7:29
Extras that add to the fee
On YouTube this video is called Mobile DJ Advise, Help with adding on extras for more cash!
What this lesson teaches
This one opens mid-conversation - he is taking an actual booking - and then explains what he just did. It is the most directly copyable lesson in this course.
What he says on the call
The structure, which is worth learning as a script:
First, confirm what the basic fee already includes - the full roadshow, a professional DJ, good quality sound, the light show. So the extras are additions to something complete, not the filling of a gap.
Then the list, each with a price:
Effects lighting in one or two corners of the room, around £10 each - which he describes as turning a conventional light show into something closer to a nightclub, switched on later when the dancing starts.
Early arrival and setup with background music as the guests arrive - around £50 per hour.
A radio microphone for the speeches - around £10.
And then the close: you have got your basic fee, and we could work out which of the extras you would like. Yes, there is an extra cost - and it takes the evening to the next level.
His own note on the figures: treat 10 and 50 as placeholders. It could be ten pounds, dollars, euros or yen, and you have to work out your own.
Why the early setup charge is justified
Worth pulling out, because this is the one DJs give away.
Arriving early with background music often means setting up a separate PA - and then being on site, unpaid, for two hours before your start time.
That is real work and real equipment. Charging per hour for it is not an upsell, it is invoicing for a service.
Explain what everything is - the key instruction
His most important practical point, and it applies to every item on the list.
99 per cent of clients cannot tell one effect from another, and most have never heard the word uplighting.
So do not list features. Describe what they do. His own example: these are lights that stand against the side of the marquee and shine up the fabric, giving the whole area a beautiful effect - and the client goes ah, right, OK.
That is the difference between an incomprehensible price list and an evening the client can picture. You cannot sell somebody something they cannot imagine.
And some extras they would never think of
The radio mic is his example, and it is a good one: most clients do not think about how the speeches will be heard until the speeches happen.
Which is the general principle for building the list. The best extras are the problems the client has not yet realised they have - the speeches, the two hours of silence while guests arrive, the photographs nobody can see.
Have a written list
He holds up a piece of paper, in his usual punk style, and the advice is sound: have the list written down, with what each item is and what it costs.
Partly so you quote consistently. Mostly so you do not forget to mention the three things that would have added half again to the fee.
What it adds up to
His estimate: with extras, you may be able to add another half onto the original fee.
So a 250 booking becomes 375 - for one radio mic, two effect units, and arriving two hours early. The equipment is already in the van.
And he throws it open
As usual, he asks viewers to post their own extras in the comments so everybody can read through them - which is a fair acknowledgement that his list is not the whole list.
Worth doing your own version: walk through a wedding hour by hour, write down everything that needs sound, light or a microphone, and price each one.
Contents of the video
0:00 Just as a matter of interest, I do have extras on the original fee
That's arrive at 5 to set up. Okay? Sure. Okay. Just as a matter of interest, I do have extras on the original fee. Now again, what you must understand is that the original fee that we agreed with is... You're getting everything. You're getting a full roadshow, professional DJ, good quality sound, good quality... It lifts the atmosphere and also it takes it to the next level from your conventional light show. One or two lasers perhaps in one or two corners of the room can make the room just all of a sudden explode into this wacky sort of, I don't know, it's almost like a nightclub if you imagine you could have your original lights on during the course of the evening
The dancers like a bit of dance music etc. You turn the lasers on then, so that can take the whole evening to the next level. I do charge £10 each for those as well. Now also if you want to, I can actually arrive early and set up a sound system, so as the guests arrive they'll have background music. Now I do charge another £50 or 50 should I say per hour for that. And again, if you want to, I can supply you with a radio mic for speeches and that's 10 extra as well. So, you know, you've got your basic fee and then what we could do, we could work out maybe if you'd like the extras, yes, admittedly they are, there is an extra cost involved there, but like I said earlier, it does actually take the mobile to the next level.
2:29 To them that, well, yo
Let's say you've discussed with the client the price. For example, I did say £50 but what I'm trying to do there is just say 10, 50, 10 because it could be 10 euros, 10 dollars, 10 yen. I don't know, you've got to work that out. But let's say for example you've agreed 250 for the function. In a sense the client will know Ellaskins, The DJ Tutor. You've got to somehow explain to them that, well, you know what? If you do get these extras, it will make your roadshow that you're going to get look better than possibly a roadshow you went to six months earlier or you went to someone's party, etc. And it'll make you look good because people will be going to your wedding or your 18th or your 21st and they'll think, wow!
4:41 The lasers will do, the difference
This is pretty cool. We haven't been to something like this before. So for example, the likes of lasers, the likes of say background music prior to guests arriving is always better. Now I want to show you something here, okay? Let's have a look at this piece of paper. Now again, in my punk style, alright? I don't know if you can see that. Hopefully you can. Okay, what have we got here? Now let's say for example you've given your price. It's always a good idea to have a list. If you have 10 lasers, you could say, well I've got this one who does that, this one does that. Give them a general idea. But also very quickly as well, what you do have to remember is the people you're dealing with, 99% of them won't know one laser from the other. So in a sense maybe you need to start to explain what the lasers will do, the difference between each laser. Also up-lighting, what it does. Now here's something that is so important. If you say to someone, well you know what, I can organise some
Some people are going to think, what on earth is up-lighting? So you have to explain things. Just say, well, you know, these are particular lights that you will put next to the side of the marquee and they'll shine up along the side of the marquee, giving almost that area a beautiful lighting effect in itself. And people think, ah, right, OK. For example, radio mic for speeches. Maybe some people don't think of that. But if you have it as an extra, you can charge for it. Arrive early, like I said, to set up with background music. Now, you can charge extra for that. You should be able to because in a sense you may be setting up a completely new PA system. So you have your basic fee and in a sense adding the extras on, you may even be able to add another half onto the original fee.
I'll tell you what, listen, this would be quite cool. You heard all the extras I put on there. Well, let's have underneath this video in comments, let's have your extras that you would put on. And then, this is I suppose the fun and the fantastic thing about doing videos like this, is that me, you, anyone could look through all those extras. Thank you for watching. Thank you for watching.
This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.
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