By Alan Dodson, “Wedding Wizard”
I have been entertaining at and producing events since the early 1970’s. Maybe you’ve been a DJ for only a year or are a long-time vet like me. Regardless of how long you have been a DJ, I believe there are six essential things you need to be successful in business:
- PASSION: You must be passionate about every aspect of your business and about your clients. You must do whatever it takes (legal and ethically) to make sure that your client’s event and your business is perfect in every way. Without passion, you will fail to follow through with the necessary steps and will often fail at the worst possible moment.
- ENTHUSIASM: One of the ways you can exhibit passion is to be enthusiastic about yourself, your abilities and your customers needs. Clients will feed off of your enthusiasm and believe in your abilities. Lack of enthusiasm draws negative people who will drag you further down.
- BE FLEXIBLE: One thing about the events business is that nothing stays the same and no two events are exactly alike. You must be willing to vary your responses to changing events. If you are inflexible, you will constantly battle problems long after they cease to exist.
- TAKE YOUR TIME: Don’t rush or pressure potential clients. They have to fall in love with you at THEIR speed, not yours. If things take longer than you like, be patient and wait for the good things to come. Clients can see that you are frustrated and will pass you by because they don’t want to be pressured.
- CONTINUOUS LEARNING: Read books, take workshops, attend seminars & conventions and spend time EVERY day learning something new to improve your service to your customers. Network with your peers and with parallel industry members. If you fail to grow, your ability to excel will fade away!
- HAVE INTEGRITY: Make sure that your motivations and your purpose are well connected. Do not have hidden agendas. Clients will feel your honesty and be comfortable working with you. On the other hand, if you lack integrity, clients will know that things are not right and will walk away.
One last thought. BE DIFFERENT! Make sure that you stand out from your competitors with a distinct difference that is noticeable and well received by your clients.
