Disc Jockey News

I caught this new TV show on a cable network called "Rock the Reception" and you may want to have your clients watch this show.

The premise of this show is that Bridal couples want to make their reception unique to them by having a special customized first dance.

Each show follows two couples who hire a dance choreographer to teach them and sometimes their bridal party special dance moves to their favorite song.

I have watched two shows so far and the songs selected were “Cant’ Touch This” by M.C. Hammer, “Ain’t Nothin’ but a Good Time” by Poison, “Crazy In Love” by Beyonce and “Footloose” By Kenny Loggins.

With only a short time until the wedding day the Bridal couple asks their bridal party members to join them in learning a choreographed dance routine and then surprise their guests when it comes to their special first dance as husband and wife.

The DJ is of course in on the joke and begins to plays some standard slow first dance when suddenly he has technical difficulties. At one wedding the guests actually begin to boo the DJ when he jumps into the song “Footloose” and the Bridal Couple begin their dance.

The looks on the faces of family and friends is worth watching this show alone.

The TV show interviews some of the guests who go nuts over the surprise. Then they talk with the Bridal couple who are so happy that they planned and executed a wonderful fun surprise for their guests.

The best part is that it doesn’t always have to be just the first dance together. They can plan a special Bridal Party dance, or a Father/Bride or a Mother/Groom dance. There is not limit to the imagination or fun that can be created with this idea.

I have been talking with couples about this kind of thing for sometime now with little to no sucess but now with the TV show it may catch on as the latest trend.

I am now going to suggest to all my wedding couples to watch this show to see if they would like to add something fun and unique for their reception.

Jeff Richards: Party Time Productions

http://www.PartyTimeProductions.biz

Posted by Jeff Richards at 10:28 PM | Permalink

AOL posted a list of 25 items that are slowly vanishing off the face of the earth only to be found in museums, history books, flea markets and on wikipedia.

Here are a few of those everyday items that we once took for granted but soon will be gone.

The Yellow Pages
Phone Booths
VCR’s & VHS Tapes
The Out House
Hand Written Letters
Drive In Movie Theatres
Answering Machines
Newspapers
Analog TV
Honey Bees
Ham Radio
Wild Horses
Incandescent Light Bulbs

Here are a few items from the Disc Jockey Industry that are disappearing…..

Par Can Lights
Amplifiers
Wired Speakers
Chicken Dance
Vinyl Records
Wired Microphones
Cassettes
The Macarena
Incandescent Light Bulbs
HUGE Speakers
HUGE Subwoofers
Compact Discs
The Hokey Pokey
Non Self Powered Speakers
Gigantic DJ Light Shows
Button Pushing Monkey DJ

With new technology advances every day the DJ Industry is always changing.

Are you keeping up? Or will you and your business go the way of the Eight-Track Tape?

Jeff Richards: Party Time Productions

http://www.PartyTimeProductions.biz

Posted by Jeff Richards at 11:05 AM | Permalink

I watched this new and very weird show last night and saw the strangest thing….

The show is called “Wanna Bet” where four “Celebrities” (by whose definition?) make bets on everyday regular contestants who claim they can perform unique stunts or have strange abilities.

The premise of the show is that these “Celebrities” are given 25,000 to bet on the many different contestants by trying to guess if they will be able to complete their task or fail and place a wager. If they guess correctly they win the amount they bet, if they are wrong they lose that amount. The money is then donated to the “Celebrities” favorite charity.

The one stunt that blew me away was when a guy named Harold said that he could tell you the name of the artists and the compact disc title just by licking the disc.

That’s right, he is going to lick the CD while blind folded and correctly guess at least four out of five CDs selected at random to complete his task.

They had Harold sit at a dinner table approximately ten feet in front of a buffet style dinner table that had 16 sterling silver domed dinner trays placed upon the tables. Under the tray domes are CDs inside its plastic case with artwork containing only the name of the artists and CD title.

He is then blind folded and the room is silent. The two hosts take turns pulling mini discs from a bowl that have the numbers one to sixteen on them. They pull a number at random then go get the dinner tray with the corresponding number.

Wearing gloves they open the tray dome, pull out the CD and place it into Harold’s awaiting hands. Harold then sticks out his tongue and begins to lick all over the CDs printed side. He then would guess the artist and CD title.

The first of five CDs he guessed correctly. He missed on the second but came back to correctly name four of the five compact discs just by licking them accomplishing his task!

I recorded Harold’s adventure to see if there was a way to figure out how he did it. I also do this when watching magicians or illusionists.

****SPOLIER ALERT****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT*****

If you do not want to learn how Harold was able to correctly name the artist and disc title do not read on…..

…………………………..if you want to learn here it is………………………………..

While examining in slow motion over and over as Harold licked the CDs, I did notice that he always licked the printed/picture side of the disc. He also licked in certain areas over and over and then move to another area of the disc before announcing his guess.

Certain discs he guessed very quickly, others took a few extra licks.

Here are the discs that he licked and a description of the design on the disc face:

Iron Maiden: “Wildest Dreams” had a star burst design from the center hole out to the edges of the disc.

Timbaland: Timbaland Presents Shock Value. This disc has a very special design on its face.

The Game: “Doctors Advocate” only had the printing of the title at the very top of the disc and no where else.

Pink: “I’m Not Dead” had a unique design on it.

Foo Fighters: “In Your Honor” has a picture of a pig on one side of the disc.

If you were to take most any compact disc and use your finger to gently rub over the artwork, lettering and pictures you would find that there is a very microscopic raise to the edges of these items.

I would be willing to guess that the 16 compact discs in the serving trays were provided by Harold. He selected disc that are very different from one another and memorized the location of the printing, artwork and/or pictures. Then using his tongue he located the raised items and recalled the disc that had text/picture/design in the correct area as the disc.

I would be willing to guess that Harold guessed incorrectly on the second disc on purpose to add a little suspense and the look of difficulty to his task. It wouldn’t have been as exciting if Harold would have guessed all five correctly. By missing the second disc it gives the idea of a fifty/fifty chance of correctly naming the disc and not finishing his task.

Just like magic and illusions, there’s always a trick to it!

Jeff Richards: Party Time Productions

http://www.PartyTimeProductions.biz

Posted by Jeff Richards at 09:28 AM | Permalink

These are the top ten traits of an "over achiever" acording to Michael Brassil.

I personnally believe that these are also the top ten traits to a good business owner of a DJ service. What do you think?

10: Have a respectful attitude towards money.

9) Have technical knowledge.

8) Be very resourceful.

7) Have strong communication skills.

6) Have well developed relations skills.

5) Have foresight.

4) Be objective.

3) Have a positive mental attitude.

2) Have preseverance.

1) Have a powerful need to achive.

This list was written by Michael Brassil - author of:

"The Only Business Start-Up Guide You Will Ever Need."
"10 Dynamic Traits of Over-Achievers"
"The 8 Toughest Business Questions"
"3 Essential Elements of Operating a Successful Business"
"16 Vital Traits Shared by Successful Entrepreneurs"

Jeff Richards: Party Time Productions

http://www.PartyTimeProductions.biz

Posted by Jeff Richards at 01:20 PM | Permalink

If you have never seen the TV show "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" then you’re missing out on a lot of great free business information!

This show is broadcast on CNBC typically in the prime time evening and then again later in the night and several times a week (Check your listings)

Donny Deutsch is the chairman of Deutsch, Inc., a $2.7 billion marketing company founded by his father that is the 10th-largest U.S. advertising agency. In 2000, Donny sold his agency to the Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) for a reported $265 million.

He is also the managing partner of Deutsch Open City, an independent production company.

In 2005, Harper Collins published Deutsch's business motivation book, Often Wrong, Never in Doubt, written with co-author Peter Knobler.

Currently, Deutsch is the host of the CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. He has also made appearances on the NBC show The Apprentice, starring Donald Trump.

Deutsch is a 1969 graduate of P.S. 188 (Queens, NY, USA), Martin Van Buren High School. Graduated from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania.

This gentlemen is very high energy, get to the point and tell me the truth kind of person. He hosts this show where he has multi million (Billion) big business owners on to find the secrets to their success.

Each show is different, always refreshing and very informative. Some shows will have a panel of business experts debating how to make it big, and some will have the evryday John Doe who took a simple idea and turned it into a huge cash cow. (The people you see selling items in those half hour info commercials)

Even though I am just a single operator DJ service and not a multi-million dollar business, I always learn something new and different that can help me and my DJ service.

Here are some great quotes that was on the show I just watched that could inspire you and your business.

“To be a top performer you have to be passionately committed to what you are doing, and insanely confident about your ability to pull it off” Dr. John Eliot

“Thinking is a habit and like any other habit it can be changed, it just takes effort and reputition” Dr. John Eliot

“Great performers focus on what they are doing and nothing else. They’re able to engage in a task so completely that there is no room left for self-criticism, judgement or doubt.” Dr. John Eliot

“Winners compare their achivements with their goals, while losers compare the achivements with those of other people.” Nido Qubien

“That some can achieve great success is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.” Abraham Lincoln

“The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less that you settled for” Maureen Dowd.

“The higher you fall, the higher you will bounce.” Annonymous

“Charge what you are worth, be worth what you charge” Jeff Richards via Mark Farrell

Jeff Richards: Party Time Productions

http://www.PartyTimeProductions.biz

Posted by Jeff Richards at 12:34 PM | Permalink

In this ever growing difficult economy many companies, big and small are scaling back in order to protect their bottom line and their future.

Yesterday Starbucks announced that they will be closing several hundred of their coffee stores across America in order to not hurt the business. They claim that they will attempt to relocate their displaced employees in other Starbuck locations to keep the individuals employed. As you probably already have noticed, there is a Starbucks on every corner, in every mall and inside grocery stores. Their biggest problem is the over saturation of the Starbucks brand and the sudden drop in the economy. When a cup of coffee costs as much or more then a gallon of gas, something has to change.

Many of the major businesses in the last few months have also announced cut backs in personnel, products and hours in order to make it through the tough economy. One city announced that all local government employees will go to mandatory four day weeks in order to save on fuel as well as all the different utilities for the buildings.

How does this relate to the DJ industry?

The Multi-Op DJ services are getting hit hard. I know many Multi-ops who are cutting back on the number of DJs they have to send out on a single night. Since the numbers of bookings are dropping they have DJs who are not working every weekend as they once did.

Not having a steady income along with insurance costs, the state and federal paper work and all the other problems that come with employees not actively working is causing the owners to cut back on the number of employees available.

They may have at one time employed ten to fifteen or more DJs for a weekend night, but now have cut back to seven to ten employees. I know of one DJ company that had ten employees and over the last year has cut back to three DJs.

His company is a very good service with the best DJs and equipment available in his area. Because of the economy, fuel prices and the increasing numbers of people calling themselves “Entertainers” with those DJs working for pennies on the dollar, the numbers of bookings for him has dropped to where he could not afford to keep so many DJs on the payroll and continue working his business.

For a single operation DJ like myself who DJs as a full time business, it is also very difficult to book events when so many DJs who already were charging half as much as I, then began dropping their rates even more.

It’s very hard to convince a 20 year old Bride & Groom who have a tight budget because of the economy, to spend $1200 or more on their entertainment when so many DJs are quoting them $600 down to $200.

The smart thing for a multi-op DJ service to do right now is to let go of a few of the DJs according to the average number of bookings you have over the next six to twelve months.

If you are only averaging seven events on a Saturday evening and you have more then seven employees, then you should think about cutting back to only seven employees.

If you know of one or two nights where you need more then seven DJs, keep in close contact with those that you had to let go and have them help out on those nights as a “sub contractor”

(Read the local and federal laws of “Sub contracting” before doing so to make sure you qualify in this area)

If you don’t have someone to fill in on those occasional nights, check around with single operation DJs that you know and trust to see if they are available and willing to cover those events.

You need to take action now before it becomes too late and it hurts your business or can cause you to close your doors.

Jeff Richards: Party Time Productions

http://www.PartyTimeProductions.biz

Posted by Jeff Richards at 11:25 AM | Permalink

Here is a little information you might find helpful. With the bad economy, the home forecloses and unemployment rate going up many of the credit card companies are trying to find ways from losing their customers with non payments.

Today I called my credit card company for my DJ business and just simply asked them if there is anything that can be done about the high interest rate. The nice lady on the other end of the line said she would talk to her supervisor to see if they could help.

She put me on hold for about 20 seconds then came back on and said she could lower it by 10%.

This lowered the interest rate from 21.99% to 11.74%

Typically if you ask, the Credit Card Company will tell you "sorry there's nothing we can do" or they may lower it a percent or two at the most. I was shocked that they would drop it by ten percent!

The lady then told me to call back in three to four months to see if they could lower it more!

Here is the one catch..... If you miss the payment date, even if it is by one hour after they close for the day, the rate will typically go right back up to where it was or even increase more.

Even the credit card business is hurting right now because people are not charging to their cards as much as they normally would and people are defaulting on payment because of the tight economy.

I added using credit cards as a form of payment for clients early this year. So far no one has taken me up on using it because they are afraid of the interest rates and the unstable economy.

Last week I received a letter from the company I work with to accept Credit Cards that stated because I have not used the service to a particular dollar amount each month (their limit) that they are lowering the monthly charge to me.

It dropped from over thirty dollars a month to just $5.95 per month. As long as I do not use the service over their minimal limit each month the price will not go up. This allows me to offer the credit card payment for my customers without the higher charge to my business.

Here is your chance to lower your interest rates with nothing more than a phone call.

I hope it works for you!

Jeff Richards: Party Time Productions

http://www.PartyTimeProductions.biz

Posted by Jeff Richards at 02:16 PM | Permalink