Monthly Archives: May 2019

Are you sending your clients to VoiceJail?

By Mitch Taylor

Let’s face it… voicemail should be called voiceJAIL.  Why?  Because that’s the feeling most clients get when they call and get sent to your voicemail.  They feel stuck, and often don’t know how to respond or where to go from there.  Why? Because your voicemail probably sucks. Don’t tell me about how you need to stay professional or how you put on your best DJ voice and tell people that their call is important to you. Um… hello? If their call is that important to you, you would answer the phone!

People don’t want to “leave a message after the tone” — they want to talk with you.

We are in the fun business, not the DJ business.  We need to keep every part of our interaction with today’s clients as upbeat as possible.  How can you do that?  It begins by providing clients everything they need to know about you in your voicemail.

Let’s break this down.

Make it fun: Showcase your humor if you’re funny, if you’re not, forget it.  Tell a (very) brief story.  Keep it upbeat and interesting and throw a curveball whenever you can.  People are expecting the same lame “leave a message after the tone”.  Don’t give it to them.  Give them something different and get creative.

Keep it brief:  It today’s world, people don’t have time to spare.  Give them the information they need without droning on about your physical address, where you are across from or spouting out the “www” in your web address (here’s a clue: you DON’T need to say the “www” anymore).

Be Friendly: This is NOT the time to show off your resonant DJ voice.  Actually speak like you speak to your significant other or your best friend.  Fake is out — especially when you’re trying to make a good first impression and connect with the human on the other end of the phone.

Voicemail is often your first point of contact. Make it different, keep it short, be upbeat and watch your connections soar just by being you and a little bit weird!

Mitch Taylor has worked in the Mobile Disc Jockey industry for over two decades, first cutting his teeth as an on-board club DJ for Carnival Cruise Lines. In addition to owning and operating Taylored Weddings in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, he is a sought-after speaker and Gitomer Certified Advisor whose sales training, books, coaching and workshops are in high demand all over the country. 

 

 

 

Rock Music At Weddings?

By Brian Buonassissi

Recently, a wedding industry pro asked me, “What Rock N Roll songs are you playing at weddings these days?” The question needs a bit of clarifying as that is such a broad genre – is this 50s rock, classic rock, current rock, etc.? It turns out the question was supposed to be broad.  This got me thinking about which ones are popular and which ones I still use. I really do try to keep my programming as fresh as possible and lean towards more current music. Also, being a destination-based DJ, the programming varies much more than a local market DJ.  However, they are some rock classics that, for the moment, always seem to find their way into my wedding sets. Because they are truly “classics” (in my opinion, this is due to their sing-a-long quality), I really don’t think they need a remix. In fact, remixes can hurt these tracks more than they help. I would never play all these songs in one event (usually I’ll use 1-3 max) but here’s a few that still work well:

*You Shook Me All Night Long – ACDC
*Back In Black – ACDC
*Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leppard
*We Will Rock You – Queen
*I Love Rock N Roll – Joan Jett (yes, I’d qualify this as Rock – has it right in the title)
*Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
*Living On A Prayer – Bon Jovi (Jersey crowds for sure)
*Take Me Home Tonight – Eddie Money

Then there are some classics that when mashed with a current song’s beat or done with a redrum (modern drumbeat) work extremely well because the hooks of the song are so recognizable.  Here’s a few that I tend to use (again not all done at one wedding – a selection of 2-3 per wedding is usually just the right amount):

*Carry On My Wayward Son – Kansas
*Sweet Child O Mine – Guns N Roses
*Jump – Van Halen
*Peace Of Mind – Boston
*Mr. Jones – Counting Crows
*Edge Of Seventeen – Stevie Nicks
*Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen

Where Rock where lives right now with the Millennial generation of brides and grooms (which is the bulk of most of our clients) is in the 90s-2000s era.  Rock songs from that time period that you’d never play during their heyday absolutely crush at weddings right now. In a lot of cases, the originals suffice just fine (though I have a ton of mashups with the hooks of these tracks). I play on average about 6-7 of these type songs per wedding – whereas maybe 5 years ago, hip hop classics or pop hits would make up the bulk of my wedding dance song selections.  The crazy part is that lyrically these songs are probably the furthest from true wedding content that you’d want but nobody seems to care now.  A good song is a good song.  Here’s a sampling of some that work super well for me (the key is when and HOW you mix them in).

*Mr. Brightside – The Killers
*The Middle – Jimmy Eat World
*I Write Sins Not Tragedies – Panic At The Disco
*My Own Worst Enemy – Lit
*Crazy Bitch – Buckcherry
*Stacy’s Mom – Fountains Of Wayne

So that leaves us with today’s alternative rock songs. I have to be honest – this genre has been dormant for at least the last several years as far as wedding dance floor fillers. There might be 1-2 tracks a year that seem to gain a bit of traction, but they never tend to last long and most are not for prime time dancing. There are some electronic rock or indie rock songs that work well for me during cocktail hour and/or dinner.  Here’s a few that may get used at a wedding of mine:

*High Hopes – Panic At The Disco (probably will fade out shortly)
*Broken – lovelytheband (also will fade out as it falls off the charts)
*Handclap – Fitz & The Tantrums
*Feel It Still – Portgual. The Man
*Heartlines – Broods
*Kangaroo Court – Capital Cities
*Let It Go – James Bay
*Take The World – JOHNNYSWIM
*What You Know – Two Door Cinema

DJs: What are you using these days in the rock category? Any that seem to get a great response?  Any outliers? Send me a note and let me know.

Based out of NYC, DJ Brian Buonassissi is a successful internationally traveling DJ/MC specializing in luxury destination private events.  He runs a multi-city mobile DJ/event business with satellite offices in Southern California, Scottsdale, AZ Destin, FL, Tallahassee, FL and New York City.  You can connect with him at brian@djbrianbofficial.com.