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To
a certain extent, all DJs receive perks. For some of us,
a perk might simply be a complimentary portrait from a photographer
who was impressed with our show, or a discount from a local
pizza joint we promoted at a school dance. Truth be told,
quite a few of us entered the DJ industry lured by perks
of some sort: the admiration of those around us, preferred
seating at concerts, access to the hottest music, our name
in lights, the list goes on and on.
While
talking to some DJs around the country, we found that scoring
free stuff can be easy to do; other DJs confessed that it
took a lot of work to get into a position where the perks
flow freely; and without exception everyone said that reputation
is key to making perks work. But we’ll stick with the idea
that scoring free stuff is easy to do. It just requires
a little forethought. Here’s the DJ Times guide to scoring
free stuff.
Free
Gear!
Of course, when it comes to gear, you can’t beat getting
stuff for free. As we quickly discovered when preparing
this article, there are resources available that enable
any of us to get the latest and greatest equipment for a
cost that’s drastically reduced, or even free. In Gerald
Webb’s case, things just happened.
“I
was at the DJ Expo show in Atlantic City in 1995 when Pioneer
was showing their brand-new DJ mixer,” recalls the Williamstown,
N.J.-based Webb, the self-proclaimed world’s first digital
turntablist. “They also had a prototype of their new 5002
CD player, and when I saw what the mixer and the new player
could do together, I knew I wanted them.”
Of
course, both items had not yet been released, but Webb couldn’t
wait to get his hands on them. Upon returning home after
the Expo, he drove to his local MI store and made the owner
an offer he couldn’t refuse. “I told the owner that the
5002 was going to be one of the hottest things to ever hit
the market,” says Webb. “And I told him that as soon as
DJs see what it can do, they’re gonna really want to jump
on it. I asked him to give me the product at dealer cost,
and I’d demonstrate it for all his customers, helping to
sell units.”
OK,
if I went in to my local MI dealer and said something like
that, they might show me the door. But after hearing Webb’s
pitch, the store owner talked to his local Pioneer sales
rep, who applauded Webb’s idea—as long as it moved product.
“They shipped me a system directly from Texas,” Webb says.
“I got it literally two days before the demo, brushed up
and practiced on it for a couple days, and that very weekend
after my demo, the company sold seven or eight systems.”
The
rest of the story, as they say, is history. So impressed
was the local Pioneer dealer that he started employing Webb
to show product throughout his territory. Eventually, the
national office took notice. Can you do this, too? Of course
you can.
Free
Sports Tix
California’s Brian Doyle says most of the perks his company
receives are the typical ones we all get if we’re halfway
decent at what we do. “We haven’t really gotten anything
extraordinary, like free strippers or anything, but we do
get a lot of hotel rooms and free rounds of golf,” jokes
Doyle, owner of the Bay Area-based Denon & Doyle. “We also
do a lot of things for a local sports team, the San Jose
Sharks, so we get a lot of Sharks tickets as well.”
Doyle
first faced off with the Sharks when they booked his company
to DJ the hockey team’s first-ever players party. “This
was awesome,” recalls Doyle. “The captain of the team hired
us, and we were performing on a cruise boat out on the San
Francisco Bay. All the players came out with their wives,
and they all signed T-shirts we had brought.”
A
relationship had been started. When the Sharks team captain
offered to pay for the DJ’s services, Doyle morphed into
player-agent mode. “We told them we’d really prefer to do
it on trade, because they can give us really sweet seats
right on the ice,” he says. “I’m a huge Sharks fan.” Not
only does Denon & Doyle score great seats for hockey games,
they also get to hang with the players and perform for them
on off-nights (which don’t conflict with the company’s income-earning
Saturday wedding receptions). As they say, nothing but net.
Free
Concert Tickets!
In many of our hometowns, the annual county fair is a big
deal, and many of us take advantage of showcasing our entertainment
skills at these large gatherings. “As far as getting things
from the companies we’re working for, sometimes they comp
me concert tickets,” says Indiana DJ Paul Chamberlin. “Last
year, we were doing a job for our local county fair board,
and we happened to have four or five of our DJs on the grounds
at the time, and ended up getting them into a Martina McBride
concert, compliments of the fair board. We had performed
two nights of Game Show Mania as food court entertainment,
and we got paid for that separate.”
Chamberlin
says that he usually gives freebie concert tickets to his
employees. “I use it as an employee incentive, or bonus,”
he says.
Of
course, many of the perks DJs receive tend to be more like
trades—you rub someone’s back and they’ll rub yours.
Take the case of K.C. Kokoruz of the Chicago-based Spinnin’
Discs, who invokes the secret of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
“The only times I’ve ever asked for anything, I’ve also
volunteered to pay for it,” he says. “That leaves my favors
open. For example, through a relationship with a friend
who owns a concierge company I was able to secure Madonna
tickets for two sold-out nights, complete with the VIP party
beforehand where they actually get to meet Madonna. Because
of my relationship with this company, I was able to get
something that would have been otherwise unattainable.”
Membership
has its privileges. Free Videos & Photo Shoots!
Since many of us work alongside the same wedding vendors
every weekend, we’ve established relationships with our
local photographers and caterers. But did you ever consider
that because of your friendship, these fellow vendors might
be willing to prepare a video or do a photo shoot for your
company? D
oyle
says that when he got married, a videographer who had been
working for years with Denon & Doyle taped his wedding for
free. “Obviously, this guy hoped that he’d do such a good
job that we’d refer him,” he explains.
Claims
Kokoruz: “I haven’t paid for a photography session of any
kind in I don’t know how many years, and I never ask anyone
for anything. If we were to schedule a photo shoot, for
example, I’ll always ask the photographer what it’s going
to cost me, and they’ll end up comping it. We’ve had headshots
and photos of all our systems done. We’ve done the same
thing with videos, and I’ll let videographers put their
own sales pitch on the end of the tape.”
How
does it work for Spinnin’ Discs? “Anytime we’re at a wedding
reception that went well and where the videographer has
spent some time on us, if we think it has potential for
being footage we’ll ask for a copy in Super-VHS format.”
Free
Computer Services!
And did you know that your videographer or photographer
may have skills other than their chosen vocations? Sometimes
it’s simply a matter of asking what his or her interests
are. “One videographer gives me computer services any time
I need them,” Kokoruz continues. “He maintains my computer
network, does virus scans, and upgrades my system. The only
thing I pay for are the parts. With Spinnin’ Discs, we’ve
got seven computers that are all networked together, so
that’s a real pain in the butt for me to work on.
“I don’t want to learn that stuff—I’m a disc jockey, not
a computer whiz!”
Free
Lodging!
When club and mobile DJs travel out of town to perform,
it’s expected that our hotel room will be covered by the
client. But what about when we’re not working? Scotty O’Brien
does a lot of jobs for the Kirby Vacuum Company. Unlike
their product, their lodging arrangements don’t suck.
“Of course, Kirby pays my expenses and my show fee,” says
O’Brien, “but I also always get to stay at the supervisors’
houses, most of which are $3 million homes. They also take
me on all their trips to exotic locations like Puerto Rico
and Mexico, and I stay there free of charge on them.”
A St. Louis-based owner of Sunshine Entertainment, O’Brien
first got a gig with Kirby after a local hotel recommended
his services, and after a flawless event, O’Brien started
doing sales rallies for the company. “Within about a year
I was working in five different divisions of the company,”
says O’Brien, “both spinning music and doing positive crowd
motivation. Not a Zig Ziglar kind of motivation, mind you,
but a high-energy type of motivation. I’ll take a crowd
of 800 quiet people and bring them up to noise, and I’ve
heard that Kirby has doubled their sales as a result.”
Because
of his working relationship with this corporate client,
not only does O’Brien get his bed for free, but says his
breakfast (and lunch and dinner) come at no cost as well.
“In fact, one of the supervisors recently mailed me a nice
slab of filet mignon and had a fresh lobster delivered to
my home!” What does O’Brien recommend for others seeking
to get in on the perks racket? “When I started doing a lot
of work with a major hotel chain, I offered to do their
employee holiday party for free,” he says. “Now, whenever
I need a room anywhere in the country, I’ll simply call
up and reserve one for free [or at the employee discount,
depending on availability].
“That’s
not a bad perk,” he says. They leave the light on for him.
Free
Golf!
Having free golf passes, we learned through this story,
can definitely come in handy if you’re wining and dining
a potential client, or even preparing to close a corporate
deal. What better way to impress someone who could be a
great future source of referrals? Even if you have no intention
of being the next Tiger Woods, there can be perks available
for your employees or your clients through your relationship
with golf courses.
“I
don’t golf, but I could golf at just about any club in the
Chicagoland area,” Kokoruz says. “I’ve actually sent other
members of my staff golfing to courses that have offered
passes to me earlier, and my GM and one of his buddies are
always taken care of.”
To
win such freebies, mobiles say that when you play music
for parties or receptions at a golf course, or any other
high-end facility, always put your best foot forward. “When
you’re loading in your equipment before a gig,” says Iowa
mobile Stanley Samuel, “close the doors behind you to keep
the temperature inside comfortable. Pick up after yourself
at all times. Tip the bartenders, even if you’re only drinking
ice water, and mention their names over the mic throughout
the night. Unless the dinner sucks, compliment the chef.
Sure, it’s brown-nosing, but it works.”
As
a result, Kokoruz is always taken care of in Chi-town and
Samuel in cow-town.
Free
Limo & Minister!
How about transportation? Ever need a limo for an event
of your own? “A transportation company comped the limousine
for my sister’s event,” Kokoruz says. “And when one of our
employees had her 25th birthday, they comped us a limo when
we went club-hopping downtown. And when one of my GMs got
married last year, another company offered us one of their
buses for the night and told us just to take care of the
driver.”
How
does this work? Referrals, 24/7. “Basically, we refer this
transportation company with so much sincerity because they’re
such wonderful people,” Kokoruz explains. “And based on
our sincerity, our clients don’t question their price and
just go with them, and so, in turn, this company takes care
of us.”
In fact, can you believe that even religious services sometimes
work the same way? “One of the girls who works in our office
is getting married, and the minister is lending his services
for free,” Kokoruz continues, “so we all get a lot of perks
as a professional courtesy. We all tend to do those things
for each other.”
Free
Drinks & Meals!
If you aren’t merely satisfied with being fed fried chicken
and ham every weekend at wedding receptions, there may be
other things you can snag. My mobile company developed a
good reputation with bars and banquet facilities because
guests at our gigs had a blast—reflected by the bar sales
at the end of the night. As a result, we would often get
our meals and drinks for free, even on nights when we weren’t
working.
“It’s
actually not rocket science,” says Samuel. “If you make
a restaurant or bar owner happy, they want to encourage
your relationship with them. They figure that if they give
you free meals and drinks, maybe we’ll refer them to our
clients. Besides, the cost of food and drinks is cheap for
them, before their markups for profit, so it’s not really
costing them much.”
“I
find that most perks people get tend to be almost tradeout-ish,”
says Doyle. “For example, we’ll do something nice for a
banquet hall and they’ll do something nice for us. Over
the years we’ve gotten tons of free hotel rooms and tons
of free Sunday brunches, and those types of things tend
to be good.”
Of
course, Doyle says all that with his mouth full.
In
spite of all the free jackets, plane tickets, meals and
gear, everyone reminds us to remember that simple relationships
are most important. “The biggest perks for me is when it’s
the basis for a relationship that down the road will lead
into something that will help my career,” says Webb.
And
just because some of us are getting lots of free stuff,
it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going around asking for
it. “I suppose if I hinted at stuff, things would happen,”
says Kokoruz. “But for me, I don’t want concert tickets
and T-shirts. When I walk into a banquet hall, I’m not so
much concerned with the catering manager buying me lunch
as much as wanting to be at the top of his referral list.
I’ve had all that perks stuff, and I have to admit that
at Christmastime we get some extremely nice gift baskets
from people as thank you’s, but I just want referrals and
respect.”
If
you have any questions for TCB, please write to
DJ
Times c/o TCB,
25 Willowdale Ave.
Port Washington, N.Y., 11050
fax 516-944-8372
e-mail djtimes@testa.com.
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