From Porn Names to Power Strips: How DJs Win Big With Planners

0:21 what's up everybody and welcome back to beyond the dj booth. I'm joe bunn, brian b. Again, we're still here. You know what they say. They say that most podcasts. This is true. This is actually a fact. Don't make it past number 10. 10, that's your number, that's my favorite, number 10 so what's going on? You know, I was thinking of how we should open it up, soft opening, whatever but, let me ask you this what is your porn name? I don't know where I'm going there, but I'm just going to ask it Middle name and first pet? if you had a pet, when did you get this? I don't know. I was just Googling show openers and just thought this might be a good one. I want people to know the real Joe Bunn. You know what I mean. Did you have? a pet. Are you ready Give it to me?

1:01 Eagles Ace. I don't think you'd do well in the Kwan industry. Ace Eagles is kind of hard. What is yours? No pun intended Saquon on the board. By the way, everybody, if you hear somebody in the background, that's our guy over there. He's running the board, the cameras, we're doing it all. I think I could star. Go on. Let me hear it. Keith Oak. That is good, bro. You had a pet named. Oak. Oh, I'm sorry, it's not your pet name. What the fuck? Sorry, I'm sorry, it's First Street you grew up on. Oh, that's right. Yeah, I knew you were messing this up. Yeah yeah, keith Oak is good. That's good, bro. That's like hard Eagles. Westover, it's not good man, ace Eagles is good.

1:45 Yeah yeah, my middle name's Eagles Fun fact for the day. That's a crazy show opener, jesus. So you know, for a recap for those of you not following along, go back and listen to the trailer. That'll tell you kind of who should listen to this podcast and what we're going to be talking about. It kind of breaks down into three or four different high level topics. One is kind of gig stories, the good and the bad when we mess up or when we excel. The second thing is we're talking about usually a question from one of you guys, the listeners. So we'll be providing an email address or a website for y'all to submit those questions quite frankly. And what's the third thing? Again, music. And then also Brian, you know, comes from a podcast background of talking about DJing and music also, but also talking about some travel hacks, gear.

2:32 Gear yeah. As you may or may not know, he is a destination DJ. He is on a plane almost once a week. He takes a break in between sometimes, but he's always out there Right, and so he's picked up little things along the way. So why don't we talk about that? This will be the first time we've introduced this segment and these segments are like a work in progress, so we're trying to figure out what sticks. Yeah, what do you like, what do you not? like, so I brought some toys. Based on the way you started the show. Dude, that is not. Don't call him that. Oh man, I'm already thinking you're a nasty boy. Go on. So here we go with a power strip. Yeah, this. I can't take complete credit for this, so I am going to credit some of the people who shared some of these things with me, but I'm sharing it with everybody else. This is a Drew Pierce find. Okay, drew Pierce find.

3:13 Shout out, drew Pierce, this is by KMC. Okay, you can get compensated for that, hopefully at some point um. Why do you like this? I like this because it's only three inputs right. So I just recalled something. If you're just listening to this on a podcast, we'll be a little bit descriptive when we show things right yeah, because a lot of people aren't going to watch the video version, know that there is a video version, so be descriptive, right, I will do my best, please. So this is a black jesus, sorry. Um no, this is a power strip with only three plugs, right? right and a shorty cord, a shorty cord the larger power strips.

3:54 They're just hard to fit in your gig bags, especially if you're traveling yeah and I realized that I was only usually using in any given spot, yeah, three plugs tops my computer, a controller, maybe a mic? Yep, these other ones are sitting there right unused. The other thing with this, too, is the surge protecting. Those always fail, for me at least. I feel like they go off on weird times this doesn't have that and I also. What I like about this one is there's not even an on off switch. On, no, because some of those don't have a light, so you don't really know which is on and which is off. Yeah, I really like this Comes in a pack of five. Okay Price you want to guess $10 each, $5 each, $20 for the entire five pack $4 each it's pretty impressive Genius.

4:36 So on the YouTube version of this we'll put a link down in the description. Whether you use it for DJing or traveling or whatever. It's just good to have a couple of these in your bag. Yeah, I love that, just because, you never know, that's a good one. Second one here. You're doing a double today. A double today, okay, one more. This is what you would use to charge your phone if you're traveling and you're getting a rental car or whatever, okay, okay. Fumbling your phone Yep, which all the new iPhones have. I think they do. Go on this will charge it. Comes with the cable to charge as well, and then this little hook, as you can see here, actually hooks into your air vent.

5:17 Oh yeah, or a long particular thing. You can basically adjust it with the mounting thing here, so this doesn't have to go straight up. Do that right in the mic, so it's very satisfying there we go Sound effects, those are real, does that sound? Good Saquon, that's good shit, yeah. So it doesn't have to go straight up. It could go down. It could go to the side. if you want, I dig that. However you prefer, whatever car configuration up by your face where the vents are so you can see the map. Damn brian b lights up. It lights up. Lights up as well, yeah so if it's, 70 bucks, so it is a little bit of a purchase okay but look, it's super compact. I mean, you can literally put this in your bag, sure, if those aren't watching? I'm just trust me, you can definitely put it.

5:59 Yeah, it's about the size of his hand, like right, well, that's pretty large but, but anyways, this episode is going. It's going swimmingly. But anyways, I highly recommend it. I think it's a game changer because you always are going to need it at some point. I dig that man. So I've got a couple in my car that are permanent, and then I have a couple on my travel bags. I dig that. Hey sidebar, I just remembered I played this event last night at Ashley's Spin Studio. Yeah, all Taylor Swift DJ ride. Okay, now, good news, it's only 45 minutes. Okay, listen before the Swifties come after me. I like Taylor. I think she is a genius business person. I think she's an awesome songwriter.

6:39 Am I the biggest fan? No, did I want to play? I think I played 25 tracks in 45 minutes. I will also say that Ashley basically did the set list for me and it wasn't like even deep cuts and stuff, but she was like you have to play this line of this song or they'll cut your. You know, they'll cut your throat, like you know. There's like one, two, three, let's go bitch or whatever in that delicate song. There's some other line like anyway. So it was a scene because, like these people, they do now a taylor swift tuesday and a swifty sunday at her studio because it's aggressive it's that big of a draw, though. Wow, like that class was packed out right every sunday.30 am packed out with no DJ. Like just the instructor playing the track.

7:20 So anyway, I just thought I'd recount that because I haven't played in a couple of weeks now Getting ready to go back out, you know, on shows this weekend Big fundraiser we did last week, I'm sorry, last year, saquon and I, and then just off to the races, weddings through the fall. So anyway, just kind of wanted to give you a little look into my different kind of gig life sometimes. Well, speaking of those tracks, it's hard to judge because they're not dancing. Was there a song of the ride? Not a song of the night, but a song of the ride man? It was probably A specific blend, if there was something that was. Yeah, it was Delicate, that one I was just talking about, and I think it's called like the Intensity Remix. And then there was another remix, I think, of that, lavender Haze Felix.

8:01 I'm going to butcher his last name like Yawn, it's like J-A-E-H-N or something like that. Those were the two that stood out Any of those translate to Dance Floors? Those two could because they were definitely dance like 120 something edits. The other ones were more like you know, cry about your boyfriend. Yeah. I hate men. And then I was like up there just standing there, like oh. Speaking of that for a wedding. Yeah. Does it matter anymore? No, like, yeah, I remember people were always like, oh, I can't believe this DJ played this at a wedding. I mean, I don't think people are scrutinizing lyrics like that. Yeah, do you. No, I mean, unless it's overly. Hey, I want to divorce you. Right, or like a ballad Cheat on me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know something like that. That's obvious. But for the most, part.

8:42 I don't think anybody cares yeah. Remember that wedding we did Saquon. It was like, why did you drop this? I'm like it's on the must-buy list, like I didn't just pull this, yeah, and they're out there like the bride and groom, like me and my side piece. I'm like, oh shit, like this is different anyway let's do a question so at the end of the man, like there's so many freaking podcasts, right, Right, and like it's good to hear me and you bullshit. I love to see you, man. We live in the same town now but we don't see each other that often. He came over to the game a couple of weeks ago to watch the game.

9:24 But like Brian B like here versus Brian B family guy, when he's got his daughter he's got a like she, Like she's tearing up my house. He's trying not to let her is a different person, so it's good to be like face to face. I love this so far. Like episode two, I feel like you feel like we're going to make it past 10. I think we can. Okay, good, good, all right. So, saquon, if you'll pop up the question and it's already up here on the monitor. You want to read it, brian? I think you's because of the accent. Yes, it's true, he's a good reader. Where do I meet the high-end wedding planners? I love this. Once I meet them, how do I talk about my business in a way that appeals to them? How can I add value for the wedding planners? How do I build and maintain relationships with these people?

10:06 By Preston Johnson, and where's he out of, do you know? I? don't remember when is Preston out of. Anyway, shout out Preston Johnson wherever you are. No, boise, boise, boise. Oh yeah, remember we were talking about this, yep shout out Boise, shout out Eric Rhodes too in Boise right, good good people in Boise. Uh, shout out Russell Brunson, russell Brunson's in yeah, that's a, he's a. He's a Boise Idaho guy. This is so right up your alley. In fact, I'm gonna let you take the majority of this. I'm gonna have to, because I promise you, man, like and I'm not just saying this to blow smoke what you've done to parlay these relationships from going to Engage, which I'm sure you're getting ready to talk about, is really impressive. Seriously, man, because I've seen where your business started.

10:47 I consulted Brian 10 years ago down in Destin, florida, before he did any of this travel DJ stuff, so I'll speak on it, but we're trying to answer this first, you referenced the Engage conference. That was probably my first big step into moving out of the local high-end market, which at the time, in Florida, the bar was pretty low, even though it was high. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I had no idea how high it really went. And so going to the Engage conference was really my first foray into it. But I'll be honest with you if you're not familiar with the Engage conference, we'll put the link in the show notes. But it's not a cheap ticket anymore. Woo, I mean they keep it never was, it never was. But now it's like stratosphere 5,000? Higher. It's like 7,500.

11:28 When I heard about the conference, I saw the price tag I think at the time it was like 3,500. And to live my life in a way that was like if I don't have the money, I'm not putting it on a credit card. I just didn't feel like that's a good business move. So I saved for a year, didn't go, and then I finally put down the cash, had it in the marketing budget, went, met a friend of ours, now one of yours, bob Conti. Who was there? a guy who's an amazing connector. He's like the mayor of Engage now. I mean he connects everybody but he told me while we're in a pool. He's like, listen, this isn't a one-time hit, like there's so many people who come to this conference and they think they're going to get a booking right off the bat.

12:08 It's possible but it's very rare. So I went seven times, bro, seven times before I got my first gig from this. So my point is with any relationship, it takes time to mature. That and you were playing at these things at the time. No, like the first two or three, I wasn't, you know, and I think our field is so hard to like make inroads there because we don't have a portfolio like a photographer or videographer, where it's really tangible. I can show videos all day long of me playing, but it's a feeling. It's like you got to experience it live, and so I had to figure out a way to demonstrate my skillset. Yeah, and so at the engaged conference specifically, I was like, is there any kind of after party I can do? Is there any kind of showcasing I can do?

12:50 And you went one time and literally we, we rented out the biggest hotel suite suite. We could spent a crazy amount for this suite, but it allowed us to throw a party in there. Yeah, we did, and I mean people were still talking about to this day like that stuff. That was fun, man, and so you kind of have to get creative sometimes, because I wasn't going to be somebody, at least right off the get that they were going to. Let me be one of the featured entertainers. They're typically using bands or typically using agencies. My business wasn't structured that way, so I couldn't provide it from that level, so you had to kind of get creative. But to your question I would just say it's going to take time, so know that right off the bat. But there's other places you can go nowadays to make these inroads.

13:30 It doesn't have to be the Engage Conference, I feel like and I know you're a part of this organization too but WIPA is growing super strong W-I-P-A if you want to look into it. I think it stands for Wedding International Planning Association or Professionals. Association yes. And they're all over the place. Yeah, and big markets. I don't know about Boise, but the great thing is, you become a national member if you want to. If they don't have a local strategy, you shit on Boise, by the way. Well, they don't have. They're not a major market. Okay, they're not a major market. Okay, like even raleigh, like they just started this but. But even our market is the whole state right. So anyway, at some point, they'll get there, but this is a cheaper alternative yes you can literally fly to these places, the meetings in the day. Sure you don't have to get a hotel room, totally so for like a 500 investment you're right.

14:13 You're getting in front of people who move the needle and that's a great stepping point. I think is there, but I don't't think you can do this through email, like high-end planners and stuff. It has to be about the relationship. Yeah, it's not an email thing you got to get in front of them. That would be my thought. I can talk to the other two things real quickly. Adding value is something that is again. I think I talked about this on the last episode. You have to be able to distinguish what you're good at. What is it that is your calling card? And it's not going to always be the same. You can't be a yes man, yes woman to every whim of and say I can do it all. Whatever you want me to be, I could be. That makes you not look like the professional in the room. You have to be able to say this is my lane. And the way I like to frame it a lot of times is you're going to be repelling some people and you're going to be attracting some people.

14:57 What you don't want to be is in the middle, where you're middle of the road, because then they don't know where you stand and you're going to blend in with everybody else. So it's okay to take a stand on like this is what my calling card is, this is what I'm great at, this is what I'm not going to do, because this isn't what I'm good at. You did mention this last time. I mean I don't run in the engage world but I certainly, as I've talked about before on any podcast or the DJ's Vault. I mean I am definitely a person that joins an organization, whether it's NACE, wipa or Aaliyah, and I go to these things. And if I can't personally go like if I'm out of town or you know, something gets in the way with the family then Randy goes and kind of represents the company. One or the other of us is at every one of those meetings and you know we're there to represent the brand.

15:42 We're there to listen to people. We're there to share war stories. We're there to talk. I think the way I add value is the same way that Brian was talking about. I definitely tell people what we're good at. I you know I'm happy to share pictures or images of what we do in terms of setup. I'm there to tell them hey look, you know, randy and I came from the club background like we know how to play, like these quote-unquote kids that are getting married now they, they grew up listening to real djs. Right when I first started, you didn't have you could channel fade in and out and play the whole song to a damn near, you know, faded from the engineer's original recording. Yeah, it's just different now. And so I tell them that what else and maintaining the relationships is about, you know, staying, staying in their faces, hosting luncheons, sending out gifts at certain times of the year, you know it's always being top of mind.

16:26 And again, just like I said last time, I'll say it again never take your foot off the gas. Well, to that point, I think one thing Bun DJ Co is really great at is always volunteering for sponsorships or whatever the case may be. Not necessarily with money it can be, but like really your time. Like I always see at these WIPA meetings, there's a bun DJ guy who's playing for the meeting? The music that's happening there. Put in a photo booth or whatever. Like we'll do it. The other way to kind of elevate quickly is to get on the board of these organizations. Absolutely, it kind of makes you feel like you're elevated and puts you in a different conversation than just attending and being a regular member, if you will. And to be fair, it's not like a crazy time, it's not yeah. WIPA specifically, they do four meetings a year as the minimum requirement to be a chapter, If you're doing the treasury or whatever.

17:11 I mean it's so basic for what you're doing for those four meetings. The time suck is not crazy, President may be different. Yeah, totally I've been like communications. I've definitely been um I did education for them, so like I think I did that as well for one of the groups and it wasn't a huge time commitment but it just puts you on a different pedestal, because now when people are looking at the chapter, they're like who's on the board, yeah, and they see your dj company name. All of a sudden they're like this must be somebody. Good, he wouldn't be on the board if he wasn't. You know what I mean? I love it. Or she wasn't? Yeah, great stuff. Anything before we wrap this episode up. Man, I feel pretty good about this one. It's a good one, yeah. Great questions, keep it coming. Yeah, keep the questions coming. Thank you, preston, and thanks everybody for listening. Thank you.