. So I'm going to do that, and that is budgeting. And it's not just that, it's.
Speaker 1:Think about a lot of stuff. Think about your car You're going to be driving a lot. Think about pricing your services, handling unexpected costs like travel and repairs All that stuff. You need to really become your own accountant. A DJ is more than just somebody who plays music. You're a digital marketer, you're an accountant, you're a coordinator, you do everything. So one of the things you got to do is become your own accountant. And if you're not good with money, make sure somebody who is good with money is going to help you out, help you, help you grasp that concept.
Speaker 1:Um, now going forward, number three we're moving through these pretty slowly. It might be an hour episode or longer, who knows but it's definitely not going to be uh, no, four or five, six hours of me going into every point in extreme detail. Like, for example, I would love to talk to you more about marketing and get into extreme detail. But we'll talk about it a bit more, but definitely not in detail on this episode. But if you'd like to hear more about marketing, I can teach you quite a bit. I have some experience. I've worked with some incredible digital marketers, so I learned enough about this to be able to do it myself. But I still hire people.
Speaker 1:Because one thing I learned is if you can do something yourself, it doesn't mean you have. You should focus on your niche, focus on your business. Don, and you know, try to save money everywhere and um and think, oh, I saved money, so this was a good decision. Sometimes it's not about that. Sometimes you're losing money when you do that. But again, if you don't think so, keep going and see what happens. I'm telling you, I know that from experience.
Speaker 1:So, number three branding 101 for DJs. You need to create a strong, recognizable brand. Choose again this is not the most important part. A lot of people just get stuck in this for like a year or two years before they start, and that's obviously ridiculous. But choose a proper DJ name. I went with my personal first name. It's not extremely common in North America. I mean, yeah, you hear it from time to time, but to me it sounds regular. But others are like oh, DJ Ilya, oh, that sounds, that sounds cool, that's unique. Oh, I love your name and I always liked my name and what it stood for, what I represented, and I said you know what that's going to be my DJ name. If one day I come up with like an alias, cool, I'll do that. I'll do it as a, as a project, and I'll continue. So, come up with a name. Create a logo, something that will represent you, because going, because the next thing I'm going to say is create an online presence. So, wherever you are online whether it's your website, your Instagram, your YouTube, like anywhere you are put that logo there, something that will be like. People will see it and be like oh, it's this guy or it's this girl, right? So definitely do that.
Speaker 1:Now. You need to find a way to make your personal brand stand out in this extremely competitive market. Now, how is it going to stand out? I, for example, I sing. I'm not this like extremely professional singer, but I'm definitely better than the average person who just sings in the shower, excuse me. And um, I play the guitar, I play the piano, um, I can dance, you know, and just entertain the crowd. So what, what do you see here? What do you hear here? What do you hear here? I entertain and I have experience with instruments, musical instruments, so I would introduce that to my DJing, for example. So right now I'm working on that, and that also goes towards expanding your business. So we're going to get to that point. I don't need to do that right now.
Speaker 1:My business is going well as it is, but if there's an opportunity for example, there was one with one gig where they said hey, do you know somebody who could sing the song when we walked down the aisle? Or, uh, when the birthday cake, uh, will be wheeled in, can you can do? You know somebody who could sing? This isn't that? So that's when it was an opportunity and you know, I offered my services. So I'm not pushing it yet, but it's something that is already there. I'm already using it and I'm making it different. I mean, there's somebody who plays the saxophone, a dj who plays a saxophone, somebody who plays, uh, the harmonica, somebody, somebody who plays the harmonica, somebody who who plays the. There's just, there's just so many different. There's the electric electric violin. I believe it's, yeah, electric violin.
Speaker 1:That is a show on its own and and they incorporate it together. And there there's the, the pads. You know, the DJs who use those, those, those, those drum pads, those drum pads. And, aside from using your skills like that, there is a different way of being there during the show. And for me, I'm very extroverted and I like to, if it's appropriate, get on the dance floor and really liven up the party and really get there and really, just, you know, entertain everyone. Again, some places it's not really, in some venues, some, some cultures, some some events, it's not appropriate at all. Or, you know, it might be okay with some, but not with everyone. Only do it if you're absolutely sure.
Speaker 1:But you got to really stand out, you got to be so different that people will say, oh, you know what You're looking for, that kind of an act. You got to contact this guy. He did my birthday, or like our wedding, and it was so different, he was so entertaining. Or like he plays the guitar phenomenally, like he has phenomenal guitar skills. You got to do something that's different. Or, if you don't do any of those things, you got to do something that's different. Or if you don't do any of those things, maybe you mix a certain way. You just have to stand out. Now there is also other things you can do to stand out. You can spend more money on marketing. You can spend more money on, you know, an online presence In one way or another. You have to and not just assume that you're going to get discovered by someone because there's another 10,000 like you in the small area where you live or trying to make it as DJs in one way or another. So definitely build a strong brand.
Speaker 1:Number four how to market yourself as a beginner dj. So we kind of, kind of just I kind of just went over that. But first of all, build a. Build a website. It's not that hard, it's. It's. It's nowadays, a child can build their own website. Build a website just for presence.
Speaker 1:I can't tell you how many times people said, hey, can we see something that you can. We see you, dj. Or like, hey, did you ever do something like this before? So I have all of my stuff categorized. So it's like almost like a catalog where you can find all my stuff on this website. It's down now I'm revamping it but, um, I can still send them the videos because I have them right, um, but it's extremely important. Now you'll say, oh well, I have my instagram. It's fine if you have your instagram, great, but your website, you are in full control of this. This is your platform. So I would still say, get a website and social media, instagram, tiktok. There are courses. If you don't know how to use it, get a course 25 bucks, 50 bucks, 100 bucks, 500 bucks. It's worth it. Go on Reddit, find out if it's a scam or a decent course. It's not that hard.
Speaker 1:Be resourceful, right and tough love. You know I'm telling you what you have to do. Network Networking is extremely important, just like how I networked with Nino and other DJs and I made friends and made myself a mentor and, hey, I helped him a lot too. He was very grateful for all the stuff I did for him. Like again, I'm not trying to brag, but like the way I took videos and photos for him. It really elevated his social media.
Speaker 1:I was pretty much the human gimbal, the way I would take the videos. You would think it's done with a gimbal or a drone and it just I have a feel for it. One more thing I could suggest to people during the event. I actually do that because I don't have a ton of clients yet like 15, 30 gigs per week, I could still do that.
Speaker 1:I literally take videos and photos during the event. I spend more money on, you know, like a nice camera, you can get a 360, whatever, whatever makes more sense for you. You edit the footage and then you can literally sell it to the customer, to the client. Now, I don't sell it, I give it as a bonus. Like, hey, I know you didn't have a videographer, you only had a photographer. Here's a video from your wedding, right, or from your birthday or whatever event I've been to. I took a few photos right.
Speaker 1:Well, after I transitioned the song, I went on the on the dance floor and I took a few photos and, hey, I grabbed this really awesome shot of you and your girlfriend, or you and your family, and I would share it with them. So I did that for Nino and, amongst other things and that's also really important to be able to actually capture the moment so you could actually show it online after and win over a certain gig. You know, when the client is trying to decide between you and another DJ, you can say hey, you know what. You should pick me because, check this out. So and got to network with event organizers, with coordinators All these people are your bread and butter. They will get you the gigs.
Speaker 1:Now you got to know how to network and it's not something I could teach you right now, or maybe ever really how to network, because you got to have some charisma. You got to know how to kind of butter someone up but not kiss ass at the same time. You got to kind of know the happy what do you call it? The happy medium, and the best thing you can do is to take it easy. That's like, don't think about it. As you know, you're going out there to network and to be an entrepreneur. Just go and chat. Oh're, you're the coordinator. Oh yeah, I've been djing for six months now. Oh, I'm. You know, I'm shadowing this, uh, this dj. Um, just strike up a conversation. Learned to talk to people that you don't know, who you don't know, and slowly you understand what it's like to network.
Speaker 1:Networking is just you making friends, like you're going to the sandbox as a kid and, hey, you want to be my friend, you know. Like, hey, I have this truck, let's play with my truck together. It's just going back to being a kid and just not feeling afraid to talk to people, right? Well, some kids might be shy, but you know what I'm saying and you know. Create a press kit to show your skills, show something that is unique about yourself. And there are so many templates and cool things you can find online nowadays that would cost you hundreds and thousands of dollars thousands of dollars to create that kind of edit, and you can do that yourself nowadays. So you put all that stuff online. You pay 50 to a hundred bucks a month for some ads. Whatever it is you're doing, whatever your venue is, whatever your niche is, and it's going to work out. It's going to work. People are going to start noticing you.
Speaker 1:Now, number five setting your DJ rates. That's really important. Pricing your services that's something that up until my second gig or third gig, I did not understand very well, or I didn't understand at all. Like you know what, I'm just gonna do it for free or I'm just gonna do it for whatever price they say. I just want to get experience. Now it's the right approach technically.
Speaker 1:But if you can, if you can really really um, stand behind your skill and you know, hey, you know what, I'm good at this. I know I'm worth this much money for this gig. I know a pro charges 1500 bucks for this gig and I can easily charge a thousand dollars. You know what. Let's take 900. You know let's. Let's, let's make it easier, easier on me to actually get this gig. So, 900 bucks, I'm sure I can do this. Hey, will you do it for 500? No, I won. You do it for 500? No, I won't do it for 500. Now you can maybe find, like, luckily, I'm good at sales, so I've always find a way to kind of dance around that dance around with a client. You know what. You want to dance with me? Let's go. You want to do it for? Why do you think I should do it for 500?
Speaker 1:And we actually have an episode about that. Nino and I did a skit. I don't know what episode number it is, but it's there. I think it was about not devaluing yourself. I think that was like literally how the episode started. So it's easy to find and people would generally say I want to pay this much.
Speaker 1:Now a lot of them will just say, okay, well, whatever, i'm'm gonna keep on looking. But if you educate them in kind of a fun and respectful manner and you gotta be quick there's no they, they're gonna, you're gonna lose them within like a minute or less, probably probably 15 to 30 seconds. So if you are going to, if you're going to speak to someone who was devaluing you by like 50% or so or like, like, really like is asking you for something you just can't do, look, if they said 800 bucks and you want 900, you kind of went to 900, down from one, like up from 1000 to 900. Now they want 800. Look, if, if, if you barely have any clients go for it, right, like, that's, that's how I look at it. But if they're going lower than that and lower and you and you're thinking you know what, like this is not worth it to me, um, then do your best to actually uh, try to get a better, a better deal out of it. Now you might lose that client. I'm not gonna lie, you might lose. There's a good chance you're going to lose them if you don't know what you're doing. But if you don't know what you're doing and you don't know how to haggle with someone, then you'll never know if you never try. You got to develop that skill. So if it's a ridiculous offer, take that opportunity. Take that opportunity and use that as your school of life. Let's learn how to how to haggle um, and there are so many things you gotta actually factor into the price.
Speaker 1:I used to think, oh, this gig is four, four hours long, 350 bucks, 400 bucks, let's say 400 bucks, 100 bucks an hour, that's amazing, let's do it. 100 bucks an hour, I can do this. This is a really good, really good gig for me. It's a really good deal for me. Now, if I were ready out the box, just ready, I don't have to um to plan, I don't have to practice, I don't have to prepare anything. Everything's already in the car. The car is teleported into the venue, like beside the venue, into the parking lot. Fine, 400 bucks sounds pretty good. 100 bucks an hour, I'm not gonna lie, it sounds pretty good to me. I'm gonna go play some music. Fine, let's do it, um, especially if it's not like a wedding or something like that where you can really like, uh, charge more, but it's not the case.
Speaker 1:You're going to have to practice. You're going to have to set up, especially as a beginner, set up literally a mock setup of your setup at the gig when you get to the actual performance, and you're going to have to make sure everything works. Because if you don't know how to set up quickly and if you set up and you're like, oh shoot, I don't have that one cable, well it's because you never checked at home, when you never tried to set it up at first. Right, you, you're not a pro, you haven't been doing this for for very long, so you probably need to. You probably need to practice even setting up. And you know what?
Speaker 1:At first it took me like two hours to set up properly two to two and a half hours, and I was like nitpicking everything and or maybe I would set up the speakers. I was like you know what? No, it's better there. And then I would like work on things that really I shouldn't be working on and I would just spend time on things I shouldn't be spending time on or do the same thing over and over again until it was perfect. And after two, three gigs, you know you kind of catch on, you understand how you should continue. It kind of becomes natural. If you care about it it'll become natural, it'll just come to you because you don't want to be there for two, three hours setting up.
Speaker 1:It doesn't take more than half an hour to an hour to set up and an hour usually is a very big setup, like you have an SUV full of gear and if it's just you know, a minor setup speakers, um, you know your gear, your basic gear, your deck, your like your controller, um, headphones, uh, microphone no, you gotta. You gotta maybe tape some of the cables and stuff like that Shouldn't take you more than half an hour, 45 minutes at most. So, but that's what I'm saying. Like people don't think about that. They're thinking, oh, it's a four hour gig for 400 bucks, a hundred bucks an hour.
Speaker 1:Um, how about all the work you put into marketing yourself? How about all the money you put into marketing yourself? How about all the time you spoke to the clients on the phone? Or you know you did a lot of research, a lot of work, all that side work that you're doing. Think about it. Whatever job you have, this is going to be a good analogy for most professions, most careers and stuff. There's a lot of busy work and stuff. You do a work besides the main task in order to make the main task happen. Right? You're still getting paid for it, right? You get paid for your time. So value your time. So value your time.
Speaker 1:Price your services in a way that it's fair to you, not just the client. Again, be realistic. If you're just starting out we already spoke about it a few months ago you can easily figure out if it makes sense or not. I won't be able to nitpick on the price. You should. You should, uh, accept. So I'm going to leave it at that. Just have it make sense with what I said. And uh, there's so much more. You can uh research online in regards to this.
Speaker 1:Now, number six. Number six securing your first DJ gig. Um, there are so many strategies you can that can help you land your first gig. You got to build relationships with venues, event organizers, promoters, as well as leverage small opportunities to get bigger bookings, and it's something that I discussed a couple points ago and I think we can move on. But all I'll say is if you're not getting at least one gig a month, or at least one gig every two months, you're doing something wrong. You either did not practice enough so you don't really know what you're doing, you're not putting yourself out there enough, you're you know, maybe you need to work on your um, like your soft skills, like your your just like the way you communicate um, maybe your appearance maybe. Maybe you need to look more professional, maybe you need to look more the part. It could be so many different things, but there are so many people in most cities who would need a DJ at some point of time. There's weddings happening, there's birthday parties, there's impromptu house parties, there's events like Halloween or Christmas, there's so many different corporate events and, yeah, sure, there's also so many DJs out there. I get it. But if you stand out from your competition at least by a bit, now 50% of them don't even matter, because now you're definitely going to be the first pick.
Speaker 1:And let me tell you something as simple as posting an ad online works for me 80% of the time. A few times, for like a month and a half, I got nothing, or two months, I think I got nothing. I would post and post and post and nothing, and then suddenly one after another. You know, because people saw it, maybe they were planning and they never contacted me first, right, that's why it was quiet during that month, even though it wasn't supposed to be a quiet month. Point is, it's an average. So during that year I still got my average of gigs that I get every year. I still got at least two to three gigs a month, even though for two months it was pretty much there was nothing going on. Now that's what I'm going to say about securing, securing dj gigs.
Speaker 1:Um number seven creating and managing dj contracts. That's something I'm going to get into a bit of detail. I feel like it's extremely important. Um, talk about talking about contracts. Um, could stress some people out. They'll think, well, I don't have money for a lawyer, or like, I don't understand this jargon. You know this legal jargon. It's not that hard. Staples has some ready-made contracts online. You can buy a contract. You know you won't make it official, purchase it, purchase that contract. A lot of them are very cheap under 50 bucks, under 100 bucks, depending what it is you're getting. Um, get a contract that's already written online and for free and and worded however you like right, whatever makes sense for you.
Speaker 1:Um, I had contracts from previous things I was doing, when I was building websites and when I was doing like bartending gigs and I would take that and change it up. Also, you know, from my experience with working with some more reputable DJs, I learned what to say. I looked at their contracts. I learned how to protect myself and the client everyone really in that contract, but mostly myself, because it's my contract for me to make sure that I cover my ass. So, um, I will show you, I will tell you, uh, some stuff that I have in my contract. So it's not that. It's not that difficult If you're a beginner and you don't know what to have in my contract. So it's not that difficult If you're a beginner and you don't know what to put in your contract.
Speaker 1:Well, here goes You're going to write down contract or agreement or booking agreement at the top, and then you're going to write down kind of like an intro like that this is an agreement made on a certain date between this person and this person and yourself. You can refer to yourself as the dj and then you can uh continue referring to yourself as a dj and the and as the contract as the text continues and you'll see what I'm talking about. When you see certain contracts, they, a lot of them, have the same kind of template, especially the simpler ones. You don't need anything too intricate and you know. After that intro paragraph you can go into writing pretty much the point form of the details of the event. So the venue, location, the occasion, the approximate number of guests, the date of appearance, the time you arrive, guests, the date of appearance, the time you arrive by the time you're going to be set up by and the fee you're going to be charging. Then you're going to write down the equipment that you're bringing, if there's any additional equipment that you're getting specifically for that event, and write down anything about the time of performance. If they want to extend the time, then write down that it's going to potentially, uh, be at a cost, uh, and it's subject to the DJ at a DJ's decision, uh, at a time. Um. Now write down if there was an advanced payment you received and it's very important Always take a payment, take a deposit.
Speaker 1:A lot of people say take 50%. Well, if you're a beginner, probably nobody's going to give you 50%. Take something that you know they're not going to walk away from 150 bucks, 200 bucks. Nobody wants to just lose 150 bucks or $200, unless they're rich, and even then they probably value money more than a poor person. So they wouldn't want to lose it. Have something that will reserve you exclusively for that client on that date, Because if they decide to walk away from that deal, you know what fine, you may have missed another gig, but at least you made some money and you can still maybe get the other gig and try to get back to it.
Speaker 1:One great pointer I'll tell you an honorable mention when it comes to that stuff what I learned from what you can do if a gig does get canceled. You're not going to tell them oh, you know what, you're never getting your money back. I'm sorry, that was the contract. No, be cool about it. Say no, I'm sorry that your event got canceled, especially if it's something like really sad that happened, anything like that.
Speaker 1:I am running a business after all. You're probably going to redo this event. I'm going to keep your deposit for a year or two years, or don't even give them a time. I'm going to keep your deposit. You can come back to me when you're ready, and we will. We will find a different date for you and we will, uh, already count this as money paid towards that event. So that's something you can do. And then you can write down when the total is due and the kind of music you're going to be playing, and then the terms and conditions, which is very important, and you're going to write down pretty much that the payment has to come to your hands or your bank account before you press play on the decks, because what's going to happen? Um, and I've seen that happen before many times you would, you will, you will finish the event and everyone's drunk or tired and that, and you don't. You don't get paid and I got to chase them.
Speaker 1:Now it looks unprofessional. Go and get your money before the event starts, if you're very confident that they're going to pay you. Some people do it at the end of the event. I say you get it before the event starts and that's the best thing you could do. Some people say I'm not setting up until I get my money. That's I set up, I set up. I tell them listen, I set up everything. I did my sound check. Let's settle the remaining fee and then we can continue and yeah, and just cover the most important parts in the contract. What happens if you become ill? What happens if something else comes up right and you can't go into the gig? Write it all out. And again, I'm not going to get into the jargon of everything, but definitely you can find that information if you look for it online. It's not hard to find and if you guys have any questions, definitely contact me and I'll do my best to answer as quick as possible.
Speaker 1:So that was contracts Number eight managing your DJ business as a side hustle. That is something important a lot of people don't understand. That is something important a lot of people don't understand. Nobody is going to wake you up and say, hey, you got to go to work, you got to go DJ, you got to go, you got to go, you got to practice. Or it's a business, it's your business, it's a sole venture proprietorship and you're going to have to be responsible. You're going to have to be responsible. You're going to have to be disciplined and that's not just by actually going and doing the work, even though nobody's managing you, but also other than time management and, you know, managing client relationships because, like these, people are paying you and they're looking at you in a certain light. You got to maintain that and then you got to grow your DJ business right While juggling other commitments. You can't let your job suffer, because your job is what allows you to do this. It allows you to do this because now you're able to have this fun business and maybe we'll turn into a dream which is doing that full time Right. But if, um, if you tank your job, then you can't do this anymore. Or maybe your personal relationships.
Speaker 1:It's hard In the beginning. It was hard for me me, um, maintaining my relationship with my girlfriend and my djing uh responsibilities and my family events and my uh, my work and my special projects. And, oh, you know what, I want to go to the beach that day and, like you know, it's my personal wants and needs. And you're gonna have to learn. You're gonna have to slowly build that kind of life where you know that, hey, hey, I have this responsibility and it has to work with everything else. So, balance your life and I've done too much of one thing. I tried in every which way and something always suffered. Balance is the name of the game here. Of course, sometimes you gotta push, it happens. There's no black and white here, but for the most part, balance number nine. We're getting there. Six more points, uh.
Speaker 1:Networking for djs okay, we spoke about this already. I I wrote a bunch of points and I guess some of them are kind of redundant, but let's see if there's anything new here. It's extremely important to build relationships we already spoke about it because they lead to more bookings and friendships lots of friendships but there are certain events you can go to, like you know what. I need to speak to you guys about this, because I wrote that down specifically in this point. Some DJs will need you to collaborate with them, for whatever reason. Maybe you're good at a certain genre, maybe you have a certain you know crowd that follows you. Maybe they just need someone to go to an event with them, for whatever reason. Or maybe they need you to come and be one of the people who supports them, or maybe they need you to come and be one of the people who supports them.
Speaker 1:Now I did listen to another podcast where they were talking about it for like an hour and a half and, wow, we are over an hour already. This turned out to be a much longer episode than I expected, but this is a special episode. I know we always said it's a special episode, but this is definitely a unique episode today, so I'm going to allow this. Hopefully you guys are still okay with it. But what was I saying? Yeah, so it's extremely important to. I was talking actually about the podcast. Yeah, they were speaking about the same thing. So it's extremely important to go and support your fellow DJs.
Speaker 1:But I forget the name of that podcast and I mentioned hey, I gave them credit. I mentioned you know what? I think they're called the passionate DJ. I think that's what they're called Great podcast. I really like it. I've listened to them before I even became a DJ Similar to ours, I think. Like it. Uh, I've listened to them before I even became a DJ. Uh, similar to ours, I think. Uh, the only one that I found that's kind of like like ours and I really like it Um, kind of banter and they cover like similar topics. So, on that podcast, I believe it was called the passionate DJ and I'm sorry if I'm saying the wrong name, but I'm pretty sure that's what it was.
Speaker 1:Um, they said something that I really agreed um, with you're gonna get a lot of. You're going to create a lot of relationships. Um, as a beginner DJ a lot of relationships, a lot of people that you know you kind of started with. All of those people are going to have gigs. All of them are going to invite you to gigs and you're going to want to please everyone. Right now you might actually be free sometimes, but then it's your own free time.
Speaker 1:Now, while it's fun to go and, you know, support your fellow DJs and party, it's gonna overwhelm you. At some point, you'll see it's. You know, especially if you're a little older than you know, your mid-20s, it's gonna become too much and it is highly recommended to pick the few people that you follow regularly and you support regularly. And then the rest, you know, be nice about it. Tell them, you know, be up with them. Tell them, hey, I actually don't have time, but I swear to you that I'll come and see you at the first opportunity I have. But, hey, is there another way I could help you? Hey, how about I share your event details on my Instagram? Do what you can. Don't make someone feel like they're this small and they're not worth your time, because you know what. You were there at some point and even if you weren't, it's all about helping each other. I'm going to become spiritual here for a second. It's all about moving the wheel together.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you a quick little fact about someone that I met, high caliber DJ from Philly, and I can't tell you how we like sorry, I didn't meet him in person, but he's on my Instagram and I had him on my Instagram for about yeah, about seven years or so, maybe longer, I can't tell at this point. It was several years before I moved to this apartment and I remember that from the start he was always very helpful. I don't remember how we connected. Maybe he watched one of my stories and and I, and then I I was like who is this guy? And I went on and I liked his Instagram. I was like, oh, wow, that's a pretty decent DJ. I like you know, I like his vibe, like stories, stuff like that. Um, and I added him. Maybe he messaged me something. I can't tell. I don't, I didn't see the history back then. But point is, I don't even remember how we really connected.
Speaker 1:It was something like you know, like a regular kind of like oh, maybe maybe I'll add that person. Probably that's what it was. And guess what, someone like that normally would never look at you twice, especially if they're you, you know very good at their job, but you know they're very advanced, uh, in their career, um, and he's been so helpful, um, I I chatted with him a couple times because I I sent him a couple messages, um, about you know, like his stories. I was like, oh, like, good job, oh, that's pretty cool, whatever, right, like I liked something that he posted and he just like, he gave me the time of day.
Speaker 1:Right, you can't compare between us. Like, this guy is so out of my league as a DJ and an entrepreneur that there's no way to even compare it. Right, like he's so much more advanced but he's always, you know, spoken to me with respect. He told me, hey, I'll, I'll reach that level myself someday. You know, I just need to work for it and I believe it. Right, like, I've reached a lot of things that that a lot of people didn't think were reachable within a pretty short period of time. Because I'm stubborn, I want something, I get it. And when you have the passion and when you have the skill, you work towards something, you can get it. You can get whatever you want.
Speaker 1:And the point is I wasn't afraid to message him Like what's going to happen, so he's going to ignore me. Or maybe he could say something, message him like, like, what's gonna happen, so he's gonna ignore me? Or uh, maybe you know, maybe maybe he I don't know could say something that I may not like, maybe no big deal, right. So I just, you know, I just decided to reach out, whatever, whatever it is, I said, and then, you know, I remember the more recent interactions we had and now I would tell him, hey, like, do you remember how we like connected, like when we started talking a bit more more? And he said he doesn't remember, but I was planning an event and he helped me quite a bit. He gave me lots of, like you know, wisdom, like lots of really good pointers that someone like myself would not even think about before. I actually obtained that experience. So he was there and he's like, listen, just FYI, do this, this, this, this. And that he spent like half an hour on the phone with me. I mean like on you know, I think it was on WhatsApp. We did like a video call, a video chat.
Speaker 1:It's just incredible, right, like the level of support you'll get from the most random people, right, people who are not your friends, people who are not really, don't really have any reason to help you. They're just good people, right, and that's also the reason why I help others whenever I can. What goes around comes around. So, you know, be good to your fellow DJs, fellow humans. It's really important, especially in this industry, and people get really frustrated in this industry. A lot of people, you know they don't show it but it's hard, it's hard to make it and people might give up. It's their dream, you know, it's um it. It becomes personal. So what?
Speaker 1:What I learned was when and I didn't do it to get anything, I was just that's just my personality. But like, uh, what I learned was when I did certain things that others told me was a waste of time, like, oh, why are you going to all these events? He's a no one or she's a she. You know, you know why are you going to her events? She's, she's never going to make it as a DJ or whatever it is. I, I didn't listen to that stuff.
Speaker 1:I continued to support people without expecting anything in return, and it was just incredible how much I benefited from that. I can't even tell you what it was exactly. There was always something. It was just such good energy that I benefited from that. Uh, I can't even tell you what it was exactly. There was always something like it was just such good energy that I got from it. Uh, first of all, I felt good that I helped someone. I, I saw them happy. I, you know, I contributed to that.
Speaker 1:Some of them, some of these people we build relationships with, like you know, we became friends and, like you know, like you can never have too many friends, right, um, um, but, um, yeah, like I, I got gigs from some of these people. Um, I had some of them cover my gigs when I couldn't do something, uh, you know, and I knew that they were like good enough to do it or vice versa, right, and networking is very important. Uh, for so many reasons. Some of them, you know, offered me other business ventures, other opportunities that have nothing to do with DJing that I'm considering. So there are so many things that you can obtain through proper networking other than being a decent human being, you know, and treating others with respect.
Speaker 1:You will benefit from it in more than one way. It's going to happen, and don't sit there waiting for it. Whoa, I did something nice for someone. Why did nothing happen for me yet. Don't wait for that. It doesn't work like that. But once you're genuine about it and you really care and you're just doing it because it's the right thing to do, you'll see Mark my words you'll see Things will start changing for you. If it's not, if it hasn't started yet.
Speaker 1:Now I want to get into taxes and financial management for beginner DJs. That's point number 10. We're still doing numbers right. So number 10, taxes and financial management for beginner djs. Now, if you're just doing this for fun, guys like I, I should have said it from the start. If this is just for fun, a lot of this doesn't matter. You're just doing this as a hobby, whatever right like it's, you don't care if it becomes anything. You're just doing this because you just want to do it. But this is really more for the ones who want to set up a successful business, um and I'm not saying you know I'm operating this mega dj business, but I've done quite a bit for myself in the couple years that I've been doing this um, and I learned a lot from people who are way higher caliber than myself. So at this point at least, so I know what I'm talking about learned a lot from people who are way higher caliber than myself. So, at this point at least, so I know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:A lot of this advice is also not coming directly from me. It was advice that was given to me and I practiced what I was told and I saw that it works. And my friends, my colleagues, practiced it as well when I tried to help them and share that advice with them. And it worked. It worked for everyone, for everyone, you know, in different levels. Right, it's not always going to be the same, um, but yeah, if, if you're doing like this for a business, uh, career like part-time, at least, casual payment, you're gonna have to start thinking about how are you going to register your business? Are you going to be a sole proprietor? Are you going to be? Is it going to be like an incorporated, like a corporation? Right, and that's what we call it here in Canada, in the US they have different names for it, in Europe they have different names for it. Everyone has different legalities around businesses in different countries, but it's called different things.
Speaker 1:But you know what I'm talking about and it's it's it's nice to get cash and, you know, never have to. You know a lot of people do that they, they get cash and they never, never, declare it. But then you don't really have a history for your business. You don't really have. You don't really have a history for your business. You don't really have. When you want to go, when you're going to want to go what did I just say Going to want to go? Let's say you want to get a loan or something you know you want to declare something for your business. Nobody really knows you have a business and now you're going to declare it. They're going to be like oh, so where were you like for the last five years? Or going to be like they're going to be like, oh, so where were you like for the last five years? Or like, oh, so is that where you're getting your money? Like it's just going to become complicated? Declare your earnings, um and uh, it's worth it. Build, like you know, a proper um like credit credit score, with, with, with your business, um, like a history where it shows how much you made and everything.
Speaker 1:I'm not a finance guy, but you know what I'm talking about. I have people who do that for me. But no, you have to understand it on some level. And yeah, it's, it's. I think it's for the better. Again, if you have a different way of doing things, then go ahead. But also one thing I'll say don't jump into starting like a corporation before you're ready for it. Oh, you want to sound and look professional. What are you going to write off? Right? So start small. Also, to do the taxes for a corporation is way more work and a lot more expensive, so start small. And also, you don't have to register right away. But you know, have a plan. Have a plan. It depends on you know where you are, how much money you made in whatever span of time, but at some point you're going to have to register, or it's preferred that you do Now.
Speaker 1:Number 11, scaling your DJ business from part-time to full-time or from casual to part-time to full-time. I'd like to provide a bunch of insights into, like, how to grow your DJ business into a full-time career and expand. You know, know, like all your services. But really we've been speaking about it. All these points were about this, right? Um, I kind of like left myself pointers and a small little tiny like short paragraph about each point, and I can see that we already spoke about this. But, um, you know, just because it's there, let's, let's discuss in a different way for a moment before we move to point number 12.
Speaker 1:Um, at some point you're going to have to hire people, uh, to do gigs for you, because you got to a point where you, uh, where you have more than one one gig per day and that is expanding. Now how do you hire someone? You can't just take anyone. Oh, you're a dj, fine, come do my gig. Your name is behind that, that person's work, right. So if you are doing this part-time, you have like a couple gigs a week they're not on the same day, fine, cool.
Speaker 1:But at some point, let's say, you want to grow, you put more money into your marketing. You, you sign up to, uh, certain catalogs where you can like present your business, and you know it costs costs to be a part of that website for like 500 bucks or a thousand bucks a year, depending the package you you're paying for. And, um, you know like, you do all kinds of things to, to, to expand you, you, you get better gear maybe because, while I said not to do that before, you have a certain gig, maybe you're trying to get into a certain kind of industry within DJing and certain kind of niche within DJing, right and you're already like you already have an in with someone, so you're like you know what I got to get this now. Or maybe you want to start renting some of your gear that you already have. Whatever it is, you want to expand your business. You want your DJing venture to become more profitable.
Speaker 1:One of the things you have to do is hire people, because you can only be in one place at one time and while I actually managed to DJ and bartend at the same time, cause you have a few, you have, you know, a few seconds to do something in between the transitions and like then there's like a minute where you have to. You can do something. That was fun. I did it a few times, but um, it's, it's not going to be the same when when you're going to have to be in one city and another city at the same time. So how do you really get someone you can trust? Because you have to get someone you trust, because if you get a terrible DJ, then guess what? You lost that client and likely anyone related to them. And if they're really crashed and burned, then who knows, maybe it's going to kind of create a ripple effect towards the rest of your business.
Speaker 1:The other thing that can happen it could be great DJs, but maybe steal your business and do things that are not ethical. So what I recommend? If you're a beginner, especially, start working with people who are a bit more beginners than you. So I've been doing this for like three years almost I'm. I'm working with people who I'm teaching right now. I'm teaching them from scratch. I see which ones are like they really get it and who has the passion and who just wants to do it for fun.
Speaker 1:And you know I offer them. Hey, you want to come to a gig with me? You want to come and assist me at the gig? Right, if I get a tip, I'll give you the tip and then I'll give you a percentage of what I make, regardless of the tip. Just do a good job. You know, be there to help me, take some photos, videos for me and stuff like that. And I'm checking out how diligent they are, how much they care, and you know I'll take them to a few gigs and if I see that I can trust them, you know, continue to train them Now.
Speaker 1:I'm not charging them now. Now I'm not charging them anymore. I'm just training them. Training them, making sure they're, they're decent djs, and then I can send them to my gig. I can send them to another gig I can. I can start booking more gigs on the same day because I know I have one person that I can send. But it's still risky. It's one person right, and you didn't give them consistent work yet, so who knows if they're ready? So at first you got to be careful with that stuff, right, double check that you know their schedule and discuss with them before you take another opportunity.
Speaker 1:But you definitely need to scale your business at some point and you got to do it carefully. It's always important to do it carefully. You can't just grow just because you decide, okay, that's it Starting tomorrow, I'm doing this, it. You have to have a strategy. Now. This is a huge topic and, um, there's far better people to explain to you how to scale a business than myself. Uh, while I do have a business and uh, you know I'm I do have some experience. There's proper entrepreneurs out there who who have triple, quadruple amount of uh years of experience than I do, and that's who I learned from. I learned from gurus, online, people who really understand business, people who explain how to scale Uh, and then I, you know, I I take that information and and kind of uh, put it together with information from the music industry. You gotta be resourceful. I'm saying that again. You gotta look for things, you gotta learn, um, um, how to be independent and and and find what you need.
Speaker 1:Uh 12, licensing and legal aspects for DJs. Now there's something I want to talk about in just a little bit, but maybe we'll jump to that point right now. I'll have to scroll down a little bit. But there are legal requirements that DJs might overlook when they're starting out, such as music licensing, liability insurance and event permits. So event permits here in toronto you won't be able to go to most places without an event permit, and it's a pain to get that sometimes, either because it's hard to get and the availability is not really where you want it to be, the level you want you like it to be at, or because it's just a lot of red tape to go through and you're just like, wow, what's the point? But you got to go through it anyway. And then liability insurance you need insurance. Sometimes In some situations I'm like there's no way I'm taking that gig without insurance, so it's not that expensive. Look into that. Insure yourself, insure the gig, insure like what if somebody else gets hurt because of you? So you got to get that. And also for your own gear, if you care enough about your gear and yourself. And then there's also music licensing. So that's what I was going to talk about.
Speaker 1:There is the Canadian Professional Disc Jockey Association, cpdja that's one organization that you could choose to join and it's pretty much like a family of DJs that wants to see the industry succeed together. So it's a community like a family of DJs, uh, that wants to see the industry succeed together. So it's a community like a forum kind of thing, but not a lot more than just a forum. And you get so much from them. You get a really good deal on, um, I believe it's called Connect Music I'm not forgetting, uh, the name and uh, yes, connect Music licenses, uh, which is different from the SoCan license. And again, guys, I'm talking about Canada right now. I don't know what you have in the States or in the UK or you know anywhere else. In Australia we have listeners from everywhere, viewers from everywhere. So, by the way, thanks again for being there for us and following us and listening to us, watching us.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, do your due diligence, do your research, um, and find out what organization you have in your, in your city, in your country, and you know you can get gigs from them, like from this one, for example. You uh, you can get gigs. You can get a insurance. Uh. It says, uh, insurance combined. What does it say here? The cost of your membership and insurance combined is about half the price of the insurance elsewhere. It's like a one package deal to join them. It's a few hundred dollars a year, depending on what you want to get. It's just worth it. It even says receive news from association, industry, special events, educational materials, music charts and much more in our bi-monthly member newsletter. So it's definitely something that is worth the money, especially when you've been doing this for a year and you're not just doing this as a hobby. You're trying to already become more professional, more serious about this. This is definitely something you want to look into. So, okay, I jumped ahead, so we're not going to talk about the CPDJ after like anymore on this episode, but at some point I want to create one episode just about that, because I overlooked it. I heard about it, I was like, oh, maybe later. And then I looked more into it. I was like, wow, I definitely should join. So, yeah, I would highly recommend that.
Speaker 1:Um, now, number 13, client communication how to sell yourself. We spoke about that. But at the same time, you know when you just you can tell that if you ask for that extra 50 or 100 bucks, can tell that if you ask for that extra 50 or 100 bucks, you're gonna, you're gonna get hung up on or it just it's not gonna be worth it. You want to, you want that gig, it's it's. You know you should take it for other than monetary reasons. You want to like kind of break through a certain like club or like a certain scene. Sometimes you should just know your place, pay your dues, bite your tongue, take the gig Right. I'm not saying you know, but, ilya, you said not to do that.
Speaker 1:Again, I said use common sense, practice common sense. So sometimes you need to know that they'll just go for someone else and you should have know that they'll just go for someone else. And and you, you should have taken that gig now. But what? What happens when you you know that you deserve more and you're trying to sell yourself? That's why I said create that entire kit that shows, hey, this is what I can do. These are all the events I did. This is like how I create, how I bring 50 people onto an empty dance floor after the previous DJ. You know, like, like, create, like, have a handful of videos of material that shows, showcases your skills. Have you know, I learned that it's really good to kind of create like your own PDF or like Word file where you're going to go. It's like almost like. It's almost like. It's pretty much like a funnel.
Speaker 1:You're going to go through all of this with a client and towards the end is the call to action kind of thing. You know, you're going to kind of tempt them with all these things that you're showing them and then you're going to seal the deal impossible. Talk about this in just a few minutes. But, um, again, that's something I'd like to, uh, I'd like to cover as a separate uh pointer at some point, a separate topic at some point. But, um, what I'll say is you got to sell your value, you got to negotiate your terms, you got to.
Speaker 1:Really, they have to respect you, but they also need to feel respected. Right, everyone wants to feel respected. It doesn't matter who you, who they are, they want to feel respect, and if they don't feel you respect them and if they feel that you're insulting their intelligence, they're not going to talk to you Most likely. You got to build trust. You just you know it's not only about being charismatic. Some people just don't have it. Some people are not very charismatic, but you know they have something else that's going for them and you really have to put honestly if I could say it in one sentence look at the client, put yourself in their shoes and think about what they want you to tell them, but what you would want to hear from them if they were the DJ the DJ, right? Hopefully I said it correctly. It's very early in the morning, so it's not that hard, right. Like, think about it. If you were in that situation, what would you want to hear? And if at some point it sounds illogical and it sounds unreasonable, then you'll know. You don't need me to tell you that. Right, it will make sense to you. So that's number 13.
Speaker 1:Number 14, investing in your DJ business smart equipment upgrades. Do you remember how I told you I'm getting the lights soon? So only get stuff that you absolutely need and things that can also save you time. So, for example, I had a different set of lights which I could use as up lights, or I could put them in a T-bar and like create the exact kind of light setup, uh, setup that I wanted, but it took like 20 minutes to put together, sometimes 15 minutes, let's say. If I did it quicker, now I got something that's already coming ready.
Speaker 1:It's it's uh, it comes, it comes, built it, kind of like folds out of a bag and it's, it's super cool. It's, uh, it wasn't too expensive, it wasn't cheap, that's for sure, um, but uh, it, it wasn't. It's incredible. Like, I have all these lights and they're way better quality lights, they have way more features. They have a pedal, they have, they have a, they have a remote control, uh, and there's different kinds. You can get, like I, I chose the setup that I liked, like the, the kind of set of lights that I liked, but you can get different ones.
Speaker 1:It depends, right, uh, what you're looking for. But hey, that saves me at least 15 to 20 minutes of setup, which really is half the time or a third of the time it should take you to set up and, um, that's quite a bit, and then, on top of that, I'm less tired. It takes forever to set those lights, and it was just so much work and I was like, what am I doing? Like I did enough gigs to be able to afford these lights and to get them for the next gig. So that's what I did, right? That was a smart investment for me, something small, right, but keep in mind, I am not, you know, operating a huge dj business, but that's why maybe you'd relate to me, because you're probably also not operating a huge dj business. So that's something I would, you know. That's where I would start later.
Speaker 1:You know, we're talking about things we already actually covered, uh, and it's, you know, joining a certain catalog. That's investing in your business, right, but let's say, equipment upgrade maybe you're getting a dry ice like a machine, like a smoke machine, but with dry ice, right, hologram, stuff like that, but again, only if you absolutely need it, if you know you're going to use it, right, or if you have an in with someone and you know that, hey, I'm going to be able to rent this, rent this to someone, um, something like that, right? So, going forward, number 15, we're there. We made it about an hour and a half. I had no idea. I had no idea this episode is going to be this long, and it's probably going to be a little longer because we have a few more things to talk about, but it was. It's a special episode. I'm doing this by myself for the first time and I thought, hey, let's, let's take it a different direction, let's see, let's see how long I can keep you guys entertained. And, um, I just I never thought it would take this long to go through all these points. But, hey, I hope you're, I hope you're enjoying it. So, yes, let's finish this up.
Speaker 1:So, number 15, the power of referrals building your DJ business through word of mouth. Nino is at that point where he builds his business through word of mouth. Now, I can't tell you how many weddings we've been to, not just weddings, birthdays, private events, but mostly weddings where people are like hey Nino, hey Nino, hey Nino, and, and from all across, for it's like, it's like a ripple effect. Oh, they said, you know, oh, it's Nino, oh know, oh. And there we go.
Speaker 1:You have like five clients who you either you worked with or you're going to work with, and I'm like, oh, who are they? Oh, I signed them for 2025. Oh, oh, they, I just did their wedding last last week, or like and you can tell that the person knows what they're doing, because the way that people talk about him and the way how everyone knows him and one wedding there's like, somehow this guy's friend or this person's like, uh, like her fiance, or something, it just somehow several people that he dj'd for were in the same event and all the phone calls people like that get oh, I heard that, uh, you do this. Or like, uh, uh, I was told that, uh, you know you're a great DJ, are you available for my wedding?
Speaker 1:Um, and often word of mouth like it's, it's the best way, it's the best way to expand, it means that you really made it, that's it, like you don't even need to promote anymore. But I know that he stopped promoting for some time and even for him there was a decline and I'm not going to talk too much about his business. But even for someone like that, with word of mouth, it's still, it's not going to be the same. So when he went back to promoting, it exploded again, because now it's all the word of mouth and the promotion and it just, and then, because of his caliber already like people want him to to join their catalog or promote with them and stuff like that. So you want to have a reputation and the way you build a reputation. The reason why this is number 15 and not number one, three or ten is because all the stuff I said before will bring you to this point. Number 15.
Speaker 1:Now, something I do want to talk about before we leave uh, this podcast, something I believe is very important, um, and I did say that I'm going to discuss it, uh, and here it is. This is this. I'm speaking to the Ilya of several years ago, when I just started this and I was, you know, super, super, green and like, super, you know, like naive and innocent and thinking. You know like, oh, like I can make this and like I can make it in like a few months. And again, you can, but it requires but it requires a set of things to be there to be able to make it in a few months. And, hey, maybe I could get to a certain level within a few months right now if I do something. But you know it works for me. I have a balance with my job, with my personal life, my professional life. So I found the balance. If I want to improve, and I feel that I'm ready to, like I said, expand or, you know, go harder into this business because I feel like I'm ready to like elevate I'm sure I'm going to be. I'll do it when I'm ready.
Speaker 1:Now still, beginners beginners, listen to me. I know that you want someone to help you, to help, and I know you want someone to help you. I know you want someone to show you the ropes. I know you want to prove yourself to someone. Beginners tend to try to piggyback on someone else's success, not because beginners are just, you know, like they don't respect that person's like efforts and they don't care about their business. They just want to use that person. No, it just comes out like that. It's come. It comes off like that because this person is super successful. So you're like, oh, let me pair up with this person and I'll get all these gigs from this person, because you know we'll become friends and this and that it's not how it works. These people they saw people like you over and over again.
Speaker 1:Every time somebody comes to the DJ booth and things, I'll become friends with the DJ, and it happens from time to time. Look, I became friends with the dj. And it happens from time to time. Look, I became friends with nino, right, but again it's, there needs to be some sort of like chemistry there. There needs to be something, some transaction there, right, you give and you take and for him.
Speaker 1:And he used to say that the biggest part was that I told him I'm a producer. He needed that skill in his entourage, in his you know, ensemble, right. Um, so that's one of the reasons he contacted me and then one of the reasons, one of the many reasons he stayed was because of, like, all the things I brought in, like the social media work I did for him all the technology knowledge that I have, the entertainment just coming with him and making it. I did for him all the technology knowledge that I have, the entertainment just coming with him and making it more fun for him. Right, taking some gigs that he needed someone to take because they wouldn't maybe pay enough. But I was a brand new DJ back then and I would take pretty much anything right Before I understood how to value myself, because first I still needed the experience.
Speaker 1:So for some time I understand if you're doing that, but don't get sucked into doing that. Value yourself, don't devalue yourself. So people will try to call whatever you want piggyback on someone, get a mentor. But keep in mind it's great to have someone to show you the ropes, but make sure you don't get taken advantage of. I've been taken advantage of several times by several DJs, and I know that because they would either know each other or I would tell them the story and they would, and they would tell me what they think, and I was like nah, like no, but, and they would say no, that's not how it works. And then I would speak to someone else and they would say, yeah, I side with this DJ. They shouldn't have done that, and so on and so forth.
Speaker 1:Right, some things I brought up to people that you know. I spoke about them and I said, hey, you know what? Like, I thought about it and I'd like to bring something up. I know it's not the most comfortable topic to talk about, but hey, we're friends and we've been working together for a little while now. I'd like to talk to you about something, and normally people would be fine with it. It's not going to burn a bridge if, let's say they don't agree with you, but at least you approached it from a respectful point of view. You did not just, you know, kind of lash at them like, hey, you should have done this for me.
Speaker 1:I found out, right, um, at the end of the day, whoever you worked with was there to help you learn, but at some point it it turns from helping you learn to using you, because now you're good at what you're doing, or you're becoming useful, but they're still not paying you, or not paying you enough, or not giving you the gigs that they promised they'll give you life, uh, as a young entrepreneur, as a, as a beginner slash, almost, I would say, intermediate DJ. At this point, um is, unless you're absolutely sure, do not work with a partner. Uh, it's, it's gonna, it's, it's going to backfire at some point. If you're like putting in all your eggs in that basket or this person, I'll trust them, right. I'll give you an example. Like Nino and I thought that this podcast is going to, we're going to do this podcast together for however many years. And I told him hey, I don't think you will. I don't think you will because you have all these responsibilities, and he honestly wanted to. He wanted to, but several things came up and and he just he couldn't anymore. Right, and maybe he'll come back in the future and we don't know that. But, um, you know, the friendship is still there, everything's still okay. But it's just. You know, I thought it's going to work right, at first at least. Then I realized it probably won't. But you know, I still thought maybe it will.
Speaker 1:But at the end of the day, whoever you work with, in most cases they won't think about you. They will think about themselves first and foremost. I'm not exactly like that, but still, you know, I believe I'm way more fair than most people I worked with. That's just who I am. I'm a giver. I don't usually take, I usually give. But still, you know, I'm not naive. I'll think about my business and my family first. So, but you know I'll, if I need to kind of let someone down, I think I will let someone down in a way better way than most people let me down. And that's some people, just you know, don't have the concept of respect. They don't understand it or something is wrong with them. I don't know the way they're thinking or whatever. You can't fix people. You can't change people like that. It's not your responsibility. Plus, they're probably way either way older than you or just too old to be given a lecture.
Speaker 1:So if you're going to work with someone, I would suggest you either pay them so they dance to your beat and do what you say because you know better. Dance to your beat and do what you say because you know better and you need them to do the work exactly how it needs to be done, or get someone who knows better than you and someone who has good references, and then tell them that you need them to manage you because you know that they know better and you want to elevate your game. You want to one-up your entire business or project, whatever it is you're doing, either or it's paid, it's professional, there's rules, there's terms, everything. Now you'll be like, well, what if I just pair up with a friend and we have a contract? No, it could work. I've had stuff like that work for me.
Speaker 1:But whether it's a podcast or someone who's a successful DJ and you're working with them and you're hoping they'll give you work and stuff, at the end of the day listen, guys, this is their baby, this is their business. They're not going to pity you and just give you work and then potentially tank their business with you, along with you. Right, you got to respect where they're coming from. You got to respect the business. You got to respect the industry, you got to respect the fact that this person is 30, 40, 50 years old and has grown their business to this point and you just showed up like who are you Right? So, unless you're going to give them something and really honestly believe that you deserve something in return because you have contributed, you added to the value of their business or their lives, don't expect anything in return. Work on improving your business, work on being what you need to be for yourself, and then the right partner will come along. Don't actively search for a partner.
Speaker 1:I used to like doing things with someone all the time, not by myself, and as the years, you know, as time progressed, I learned that you should do things on your own if possible and, and, like I said, if you need to, you hire someone, either to do as you say or someone who you know will tell you how to do better, right, like, for example, there's agencies, there's for podcasts, for YouTube, for there's life coaches right, you hire them, but they're telling you what to do, right, so it depends. Or let's say, you, you go on fiverr, you go on whatever service, and you decide to get a freelancer, you tell them exactly what to do, but they might still offer you hey, listen, I have experience with this. If you'll give me some creative freedom, I think I'll I'll make you happy. So again, dance the dance. See, see what's the balance in the kind of like delegating versus like trusting them and letting them kind of like lead you with certain things. Like when I worked with our you know, our like animator that created the intro. I gave him a lot of ideas and then, you know, together we decided what we're going to do and then we got that, that intro that we have in the beginning. Right, it was lots of a lot of it was my idea, but then, like, he added a couple of things that I didn't think about and I loved it. So that, just you know. Hopefully that's a good example, but yeah, yeah. So let me see what I wrote here, because I wrote quite a bit about this. It's very important to me because it's personal.
Speaker 1:Over the last few years I've been cheated out certain gigs, I've been spoken. People spoke about me in a manner that was not truthful, just to kind of, you know, trying to get me out of a certain situation, happy to say that did not work. Just to kind of, you know, trying to get me out of a certain situation, happy to say that did not work out very well for them. And it's good when you have a lot of friends and people who can vouch for you, or people who promised me certain things and they never delivered, whether it was gigs or people who were supposed to pay me when I didn't know they were supposed to pay me all along and I thought, hey, they're doing me such a service by, like, taking me to their gigs. But, like you know, it's been already months and months into the process and I already really helped them benefit from their business from me being there. And I still did not understand that I'm devaluing myself. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not treating myself with respect.
Speaker 1:At some point, if you've been to five, six, seven, ten gigs with someone you know, if, let's say you've never done this, you know I'm not gonna tell you, oh, you devalue yourself. Fine, like you did your five, six, seven, ten gigs a couple months. You learned quite a bit from that right. You don't need to go anymore. You, a couple months. You learned quite a bit from that right. You don't need to go anymore. You're ready and you're as ready as you're gonna be as long as you practice along with it. That's a good balance. You're ready. You don't need to go to any more gigs. If they're not giving you gigs, if they're not paying you, if they're not valuing you, leave. You'll find a better mentor or better, whatever it is, yeah, that you think you have.
Speaker 1:Once you have more respect for yourself and once you show your value because even the person who wasn't paying you probably stereotype you can stigmatize you as like, oh, he's just a beginner, he doesn't know what he's doing, I'm not going to pay him. He's been doing this for free for three months. He'll do it for free for another three months. Don't let that happen. He'll do it for free for another three months. Don't let that happen now.
Speaker 1:Um, those djs make anywhere from 1.5k to 3k per gig, at the very least a thousand. They can throw you a bone 100 bucks, 200 bucks if you are bringing value to their gig, right. Or they can say, hey, listen, come to this gig, I'll give you another gig like, I'll give you one, I'll like. Or come to these two gigs, help me out, but I'll give you a gig at 800 bucks, right, like? Something, right? Something that that is going to help you. Or hey, um, come to this gig and I'll come over and I'll I'll train you for your gig, I'll spend a few hours with you.
Speaker 1:They can't just take, they have to give back. Don't look at them like, oh, this is such an incredible DJ or this is such an incredible businessman or woman, and you know, I'm so dwarfed by them I'll just do whatever they say. No, you have a value too. You have a value too, and I'm happy I've been through this. You know I'm happy I've been through this. I'm fairly young and it's good to learn this now instead of later.
Speaker 1:So, and most things that you learn on your own flesh, personally, on your own experience, rather than hearing that it happened to someone else, that will stick with you more than anything else and you'll likely never make the same mistake again. Um, so you're likely to be in a situation where you have a DJ agreeing to take you under you know and and and and teach you everything, but at the same time, if you want to get that, if you want to earn, if you want to get the money and the opportunities that I'm talking about, you got to show them that it's worth it. It's worth to keep you around because they probably have a list of another two or three or five or 10 people who want to take your spot and they'll do things for free. So show them why they should worry about you leaving. And if they don't care, and if you know that you you know, pretty much took whatever you could from that relationship, move on. Don't burn a bridge. Be cool about it.
Speaker 1:Say, hey, you know what, like I, I definitely like need to get paid at this point. Um, if, down the road, like, uh, you think that, uh, you have something for me, uh, please let me know. I'll help you however I can. But at this point, uh, you know I need to start getting paid. Uh, you know, or whatever conversation you want to have with them. There's so many things you can say. Try not to be too redundant here. So what else do I want to talk to you guys about here?
Speaker 1:So, yeah, like, I can't tell you how many times, how many people approached me because of my variety of skills other than djing. Uh, they knew that, like I, I can uh, elevate the game by joining their team. And, uh, they knew that I was looking for someone to show me, um, to show me the ropes. And at first I was. It was for literally right, like I would just do it. And later it was mostly because I wanted to learn how to DJ weddings. At first I would just come with any DJ anywhere for however long, however far they want to go, because I'm like you know what that's a good experience. Later it was more like you know, I want to gig with DJs who do weddings because I'm already getting into that field. I'm like you know what that's good experience. Later it was more like you know, I want to gig with DJs who do weddings because I'm already getting into that field, I'm ready. But I need to like learn how to do entrances properly, how to coordinate, like when there's no coordinator, right, like that's what I was looking for.
Speaker 1:And if you only saw, if you read my conversations with some of these DJs and the way they spoke to me and about me and the things they promised and you some, some of them, like you could tell it was fake. But some I was like, wow, like I'm really hitting it off with this person, like this is this is amazing. Like, like I guess we have good chemistry. I guess they really appreciate me and value me. And guess what? Some of them they're full of it and some of them just didn't plan correctly, didn't budget correctly. They wanted something but they weren't like maybe the best business people or best planners, and they realized, hey, like you know what I actually can't do, what I said I will do for that person In either case. It's all talk. It's all talk until they're willing to stand by what they're saying and you get the gigs, your promise and you get paid for your contribution.
Speaker 1:So, like I said, if you, if you spend more than one to three months, about six to nine to 15 gigs with them, you know and I'm being super generous here because the peak season isn't that long so you pretty much spent an entire season with them. So now you got to wait for next season and I'm not saying the season is that short, one to three months, but that's the peak of the best season, right, the summertime, early fall, right. And then you get it towards like the end of the best season, right, the summertime, early fall, right. And then you get it towards like the end of the year, and then that's when the corporate starts in Halloween and Christmas and everything else. And if you see that there's nothing that's kind of like it's not in the cards, if you see that there's nothing that's kind of like it's not in the cards, you played your cards right but you paid your dues, but it's just not in the stars for you with this person. If it's been that long, you're not getting gigs from them, you're not getting paid to tag along and you're expected to do everything for free. Walk away, walk away. Selling yourself short is way bigger of a loss than devaluing yourself. Like that, you'll find a better mentor or someone who is willing to show you the ropes while paying you and blessing you with a gig here and there. So that's pretty much what I had to say about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can see that what I wrote here already. We kind of discussed about, discussed all that stuff. Um, yeah, oh, yes, that's actually something I really want to talk to you about. I have to make notes because there's, we've been talking for about two hours now. Right, so, right. So I had to kind of go over that write it down, because I knew that it's going to be at least 45 minutes or something, but it turned out to be two hours. I might make it a two-parter, I might just post it. I always wondered what's going to happen if I post like a Joe Rogan episode, like an hour and a half, two hours. I'll just do it, I'll do it. I mean, it's uh, it's interesting to me, right? I'm trying something here.
Speaker 1:Um, so, after tagging along for five to 10 gigs for a couple of months, you should, or you should, already have a working knowledge, a working understanding of how things work. So take it from me, like I, I, I was. I wasted so much time thinking that I wasn't, uh, ready to gig on my own on the first year when I was doing this year year and a half, and then it was me thinking, oh, I wasn't ready to do weddings on my own, whatever it is. Yes, you're not ready technically, but you'll never be ready until you do it. Like don't get me wrong, like don't just go out there and bomb it, just bomb the event, crash and burn and destroy someone's event. Remember, like this is after tagging along with someone and getting some hands-on experience and practicing, now you need to do your research and practice some more and with practice and what you learn from that person, you'll be just fine. You may not ace it and it'll be a 10 out of 10 event, but you'll do well enough for the most likely reasonable price that you offered your clients.
Speaker 1:Some even admit that they are beginners, you know. Some say you know what I said that in a very, very few gigs that I took, I said they asked me how much do you charge? And I said I actually have a pretty good rate. I don't have too many gigs under my belt yet, I just started. But hey, I'll show you this video where I'm DJing and it's the style that you're looking for and if you like it, I can do the same thing for you at your event.
Speaker 1:I found a way to kind of really make them trust me by telling them something that most people won't tell them. And in the way that I said it I did not make myself look unprofessional, but just like someone who knows what he's doing. But I didn't do it enough times to say that, hey, I'm a pro, I've done this a hundred times or a thousand times already. But hey, I did it two or three times and it went really well and I know I can do it again because of X, y, z. I have a system. I know I can do it again because of X, y, z. I have a system. Um, now some people will just hang up, turn around and be like I'll keep looking around. But again, for some gigs it made sense. For some gigs it made sense and it just because of the way the conversation went.
Speaker 1:Um, it was the right approach to sell myself like that for that gig and it was just in the beginning. So that's just one method you could use and I'm just trying to give you examples, analogies, however I can, things that I was looking for when I started. So lots of clients are okay with that approach. But, like I said, that's kind of the risk that you're willing to share that information. Some clients are just going to skip you, like I said. But for the first few gigs, do that If it's really going to help you. Now they know that you never said you're a pro. You won't have the uh imposter syndrome, you know you. You know everyone's on the same page.
Speaker 1:I had one client like that, like I said, like a very uh decent client. He, I was trying to sell myself like like, not like a pro, but I never said I was a beginner. But then he kind of picked up on it and I was like you know what he is almost picking up on it. And I was like you know what he is almost picking up on it. Let me just tell him the truth. Let me tell him the truth, you know it's. There's nothing wrong with that. I pretty much have the sale already. I just I need, I need him to trust me. And I told, told him that and he's like yo, you know what, I'm going to go on your Facebook page, I'm going to, I'm going to like your page, I'm going to, I'm going to like your page, I'm going to like leave a review, like help you grow, and stuff. That's the best case scenario.
Speaker 1:But you know what, when you have the right approach, the right things will happen. Maybe not every time, but more often than not it will happen. So when you're confident, you can go all in and charge properly and not even consider disclosing anything else to the client, because you know what. You have enough business, you know what you're worth and they better book you if they want a good event, because you know that you're going to, you're going to, you're going to do a great job and they're going to be really happy, but it's going to take time to get to that level. And, yeah, I, I, I really hope that these two hours that we spent together on this podcast episode brought some value into your life, into your personal life, into your professional life, as DJs, as people.
Speaker 1:This has been, you know, a tough month for me. There's a lot of stuff that I had to kind of face, a lot of truths, a lot of things. I was like you know what this is, how I got to go, do things, going forward in order to succeed. Whether it's my personal job, you know, do better at work, you know improve, get to a better point of work, a better position at work, whether it's my business, whether it's my personal relationships. It's important to evaluate that at least a couple of times a year, because there's no way you're doing everything correctly.
Speaker 1:So all the stuff that I'm talking about here is not just for your DJing. You got to be a decent human being. You got to be a good person to make your business succeed, because you're working with other people and people will pick up on your personality, your, your, your, your ways and everything. So people are good with that. People can sense who you are. So, hey, you know what I? I often chose to work with someone I trust and someone who gave me a good vibe, than someone who I know is more professional for certain things, for certain jobs.
Speaker 1:So there are so many ways to to make it in life. Uh, let's speak. Let's focus on DJing. There's so many ways to make it, uh, as a DJ, and I believe in each and every one of you Pros out there. You know I believe in you too, but I know you don't need me to believe in you. I know you're doing well. But beginners, the ones who are like, well, how can you make money from music? People told me I won't be able to, or I mean, how long will it take for me to succeed? You're asking all the wrong questions. You're focusing on all the wrong things. When you have that attitude, create a foundation for your business.
Speaker 1:Practice, get the right gear. Don't chip out and also don't spend too much money. Get something used for all. I care for your first gear. I'm very sentimental. I'm not going to sell my brand new like the gear that I got when I started. I'm going sentimental. I'm not going to sell my brand new like the gear that I got when I started. I'm going to keep that forever. But some people they buy it and they sell it. They buy it and they sell it. They buy used.
Speaker 1:Do whatever you got to do as long as you progress and don't collect stuff for it to collect dust. Just get what you need. Get the right legalities sorted out. You know contracts, liability insurance. Join an organization, a DJ organization, a community. Work on your soft skills, work on your entrepreneurial skills it's all. It will all come together. After a year of doing this stuff, you will see your business will start coming together. You'll start getting consistent work and you know like it's been working out for me and uh, and soon I'll be able to do it full time. I will not need any side work. I mean, I'll still keep it because, you know, in this economy, until I won't be able to do it anymore, I'll still keep doing it. Um, but uh, at some point. Yeah, you gotta. You gotta value your time and you gotta focus on what you love most and what works. So, once again, thank you very much for joining another episode of the Clever DJ. My name is Ilya and I'll be with you going forward. I'll see you next time.