The Clever DJ
Meet the dynamic duo discussing everything DJ related. Diverse perspectives from a Novice and a Pro.
The Clever DJ
How I Became A Successful DJ - Ep #40
Unlock the secrets to thriving in a crowded DJ landscape with our special guest, Ilia, who shares his unique approach to elevating your DJ career. Discover how to turn your passion for music into a lucrative business by offering more than just sound—think personalized experiences and multimedia magic. Learn the art of capturing the essence of every event through video and photos, creating lasting memories for clients while using these as powerful tools to promote your brand. Ilia's journey offers a treasure trove of tips for honing your skills and standing out in a saturated market.
Imagine transforming every gig into a multimedia spectacle that leaves your clients craving more. Ilia walks you through the power of customized audio clips and remixes, emphasizing the importance of compensating the talented individuals who help make it all happen. By leveraging these strategies, you can build a loyal clientele who appreciate the extra effort and attention to detail. Plus, he shares his insights on lighting and multimedia setups, offering practical advice on starting small and expanding as your business grows.
But it's not just about the technology—it's about people, too. Ilia talks about the importance of networking and collaboration, sharing how he transitioned some of his services into premium packages and created additional revenue streams like merch tables. Learn how to forge strong professional relationships with fellow DJs and event professionals, setting the stage for long-term success. Whether you're just starting out or looking to elevate your game, this episode is packed with actionable advice to help you create unforgettable experiences and build a thriving DJ career.
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Today's topic standing out in a saturated market, aka how to hit the ground running and making real money and happy clients. This is going to be a hustling one-on-one for DJs, if you will. All that coming up, welcome back to another episode of the Clever DJ. A quick intro before I get into things. My name is Ilya and I've been a DJ for just about three years now. This podcast is here to just document my journey from absolute beginner to pro and share what has worked for me ever since the beginning and what's still working for me today and not just for me, for my colleagues as well.
Ilia:Ever since I started DJing, I always knew it was really important to have proper DJing skills, like always knew it was really important to have proper DJing skills like reading a crowd you know, knowing how to transition, knowing your music, all that stuff. Of course, that's being a DJ, but I always focused on making myself unique in the way that I deliver the experience, and that's because I knew that I'm one of many hundreds thousands in my area who are DJing. Probably hundreds who are really good and thousands who are just like me are just starting out and wanting to make a name for themselves, and I knew that I have to offer additional personalized services for people to feel that their experience is enhanced and that with me, they get something they don't get with anyone else. Now, while everything I'm going to discuss today is not the simplest to achieve, this is a really awesome industry. It pays a lot of money if you do well, and it's not going to be easy achieving optimal results and getting lots of clients. But if you are willing to put the work into it, then I can tell you a few things that worked for me and worked for my friends, and some of them even were way more advanced than me and they saw me doing it and then they decided to do it too, and once they started doing it, they saw how it actually gave them an edge over others, even though they were already professional and they already had an amazing business with lots of clients. It just gave them something they didn't have before and kind of refreshed their business.
Ilia:So I'm not saying that everything I'm going to mention here today is a must, but at the same time, if you want to get there quicker and you don't want to wait two years, three years before you know you get consistent clients, these are some of the things you can do, amongst many other things. These are just some things I'm going to cover today in order to make a name for yourself, in order for you to be noticed among so many other DJs out there. So I have a set of tips here that worked for me and they still do, and some of these things were tried by other DJs whom I am in touch with and it worked for them as well. Again, it will take time to set this up in terms of planning it, knowing how to break it to the client, pricing it, maybe doing it for free in the beginning just to get a name for yourself, or for a very low cost. You know, kind of like baiting the client to go for you because you offer all these extra services, offer all these extra services. Whatever manner you choose to go about this, as long as you do it and you kind of personalize it to yourself, the way it works for you, then it's going to work out right. We can't really copy each other 100%. So my friends who actually tried this tried some of the things that I mentioned here. They did it in a manner that they felt comfortable doing it right. They have their own pitch their own prices, um, their own methods of achieving all of these things that I'm going to talk about. Some of them are very obvious. Some of them a lot of DJs know about. Some of them people know about but they don't really do because they don't think it's going to work. They thought about it but they're like you know what, probably just busy work and it's better to just DJ regularly and hope to get more clients. But I'm telling you this stuff works and I'll tell you why I know it works.
Ilia:I started DJing about three years ago. I had a break of about a year of not doing any gigs because I was focusing on the podcast and I was doing a few other things. Every time I jumped back into things, especially in the beginning when I was trying to get my own clients. I was doing all of this and it was amazing how easy it was for me to beat my competition and I'm not talking about other beginners, I'm talking about people who already had a year, two, three, five, 10 years over me. And sure, it also requires to be a good salesperson and know how to market yourself. I mean, some people don't have that skill, I have that skill, and some people's skill is even better than mine, but it's all kind of a balance. It comes together. So you got to focus on what you do best and find a way to make this happen Everything that I'm going to list on here and find a way to make this happen, everything that I'm going to list on here.
Ilia:So I have a list here and I'm going to start reading from it and we'll have a discussion about each point. Number one is offering to share event videos and photos. Now, before I even get into this, I recommend it to everyone who's not recording their gigs Record your gigs. Now. There's one more thing I got to speak about before we get into this point Make sure that you tell your client you're going to record the gig.
Ilia:It's extremely important because, while probably eight or nine out of 10 times nobody's going to care Maybe in your case it's 10 out of 10 times. In my case it's also 10 out of 10 times Nobody cared. Nobody ever minded that I'm doing this right. But you'll see why it's important later, because you're going to do something with that footage, not just keep it for yourself. And if you do all those things, they will kind of wonder why didn't you tell me, or you know they might say it, they might not, but it's better to tell them. All right, that's the foundation of everything.
Ilia:Tell them that you're going to record it and now this is where I'm not going to be able to tell you exactly how to do it. You need to put on your big boy pants and just know how to sell, feel. You know you gotta. You gotta speak in a confident manner to them. Don't say something like uh is it okay if I record your entire um, wedding, uh for myself to have, uh for myself to have for later? Obviously they're probably not going to say yes, because it sounds really creepy.
Ilia:And also, no matter how you say it, if it's something that's not confident, if you say it in a non-confident manner, they're probably not going to want to do this. Like, psychologically, they'll just the first thing they'll think is no. So what I'll do, what I do is and they even have a clause in my contract that they're going to be recorded. If they said no, which never happened before, I'm not going to include that clause and I'm still going to record the gig, but I'm going to record just myself, because I like to record myself and make sure that you know, uh, I have something like a reference of the gig, if anything cool happened for my promotion or anything like that. Again, it's just not realistic for me to think about a situation where I was told not to record it. So I'm just trying to think what I would do. But, yeah, probably just record myself and that's it. So recording the gig is going to really help you capture all of these special moments from the event, whether it's a live performance or the crowd's reaction.
Ilia:If you did something cool or someone else did something cool and just behind the scene moments right, maybe yourself DJing, or the bride and groom doing something funny in the background, or on the birthday or house party, something else funny that happened and nobody else noticed it but they wouldn't mind sharing it All of those moments can be recorded. Now, the best way to do that is to get an assistant. Some people even hire. I know of one DJ who hires a professional photographer. She's, she's his friend, but he pays her to come to gigs and, uh, she, she has a video camera, a photo camera. While she uses the DSLR, right and um, she records really special moments from the gig and then edits it together and he uses it as promotional material for himself, for the clients, for whatever it may be.
Ilia:So what I do personally, I bring an assistant. I obviously pay my assistant, but it's not going to be as much as paying a professional videographer or photographer, and I'll get there as well. But right now I have a couple assistants. They're great with their camera. I got them a gimbal, I got them, you know, everything they need in order to get pretty cool footage. Now you'll think, well, how good is that going to be? Trust me, even if you record something with your phone and, um, you know it's just okay, they'll still appreciate it because of what I'm about to say. You know, in the next few points this is all going to come together.
Ilia:Now I record myself and then I have my assistant. If my assistant doesn't come with me, I have a tripod and I have my camera I mean my phone and I just find moments in between to record. I might even get off my might even get out of my DJ booth and get on the dance floor and just party with them. Right, and it depends on the client. Sometimes you can't do that. They will never appreciate it right, but some of them, you build that rapport with them that they want that from you, right, and that's what I do. That's what my mentor actually noticed. He said, wow, you're really good with the clients, you're really good with the people. They always want to party with you, dance with you, sing with you, right, and I'm just good at that. So that's what works for me.
Ilia:So, find some way to record highlights from the event is what I'm saying. So I recommend to get a camera that records the whole event. Get the main part of the, of the, of the venue or wherever you are, that also captures you and your and your deck and everything. And yeah, and then be mindful that you're being recorded. So don't you know, do or say anything that you wouldn't want to be on the recording because, again, we're going to use all this footage later potentially. All right, we'll get there.
Ilia:Now, one thing you can do with those videos and those photos and that footage you get is to create social media content. So obviously, for yourself and for the client. Now, if it's a wedding likely, you're not going to do anything like that. This is mostly for corporate gigs, um, or uh, like private events that are not weddings or wakes or something else. That's inappropriate, um, because you're not going to promote a wedding, right? But, um, you know, and it's great footage for certain companies, especially if it's not a very large company and they need the promotion. This is really good for them to have that, because you just created something for them.
Ilia:And you'll be surprised how many clients hire you in industries where you think they'll know what to do and how to create a video, promotional material, and they don't know anything about it. They're not technological about it. They're not technological. So when you take, let's say, a 20 minute video and you cut it out nicely, you cut it nicely, you edit it nicely and you create, let's say, four or five videos out of that. Each of them is like 30 seconds long or a minute long and you show them those videos, they're going to be mesmerized. They're going to say, wow, you're not just a DJ, you just created all this footage for us. And, of course, you're creating work for yourself. I'm not disputing that. But now you got them booking you for the next gig and that's what happened to me and I didn't mind doing that. I don't have thousands of clients. I don't have hundreds of clients, right, I have consistent clients. I started out. I'm doing well, now my business is picking up and what happens is, as you grow, you hire people, you create a team.
Ilia:Now, if you're just a DJ and you're an amazing DJ and you don't care to do all this extra stuff, then okay, then this is not for you, but it worked for me and I know it works for others, and that's what this episode is all about. You're going to create whatever you need. You're going to put in place whatever's necessary for this to work out. So in the beginning, you do it yourself. You start simple. Then you, you know, you get a nicer camera. You learn how to use your phone better. You get a gimbal. You learn how to DJ your phone better. You get a gimbal. Uh, you learn how to DJ and also step away from the deck for like 30 seconds to get another video. It just you got to hustle. This is pretty much a hustling guide and you need to find a way to make it all happen, and I wouldn't be talking about it if this wasn't working right.
Ilia:This is the reason why I'm talking about this is because I decided to share my secrets and, again, a lot of the stuff that I'm talking about. You'll say, well, I know about this. I mean, obviously you're recording, you'll record your gig and obviously you'll maybe offer something to the client, but I noticed that a lot of people don't do it. I don't know if they don't know about it or it's just too much work for them, but you have no idea how many gigs this is getting me and how, how much success this is bringing, because I'm making someone happy and giving them full value for what they paid me. And at the same time, I love editing. I love taking videos, photos. This is just another hobby of mine, so it's great for me. I'm enjoying myself.
Ilia:So let's say, you took a few videos and you shared it with your client who has some sort of company and next year they're going to have the same event. So they're going to share that. They're going to use that video, they're going to see you on that video. If they don't use the one where you are DJing and they have like a different view, fine Point is now they can use that video and recycle it every year to promote an event or just for them to have for their, for their memories. Right and likely. They're going to see you on those videos because you're going to give them a few where you are also in the, you know in the footage and they're probably going to hire you again. You're just going to become the go-to person for that, for that gig or for that company and it works, it works and you know what it's.
Ilia:It is more work for you because you're not just djing now, you're also taking videos and photos and you're thinking about so many other things other than just you know the music and especially for a beginner, this is so much work. So you're not going to do this from your first gig, right? But keep, keep that in mind. You know, once you, once you you're able to control the music and everything, and and you, you get a good grasp of the crowd and you feel like you're able to control the music and everything, and you get a good grasp of the crowd and you feel like you're confident enough to start taking footage, then do that.
Ilia:If you're still not comfortable, I said it before bring an assistant right, Pay them something to make them feel good. Maybe they just want to learn how to DJ, right, a lot of people will come with you for free. Now I did say don't, you don't have to listen to me, but don't make people work for free for too long. All right, they'll appreciate you bringing them with you and showing them how everything works behind the scene and getting the free meal and you know the party and the free drinks and everything. But after five, 10 gigs, you know they'll probably wonder you know, I mean, this was fun, but you're getting value from me. Can I get something for it, right? So you make a thousand bucks per gig, 2000 bucks per gig. Give them 10 percent, right, gas money, money for their time for the day. I'm sure they'll appreciate it. And one more thing you can do you can actually tag your clients in those videos. If they're okay with it, you can tag them and now that creates promotion for them on your page and other pages and also it promotes you because anyone who's going to see that is going to see that you were the one DJing that event. So definitely win-win for everyone. And, once again, only when it actually makes sense to do that, right. This is not going to be very logical for every gig, but I had plenty of gigs where I could do this and it was great for everyone.
Ilia:Number three customized audio clips or event recaps. You can create personalized audio clips or remixes for clients, especially if they have a favorite song or a moment from the event. For example, if there are some songs which you transition a certain way and they really enjoyed it, and they'll come to you and say, wow, that was an amazing transition, or you know that these are their favorite songs. All you got to gotta do and I did that before I come home after the gig. If I'm still, you know, all like hyper from the gig and I'm not tired yet and I don't want to go to sleep yet, um, then I'll get on the computer. Uh, I know how to use music production software, so that's what I do. Um, another skill you have to learn, but it's so easy. A couple of videos GetFL Studio, ableton, Audacity.
Ilia:I don't know how well it will work in Audacity, but it's so easy to put two tracks side by side and merge them exactly where they should be transitioned. It's actually easier than DJing, because you have all the time in the world to find that spot and then edit exactly how it's going to transition. It's super simple. You know what I should actually upload, that I should upload a guide on how to do that. It's so easy. Once I show you, you'll be doing that all the time, because people will really appreciate it.
Ilia:So I come home and I create, let's say, three transitions for them for tracks that I really like, and then I put it all together, kind of like a mixtape, and then I will send it to them via email and I'll say, hey, I know you really like those songs and you liked how I transitioned them and I saw you were really vibing to it with everyone. Here you go, you can listen to that in your car or anywhere you go, and that's it. Now they have something that they couldn't download anywhere. It was a one-time experience and if you hadn't sent that file to them, they would never have it. So now you gave them something, likely for free, right, I wouldn't charge them for that. Um, that's more like to to get them to to call me again next time and to keep in touch with me throughout the year. Um, so little things like that really really help.
Ilia:And how long did it take me? What? 10, 20 minutes. It's worth it, um, and it's fun. Again, I do it because I love it. I'm not doing this just for the money. I do it because I enjoy every moment of it. I love music, I love taking videos, I love taking photos, I love being on the mic. Um, you know I love DJing. So all of this is not busy work for me. I enjoy it, especially with the business. It's bringing me right, it's bringing me consistent business and I'm not drowning in clients yet, but it's getting there. I'm doing much better and a lot of these tips are why I'm doing so much better.
Ilia:You can also offer them a short recap mix of the night that includes key songs or just key moments from the event that highlight specific parts that you know they're going to like, and it can be pretty much like a tailored memento, something that is going to be with them forever, and it can be marketed as a thank you gift post event or an additional paid service. It really depends how you want to go about it. Again, if you're an absolute beginner, this will be a great bonus to give them right. We'll talk about it later, about actually offering that as a service, but for now, this is more like hey, this is how you can stand out from the competition and do a bit extra work, but get more clients, retain them, et cetera.
Ilia:So the first one that I suggested in this point was taking a couple of songs that you know they love, two, three, four songs and creating um and transitioning them, uh, those songs, for them. By the way, I should have said that earlier. If you don't know how to use, um, uh, you know music production software. I mean there is a record button in Serato, music production software. I mean there is a record button in Serato, in Rekordbox. You just create the mix for them, record it and send it to them. So that's another thing I thought. I mean I probably should have said it, but it's pretty self-explanatory. I like doing that with the music production software because I just create more than just a transition. I remake it, I create my own track out of it pretty much. But, yeah, you could also do it like that. Both ways work and clearly they liked it with you DJing it. So it's going to be pretty much identical if you do it by recording it from Serato or Rekordbox.
Ilia:So that is the first thing you're going to do. You can give them just, uh, three or four files of two, three song transitions that you know they're really liked, they really liked from the event, uh, and then the second thing is give them a longer file with more of these moments from, uh, from the gig, and you know where that file comes from. That comes from the recording you have already from the event, because you recorded your entire set and I'm not talking about the video, I'm talking about recording your actual set within Serato, which is why I always record my set, and if I can see that everyone went wild during a certain part, then I'm going to write down on my phone. You know, I'm going to 29 minutes 45 seconds or 45 minutes 26 seconds, and I'm going to take those moments and create like a little mixed tape out of it. It's going to be a longer one, right? And that's something else you can send them or you can put it, you know, on a USB drive, but we'll get to that later on a USB drive, but we'll get to that later.
Ilia:So, number four branded event materials. You can create a personalized playlist post-event with the event's logo or the couple's name and their venue and the date if it's a wedding, and it's very simple to do that, and you can upload that to YouTube, privately or publicly, depends on the client. And now they have that. They have that video that usually, let's say, a videographer would, would create for them, and but it's from your own point of view, from the DJ's point of view, which is something really cool. It's very different. A lot of people told me oh, you know what? We hired a videographer but we're so happy you gave us this like your own video. It's so different. It's like an action view of everything, right from your point of view, and, um, it's just additional material for them. I mean, why wouldn't they like it, right? Uh, so you can, you can do that for them. They can use that for for promotional material, for again keepsake, you know, like their own memory. Honestly, in any way, it's a win-win.
Ilia:Again, you can also offer custom lighting effects that will match the theme. For example, if you know, their theme is purple and gold. What I do is and that's very important If you don't have any lights, like as a DJ, that's, in my opinion, a problem. You should definitely have lights. Every person who called me said if you don't have any lights, like as a DJ, that's, in my opinion, a problem. You should definitely have lights. Every person who called me said do you have lights? Are we going to have to pay for the lights?
Ilia:So in the beginning it was just you know, whatever lights I had. I was. I said, yes, it comes with a, with a package, with a basic package, and that's the only package I had. Right, I didn't say I didn't have the basic package, whatever like silver, gold package. I couldn't do that in the beginning. I just I took whatever gigs I could take, I tried to get as much money out of it and I gave them everything I had. Right, once I had some promotional material, once I had some experience, you know I started inflating the price a little bit because I had reason to do that. Right, I could stand behind that price.
Ilia:But definitely get some par lights. You know those up lights, put them around the venue, around the whatever location where you're DJing. If they're going to have and that's not even like an extra, that's I believe every DJ should have it. But I'm going to. I added it to the list because I saw so many DJs who don't have that.
Ilia:Beginners obviously specifically Get get those lights, put them around the venue. If they have purple and gold, for example, then uh, then make them either like cyan or purple, something that will accent it, something that will make it look really like the, make the event look more prestigious with the lights. It's it just it looks so much nicer. And then obviously get, um, get some spotlights. Uh, there there's this, um, this, um, bar this light bar on on Amazon super cheap. Uh, bar this light bar on on amazon super cheap again something else I should probably post on the website. But, um, you can get that, set it, set it kind of offset from your, from your uh, from your booth and um, and aim it at you know, at the dance floor. And it just the difference before and after dance floor and it just the difference before and after is incredible. It just it makes everything look so much more professional, so much nicer.
Ilia:And in the reviews that I get after the event, they actually speak about the lighting. The lighting was amazing. They speak about the djing, but they also mentioned the lighting was great. Thank you for uh, for making our, our venue look so much better. They're noticing it. It's actually important. So that.
Ilia:And now, more specifically, and as a beginner, I'm not saying you have to get it right away. It's not cheap and it's more time to set something up. But get a monogram gobo projector. So it's pretty much a light that has a little template like a metal template or something in front of it which projects like some sort of like logo or some sort of shape, and you can obviously also project the couple's name, the date, the you know, a congratulations message, anything you want, and that makes things so much nicer for the video, for the photos, it makes things look more official. A lot of clients actually like that and that's something you can upsell, it's something you can make more money from. But again, in the beginning, if it helps you get a gig, get the gig. So I would definitely recommend doing both of those things.
Ilia:Start from the lights. Definitely don't skip that. You have to have it from the start. You don't have to get the best ones and you don't have to get too many, but get at least a handful and get some light bar something.
Ilia:I'll tell you how I started. So what I did was I had only two of those power lights, those up lights. I had only two of them. I got almost the cheapest ones, um, but they were still good enough. I didn't go for the absolute cheapest. Uh and um. I know some pros even use them because, uh, they have lots of them and then they have the more expensive ones for other things. But uh, I got them and I, I just put those two in the most obvious spot, maybe at the entrance, uh, wherever people are coming from, and it wasn't for weddings I wasn't doing weddings yet Maybe beside my DJ booth, right?
Ilia:Because a lot of people were going to take videos of me in those like private events, like parties, like house parties and stuff like that, and they were all going to be facing towards me where the videos are going to be taken in the dance floor. And then I thought, okay, two is really too little, so I got four more and then now I have a lot more than that because I'm covering the entire venue, but I had six. Now I can get a much larger, I can cover a much larger area, and I would go, you know, maybe every 10 feet or every six feet I would put a light on either side of the of the venue or location where I was. And then I decided to take four of those lights and put them on a T bar, so a bar that has a tripod and another line across, and this way I would have like a light bar and a much cheaper one than you know, the, the ones you get that already come set up and all the cables are within the housing or whatever, right, and I did it myself and it was like 20 to 30 minutes to set it up every time. And I told myself you know what, next time I get a big gig, I'm going to buy that light bar.
Ilia:And then I got a gig that required more lighting. So I took some of the money and bought that special light bar that did not require me using power strips and finding a way to kind of wrap the cables around the bar. It was so much work to make it look nice. It was so much work to make it look nice. But as a beginner you have to find a way to make it look nice but also save money, because when you only get one gig a month or one gig every two months, it's hard to afford all these things, especially where you already spend so much money on all of this gear and maybe a course and music and everything else right. And then now where I have several gigs a month, I can easily take some of that money and say, hey, you know what it's time to get this or it's time to get that, and I invest back in the business. Now it's easier, but I remember what it was like when I just started on the first year. Yeah, it was, um, it was hard to part with that money and and wonder will I really ever use this piece of equipment that I just purchased? But I had to believe in myself and say you know what you will, you will. You'll get more clients. Go and get that, it's worth it.
Ilia:But you've got to know where to stop. Don't go and get moving heads like lights that cost $1,500 a piece or $2,000 a piece that costs 1500 bucks a piece or 2000 bucks a piece, because some things you have to only get if the, if the gig demands it, and you also need to know if you are going to actually be able to to set it up right. If you don't have the knowledge on how to set it up, make sure you have sufficient time to actually learn how to use it. It's not easy. Setting up those, those lights some of those lights it's a lot of work. Learn how to use it it's not easy. Setting up those slides some of those slides it's a lot of work. I've seen how much work it takes sometimes to set up those slides, especially like when you have to program them and everything. Yeah.
Ilia:So all of these touches that you add to the event can really create a lasting impression on the client and it will really show them that you care about their event and you treat it as your own, because you're really trying to bring out all the potential of the event, of the venue, and you're really trying to make it the best it can be. You're not just coming there to DJ, do your part and go home and never talk to them again. And they will know, they'll notice it, and even if they didn't know that you could do more for them, if you do more for them, they'll be so much more impressed. So there's just no way this will work against you Absolutely no way. Exercise common sense. You know logic. Is this tip appropriate for this type of gig? Or I want to use this tip for this gig, but I am not very good at selling yet, so let me become good at selling. So practice, speak to yourself, speak to a friend, try to sell it before you actually go and speak to the client. But all of this stuff works. It's 100% guaranteed. It works if you know how to do it. So I'm giving you the tips and hopefully you can actually make it work for yourself, because I know this works and I know it's going to help you.
Ilia:Number five live streaming and instant content sharing. That's something that I didn't get to do too much of, but I did it a few times and people really appreciated it. I'll tell you where I did it. I did it at a Sweet 16 where they had a huge family from Italy and a lot of people couldn't come because most of the time, people wouldn't just travel for a Sweet 16. But it was a big birthday. It's a very long story why it was so important for everyone to show up. It was just a lot. It was just uh, a lot of people came from overseas, but not everyone could, and that was one event. That was uh. There were two weddings and I think there was something else. Yes, I think there was one more. I forget what it was right now, but there were like three or four instances where I did this.
Ilia:I live streamed the entire event and I created the link. I gave it to the clients and I told them listen, for those who can't attend your event and still want to be able to experience it, here's a link. They can see it live and also it's going to be recorded. So if they want to download it later, you can give them the permission to download it. So you have the link, you have the password, you can decide who gets to download it and who doesn't. So one link is for viewing, one link is for downloading, and they were mesmerized that you could even do this. They had no idea that was even possible. Right, it's like it was like 2023 and they didn't know you could do something like that. So don't assume that people will know that all of this stuff is possible. Lots of these clients have no idea when it comes to technology. So I really recommend offering that, especially in weddings, especially when you know they have a large family overseas and they can't make it to the wedding. It's just such an amazing bonus, such an amazing way to still celebrate with people whom they love and couldn't make it to the main event.
Ilia:Number six event souvenirs and personalized merch. Now, this is going to be definitely a part of a premium package, because it's going to cost you money. Some of it is cheaper, but most of it is not going to be cheap. So if you're going to do it, that's where you're going to draw the line. That's where I would tell you, don't do this just to get a gig. This is going to be too expensive, too much work, too much money and just like you're really, at this point, really lowering from your own value. If you're going to do this, so only do this if they agree to pay for it, kind of upfront. So let's say, if you were going to charge them $1,500 for the wedding or whatever event they have, then you're going to charge them $1,750 or $1,800 or $2,000. And then you're going to offer this $1,750 or $1,800 or $2,000. And then you're going to offer this so it can be custom branded, merch, like USB sticks with your DJ name or your face on it, however you think people will remember you when they look at it, right? So usually it's going to be your DJ name or your DJ business name and it's going to have all the music from the event. So either it's just like a kind of like a spotify playlist for them to listen to, or you're actually going to include the recording of your set on there, which you'll have to edit because, uh, they might not want to have the dinner music on there. So you're gonna you're gonna take the best part of that night and put it on there like an hour or two hours of dance floor, right, and that's going to be on that um, on that uh USB stick. If you can get uh the speeches and stuff like that recorded as well, you can put it on there as well. But I think just putting uh so far for me, just putting the music on there, was enough.
Ilia:I started that's one thing I started doing as a a gift. I never charged for it and you know it helped me kind of create a more, more of a name for myself and get a return, return business, return clients. And then later I started charging for it. Later I would not offer it for free anymore, right. So now I don't offer it for free, but that's how it started.
Ilia:And and I actually had a couple of clients who were wondering, hey, you used to give us those USBs at the end of, at the end of every gig. So you know, I broke it to them in a way that it was respectful. I told them, yes, that's something I used to offer for free, but now it's part of a premium package. When I told them, yes, that's something I used to offer for free, but now it's part of a premium package and I was like you know what, for this year I'll do it for you, cause you didn't know, I'll give it to you, let's say, if we didn't speak about it or or if somehow they didn't order it, but now they want it, I'm not going to lose my business over over USB stick right, like over over a USB drive and like 15, 30, 45 minutes of work putting, putting something on it. So if it's a return client I've had several, several gigs with them I'll do it for them anyway. But then for next time they'll know, they'll know that's going to cost money. So that's part of sales.
Ilia:You can't just be, you know, like nope, that costs money. No, that's too bad, I'm not giving it to you. You got to know how to speak to people who are already your clients, people who are brand new, people who you know are, you know, just trying to save at every point and you really need to come towards them and aid them a little bit with something. Maybe give them a bit of a discount. Just try to help everyone in order to help yourself. Right, use, exercise common sense.
Ilia:The more expensive stuff would be and I actually ordered that from Amazon or from other cheaper places but it takes longer to come online. You know when you order it. And that would be, let's say, light up shirts, shirts with like a light, with a sound spectrum, and it lights up to the sound of the music, and different you know, neon light bracelets and just a bunch of stuff. And I would have a table like a merch table where I would just put all these for people to take and that's it. I'm not manning that table because all that stuff was already paid for. I already got 250 bucks, 500 bucks on top of everything, to get that stuff put there. And again, there are some other things you can do to make extra money, for example, that's one thing. You know what I'll give you like an extra point. Number seven Let me see if I have anything else here and number six before I move to number seven, um, no, I don't, okay, there we go. Number seven I'll give you an extra point.
Ilia:Did you know that you can actually make connections with the people who you work with? So you do a wedding or any other gig where there's photographers, videographers, a sax player, a singer, a violinist, take their contact, share your contact. You have business cards right. They're not just for the guests in the event. You actually probably get more business from the professionals. You work with the other contractors the videographer, photographer, violinist, sax player, anyone there who's also working always, also always make a good impression in front of the coordinator, the event planners. They have a long reach in these industries and you want to make, you want to keep them happy. They'll remember you and I remember that. I remember them. So, yeah, I hear someone's name. Oh, I worked with her before or I worked with him before. So make sure that you share contacts and that you are helping them, because these people will appreciate it and they'll remember you and they'll offer you gigs. And you offer them gigs because you're always doing weddings, birthdays, like you'll need each other at some point, right? So, for example, I'll give you an example Uh, a videographer came a little late, had to set up super quickly at a wedding and, uh, he had to have me, um, uh, connect him to my speaker, uh, to my mixer and everything, and I, I did it so quickly for him and I, you know, I noticed that when he came in that I knew right away that he will need that right.
Ilia:So I approached him. I said you probably need to connect to my mixer, right, you need sound. And he was so relieved that I just I already was two steps ahead and I was helping him with whatever he needed Every time there was something. Cause now he's like 15 minutes behind, 20 minutes behind, so he's already stressed out. So I'm helping him catch up. I tell him hey, listen, we're going to have speeches. Hey, listen, they're going to do their first dance. So I always prepare them for something that's going to happen.
Ilia:A lot of DJs just go for it. They don't think about the photographer, the videographer. They assume that they're always on the ready waiting for something to happen. They might be sitting eating, they might be setting something up, setting lights, setting sensors. There's so much gear they have to handle and they appreciate it. So I had a sax player call me not too long ago this year and he said hey, ilya, I have, uh, a wedding for you. They're looking for a DJ. Uh, I already told them that I'm going to speak to you. Uh, it's a family, uh, it's a family friend. Um, do you want the gig? It's on this and this date. Um, like, it's on this date at this location. And luckily it was available. And look at that. Now I have a new branch, like now. Now I have a new kind of set of clients. Now, uh, this guy's recommending me he is a professional in this industry as well and then I have all these new clients that are, uh, all these new potential clients from this gig and, um, I got this gig. That's amazing, and I got it because I was really cool with him and I did a good job. So it's important to do that Now.
Ilia:What I wanna finish this with is you can actually create a team, and that's what I'm working on now. I'm doing that now. I've had a couple of these situations where I had, like, a team for a wedding or some event that required the people I'm talking about A sax player, a videographer, a photographer, a photo booth right, I'm still in the process of creating it and creating a team where, if, let's say, one person is not available, I have another one. But so far I have a few people I can select from and I already used them a couple of times and it made me more income and it saved the client a lot of time.
Ilia:So what I'm talking about is the client, let's say, is looking for a photo booth for a videographer, a photographer, a violinist, a sax player, a singer, this that you know lights, uh, or sorry, um, um, fireworks, or you know, like, um, anything, anything that they're looking for. Let's say, you have those contacts, now you're going to charge a small premium because you have a database of people that you know are going to be great for the job. And instead of let's say telling them, hey, go for this client, they're looking for that, give them a call, you're going to say, okay, I'm going to set up a team and I'm going to come with them. So it's like they're coming with you, like your entourage, and the client is going to pay you an extra $200, $500, $700 to bring those people with you to, to pretty much create that experience for them, because now they don't have to call anyone, they don't have to worry about it. You're going to be the one mitigating, you're going to be the one who is the middleman and bringing all those people to the gig. Of course, you're going to give them the client's contact and the client's gonna discuss stuff with them, but point is, they're going to pay you and you're going to pay them, and there's other ways to go about it. This is how it works for me Now. You made so much more money and you save the client so much more time, and they know how it is. They know that if they find it themselves, it's going to be cheaper. But they don't have the time to think about it. They have a wedding to prepare for, right. They have so many things to plan. They don't care dropping another 500 bucks and making sure that you bring them the absolute perfect people for the job and that you're going to handle everything right. You're not just calling someone and telling them hey, speak to this client. You're handling a lot more than that, but it's worth it for them.
Ilia:So all of these points here are some of the things I did over the last few years, ever since I started DJing myself, in order to have an edge in this industry. It's so competitive, it's so saturated. There's so many people doing that. I found ways to become different in a good way, to be unique in a way that helps me stand out in this industry and win over a client and to bring me pretty much return clients, and all of that stuff really helped me and I thought to myself you know what? It's time to share it, because I honestly really want to help you guys, all of you who are just starting out, and you know, getting one gig every couple months or one or two gigs a year Uh, I was there, right, that was my first year and um, and then I just it just skyrocketed. For me it was actually the beginning of my first year and then I started doing all these things and then I just it, just it, just it just elevated right and then I took like a not a full year, but I took quite a few months off from gigging and um, and then I continued with with the same method and it still works.
Ilia:Yes, it's more work. Yes, it, yes it's going to require you to learn new skills, but isn't this what it's all about? So, if you actually do this because you love it, if you actually do this because you care about the clients and you love the music and you love gigging, going to gigs and making good money, all of these tips work. It's just that you need to know when to approach clients about some of these tips, how to sell them, and it's going to be the journey that you have to take as a beginner. We all have different skills. For me, I was always good when it came to sales. You know dealing with people, marketing. So that's why I took this approach with my DJing, because I had to find something else that will help me stand out, and I took one of my skills and I kind of mixed it together with something that I wanted to do, right, um.
Ilia:So now I'm sharing it with you and if there's anything that you don't know how to do and you want some extra advice and you want to discuss something, you're more than welcome reaching out through the email. That's under every episode on YouTube, any platform you're on Spotify, apple Music in the description there's an email. You can send us an email. Send me an email and I will respond as quickly as possible with as much detail as possible, because I believe that in this industry, there's a lot of work for everyone and you know, helping each other is not gonna, you know, take away work from you. We're all in this together and I really believe that if we help each other, it's going to be even that much better for all of us.
Ilia:Definitely, reach out and let me know if there's anything you think I can help you with, whether it's questions. You have stuff maybe that I didn't cover on this podcast yet, or things that we covered in the past and stuff that you probably want to discuss to understand better. Or, for example, any of the tips from today, if it's too complicated for you and you don't know how to approach it, because today was a bit of a different episode. These were a bit of more advanced tips, but they definitely work, and if you need some help incorporating this into your business, then I can definitely help you with that. So just send an email, get in touch, and I'll do my best to be there for you guys. So thank you very much for joining another episode of the Clever DJ. I'll see you next week. Stay clever. We'll see you next time.