Planing Your Wedding Part One: The Basics

"Planing Your Wedding Part One: The Basics"

BY DJ Tommy Mac & DJ Dollar Bill

So you've decided to get married! Congratulations!

By now you're starting to realize just how much planning and organization it takes to make a wedding day run smoothly, and are looking for some ideas and tips on the best ways to do things...that's why I'm here, to help you out.

Most wedding receptions today follow a pretty basic format, and while the order of certain events can vary from party to party, the general outline of events for the reception is as follows:

first hour: Cocktails - guests are just arriving, settling in, and helping themselves to some food and drinks. The Bride & Groom (along with the bridal party) may be there at that point, or may be off doing pictures somewhere and arrive later.

Once the bridal party has arrived and cocktails are over, what happens next?

The basic outline is:

Bridal party introductions

Bride & Grooms First Dance

Bridal party dance (optional)

Blessing of the meal (optional)

Toasts (optional)

dinner hour

At most reception halls I work at in this area, the caterers prefer the DJ's NOT to play dance music during the dinner service, as they wish the guests to remain more or less seated for easier service. There have been cases where there are longer gaps in time between courses and I have been asked to dance the guests for short spurts in between but this is usually a rare case. (Me personally I like to play Classics depending on your type of music you like; to keep guests heads bobbing, feet tapping, sing a long & a few may dance) I've noticed every crowd is different, some will dance during dinner & most wait til after cake cutting.

If there are 3 courses, i.e. Soup, Salad & Entree. I will do Parent dances ((Bride with father, Groom with mother) in between Salad & Entree. Approx hour after Bride & Groom receive their entree than:

Bouquet & Garter Toss (optional)

Cutting the Cake

The timing of these events varies from wedding to wedding, depending on both the timeline of the reception hall and the bride & grooms wishes. Your DJ can also help to coordinate all these events to make the day run smoothly, and in future posts I will go into greater detail with suggestions for the best ways to organize these events, as well as several different options and variations.

There will also need to be time set aside for the bride, groom, and family members to have pictures taken together. Make sure your photographer & DJ work together so that things don't get confused. For example, you don't want your DJ starting the cake cutting if the photographer is out in the lobby taking family portraits. A good DJ will always make sure the bride, groom, photographer, videographer and banquet manager are all prepared before starting any major event. Coordinating all these various events is a team effort and all contractors you hire should be willing to work with the others so that YOU don't have to worry about things the day of. If everyone is working together as a team and have coordinated their timelines beforehand, everything should run smoothly. I am not just your DJ....I'm your MC & Time Keeper (so you can let those of you with wedding coordinators, I got this :)

Keep in mind, there are no hard, fast RULES to what you must do at your wedding reception; some people enjoy things like the garter & bouquet toss, others feel that is not important to them and would rather skip it...the choice is up to YOU.

Some couples like to plan other special events for their reception, such as slide shows, or hire another entertainer, such as dancers, to perform at some point in the evening. Others have a family member or friend who they have asked to perform a live song for the bride & groom, either by playing live with an instrument or singing along to a musical track provided to the DJ.

While these things can be fun and add a special touch to your wedding day, keep in mind they need to be planned out accordingly at the proper times to make the day flow easily. Again, talking these things over in ADVANCE with your DJ, along with your banquet manager, will help things run smoothly.

In future posts, I will go into greater details on each of the special events of a wedding reception to give you a clearer understanding of why they are done and the best times to do them... or if you choose to do them at all.

Work FOREVER! (If you've worked in the past!)

There's a lot of time, money and energy invested in trying to capture new clients in the DJ world. There are an endless array of marketing options, seminars, workshops and videos that promise to show you how you can find clients and then sell them on your services. Many of these are fine strategies and well worth your time and investment. Some...well...not so much. However there is one really easy, highly effective and relatively inexpensive way to have future clients find you and enthusiastically book your services.



 So you wanna know what it is?
Your past clients.

Turn past clients into evangelists for your DJ service!

Yep...it's that simple.  There they are.  The folks who are best positioned to help you locate and sell future customers on your service are the folks who have experienced the value that you provide with your services!
Think about it....provided that you made your previous clients extremely happy...there is no one better positioned to promote your services.  Not even YOU!

Testimonials work.  Don't believe me?  Look at the success that WeddingWire.com has achieved in the heretofore completely Knot.com dominated wedding portal world.  What did WeddingWire do differently to come virtually out of nowhere and capture such a massive online market share?  It focused on reviews from real Brides & Grooms.  It allowed couples to read through reviews from other couples who had already taken the leap of faith with a particular vendor and get a glimpse into what their experience was.  The site has become one of the most dominant marketing placements for wedding services currently available.  Now as fantastic as WeddingWire is there's a more direct way to leverage this type of one on one, word of mouth referral power.

Earn it then Ask for it.

The goal is to exceed...not meet...expectations!

Uh huh.  That's how.  I know that appears to be really simple and honestly there is more to it than that.  It actually starts with something really basic but within the reach of every single DJ.  Actually caring about your clients and their events.  I mean genuinely seeking to understand what it is that your clients want from your services and from their event in general.   It starts by making yourself accessible to the client.  Make sure your clients know that you are ready and willing to work with them at every step along the way as they plan their event.  Be certain they have your email, phone numbers and understand that you WANT them to contact you with any thoughts questions or concerns.  THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!  It gives the clients a sense of ease when they know they can get in touch with you when they need to.  Answer emails and phone calls as quickly as you can (obviously you can't take calls during another event or during a meeting but you can get back to the customer and let them know what the delay was)  I find that offering my cell phone number and an invitation to text me is a quick and easy way to answer many of the simple inquiries that my clients will have.  Talk about a positive customer service experience! When you reply to a customers text message in real time...well service like that is rare...you know it from your own experience!

Exceed the expectations!
The easiest way to accomplish this is by asking a ton of questions.  Information is power and it's also the key to over delivering on every single clients expectations.  By having clients identify what they are trying to achieve through their events you can go point by point through ensuring that you do everything necessary in the planning and then during the event to not only meet those expectations but....and this is important...to exceed them.

The 3 "touches"

One strategy to employ at every event is what I call the 3 touches.  Three separate times during every event I locate the client, physically turn them around to get a view of their entire event (you can do this casually by coming along side them and then just pointing to the center of the room) and ask these specific questions..

So how are things going so far? 


Is this how you expected things to be going at this point?


Is there anything different that I could do to make the event better right now? 


Listen carefully to the answers and look for clues in the body language of the client that indicate the level of honesty that they are giving you with their responses.  Often times clients don't want to be insulting or have a desire to avoid potential confrontation during their events even when they are not satisfied with the way things are going.  You need to be aware that a simple "Everythings great" is not enough unless it is accompanied by a relaxed posture, a big smile and a relative ease that says that they have relaxed into enjoying their event.  If the client gives you feedback on ANY aspect of the party that is not to their liking take immediate steps to gain control of that situation and to turn it to the clients expectation.  Sometimes this has more to do with other services that are being provided on behalf of the client.  It could be ANYTHING.  Remember that the whole is always greater than the sum of the individual parts.  If one part is "broken" it can drag all the others down with it.  Find ways to address any situation to help deliver to your client the experience they were seeking for their event.  Do this at the beginning, toward the middle and about an hour before the end of the event.  Rephrase the questions so as not to become "annoying" and  take any steps necessary as indicated by the clients response to not only meet, but again I say, EXCEED their expectations. I also make sure to take anywhere from 1-3 photos at every event of the client having a good time. (We'll use these later so do not skip this step.  It pays huge dividends.  We're not talking spectacular photos...just snapshots...in fact I most often times just use my phone!)

Now that you're certain that you have a clear understanding of what the client wants to achieve and you've taken the time to confirm that you are making that vision a reality you have positioned yourself to leverage their fantastic experience with your DJ services into referrals by taking some very simple but highly effective steps to turning past clients into evangelists for you company.  In the next blog post I'll discuss the strategies employed to get your past clients to bring lots of  future client to your door!  Subscribe to make sure you don't miss this info!

 

Why you may not need "The top spot" on Google Search

Much energy, thought and effort is put in to securing the TOP spot on Google, Bing and Yahoo search results.  While this was an important consideration for Web 1.0 when customers were new to the web and had not figured out how to use the medium we are now dealing with web savvy consumers.  Todays web researcher is more intuitive and has a more acute BS detector which is set for a very low threshold.  While SEO (search engine optimization) does need to be a part of a effective overall marketing strategy it is becoming less and less a priority to simply capture that top spot as a means to success.  Here's why....

SEO...It's part of a larger picture
Truthfully though I am starting to think (realize) more and more that SEO is less and less effective. SEO for natural placement and discovery is akin to print advertising in years past.  Remember those Yellow pages ads where everyone wanted to add "AAA Disc Jockey Service" in order to get that first phone call?  THAT is todays SEO thinking only the web offers much more opportunity to engage and inform than the Yellow Pages ever did.  That's good and bad. Top organic search placement now feels more like gambling than strategy. You are hoping that you are placing the right "bets" (keyword distribution, reciprocal links, relevant content, etc) and that those bets will pay off in higher natural search placement eventually leading to sales. The problem is that the recent estimates on the number of small to large firms making SEO placement plays for payment put SEO at a $19B industry. We are all getting calls and emails from companies who claim to be able to put us at the top of the natural search results for various keywords. If this can/could be accomplished all your SEO efforts are worthless if a competitors SEO ranking company still gets him/her ahead of you in natural search. Consider this...no matter how much SEO anyone dumps into their website thanks to paid search results on Google, Bing and Yahoo paid advertisers will always come up above them on any keyword relevant search.  If you believe that the results of the Cornell University "Heatmap" research on clicks from 2006 still holds true (which in itself is questionable) those who are paying for placement at the top will still always capture the majority of the clicks.  If you feel this research still holds true then get into the CPC game and save yourself a lot of anxiety.  Just be prepared to shift a large portion of your marketing budget to this end.  

Now add to that the fact that most people still feel that the sales funnel to "conversion" success (getting from click to booking in our case) hangs on the so called "last click" when all other metrics are equal (same service options, similar pricing, equal prior brand awareness) So showing up at the top means the consumer search will start with you, but the consumer will desire at least one comparison and unless they recall your website and or brand as being in some way superior they will go with the last comparable click through as the end to their search. This makes being at the top a less desirable place.  The emphasis on being the first name that a consumer sees has diminished as people have learned to use the internet to research rather than as a simple resource for names, telephone numbers and pricing.  If your website isn't "up to snuff" you will not benefit in anyway from top placement.  Even if your website is entertaining, informative and engaging in all likelihood the customer is going to want to have something to compare it to.  This means they will be clicking on the next listing in their search results regardless.  


I am not suggesting that you ignore SEO entirely but I am saying that you should worry less about getting to that top spot.  Consumers will seek out multiple companies to compare and contrast.  Your goal should be to rank well (first page) and then to provide a dynamic site that makes a lasting impression.


Consider yourself
Think about your own internet search usage. If you are seeking a product or service where do you start? Let's assume for the sake of consideration that you have decided to use the internet to search out a service. You type in your search to your favorite engine and get 1000's of returns. You click on the first organic listing and the company seems qualified and their pricing is within your budget. Do you stop there? I don't. I want to see what else is out there so I go back to the original search results and click on the next link from a different company. I then compare the information on that website with the information I gathered from the first. If the service options are the same and the pricing is better I move them up to top consideration but i begin to wonder if their may yet be a better deal. so back I go to the results for another comparison. I stop when I feel I have a good idea of what the costs should be in comparison to the service offered and the budget I have in mind. If that first click didn't blow me away and the last click offered equal service for the same cost...I place my call to the page I am looking at. No reason to return to the previous sites. If the purchase is one of importance I may seek out personal referrals (posting to Facebook or Twitter "Anyone ever heard of or used __________") or look into online services (similar to Wedding Wire, etc.) that offer testimonials.  Including these type of 3rd party authoritative resources on your website will enhance your credibility and further encourage internet searchers to remember your service as they seek to compare your options and pricing.

So now what?
I think it makes more sense to make sure that what a client sees on our websites is motivating and memorable. Your website needs to out do the competition in every way to remain memorable. The ranking or the order in which it was clicked is far less important than the level of interest and engagement that the customer experiences when they are on the site. Working to make your site engaging and "sticky" (makes people take actions that keep them on your site longer) is a much more effective strategy than simply trying to catch them first.  Including items that are searcher friendly will yield big returns in brand retention.  This can be as simple as a Facebook or Twitter follow or "like" button, a link to your blog that lets people subscribe, or on the extreme a plug in or graphic that compares your offering to the competition.  If you can offer something that no one else is offering you give the consumer a reason to return to your site once they have completed the research phase of their planning.  I HIGHLY encourage opt-in email opportunities that will allow you to reconnect with those who have visited your website.  These can be as simple as a monthly or bi-weekly newsletter sign-up, a Top 10 Tips download, or even an exclusive deal.  Integrating Social Media opportunities into these offerings can further increase your chances to re-engage with a customer in the exploration phase.  For example offering an "Exclusive" deal to those who "Like" your Facebook business page or who follow you on Twitter.  Just make sure that you remain active and engaged in these mediums.  An untended social media outlet can result in your appearing to be absent something no customer wants.  content on social media should NEVER be advertorial (this looks and feels spammy) but rather should contain useful information for the customer.  I have read and agree with using a 60%-40% content strategy where you post 60% of content from outside sources and 40% original content that you create.  This strategy is maintainable without being overly time consuming.  Finally ENGAGE these social media contacts on a PERSONAL level.  Welcome new fans by name and start a conversation with them.  Give them reasons to return and interact (polls, contests, etc) and when the participate RESPOND!  That's powerful marketing that is alive and can grow into a sale or booking.


So how do I get them there?
So if you're not getting discovered through search how are you getting customers to your website?  Well I prefer a higher percentage of return than the gamble of SEO.  That's why my business strategy relies on my past customers becoming EVANGELISTS for my brand.  So how does that work?  Ahhh...I'm glad you asked.  That's the topic of my next post.   Subscribe and you'll know when it's been posted!

If it ain't real it AIN'T real interesting!

If you've been reading along with this series you should have some ideas for what you want to say on the various social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. You have (hopefully) explored the available tools to help you stay on top of all of these various platforms and selected the method you want to use. Before you start tweeting or updating statuses HOLD ON! WHAT you say, WHO you say it too and WHERE you're saying it makes a BIG difference!

First it is important to consider WHO you are targeting with your message. I am always baffled by messages sent over social platforms that have absolutely no relevance to the audience that's receiving them. If you have mostly friends and family on your Facebook account there is absolutely no benefit to singing the praises of your DJ skills in your status. Those people presumably already think you're the greatest DJ in the world and are likely to hire you should the need arise. Likewise if your Twitter followers are comprised mostly of fellow DJ's there's absolutely nothing to be gained from posting your latest package discounts, or purely promotional material (not unless you're seeking to arm them with material to use when speaking to their prospects). You need to craft the message to meet the audience. As a general rule your Social Media message needs to be less "Madison Ave." slick and more "Main St." down to earth and "real".

Let's look at  3 major social networks (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) and evaluate strategies that might be truly effective on each.

Twitter - If you're like most DJ's your Twitter account started out with you following a TON of fellow DJ's, some other local vendors, and your personal connections. There's probably a handful of "Spammers" in there who decided to follow you in hopes that you'd return the favor. So WHAT do you say to this group? Well here's a place to share your philosophy on DJ'ing. Use Twitter in this instance to have a "discussion" about what you think a DJ should do as a professional. Tweet upcoming workshops and client meetings (without the clients last names or the location) and include any interesting links to articles that you found relevant. You are seeking to establish your expertise with this group. Fellow DJ's can agree or disagree but they will pay attention. Other vendors will likely begin to Tweet questions directly to you or may take the opportunity to ReTweet your messages giving you exposure to their followers which is GOLD! Good quality Tweets to other vendors is how you'll build your follower base through those ReTweets.

Facebook - Two words for you...FAN PAGE.  Do not use your personal Facebook page to promote your business( note-this doesn't mean you won't be posting things from this account or that you shouldn't invite clients to be friends-we'll discuss this in a future post).  If you use your personal account it means that you will have to censor every video, joke, etc. and the potential for turning a potential client off with a raw comment from an old high school buddy is all too real.  Create a Fan Page that's dedicated to your business.  Use the add friends through email or from your current FB account to populate this page, not with family or friends, but with clients and, preferably, potential clients.  If you can't find your existing clients on FB with these tools send them an email with a link to your new Fan Page and ask them to "Like" your page. (If you're a GMail user I highly recommend getting the Rapportive plug-in for GMail.)  You can do so much more with a Fan or Business Page to promote your business, make special offers, run contests and engage clients than you can through a regular profile.  It also makes your business searchable on FB!  Just be sure to claim your vanity URL from FB so that your fan page address is something like ....facebook.com/YOURBUSINESS  not some crazy long string of numbers( you'll need at least 50 fans in order to do this)!  I will be delving into the specifics of setting up and customizing a Fan Page in upcoming posts.  So now...what do you post here on this Fan Page?   Well ultimately this is where you want to discuss your business but be aware that the "Millenial" generation (those 20 something brides and younger) can smell bullshit advertising from a mile away and automatically shut off the message as noise.  Hence the title of this article.  If it ain't real.... BE GENUINE!  Just be yourself.  Talk about what it is that you do that makes you different.  Post statuses that would be something you would say in a Face-to-Face meeting.  Talk about equipment purchases and why they will better enable you to do your job.  Express your professional opinions.  Post video clips and photos from your gigs (btw - Brides want to see pictures of brides!  Not of your gear.  One or two photo's of your set-up ok, every other picture, not so much! Be sure to take a picture of the Bride at every wedding or the crowd at every club).  Try to avoid superlatives ( ie. best, greatest, ultimate, fantastic) these sound like advertising and aren't effective in this setting.  Tone down the rhetoric and turn up the personable.  You should shoot for a ratio of posts by and about you of 3:1 to posts of links to other useful articles and content from elsewhere.  Post a link and then post your thoughts in the comments!  Start a conversation about the cake cutting ceremony by posting to your favorite cake designers blog, website, or flickr page then LET THEM KNOW you gave them a shout out!  If they have an account they'll likely drop by and comment.  If you post about a venue send the catering manager an email (or better yet send them a friend request!) If the venue has a fan page drop by and leave a comment telling them you just raved about their venue!  That leads me to what should be obvious but this is NOT a space for ranting or complaining.  Remember what your Mom told you? "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all!"  It's not good business and it looks ugly to those who stop by.

LinkedIn - This service is where you meet your colleauges.  This is where you should be connected to every single catering manager in your area and if they don't have a LinkedIn account you need to invite them to join.  LinkedIn statuses can be similar to your Tweets but "buttoned up" like you're wearing a suit and tie and posting from a boardroom.  This is DEFINITELY your opportunity to show that you are an authority in the DJ world who knows how to act like a professional business person.  Make connections to everyone and anyone in the business world but always remember this is the realm of the suits and ties.  The eyes that are watching are expecting a different kind of behavior and decorum.  If you truly want to leverage the massive power of LinkedIn then you need to speak that language in that way.  DO NOT ADVERTISE...ADVISE.  Unless you are posting a job offer this is not the arena for bald faced advertising.  You will be seen as spammy and irrelevant.  Join groups and participate in their discussions to increase your connections and ABSOLUTELY write recommendations but only for those vendors and fellow DJ's in whom you have confidence and who you truly respect.  Ask the vendors who have worked with you to recommend you.  This is how you access other peoples connections and build your cache on the LinkedIn platform.  Again don't shoot over your head.  Be REAL!  The real you...just the professional, buttoned up you.

There are of course other platforms (FourSquare, Tumblr, etc) and these rules apply to them as well.  WHO are you posting too and WHAT do you want to say to that specific group? Say the right things to the right people and say them naturally in your own "voice" rather than like a TV or Radio commercial.  WHERE will the post go?  Different platforms call for different messages.  The expectations on Twitter are different than on LinkedIn and Facebook.  Use the appropriate tone in the right space and you're likely to receive the results you're looking for.

As always I welcome any email or comments.  My contact info can be found in the sidebar and comments can be left below.

NEXT UP :  Social media marketing OFF-LINE! 

You're (probably) HIDDEN on my Facebook newsfeed!

So my last post on Social Media gave you a glimpse into WHY you need to pay attention to the fastest growing trend in the history of marketing and media. This post will focus on what NOT to do before you dive in.
There is no doubt that using platforms like Facebook and Twitter is going to become absolutely essential. Unfortunately few DJ's are stopping to consider the best way to go about this. Have you read (or posted) Facebook statuses like these...




"So excited to be DJ'ing Jon & Marsha's wedding reception in June! Welcome to the XYZ Disc Jockeys Family!"

Or

"XYZ DJ's is the number one DJ company for wedding receptions! We offer...."

I don't see these anymore. I don't see them because I hide these status updates. They hold no interest for me. They aren't engaging and they feel "spammy." Like a commercial in the middle of my news feed. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. I would venture to say that you have hidden a couple of these type posters as well. Imagine now how many people on your "friends" list are no longer reading your messages. They haven't un-friended you, they're still on your list, but they aren't seeing these messages cause they made the decision that you were boring or irrelevant! That means all your efforts are wasted. If you aren't getting through you aren't benefiting from the medium and leveraging the power of these platforms to increase your business and your bottom line.
What we say, to whom and when makes a BIG difference if you're going to take advantage of the power of social networks.  Like everything else it's best to have a plan.  Too many DJ's know they need to get involved in social networks but they tend to post impulsively and impersonally.  Think of your social networking like target shooting.  You can use a shotgun and hope something hits the bullseye or you can use high powered, laser sighted, sniper rifle and focus in on exactly who, when and what to say scoring on every shot.

So now what? Well.....check out the next post "To Tweet or Not to Tweet"

Social Media - Why you need to get in the game!

You probably have a Facebook personal profile. You might even have a separate page for your business. How about Twitter? YouTube? Personal Blog, Last.FM? Flickr? and on and on....

Social is the "new black!" It's EVERYWHERE and everything we read tells us that we had better get on board. Whether you "get it" or not is irrelevant. Your customers do. Don't believe me? Check out this video...(make sure you scroll down to the bottom to continue once you've watched it cause I have more to say!)


You watched it right? RIGHT! Then you are starting to see the big picture. The question now becomes. How do I use this? Well I have some thoughts on that that I'll share in my next post. "You're (probably) hidden on my Facebook" 

If you haven't checked out the US DJ Network come take a look. wwww.USDJNetwork.com

New Opportunity for Mobile DJ's

If you're a mobile DJ and you're looking for some great exposure check out WeddingWire.com A new site for brides that is positioning itself as a primary referral source for brides seeking DJ entertainment for their wedding receptions.
Sign-up is easy and the level of customization given to each vendor for their personal "storefront" is unprecedented. I was able to integrate all of my DJ Intelligence tools into my storefront There are lots of creative features built in to Wedding Wire including the ability to email past clients directly from the website to request that they submit reviews, the ability to rate fellow vendors (DJ, photography, videography, etc.) and lead generation directly from Wedding Wires brides and grooms.
Now I know what you're thinking "Yeah yeah another Knot.com, SO WHAT?" Well I'll tell you what. Martha Stewart recently invested a huge amount of money in the company and they are in the process of integrating the Wedding Wire brand into all of Martha Stewart Living/Omnimedia's related sites and product lines. That means that brides will be hearing that Wedding Wires is THE place for wedding information from one of the THE top taste makers in women's publishing.


Visit our Friends at skanteck.com,djgreggiec.com and JHatchDJ.com