All the gear, and no idea

[Bruce Weldy]

Don't give your work away. Also don't rent out anything that you don't mind having destroyed. Rent your services as a DJ or live sound engineer along with your gear. A website is a must, and they're not expensive.

Absolutely. My gear goes nowhere unless I'm with it.

I've done some freebies for charities.....no more. Most of them are fund-raisers that bring in tens if not hundreds of thousands of $$. If it's something you care about, then ok. But, you don't want everybody looking for a freebie. Instead tell 'em that you'll give 'em a discount and that payment is up front before you load in. Hate to sound like a hard-ass, but you have to protect yourself. There are some real bastards out there that will take advantage of you.

I'd suggest that you get out to venues on a regular basis and meet the bands and the management of the venue. Let 'em know that you are available whenever they are putting on a bigger event and want to provide PA support for multiple bands. Explain the time saving and how much better the shows and the turn around times will be with you there.

Get on the good side of some bands that are popular. They know the club owners and can suggest you to them.

Anyway, good luck out there.....

[Keryn O'Shea]

Thanks for the great advice gentlemen, and also the perspective on devaluing the service for everyone by not charging, good point there Anton

Also don't rent out anything that you don't mind having destroyed.

My Dads advise was to a similar tune, though with a couple of swear words, and a story about the guy who borrowed and straight fueled his chainsaw

My gear goes nowhere unless I'm with it.

Yes, 100%

I'll just have to be patient, and get out amongst the scene, cheers

[Radian]

Here’s some additional advice. Now that you’ve built your version of the most kickass system, (which certainly looks the part BTY ) try and spend some time reading prosound books and applying that knowledge to dial it in and get it sounding exceptional. Take the time to setup, measure , and save scene presets for given common scenarios as that’s not something you want to do at the location. Yes it takes time but that’s where you bring value to the table and delineate yourself (and the system performance) from any other operators with just a couple speakers on a pole. Acquiring high-performance gear is easily the hardest step, but there’s also a lot more to operating in this business space beyond that. Just be prepared to accept that at first, the bottom 2/3 of the market will pushback when it comes time to compensate you correctly for the effort required to deliver amazing sound even though many know it (if not, feel it )when they experience it. The sound is just a commodity that you should eventually be able to deliver in your sleep. It’ll take some time to make a place for what you are trying to bring to the table. The end goal is to help someone else deliver/produce their intended experience through the use of your tools and expertise.

[Keryn O'Shea]

Here’s some additional advice.

I was nodding my head the whole time reading this post, all great points and direction mate
You've managed to convey my aims and current position precisely!

..Take the time to setup, measure , and save scene presets for given common scenarios as that’s not something you want to do at the location. Yes it takes time but that’s where you bring value to the table and delineate yourself..

Yes, atm l'm looking for indoor venues locally to run & tune the system in for the experience & baseline settings at off peak times, as l've have zero time indoors.

Now that you’ve built your version of the most kickass system, (which certainly looks the part BTY )..

Cheers mate, l'm itching to get it out there!

The end goal is to help someone else deliver/produce their intended experience through the use of your tools and expertise.

Absolutely, l have the tools...

[Rich4349]

Radian- a friend of mine lives out there (Green Valley) and I need to get out to visit her while she has her health. Do you set up much out there? Love to come see / hear your system!

[Radian]

Radian- a friend of mine lives out there (Green Valley) and I need to get out to visit her while she has her health. Do you set up much out there? Love to come see / hear your system!

PM sent.

[Keryn O'Shea]

The designer for the logo & business cards had asked what details are going on regarding the service l'm offering..
How would FOH, monitors & general sound reinforcement be worded properly..?
Would just "Professional Audio Services" do..?

[Zippie]

I used to own a sign shop and support design and marketing for business.
There’s the simple angle that is just bullet points or specific terms to advertise.
Say it’s a one sided card with your logo and contact on half, services on the other half.
Main PA
FOH
Monitor mixing
Simple and punchy. Maybe a catchy slogan if you want.

Your sound, our gear.
You sing the song, we make it loud.
You play the music, we crank it up.

Alternatively if you are printing double sided you can make you main logo, contact info, and catch phrase as large as possible on the front, then list more detailed services on the back of the card.
Really comes down to what you’re willing to put out there as a service.
Setup, deployment and monitoring of event production.
Services?
Main PA services, monitor mixes, FOH engineering.
Types of events you wanna focus on?
Concerts, parties, weddings, anniversaries?

Hope the best for you and your venture. Excited to see someone one stepping out and going for it. I hope to be on that road at some point. Working a full time retirement job right now keeps me in a more of a hobby situation for learning and dialing in my craft. Possibly going all out down the road. Best of luck.

God Bless,
-Zip

[Seth]

Keryn, do you have a website and social media presence yet? On the cards I had made up for my sailing adventure, I put a scannable QR code that leads to a linktree page where all the links are to my website and social media accounts. If you incorporated this into your card, it's more than just a card, it's a link to an immersive presentation of your business and services. You wouldn't necessarily need to go the route of linktree, you could just have it go straight to a website with photos and information... perhaps a contact form to request a quote.

Here's how that looks

Screenshot (386).png

[Keryn O'Shea]

..if you are printing double sided you can make you main logo, contact info, and catch phrase as large as possible on the front, then list more detailed services on the back of the card.
Really comes down to what you’re willing to put out there as a service.

Yes, this is the format being used, l'd like to keep it simply worded. Until l have more experience, service shown on the card back will be something like "Pro Sound Systems" for the start. I have stage monitors but zero experience mixing atm & don't want to advertise something l can't deliver!
I hope to find bands who l can mix for at their practise sessions.
Thank you for the encouragement Zippie, & also hope your audio goals are reached

Keryn, do you have a website and social media presence yet?

Shacks has a fb page, the website is in the pipeline, l'm still trying to figure out a pricing structure before the website goes up. I've called local companies regarding their pricing, they deliver, but don't set up or monitor the system. Also these cabs are so much more capable than the commercially available setups, so l'm confused there too. Would l price as a system, or just per cab? Could anyone give an idea of what the 6xT48s, 8xOT8s & a pair of SLAPs for a DJ setup could be charged out at?

I put a scannable QR code..

Yes, that's a great idea Seth!
I'm aiming to move to a 4 day work week to free up time & get things off the ground.

[Seth]

Sounds like the companies you contacted are renting an economy car, where you're offering a luxury car and chauffer. Premium sound, premium service, premium price... I'd think. But in all reality, I'm going to learn more from you than I have to offer in this part of your adventure. Please, do keep us posted as this plays out.

[Keryn O'Shea]

I used to own a sign shop and support design and marketing for business.

Zippie l forgot to thank you for taking the time to share your professional knowledge! These ideas will definitely help once the ball is rolling.

Sounds like the companies you contacted are renting an economy car..

True! I'm caught between getting my foot in the door and not selling the service short, the figure l came to is AU$3750/day for that system (excluding the monitors). That’s delivery, setup, running it & pack down. The SLAPs extra $230/day. Discounts if it's a 2/3/4 day event.
4x T48s & 2x DR280s, $2250/day. TLAPs $445/day...
Am l close, or way off..? All AU$ & including tax

[Seth]

My cousin is a construction contractor. Sometimes business is slow and he charges less to keep the job hopper full. But, he's not just a normal contractor, he's passionate about art, artistic quality, and visual appeal of the jobs he does. Where the average contractor just gets the job done "good enough" and moves on. He tells me stories of how he see's the visual impact and quality that the property owners miss and sometimes challenge. He stands his ground, explains why he chose to do what he chose, and offers to change it if the owner doesn't agree. 9 out of 10 times, when the owner is educated on the difference he purposefully created for them, they see "it" and agree. He's a hands on kind of guy, very successful, charges a premium, and get's many referrals... high end contracts most of the time.

I see this situation you're in as very similar. You care about the quality, have the tools to deliver the results, and are genuinely passionate about it. So, maybe you charge less until your schedule is full, then start bidding the jobs based on the reputation you've rightfully earned. And... with your system and knowledge, it shouldn't take long to earn that reputation.

I really have no idea whether the prices you quoted are in the ball park or not. Might have to feel out the market a little more to really see what you're offering is worth.

[Zippie]

+1!

[Zippie]

When I had my sign shop, we handled things the same way. We know what we have and what it’s worth. I know with production it can be negotiable based on season, work load, your personal schedule, and bundling gear or running extended days. There’s all kinds of ways to split it up. End of the day I think Seth is spot on with the idea of considering a proving ground to get your foot in the door and have the work even if it’s a little less than you want. Then once you are established you can begin to narrow it down and pick and choose the jobs and maybe refine you prices to your liking. Marketing is expensive, doing a better job for less is invaluable as a first impression and that one happy customer will be an infinite advertisement for you every time you come up in conversation. At the end of the day it’s going to be a trial and error. One things for sure if it sounds good. It sounds good. No one can argue that. This business seems to be relational at the local grass roots level in some ways and more contractual on the bigger scale with tours and riders. Just gotta find your place in the mix.