By Full Compass LiveIf you aren’t familiar with Mixcloud, it is a social networking website for DJs to post and share our mixes. You can create a profile, follow other DJs, like their mixes, and see a news feed of what your DJDefinition:
DJ (Disk Jockey):
1. Traditionally applied to people who played recorded music on the radio or at events. 2. Artists who perform using any combination of pre-recorded music, samples, turntables, and musical instruments. friends are uploading, liking, and listening to. It’s free and a lot of fun.
In addition to networking and working on our craft, Mixcloud also has great potential to help us market ourselves for weddings. Here’s why:
- You can embed long mixes directly from Mixcloud to your website. • You can pin your mixes to Pinterest—you know, where brides roam free in their native terrain.
(As well as share to Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus.) • You can send brides and grooms the link to your Mixcloud profile page and let them see your full range and listen to what appeals to them. Or send them a link to just one specific mix that perhaps appeals to their specific needs.
- It’s great brand association for wedding DJs, as Mixcloud is young, hip, authentic, non-commercial, and so on. • You can show off not just your mixing skills but your song choices— something brides are definitely concerned about and something that is challenging for us to convey without real samples.
That being said, most of us on Mixcloud do not have very bride-optimized profiles. Remember when Facebook used to just be about friends like 10 years ago...then businesses started creating profiles and it became a marketing tool? Well, Mixcloud is still in the “friend zone,” but here are some pointers to turn your profile into a wedding marketing tool:
- Just like Facebook, consider creating two separate Mixcloud profiles—one for your business, one for you personally.
- On your Mixcloud business profile, keep every- thing branded, use your local keywords, and use your professional headshot.
- Only post 8 to 12 wedding-specific mixes of varying lengths (10 to 25 minutes). Think of it as a portfolio. Just like a photographer doesn’t show a prospective client every photo they’ve ever taken; they pick and choose a curated set of images that highlight their style. Do the same. And ask yourself how likely a bride is to listen to a full one-hour mix. Not very.
- Reserve your progressive electro-house whatever mixes for your personal profile, and keep your business profile mixes mainstream (you know...wedding music).
- Show your range. Most mixes on Mixcloud are “my “90s hip-hop spins” or some other one-genre mix. You want a bride to hear your mix and be able to visualize your jam rockin’ her reception. So, for most of us, that means multiple mainstream genres. Use songs that you regularly play at weddings.
- Ditch the clever mix titles like “Cr8 & DevAst8 FlaVaJaM.” Give your professional mixes descriptive, easy-to-understand titles like “Wedding Dance FloorDefinition:
Either a soft vinyl for temporary dancer protection, a strung wood floor for dancing, or a Masonite topped plywood floor for smooth camera dollying. Opener” or “My Line Dance Remixes.” - Properly tag your mixes with the genres of music you incorporated.
- If you’ve posted a mix with R-rated words, put that in the mix title.
Finally, here are a few creative wedding ideas to consider for your Mixcloud profile if you really want to stand out:
Throw together a mix of custom First Dance songs you’ve made for past couples. Post a sample of your fave cocktail hour or dinner music to show your creativity in song selection (letting a bride know she doesn’t have to spoon-feed you every song for the whole night). One of my faves is “MAD SKILLZ’S Pre-Wedding MixerDefinition:
Combiner, controller, and router for multiple audio or video signals. Mix” by Footlong_Development. Create some fun drops with the newlywed’s names and incorporate them into a dance set to show how you can personalize the music.
If you have a music specialty, create a mix highlighting your niche.
Take some of the stale, yet tried-and-true wedding songs and remixDefinition:
To produce a new version of a previous recording. This process may include sweetening, adding new tracks, deleting old tracks, altering signal processing, and shortening or extending the run time. them or trick them out so they sound fresh and fun (“Celebration”—I’m looking at you! Time for a makeover.)
Post a recorded live set from a real wedding. If you have video testimonials from clients, turn the audio into MP3s and mix a little upbeat promo track!
With the competitive- ness in the wedding DJ market, Mixcloud is a great tool to help showcase your skills, stand out, and book more weddings.
By Staci Nichols
Originally published in Mobile Beat issue #169 – link to http://www.mobilebeat.com/emagscurrent/169