Are Vote to Win DJ Competitions Worth It?

DJs, do you find yourself doing more work than your local promoter? Nowadays, everyone is a DJ. There are so many DJs that promoters and local venues are asking the DJs to do the promotional work for them. How does this happen? To start, a new way of promoting an event is to get the local DJs to submit a mix for a competition to have an opening slot. The goal is to be able to perform on the main stage if you win the competition. How do you win the competition? The competition has every contestant use their social media channels to promote that they are in the contest. The person with the most votes after a specific time period wins a time slot to perform. After submitting and winning an online mix contest to open up on the main stage I learned the truth behind the competition. By getting every contestant to share on their social media that they are in the contest to open for unknown artist they are doing free promotion. These competitions use every contestant to plug the show even if they do not win a slot to perform.

In my case, the event I won was 3 hours away with no pay. The time slot was the earliest possible on the main stage. While I was transitioning a mix from one song to the other a production assistant moved the entire DJ setup. I had never seen this happen during a performance ever. Assistants were still setting up lights and people were just starting to show up. I rocked out the set as best I could either way but sometimes these competitions aren’t worth the stress and heartache. At this point music was my only source of income. What promoters label as “exposure” for pay in reality pays nothing. Money pays the bills, no exposure.

Tips On How To Use Digital Marketing Today

Digital Marketing

In today’s digital marketing world there are many ways to get your idea or product out there. Digital marketing can be done by adding ads to websites, using social media to promote, run videos before a website loads, and running specific campaigns on Facebook to the targeted demographic. In the Global Bass and Moombahton world digital marketing can be done on Soundcloud, Facebook, Instagram, email databases, digital flyers, and more. There are also multiple forms of guerrilla marketing to get people to jump online to view a campaign.

           

According to Roger Bryan’s article on Huffington Post, you must first start with a goal in mind to focus on what the digital marketing run can maximize exposure and return. He states that jumping into things blindly is not a good idea. Having a solid goal will help defer problems that can arise later on. Losing focus is an issue with all the content out there to view. Focusing on the goal head on can provide the results desired. As an extra tip, writing down goals is half the battle. Associates talk about goals daily, but someone has to write it down and put a plan of action forward. Follow up on the goals you write down and look back at them daily to weekly.

An article on strategybusiness.com says that, “consumer experiences requires brands to operate outside their comfort zone.” I can agree with this statement wholeheartedly. If the business does not reach back to the people reach out them then things can go south quickly. Social media and digital marketing together combine to bring an instant response or follow up from the business. If a person posts something online then a representative should respond within 24 hours. If the comment is ignored then that could in return lose you a customer for good.

Andrea Cockerton & Angelo Meneguzzi: Business Plan Advice

Angelo Meneguzzi provides a response to why it is good to have a business plan on BPexpertviews.blogspot.com. Angelo says that, ““benefits include: a heads-up to changes in the environments, better forecasting, opportunities to analyze situations before they become problematic,” (Bplans.com, 2011). Being able to forecast is something that I have never done before starting my Masters program and entrepreneur work. I remember hearing at a business plan event when I went to University of Wisconsin-Platteville that being able to write out all potential problems will let you conquer them with ease when they actually happen. Preparing for the problems in the beginning can help make things smoother in the long run. I am going to use this advice to plan out all potential issues and problems that can arise with Deadly Viper Recordings.

            Andrea Cockerton is the founder of the Dosoco Foundation, (Linkedin.com, 2015). She explains some tips on helping with a business pitch. She says, “that you are (1) targeting a growing market with a need for your product or service, (2) that the team is talented and able to execute the business plan, and (3) that your product, service or idea is groundbreaking,” (Thenextwomen.com, 2008). I agree that without the right team in place a business will go nowhere. One person cannot do everything on his or her own. Eventually one will need help with a specific area of less knowledge. What will help a new business idea stand out? This is a question I ask about things I do with music and future ideas. I will use Andrea’s advice to help tweak the uniqueness of what Deadly Viper Recordings is all about.

References:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedowsingsoundcollective

http://www.bplans.com/ask-bplans/572/why-have-a-business-plan

http://www.thenextwomen.com/2008/12/27/expert-interview-13-questions-on-funding-pitching-part-1

http://bpexpertviews.blogspot.com/2012/08/andrea-cockerton-angelo-meneguzzi.html

Using Memes for Digital Marketing

Memes are a fun way to get the attention of the market you are targeting. The Internet has many to choose from and if you are the creative type can make your own on image software or on free websites online. Marketing with memes is an easy way to grab the attention of the people you want to see your brand, website, business, or project. For this post I will talk about using memes for the purpose of trying to get a potential listener over to your website or music page. When you post a meme will the viewer want to just view the image or actually go to your page to see more content?

In a blog post from Emily Bohne she states that the meme should fit your brand’s personality. Using the wrong memes with the wrong message can turn off the person completely to the brand. She states that this can even cause to have the potential fan/listener completely un-follow the artist and have nothing to do with the content being promoted. She says that memes are good to use for marketing purposes because of how easily they can be shared on social media. This makes sense in the fact that most of the memes I have seen have been on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Oleg Brazhnyk gives some tips for using memes in digital marketing. He says that you must know your target audience, make sure you are familiar with memes and using the right ones, use existing memes and if not create one, and also says to have fun creating them. These tips are all good for using memes properly. I believe that memes need to somehow have a call to action to have the person visit a website or music site. Memes can have a Twitter name added or an Instagram user name. Memes can continue the relationship with the viewer by having them follow you on another format. I agree that the memes have to make sense to the viewer reading it. Memes with random content are good to send to family and friends. The end result is to continue the engagement of the user to continue to follow what you put out.

Carl J. Schramm & Chuck Blakeman: Entrepreneurial Experts

Carl J. Schramm is the first entrepreneur chosen as an expert in his field.  Schramm is “is an internationally recognized leader in entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth,” according to his overview on Syracuse University’s website. Schramm seems diversified in what he invests in. He has invested into himself with having multiple degrees in different fields. Chuck Blakeman is the second person chosen as an expert in his field. Stated on ChuckBlakeman.com, “As an internationally acclaimed business speaker averaging more than 100+ speaking engagements and workshops per year, he has been quoted and featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, CNNMoney.com, NYTimes.com, other online magazines and small business blogs throughout the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand.” Critical key components investors are looking for in business plans start with the core values and direction. After doing multiple elevator pitch competitions I learned that investors want to know where the money is going to go and how it is going to be returned with time. The investors want to know how it will work. These are considered key because they need to know how the numbers will work. If they can sense that something will not work properly during the investment then they will back out before you even get done with your elevator pitch or business plan presentation. Schramm and Blakeman present different views on the business plan. Schramm wants to follow what the business plan does exactly where Blakeman gives off a sense of ditching it. I have always had the thought of agreement with Blakeman thinking that things need to be done now and learn as you go to get the experience in. A business plan can always be created but the time lost is as valuable as money. Blakeman also states that “life happens,” and I couldn’t agree more. What is written down on paper will change instantly because of life. A business plan is good to have as a road map that you can change the course you decide to go on the journey.

Resources:

http://chuckblakeman.com/

http://chuckblakeman.com/2012/8/texts/how-the-worst-most-asked-planning-question

http://my.ischool.syr.edu/People/cschramm