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Zapier DJ Event Planner Integration

March 24, 2020 by Aaron

Here is a quick video from a Zoom call I had with fellow DJ Jonathan Mac where I walk through how I use Zapier to “Zap” contacts from my Email marketing program (Keap/Infusionsoft) into DJEP or DJ Event Planner.

If you would like me to implement this in your business, shoot me an email at aaron@aaronabramson.com or call me at 218-282-2766

Turn old leads into Cash

October 10, 2019 by Aaron

If you run a business in the special events industry (weddings, mitzvahs, private events, etc), then you probably get a lot of requests for information & pricing from clients interested in your services.

What do you do with those leads if they do not book you right away?

Well in my business – Pro Sound & Light Show – those leads go into my sales database and my staff keeps following up with them. At any given time, we can have HUNDREDS of potential clients on our list of leads.

In this video interview with John Young from the Disc Jockey News, I talk about how to take that list of older leads who haven’t booked yet, and turn them into cash.

Check it out!

Do you own a job, or do you own a business?

January 18, 2019 by Aaron

Do you own a job, or do you own a business?

If you don’t know what the difference is… a job requires your own personal exchange of time and effort for money.

A business leverages the time and effort of employees or other assets to generate money.

If you run a photo booth company and have multiple booths, and have attendants running events so you can sit at home counting your money, then you’re well on your way to a thriving business.

If you currently own a job, and want to transition to owning a business, the key is to have well documented processes and procedures, and train employees to the lowest common denominator.

The goal is to have your product/service be fulfilled and client expectations exceeded by ANY of your staff. Your staff should be replaceable.

Now, in my business I do more than just photo booths. (We also provide DJs for events/weddings, and do live hosted DJ Trivia in bars & restaurants)

Last year my staff of 37 produced over 1700 events, and my time in the office is spent planning sales & marketing campaigns and writing policy manuals for my management team to use in hiring/training employees.

It’s quite the experience to read a raving review and write a paycheck for an employee you have never met.

What is the next step for you to take in moving towards a thriving business?

Bullets, Bullets… and more Bullets!

April 5, 2018 by Aaron

A podcast I listen to in the Direct Marketing space (Off the Chain with Doberman Dan) got me hooked on this thing called Bullet Coffee.

It’s coffee, with FAT.  Either heavy cream or butter, and coconut oil.

Why is it called bullet coffee? I don’t remember off the top of my head…

I just know it’s delicious and helps super-charge the caffeine for improved performance.

And last week, a friend of mine suggested I look into Bullet Journaling. (http://bulletjournal.com/)

I’m on day 8 of bullet journaling, and I must say, this is a very flexible and genius system for tracking, logging, and identifying tasks to be more productive.

I’ll probably talk more about my experience with this in a future email.

And finally, in sales & marketing, there is whats called Magic Bullets.

  • Bullets are a way to structure information in an easy to use manner
  • Bullets are Feature – Benefit
  • Magic Bullets use “So that” to clearly define the benefit to the customer

When I see businesses promoting their services (especially in the wedding industry) the normal go-to method of describing services is to use bullets.

For DJs:

  • 5 hours of music
  • JBL sound system
  • LED Dance Lights
  • Wireless microphone

For PhotoBooths:

  • 3 hours of use
  • Unlimited prints
  • Props
  • Attendant

For Photographers:

  • All day coverage
  • 2 photographers
  • Digital delivery of photos
  • Photo Album Memory Book

But these are just plain old bullets, and while they do an OK job of selling your services… they aren’t great.

Lets make them MAGICAL by adding some “So that”s

For DJs:

  • 5 hours of music – so that you have music for Dinner AND Dancing
  • JBL sound system – so that everyone can hear crisp clean audio
  • LED Dance Lights – to make the dance floor fun and inviting
  • Wireless microphone – so that everyone can hear the speeches and toasts

For PhotoBooths:

  • 3 hours of use – so that everyone has a chance to use the photo booth
  • Unlimited prints – so that everyone that wants a copy can get a copy of the photo
  • Props – so that your guests can let loose and have fun
  • Attendant – so that everyone knows what to do, and keep things running smoothly

For Photographers:

  • All day coverage – so that your entire day is captured
  • 2 photographers – to capture multiple angles and make sure nothing is missed
  • Digital delivery of photos – so that you have instant access to view and share your photos
  • Photo Album Memory Book – so you have a treasured keepsake to be a centerpiece on your coffee table

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to turn regular bullets into magic bullets.  And magic bullets will give you an edge over your competition who doesn’t subscribe to my list and are still in the stone age of using regular bullets.

Whatcha gonna do with all that junk?

April 3, 2018 by Aaron

I don’t know about you but I seem to get a lot of junk mail.

I’m talking physical junk mail…

WHY do you think that is?

Why do companies spend a lot of money, effort, and energy to physically carpet bomb cities with junk mail?

…

Because it works.

One of my companies, a wedding DJ company, is pretty much the ONLY company in my market that sends out physical mail to leads.

Yes, it costs me a bit of moolah to do a mailer.

Usually between $1-2/piece.

So when I mail out to a batch of 1,200+ brides to be… I’m dropping anywhere from $1,200-2,400 on that marketing piece.

But it all comes down to return on investment.

I know that when I do a mailer, my sales go up… and it’s worth it!

So the next time you check your mail box, and you see junk mail… take a moment to really look at it before you toss it.

Ask yourself:

WHO is the target customer for this ad?

WHAT is the call-to-action for this ad?

WHAT is the incentive for this ad?

Now think about who is your target customer? What call-to-action do you want your customer to take? What incentive are you giving your customer to take action?

If you can answer those questions, then you can put together a postcard, or letter, and mail that out to your list of leads.

Mondays… bane or boon?

April 2, 2018 by Aaron

One of my (many) favorite lines from the movie Office Space is…

“It looks like somebody has a case of the Mondays”

But what are Mondays… other than the first day of the week?

For me, Mondays are a day to reflect on what I did last week.  But not just what I did, what were my numbers & statistics… (in this context, I’m talking about SALES)

My numbers were horrible!

But horrible compared to what?

Compared to the week before.

Compared to my arbitrary weekly goal I have set.

HOWEVER

They were not horrible compared to this week last year.

Year over year, the week before Easter is a slower than normal week for sales in my business.

So I know it’s not anything I did (or didn’t do).

It is simply a seasonal trend.  One that is to be expected year after year.

So I can look at my numbers, see that I’m right on point, and move on with my tasks for the day.

Do you track your numbers?  Why or why not?

Bridal & Wedding Shows 101

January 6, 2018 by Aaron

Bridal shows 101.

Brides go there to get information, NOT to buy. Perhaps 3% of attendees are in a “buyer” mode.

Collect leads, as many as you can. We do NOT use iPads or laptops to collect info, we use pen and paper slips…. BECAUSE you can have 5-10 people filling out slips at the same time. We collect on average 200-250 leads in our booth this way.

You have to have an incentive to register, we do a drawing for a FREE photobooth. Costs me ~$250 in labor, easy peasy.

Never stop following up.

Bridal shows are worthless if you do not have a systemized sales process.

What do you track your leads with? (If nothing else, use a spreadsheet). You need to maintain a LIST of leads. And regularly prune that list, deleting leads who say NO, or whose date has passed.

Regularly follow up with your list. Send out emails. Mail physical letters. CALL any phone numbers you have.

We run regular sales and promotions, and in between those we send out useful content and planning advice.

The bulk of our money from a January bridal show comes from May through October.

Next week, at the January bridal shows, the majority of brides will have 2019 wedding dates. They JUST got engaged. They are collecting information, and not ready to buy.

I can guarantee you, that I will be the ONLY company that is still following up with them 3 weeks after the show. Most people only send 3 emails, get no response, and wrongly assume “they must have booked someone else, someone cheaper, guess they weren’t my client”.

When in fact, they aren’t ready to buy… and when they ARE ready to buy (12-8 months before their wedding date), they buy from me, because I kept following up, stayed top of mind, and offered them a “1 year away” early bird discount in July 2018 for their July 2019 wedding.

Bridal shows are great, but they are just 10% of the overall sales and marketing strategy. They exist solely to feed leads into a finely tuned selling machine.

So don’t go into a bridal show thinking you’re going to get sales from the show… you won’t. You’ll get leads. You get sales from the blood sweat and tears of selling to your list day in and day out all year long.

Thursday Morning Wisdom : Kwik Trip

April 9, 2015 by Aaron

Just some Thursday morning insight into the fine people that work at Kwik Trip!

My 2015 Resolutions

January 5, 2015 by Aaron

Time to get back into the swing of regular updates!

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