by Stacy Zemon
According to the American Disc Jockey Association’s website, “Rates for the DJ industry vary greatly, ranging from $350.00 to over $5,000.00 with an average of $1,200.00 for a 4 hour booking.”
Let’s break this down. Say you are a solo-op who wants to gross $100,000 annually. You would need to do about 84 events per year at the average rate to achieve your goal ($1,200 x 84 = $100,800).
If you want to make the same amount of money for less work or simply make more money, here are your options:
Option #1: Entertain at more events.
Option #2: Charge more than the average rate.
Option #3: Become a Multi-Op.
Option #4: Become a Multi-Op and charge more than the average rate.
Option #5: Incorporate upsells into your offerings
Option #1
Entertain at more events
If you are a full-time or part-time solo-op, is it realistic that you could book 84 events per year? The amount of income you want to earn will determine the number of events you’ll need to do minus expenses and taxes to achieve your goal.
Option #2
Charge more than the average rate
With this Option, you’re a solo-op who charges 50% more than the average rate for your services, and you want to gross $100,000 annually. This means that you would need to do about 56 events per year at an average rate of $1,800 to achieve your goal ($1,800 x 56 = $100,800). This option allows you to work quite a bit less than Option #1 while earning the same income.
Option #3
Become a Multi-Op
Let’s say that there are 3 DJs who work for your company; you and two others. You want to gross $100,000 annually. You pay yourself 100% of the income you receive from the events, and your DJs 50% of the average $1,200 booking rate. With this option, assuming you each performed at an equal number of events, your company would need to do about 126 events per year to achieve your goal ($1,200 x 42 at 100% = $50,400, $1,200 x 42 at 50% = $25,200, $1,200 x 42 at 50% = $25,200. This option allows you to work about one-third the amount as in Option #1 to earn the same amount of income.
Option #4
Become a Multi-Op and charge more than the average rate
This option is my personal favorite. There are 3 DJs who work for your company; you and two others. You want to gross $100,000 annually. You pay yourself 100% of the income you receive from the events, and your DJs 50% of the average $1,800 booking rate. With this option, assuming you each performed at an equal number of events, your company would need to do about 84 events per year to achieve your goal ($1,800 x 28 at 100% = $50,400, $1,800 x 28 at 50% = $25,200, $1,800 x 28 at 50% = $25,200. This option allows you to work at 42 fewer events as in Option #2 to earn the same amount of income.
Option #5
Incorporate upsells into your offerings
Lighting, decor, photo booths, a game show, multi media, casino games and sound reinforcement can all add to your bottom-line.
Which Option is Right for You?
That’s for you to decide. Keep in mind, however, that the skills required to be an excellent performer are very different from those of a business owner, manager and sales person.
My advice is to capitalize on your strengths. If you decide to go the multi-op route and are not a good manager, you can always hire someone for that role. The downside of course, is less profit; however, it still may be worth it if your company does more events at a higher rate as a result.
And remember, the options above do not take taxes, marketing, advertising or business expenses into account, which you will need to factor in to determine your net income.
Above all, whatever structure you decide upon, be sure you are worth your asking fee!
Stacy Zemon - Publisher and Chief Scribe
Stacy Zemon is internationally considered a leading authority and leader in the DJ industry. She has reached an audience of millions as a Radio, Club, Karaoke and Mobile Disc Jockey.
Stacy’s work as a Writer, Author and Publisher have enabled her to spawn the largest number of DJ business owners in the world!
She is author of the world’s best-selling DJ books: The Mobile DJ Handbook, The DJ Sales & Marketing Handbook and The Mobile DJ MBA, and was a longtime writer for DJ Times magazine.
Stacy is also the Founder & President of DJ Video Network – Internet TV for DJs, by DJs.
Her mission is to provide educational resources for DJs that support their professional growth and financial prosperity.
Write to her c/o [email protected] or call 877-442-7170.
For the longer version of Stacy’s story, click here. To learn about the business services she provides for other DJs, click here.
