Promotion isn’t all bad – just think, you’re spreading your awesome mixes to those that may not be able to find them on their own!

So this brings us to the real question: “how do I promote myself as a DJ?”.

There are many different ways for DJs to promote their mixes, skills and business.

For each of these, some may work better for the type of DJ you are. For example, business cards will work better overall for mobile/wedding DJs while promo CDs will work better for those that are trying to make the circuit.

With that being said, let’s take a look through some of the ways you can promote yourself as a DJ.

DJ business cards

Do you need a business card for DJing? Some of you actually do.

As mentioned earlier, not all DJs will need a set of business cards but for those that treat their DJing as an actual business, such as mobile and wedding DJs, it’s important to get a set so you can hand them out at networking events and to potential clients.

A DJ business card should have the essentials:

• Name
• Contact information
• Simple description of what you do

The best business cards are often the most minimal. There’s no need to go super extravagant by adding in a paragraph of text; this only distracts the potential client – just get them the basic information.

Use every opportunity to pass out business cards. If you’re playing at a party, leave a stack on the DJ booth for people to pick up. Hand out your business cards to people that come up to talk. Slip a few into the gift baskets at weddings.

Your business card is your chance to hook people so you can tell them more about your services. Don’t try to make the sale up front, wait for people to call or email you; then begin to setup some form of business.

For design inspiration, how-to’s and where you can get business cards, check these resources:

• Business Card Design: 100+ Creative Examples, Useful Tutorials and Templates
• 400+ Creative Business Card Designs
• 11 Tutorials for Business Card Design
• 18 Smokin’ Hot Business Card Designs
• 60 Most Beautiful and Creative Business Card Designs

Promo mixes on Youtube

As I touched on before with creatineg a tenminmix, Youtube can be a great way to promote your mixes and your persona.

Creating a video is very simple, requiring only a pocketful of money to sport for a video camera but if you want to go simple, you can always just record your mixes and place it to a picture.

Youtube recently included a simple video editor which covers the basics of editing the front and back of your video which should be fine if you’re doing a consistent mix.

However, the main benefit you can gain from Youtube is when you can show yourself. Since many promoters and viewers are also looking for personality, being on camera can have very powerful effects to your promotion.

After you’ve uploaded a video, be sure to add it to your own blog or website. Try to get your friends to embed the video or share it on your Facebook page.

Make sure you also set a download link so people can snag your mix and listen at a later time. Just name the file with your name and possibly contact details like email address so people can contact you at a later time.

Another bonus is if you take your video and use Tubemogul to distribute the video across the net on dozens of other video websites.

Here’s a few resources to get started with video:

• How to use Youtube like a pro
• The right way to use Youtube
• Creating promo videos for Youtube

Putting your mix in the cloud

Want a truly powerful way to promote your DJing? Try hosting it on various mixing websites such as Mixcloud.

The user base for many of these websites consist of highly passionate music fans which will share your mixes with others. Additionally, users can easily embed mixes right into other websites so their community will find your mix, starting the process all over again – promoting the hell out of you!

With your mix now hosted in the cloud, you can also link to it within your Facebook, Myspace, forum and other various web profiles around the net. The more you can place your link, the more chances people will find you.

Make a truly amazing mix and your link will spread virally; thousands will come to listen and recognize your name. Who knows, maybe a promoter or club owner catches wind of you and gets you on board.

Start here when getting your mix online:

• 7 File sharing websites to upload and promote your DJ mix

Creating a promo CD

Are tapes and CDs the thing of the past? Well, maybe tapes but CDs can still certainly do wonders to promote yourself as a DJ.

Although you can greatly benefit of using online websites and services, you can’t hand out an MP3 at parties and events. At these parties, your CD can be land in the hands of many people.

When playing your mix, just like business cards, leave a stack of CDs for people to come up and grab. Whenever your mix is breaking down, throw a couple promo CDs to the crowd. Also remember to chat with people afterward and slip them a CD – all additional ways of promoting your mixing.

The mix is the most important part of your promo CD. Don’t make it too long because people don’t have all the time in the world but not too short either.

The design of the promo CD can also play a large role. Although the mix is the most important part, an attractive design will get people intrigued and egg them to pick it up and hold onto it.

If you have questions about how to record your DJ mix to MP3 to later be burnt to a CD, check out these resources:

• How to record a DJ mix with Audacity
• A great Youtube video showing you how to record with Audacity
• How to create a promo CD cover for your DJ mixes

Build your social network

Want to know the best way to promote yourself as a DJ in this day and age? Social media.

Yup. Faceboo, Myspace, Twitter plus the thousands of other social websites – you have to get out there and spread your mixes like a wildfire.

Start with your friends, ask for them to tweet, like and share your mixes with their friends.

From there, reach out to other people on this network but without being spammy – cause no one likes getting those random invites from people they have no idea who they are.

If possible, remember the names of people you meet at parties, friend them and accept their friend requests. Build your online brand, promote, promote, promote.

The more followers and friends you get (in a non spammy way) the more chances your mixes will be spread across the net. Additionally, others will see that you’re starting to take off and take notice; this is the idea behind building a tribe around yourself.

Tips for Twitter and Facebook:

• 35 Twitter tips from 35 twitter users
• 100 best Twitter secrets
• 50 power Twitter tips
• How to use Facebook: 5 tips for better networking
• 52 Facebook advertising tips and tricks

Building word-of-mouth buzz

Word-of-mouth is still a great way to promote yourself as a DJ; this is done primarily through one method: creating a kickass set of mixes.

People don’t want to talk about DJs that don’t bring the ruckus so it’s imperative that you give them something worth talking about.

Try out new tricks, throw down raw tracks, surprise people and blow their socks off whenever you mix.

If you did it right, people will talk to their friends about your mix. Burn it to CD and listen to it in the car. Tell others whenever they are asked what DJs they recommend.

Get into the minds of your fans!

Although these tips are aimed at business, you should take these into consideration as your DJing is essentially just that:

• 16 things you can do yourself to create word-of-mouth for your business
• How to create buzz with word-of-mouth marketing

Signup for DJ related websites or create your own

With a website, you have two things available to you:

• Create your own website
• Join a DJ community

The first, creating your own website, is the most powerful because you can brand every aspect. You can add tons of images, upload whatever you want, talk about whatever and keep everything all in one area.

Alternatively, if you join DJ websites, the large existing community will be a great starting point to promote yourself as a DJ. These websites have thousands of other DJs and fans of the music constantly searching for new music and people to connect with.

If you’re particularly tech savvy, you could build your own website with resources from Smashing Magazine or using templates on ThemeForest.

Definitely try starting with Mix.DJ and work your way from there – with over 100k members, it’s a great place to start.

Going old school: flyer’s and posters

A previous post here on BeginnerDJ talked about promoting clubs with flyers; much in the same, you an use these same tactics to promote yourself as a DJ.

You can get a huge stack of flyer’s for a few bucks or print your own.

Distribute the hell out of these all over the place. Pin em to the wall, hand them out at parties, leave a stack at local events.

The limits are endless – just use your imagination.

Check out UPrinting.com or VistaPrint for online companies that can print your flyers. They’re cheap and will have your order ready fairly quick.

Try out advertising: online and offline

If you’re really wanting to spread your promotion like crazy (and not afraid to spend a bit of money) you can try your hand at online and offline advertising.

Although it’s a little risky – it’s also platforms that not many DJs are jumping into.

Google Adwords doesn’t cost a whole ton and because not as many people are bidding on keywords related to your mixing the cost is going to be fairly low.

You may also want to try out radio ads or even TV ads but at that level, you’re probably going to want to have an actual business for weddings; something where you’re going to be making a big sum of money per investment.

Here’s a few reads to get you started with online advertising:

• 25 Adwords tips and tricks
• 9 tips to write effective Google Adwords Copy

2 books to help you learn DJ promotion

There are written books on the subject of creating a successful DJ business including a ton of different ways to promote yourself – gasp! real books!

These are definitely worth your while:

Why promotion is key for successful DJs

There is a great argument of content vs. marketing. In terms of DJing, there are clear benefits of being able to promote yourself – you get to reach a larger audience.

This doesn’t mean that your mix has to be lacking; you need to put your best effort into creating a memorable mix before you spend all your money and time to promote yourself as a DJ.

Once your mixing is down, use your time wisely with many of these tips to begin promoting yourself and your mix.

Take each step at a time; start with one of these techniques, master it and begin working on the next.

Each of them work well together: creating a promo CD and handing it out with business cards, etc, etc.

Once your word is out there, start the process all over again with a new mix. Build, build, build.

And when you’re on the top, give a shout out to Beginner DJ.

Image by: VinylSearcher

You may also like these posts...

• 10 Minutes To Shine: The Youtube TenMinMix
• How To Promote A Party With Flyers
• How To Promote Your DJ Mix On Youtube
• How To Create A Mix CD Cover In Photoshop: Tutorials And Inspiration
• 7 File Sharing Websites To Upload Your DJ Mix

There’s enough DJs out there that are arrogant and pompous – these are the DJs that ignore etiquette (and are douchebags). If you want people to respect and love you, keep the following tips in mind the next time you play a gig:

• Respect others equipment. Wither you’re getting up to the decks or getting off, respect the equipment. Don’t leave drinks (which could be spilt) laying around, don’t manhandle them and most important: don’t steal from other DJs.
• Give yourself a happy aura. When you’re spinning, present yourself with a really happy aura. Throwing out a shout, smiling and slapping hands with people that come up to you will get people into the mix and enjoy that you’re there.
• Keep enough lead in and out time. Nothing is more annoying than not giving enough time for the next DJ to get setup and spinning. Don’t get a track get down to the last minute and pass it off – give the next DJ enough time to setup and get into the mix without a rush.
• Read the crowd and adapt. A great DJ can read the crowd – don’t just blast music that gets people off the dance floor. Play some tracks you know people will love, focus on a few groups and get them to the floor – people will remember you for being as into it as they are.
• Don’t make it about you. Pompous DJs are annoying as hell. You know these people, the DJs that think it’s all about them as if people came to see them instead of listening to the music. Drop the ego at the door and just throw down a great mix.
• Add in your personality (but not too much). You don’t have to be egotistical but you should still throw in your own personality. People do want to see a DJ that is enjoying it as much as they are – get on the mic and cause a ruckus, leave something for them to remember you.
• Dig into those crates. In a flip to playing the well known tracks, treat the die-hard fans right by digging deep into your crates to mix in the underground tracks. Having a well balance between chart toppers and the underground will get everyone involved and loving it.

If you follow these guidelines for DJ etiquette, you’ll soon find that people are going to know your name, generate a buzz whenever you’re spinning and follow you with everything you do.

You see, you aren’t being selfish and egotistical. You’re giving to the audience twice as much as you receive. People will love you for being into it.

For more on DJ etiquette be sure to check out DJ Tech Tools guide, how to treat a DJ at a party and opening DJ etiquitte.

You may also like these posts...

• How To Find New Music
• How To Beat Match
• How To Choose Which Type Of DJ You Will Be: Music Format
• My Top 10 Favorite Psybient Artists and Songs
• What To Avoid When Buying Vinyl DJ Turntables

What makes a DJ mix memorable? I’m sure you’ve listened to quite a few mixes before that are absolutely boring. They aren’t necessarily bad, it’s just that nothing exciting is happening.

Next time you are throwing down a mix, try out a few new tricks to make it interesting. This post contains a few tips and tricks for building a better DJ mix.

Do The Unexpected

One of the reasons why I love catching Sahsa and Digweed live is that they let a track ride on and on and on. At first you almost get tired of the same beat but then there’s a switch – you become entranced in the hypnotic beat.

Then it all breaks down and everyone goes fuckin’ bonkers.

When you’re building your mix, try to throw in something people wouldn’t expect.

These variations could be:

• A funny line from a movie
• An abrupt stop right before the bass drop, let people wonder then slam it on them
• Multilayering tracks to create a once-in-a-lifetime mix

Mix For Your Audience

Have you ever been at a club where people are really into the mix and then the DJ drops a track which immediately makes everyone stops dancing?

This often happens when they break the mental involvement. It happens often. DJs try to throw in an obscure track that doesn’t fit in with the set that completely throws off the rhythm.

If you know you’re mixing for people that are die hard trance fans, appeal to their taste by balancing your mix with underground and big hits. You’ll be able to keep it all within the same scope of the mix but also allow them to explore deeper into the genre.

Tighten Up The Mix

A sloppy mix is easy to distinguish between good ones. You can notice them by poor mixing between tracks. Even the slightest out of sync beat can be the proverbial shit in your cereal.

When you’re creating your mix, don’t settle for anything less than perfect. You want to give your listener your best which means your mixing should be extremely tight.

Cut in and out of tracks, mix it up and make it so seamless your listener won’t even notice you mixed into a new track until the chorus started.

Find Inspiration With Great DJ Mixes

When creating your DJ mix, it’s great to have inspiration from others and DJs you look up to. You may have heard an amazing break down, build up or sample in a set that’s given you goosebumps.

Could you replicate this same feeling?

The easiest way to find inspiration is to listen, listen and listen. Try to replicate some of the tricks DJs you love do. Don’t just copy them however, make it your own, make it your own personal style.

There are plenty of free DJ mixes available on the net on websites such as:

• DNB-Sets
• DJMix
• SoundCloud

Final Thoughts

Every time you go into your DJ mix, put in all that you’ve got. If you plan to promote your mix, you want people to walk away thinking “wow, that DJ can throw down – I need to find more”.

By using some of the tips and tricks in this post, you’ll be able to build a better mix so people will recognize your skills.

Image by Rogersoh

You may also like these posts...

• 10 Minutes To Shine: The Youtube TenMinMix
• How To Promote Your DJ Mix On Youtube

You’re probably asking: What does a DJ mixer do?

In this post, I’m going to give you a quick overview of the DJ mixer, what it does and how it fits into your equipment.

Previously I gave you the basics of vinyl turntables so now we’re moving onto a breakdown of the mixer.

DJ Mixer Overview

There are many different variations, forms and types of DJ mixers available on the market. You could get lost just trying to choose one for your setup.

Some DJ mixers feature great built in effects, others are more minimal in design but either way, you need one to complete your DJ setup.

Take a look at the basic mixer overview:

This is the Stanton RM-3s mixer. It’s fairly basic but provides you with all the essential controls to mix. There are certainly mixers that are more basic and others that offer twice the features but the RM-3s is a great example to learn what each element does for your DJ mix.

Let’s break down each part:

Disecting The DJ Mixer

The DJ mixer fulfills 3 major tasks:

• Input sound from your turntables
• Allows you to control the mix
• Outputs the sound to your sound system

It’s the piece of DJ equipment which holds it all together. Each element of the mixer controls a different portion of the mix.

Because you’re generally going to be hooking up 2 turntables to your mixer, I’m going to cover just one side of it because the other is the same thing.

Note: On higher end models, you will have additional inputs and controls. These allow you to hook up additional turntables, controllers and effects to play around with.

Here’s a breakdown of a DJ mixer (in our case, the RM-3s):

A. EQ Knobs

The EQ knobs generally give you 4 controls:

• Gain – this is how loud the channel is
• Hi – controls the high frequency instruments such as snares and cymbals
• Mid – controls the middle frequency instruments and most vocals
• Low – controls the kick and bass

When mixing, you will generally twist and turn each of these so each track will transition into another. Without the EQ knobs, your mix will sound muddle and uneven. It will sound like the tunes are clashing.

B. FX Loop

You may be wondering what the hell an FX Loop is?

Well, in short, it helps control external effects you have connected to your mixer.

C. Cue

The cue, on the RM-3s, allows you to switch which channel you’re listening to on your headphones. Because you are cueing up your next track, the switch is aptly named the cue. Flipping it ‘On’ will send the sound to your headphones.

D. X-Fader Reverse

This control isn’t absolutely necessary but it is occasinally handy.

The X-Fader Reverse switches the routing of your turntables so left becomes right and vice versa.

E. Kill Switches

The kill switches are fun little switches that … kill the frequency.

There are generally 3 kill switches

• Low
• Mid
• Hi

Just like the EQs, they will cut out the sound as if you dropped them to zero. This is can add a great effect when you want to drop the bass out and blast it back in or if you’re using it on other parts of the songs.

F. Slider

The most essential part on your mixer is the slider. This element allows you to transition the sound from one track to another, it’s the basis of mixing.

You can also control the mix using the vertical sliders…

G. Vertical Slider

With the horizontal slider, you’re doing a hard mix between track one and two.

With the vertical sliders, you’re controlling the overall volume of each track which allows you to also transition between each tracks with full control.

Instead of cutting over to track 2, you can gently bring in the sound from track 1 by using the vertical slider – it gives you the most amount of control while mixing.

H. Input

The input switch sets the mixer to receive sound from multiple sources.

In terms of the RM-3s, they allow:

• Phono
• Line 1
• Line 2

With these additional lines, you could hook up an extra set of turntables or effects to route sound, giving you more control over you mixing.

I. Mic (Check!)

The microphone knobs and switches are basically the same as the rest of the mixer minus the addition of the microphone jack – an XLR port. This port allows you to hook up a microphone while controlling it using the knobs and switches.

J. Headphone Jack and Controls

The headphone input lets you plug in your headphones. This jack is usually 1/4′.

If you don’t have headphones which have a 1/4′ jack, you can always pick up a 1/4′ to 1/8′ adaptor at RadioShack or online.

Headphones also have a switch which allows you to listen to both tracks at the same time or isolate a track depending on which side it is playing from (in tandem with the cue switch).

K. Master Controls

Okay, so for the last main knobs of the mixer are the:

• Pan
• Level

The pan will make your mix go from left to right, hence why it’s marked with an L (Left) and R (Right). This is great if you want to use it for sweeping effects, pulling the sound from one side to another.

The level is used for the overall sound. The higher your crank it, the louder it’ll get.

L. Sound Meter

The sound meter is a display which shows the sound levels of your tracks.

Be careful because if you start to redline, you can cause damage to your speakers.

Sound Input/Output

In the back of most mixers you’ll have many different ports to input and output sound.

Most mixers use:

• RCA – turntables and controllers
• XLR – microphone
• 1/4′ – speakers or external mixer/sound controllers

Additionally, there are connectors on the back for ground wires from your turntables. The ground wires will eliminate the buzz caused by electricity throughout the turntable – it grounds the wire.

As indicated, the input ports allow you to plug in your turntables and other equipment while the output sends the sound out.

How It All Fits

Once you have your turntables, mixer and speakers. Simply plug the turntables into the mixer using the input ports, route the sound out using the output, make sure all the levels are low when you first boot everything on and then you’re good to go!

Final Thoughts

As I mentioned, not every mixer is going to have the same features.

There are some which costs hundreds (even thousands) of dollars that give you all sorts of great additional effects and controls.

For the beginner DJ, a simple mixer that allows EQ controls, slider and headphone port will do.

All low end models of mixers will come with the basics so you’ll be ready to go once you have everything plugged in. You can expect to buy entry level models for about $100 (or lower if you use eBay).

Always look through the manual and try to give a mixer a test run before you buy it. Make sure it feels right and does what you need it to do – if possible.

So, what kind of mixer do you have?

You may also like these posts...

• The Beat Matching Quick Guide
• What To Avoid When Buying Vinyl DJ Turntables
• How To Avoid Getting Arrested At Parties
• The Importance Of Buying Your Songs As A DJ
• 5 Reasons To Choose CDJs Over Vinyl Turntables

Blind mixing is often very difficult, you can never quite know what you’re getting yourself into when you don’t know your tracks.

It’s much easier than you think, think of this as a ‘research and development’ session as you learn how to DJ.

1. Listen to it without judgement

One you first hear a track, you usually make an immediate good/bad comparison. It’s in all of us, judging music on the first round but as a DJ you need to dig deeper, to find the real soul behind the music.

Your first pass listening to your new track should be a general, “will this work?”.

Obviously if the track doesn’t matches your genre, it probably won’t make the cut but that isn’t to say you couldn’t drop it in to make everyone go crazy as hell.

If a track snares you the first time listening through, it’s probably a keeper. It’s hard to find songs you like on the first listen but they always turn out to be the ones you love most.

2. Listen to it again – for subtly

Now it’s getting a little technical, I recommend listening to your new track a second or third time to pick out some of the effects and sounds.

At this point, I’d suggest listening for sounds and effects you didn’t catch on the first pass. You know those tracks, the ones that have subtle instruments that when listening to gives it a whole different dimension.

3. Will people like it?

Okay, so you think you have a track selected but one very important thing to remember is wither people will love it or hate it.

Just because you have a particular fondness of the track doesn’t mean that others will.

As a DJ, your musical taste may be deeper and more extensive compared to the average clubber or party-goer. Sometimes dropping that unreleased track may not go over so well because some people just aren’t familiar with the artist or sound.

Now, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t be there to open up people’s musical taste with your mixing, but it does say that you should throw in some tracks that people will really enjoy and get them into it.

4. Try it out in your mix

Before you decide to drop the new track into your set, try it out a few times in a mix at home.

Is it fitting well? Does it clash too much?

You can fix it with mixing but remember that a set built with a “story” are ones that are really great, something that takes the listening from one point to the next without breaking that mindset.

Ah hell, just dig through crates

Knowing your music is very important.

It gives you:

• Better understanding
• Ability to match it with your set
• Stops you from mixing blindly
• Allows you to throw it in at any time

You’re already listening to music most of the day, so you might as well get a firm grip on the ins and outs of each track. This will allow you to mix it in at any time, really blowing peoples minds.

You may also like these posts...

• How To DJ: Basic DJ Equipment Guide
• Top 5 How To DJ Books
• Learn To DJ Online: 10 DJ Courses To Teach About DJ Techniques and Club Life

If you happen to land one of these party promoter jobs, you have yourself quite the job cut out for you. Not only will you need to deal with generally snotty people that don’t want any of your shit but you’ll also be expected to bring people in or it’s game over for you.

Passing out flyers is still a great way for individuals DJs to promote themselves as well, but do you know how to? There’s nothing quite like getting right up in someone’s face, telling them to come out and listen to you spin – that’s dedication!

This post is going to cover a few ways you can promote a party with flyers.

Mass Dropping On People

The obvious way of promoting a party with flyers is to stand outside of clubs just as they’re getting out so you can pass them to party-goers as they are leaving. This will give them heads up on the next party, right when they’re still in the party mode and ripping to check out something soon.

The best approach is to try to strike up a conversation. People hate it when you just jab flyers into their hands, it also results in them tossing it to the ground moments later. If you can get them generally interested in music or what their next plans are, you’ll have a better shot at having them hold onto your flier.

When you show up to clubs and parties, be prepared. Bring a couple thousand flyers and start handing them to everyone. Even though a vast majority will throw them away or forget about them, you’ll still get a percentage that will come out.

The more people you can get your flyer into their hands, the more chances you have at promoting your party – simple as that.

Drop Em At Shops

If you’re hanging around the club district of your city, there’s bound to be music shops where many people frequent. Swing by and ask if you can throw down a stack of flyers, you’ll generally get a yes. Each person that passes through the shop will get a glance at the party, especially if you can set it right up next to the counter.

You can also try out other shops that party-goers frequent, maybe hookah lounges, bars and even other clubs.

Just be careful though, some shop owners will get a little pissy because they don’t want you to just drop off a stack of waste. It’s within their interest to keep their customers, not have them run off to some club so be warned.

Bomb The Car Lot

You know those parking lots right outside of the club, around the corner? That’s your target.

When the parking lot attendant isn’t watching, run up to every car and start placing them in the windows, under the whipers, between the doors and any other place you can fit them on.

Generally this approach is dickish, I don’t think I’ve ever went to a party that placed a flier on my car, it more annoyed me and drove me away from it. But, there will be people that throw it in and pick it up later, perhaps coming out.

Just be careful when you’re bombing cars with your party flyers, if you don’t notice some dude sitting in his car when you slap your flier down, you could end up getting your ass busted and bruised.

Ninja That Shit

If you’re particularly crafty, you can set up your flyers in excellent spots that people will have to look. Places that work pretty well are right on the ATMs as clubbers are pulling out more cash for booze. Other places would be where groups of people end up smoking or chill out afterward.

You gotta ninja this shit.

Try to be sneaky with your promotion, place your flyers right where they never expect it so when they do catch it, they can’t help but read it.

Bathrooms are great because when you’re stuck in front of a urinal, you gotta look forward – boom, your flier.

Pole Job

The lamp posts and other poles are general areas that are accepted in many cities to post party flyers. Many times it’s the only place that you can post without getting busted.

Every post you swing by, slap another flier up, wrap it up in tape and cover up the other promotions – you’re there to get people, not let them run off to some other club or party.

When people pour out of the clubs at last call, they’ll be standing around for a while, chilling out. They’ll end up reading your flyers as they sober up or try to find their drunk friends.

Hunt The Groups

Generally you’ll have a good advantage if you can single out groups. People will take shit from you even if they don’t want it, that’s why people pass out stuff all the time when you’re walking out a store for fundraiser and other things you have no interest in.

The trick is to spot groups that you can run up on and pick out the person that seems the most succeptible to grabbing your flier. Try to pick out groups that are chattering a lot, they might end up looking over your flier and talking about it with their friends.

Grow Some Tits

Sorry guys but you know how it goes, people are more likely to accept something random from a girl than some dumpy looking dude trying to promote a party.

If you can pay someone, you’ll be off to a good start.

Try to get some girls to promote your party for you, give em a few bucks to do so. You’ll be able to tackle those group of guys, especially if they throw some spin about how they’ll catch them at the party – even though they won’t.

Add Incentives

A lot of clubs pass out free drinks and cover cards. If you can get a nice stack, try to give them out to people as you pass out your flyers.

You’ll be much more likely to get more people to come when they know they’ll get a couple beers or shots for free.

Be Annoying…But Cool

Don’t be the dick that shoves the flyers in people’s hands. If they don’t want it, don’t bother trying over and over with them, just move onto the next person.

A lot of these tricks are dickish but they will get people to come out to the parties.

You can expect that out of a hundred or so flyers you pass out, only a few people will end up coming out. With that being said, it’s simple math, the more people you can get your flyers to, the more people you’ll have coming out.

When you combine this with promotions online and building an email list, you’ll really begin to get some leverage on the local party scene.

You may also like these posts...

• How To Promote Yourself As A DJ

The problem with this is that I’m running low on new music to listen to in the car. With a total time of about 1 1/2 hours driving in traffic every day, listening to the same DnB set can get a little boring.

So out of the blue, I hopped in the car and ran down to the local Walgreens. Although I was there to pick up smokes and a few mailers to send out some books I sold on Amazon, I found something really badass…

It’s a small FM transmitter for your Ipod or any other MP3 player which has a 1/8′ headphone jack.

I found out I could hook this up to my Blackberry which I had a few dubstep mixes, so I road off blasting Excision.

But then it got me thinking, what if you could combine something like this to create a mobile rave?

Have you ever been at a party where it got shut down way too soon or something went wrong with the equipment?

Just recently I was at a beach party where the generator ran out and everything came down around 3am – it was suppose to go til the early morning! Dammit!

So what happens when the sound goes off? Everyone hops in their cars and starts playing their own music. Well not anymore.

MP3 Controller + Laptop + FM Transmitter = HOLYSHITWIN!

A lot of DJs are using digital controllers as their main interface coupled with their laptops. If you could combine an FM transmitter with this setup, you could use your car audio as the speakers and keep that rave going all night!

So here’s what youd do:

1. Plug in your controller to your computer
2. Attach the FM transmitter to your computer headphone jack
3. Set the sound to route through your internal mixer
4. Tune your radio to the correct channel
5. ???
6. RAVE

This, of course, means that you need to have a system that will handle the music but you can bet your ass there are a few people that will have a system that can handle it.

Also, if you invest a few hundred bucks, you could get your own system.

Killin’ Your Battery

The only problem with the FM transmitter and playing through your car’s system is that it’s going to eat the shit out of the battery.

If you have a proper system hooked up, you probably have a decent amp and an extra battery.

If you don’t, just make sure you keep enough juice in your battery so you can get out of there after the rave is over.

The FM transmitter I bought uses batteries but there are a bunch that you can buy that hook directly up to your cigarette jack, keep it running all night.

Screw The Cops!

Here’s the best thing about running a mobile rave using this setup.

If the cops came to shut you down earlier, they generally want you to pack up all your shit and gtfo. With all of your system now hooked up to be mobile, you don’t have to play entirely to their law about setting up equipment on a beach or other places.

Additionally, if you do get word that cops are coming out to the area, you can pack up and head out before they ever get there. Keep that rave mobile and hop to the next location.

Is That A Good Idea Or What?

I think this could be a really awesome thing to try out. Think about it, you only need a few hundred bucks to invest in a good system for your car and maybe a digital controller.

Most of us have a laptop already and if you don’t you could always borrow one from a friend.

Now combine this with those portable projectors and you’ll have visuals running as well.

That FM transmitter was the best $20 I spent this week, so many good ideas.

FM Transmitters on Amazon

Let me know if you’ve ever tried anything crazy like this, how’d it go and what happened with the cops.

You may also like these posts...

• Music Stuck In My Head: 3/07/10
• Detroit Techno 1990
• The Flashbulb Never Ceases To Amaze Me
• How To Find New Music
• The Top 100 DJ List Is Bullshit

The net offers the beginner DJ many opportunities to learn essential DJ techniques such as beatmatching, setting up their equipment, choosing music and much more. With a little bit of research and the use of Google, you can find dozens of tutorial websites and videos to learn how to DJ online.

The Pros and Cons of Learning To DJ Online

Before we begin, I wanted to voice my opinion about the pros and cons of learning to DJ online. Although the information you can find is very relevant and free, there are a few drawbacks to using the net as a beginner DJ.

Pros

1. DJ tutorials and videos are free for anyone to watch or read. This saves you a ton of money compared to going out and paying for lessons from other DJs or buying them in stores.

2. Online tutorials give you a wide range of approaches to begin DJing. Not everyone learns how to DJ the same, the net allows us to learn from different perspectives and various tips and tricks learned from each DJ.

3. Blog posts and videos gives us the ability for instant feedback. Unlike a book or video series, the people that produce these online tutorials will give you additional advice through comments and video responses.

Cons

1. You don’t get the full hands on. Online DJ tutorials are still either written or in video, there aren’t many interactive examples of these tutorials which plays a large part about learning how to DJ.

2. They sometimes withold information. There are a bunch of websites that give you a few lessons but then are only there to eventually sell you a series – that sucks because they’re teasing you.

3. It doesn’t beat learning to DJ with a friend or mentor. If you can find someone that will teach you locally, you’ll be able to catch on quicker because of the feedback and being able to go to someone to ask questions constantly.

The Best Places To Learn How To DJ Online

With the pros and cons out of the way, let’s jump right into learning how to DJ with online tutorials.

With so many sites out there, I feel there are only a couple which really pull their weight with the length and scope of the tutorials. These websites and videos are the best of the best, they’re being taught by DJs that genuinly want to teach you as a beginner DJ.

Each beginner DJ learns differently. Some of us do better with articles because we can imagine and absorb the information better through text. Others learn better through video tutorials, they need to see what’s going on in order to truly learn how to DJ.

Here are some of the best places to find DJ tutorials online.

DJ Tutor Series

I’ve mentioned this before but I think the DJ Tutor series still stands as the best example of DJ tutorials with video. Ellaskins’ puts together short and sweet videos covering many basic DJ techniques and now uses YouTube as a platform for feedback to find subjects for his new videos.

The best part about the DJ Tutor series is that Ellaskins is very active, you won’t see a huge gap between the video series because he’s always at it. If you ask him a question, he generally will take the time to make a video explaining how to do a certain DJ technique or skill.

The DJ Tutor series is, perhaps, the best place to find tutorial videos for the beginner and intermediate DJ.

DJ Tech Tools

For those DJ’s that have a real hardware fetish, DJ Tech Tools is the place for you.

Week after week there are tutorials and reviews posted with up to date information about new DJ gear and tutorials on how to use them. Ean and crew are always hard at work covering tons of subjects on the blog, giving you awesome insight and heads up on what new equipment DJs are using.

Combine the blog with an awesome collection of DJ tutorial videos and you have a great resource for any DJ. Plus, there is a very helpful forum and download section so you can ask questions and network with other DJs – you can’t beat that.

DJ Forums

The DJ Forums has been kicking for quite some time, there are thosuands of topics on the forum covering every question you’ve ever had about DJing – just don’t ask them over again (read the rules/search!).

DJ Forums highlight some of the newest gear coming out in the scene, diving deep into each to give you a very accurate review of the equipment. If you have other questions, just jump over on the forums and you’ll find active discussions about the gear and tons of other questions related to learn how to DJ and equipment in general.

The community on DJ Forums is very helpful as well. Even though you may bring up a question that has been answered a million times, they still take the time to point you in the right direction. With years of knowledge shared on the board, taking a few weeks to dig through each of the sticky posts and the older posts will get you up to speed in no time.

DJ Video Tutorials: The Best Videos To Learn How To DJ

Okay, I’ve shared with you with what I think are the top 3 sources to learn how to DJ online (well, besides BDJ but I’m working on it!), now let’s take a look at some of the video tutorials that I think every beginner DJ should watch at least one time throughout their quest to learn how to DJ.

These should get you started but remember that there are dozens of other DJ tutorial videos on YouTube and all the other video websites, just do a few searches and dig down further.

DJ Tutorial Posts: The Best Posts Around The Net

For those who enjoy reading over watching video tutiorals, here are some of the tutorials scattered across the net which I think you should definitely take a look at:

1. DJ Forums Tutorials – Dozens of great tutorials from beginner to advanced DJing.

2. All You Ever Need To Know About DJing (on DJForums)

3. How To DJ Your First Party (on Mahalo)

4. DJ Tips and Tricks – Provides a ton of articles on learning how to DJ

5. How To DJ – Plenty of short but sweet tutorials over here

6. DJ Basic Tips (and a ton more) @DJTechTools

Finding Tracks For DJing

So you’ve watched some tutorial videos and read a few posts but now you’re itching to get started. If you already have your gear, you’re pretty much set but if you’re still trying to choose the right DJ gear, I recommend checking out my post: The Beginner DJ Equipment Guide.

What you’ll need now is music. Here are a few sites where you can find tracks for your DJing:

1. Beatport
2. Juno Records
3. YouTube + Download Plugin/Program
4. Your Local Record Shop or DJs
5. Discogs – More vinyl that you can imagine

Inspiration

You’re up to speed with your equipment, music and you’ve watched/read a few tutorials on how to DJ but what post would be complete without a few inspiring examples of DJing?

Here are some mixes that I think will really get you into the idea of DJing:

1. Armin Van Buuren – A State Of Trance Mixes
2. Umek – 150+ Sets (I love this guy)
3. DJ Mixes – Tons of DJ Mixes for download

Final Thoughts

With so many places to learn how to DJ online you can easily get carried away just reading or watching instead of actually doing.

That’s what it comes down to, actually getting off your ass, away from the computer and putting these skills to the test. Get on those decks and practice, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Learning how to DJ is like any other skill, you learn over time, you don’t just fall right into it, it takes some work.

Even if you don’t plan to become some superstar DJ, the local scene is an awesome thing. Just being able to play for your friends and local parties will help build a better community in your area. If you can bring the party to the people instead of having them drive a couple hours off, you’ve won the game.

We need more music, more parties, more good vibes and good times.

You may also like these posts...

• 12 Websites That Teach You How To DJ

Promotion allows a beginner DJ to make their way from the bedroom to the real events at clubs and festivals.

The internet gives the beginner DJ great opportunies which were once a hassle and downright cutthroat.

By promoting your mixes on Youtube, you will be able to gain a broad audience and following, eventually guaranteeing your success.

In this post, I’m going to show you a few tips and tricks on how you can promote your DJ mix on Youtube.

Setup Your Youtube Account

First things first, you need to set up your Youtube account.

Your Youtube account should reflect your style and brand. Branding is very important and in this case, it will be your DJ name.

To begin, visit Youtube and select ‘Create Account‘.

Next, fill out all of the available information.

Fill your ‘Username‘ with your DJ name, this will ensure that whenever someone visits your Youtube channel or watches your video, your name is right in their face.

Over time your name will get stuck in viewers heads which will help you promote yourself and your DJ mixes on Youtube.

Now that you have your account setup, let’s start promoting your DJ mixes.

Record A DJ Mix

The next step you’ll need to do is to record a DJ mix.

Because Youtube only allows you to upload a total of 10 minutes per video, you’ll be creating a ‘Ten Min Mix‘. These small mixers are excellent because it gives people just enough time to enjoy your mixing and listen to a solid block of tunes.

You can create a video two ways:

• Record your set using the output on your system or program then trim it with tools such as Audacity
• Record yourself mixing in front of a camera with your webcam

Although a simple audio recording will suffice for your DJ mix, the goal we want here is promotion and that means you need to display yourself and your actual mixing, therefore you should record a video.

I highly recommend the Microsoft LifeCam. We have a couple of them at work to record videos, they’re excellent. They shoot HD and have a pretty decent built in microphone.

Because you’re on video, people can begin to recognize you. If you play at local parties, people will be able to easily spot you because you are in their face at the party and whenever they’re watching videos online.

Your ten minute DJ mix should be absolutely flawless. You only have a few seconds to catch someone’s attention when they click your video so skip the whole introduction and jump right into your mix. You could always do a shout out during the mix or add a subtitle with your name – extra branding!

When you’re mixing on Youtube, don’t over do it with crazy tricks, keep it simple but solid.

Create a playlist that is going to wow people, so they stick around and listen/watch the entire DJ mix.

Promoting Your DJ Mix On Youtube

There are dozens of methods to promote your DJ mix on Youtube.

The best one’s I’ve found are:

• Piggybacking off other popular videos with video responses
• Linking your videos on your own blog and sharing it on social media such as Facebook and Twitter
• Promoting your video with Youtube ads and promoted videos
• Proper video optimization

Let’s break down this list for a second.

Piggybacking is simply using your video as a video response to other popular videos. You should try to keep your video responses to relevant videos, don’t post your mixes on something such as a cute cat video, it doesn’t have relevance.

Cross promotion with your blog and social media is a smart choice for beginner DJs that try to build a following on Youtube. You may already have a website, blog or social media accounts so take advantage of them, share your video anytime you post one.

Youtube offers people the ability to advertise and promote videos. This can be a little costly depending on which category or where you want to place the video but if it leads you to success, it will all be worth it.

Finally, you should aim to optimize your video the best you can. You don’t have to learn all the wizz bang tricks of SEO and other techniques, just make sure you title your video with relevant keywords.

If you are mixing Dark Psytrance, title your video something such as Dark Psytrance Minimix. Additionally, you will want to use tags that are relevant to your video such as DJ mix, mixing, beatmatch and others.

Proper combination of video optimization will help you show up in regular search results as well as higher ranking within Youtube.

Now that you’re uploading your DJ mixes on Youtube, it’s time to begin building a following and further promote yourself.

Building A Following

What you’ll want to do is upload a few of your mixes (only the best ones) so if someone enjoyed one of your mixes, they can continue through and watch the others.

Although a mix video alone can bring in quite a few viewers a great trick you can do to begin gaining subscribers is to upload music, videos and other tidbits of media when you’re not showing off your mixing.

Some channels have thousands of subscribers simply from the miscellanious music videos they’ve uploaded over time, this is the idea behind subscribing. Your goal is to build your subscribers so each new mix will shoot to the top from hundreds of views.

As you build your subscribers, you’ll also begin to reach higher and higher on the Youtube search results.

Whenever possible, interact with your subscribers and don’t be ashamed to ask them to help promote yourself.

Ask local subscribers to come out to parties you’re DJing at, tell them to share it with others or vote for your videos on social bookmarking websites.

You don’t have to be pushy but your intent is to promote yourself, which will push some of your buttons at times if you feel uncomfortable being in front of the spotlight.

Keep updating regularily, talk to your subscribers and help promote one another, it will all payoff in the end.

I’ve Uploaded My DJ Mix, Now What?

If you continue to produce great DJ mix videos, subscribers and top the charts you’ll soon have leverage to talk to people that would have ignored you previously.

If there is a local club that has an open DJ slot, try your best to snag it. When you talk to the promoter or club owner, you’ll now have additional influence over other DJs simply because you can tell them how you have a great following on Youtube.

Simply saying “I’m big on Youtube” isn’t going to open every door for you but if you can get your subscribers and friends out to the clubs and parties, you’ll really start to get some kickbacks. Numbers talk volumes, use it to your advantage.

Final Tip

You don’t have to stop at just Youtube to promote your DJ mix.

Websites such as TubeMogul allow you to submit your video to dozens of other video websites for free.

You’ll be blasting your video all over the web to even more people. Remember though, Youtube has the largest userbase so if you want to focus on any one in particular, stick with Youtube.

Hopefully these tips will help you get on your way to begin promoting your DJ mixes on Youtube. Think of all the success you can achieve just from uploading a few videos of what you’re probably doing in your freetime anyway.

Go forth and promote!

Do you have a DJ mix on Youbue? Share it with everyone in the comments below.

You may also like these posts...

• 10 Minutes To Shine: The Youtube TenMinMix
• How To Promote Yourself As A DJ
• Building A Better DJ Mix: Tips and Tricks
• Beginner DJ Equipment: Tips and Tricks
• How To Create A Mix CD Cover In Photoshop: Tutorials And Inspiration

For beginner DJs it means a lot, it’s almost a rite of passage in the DJ community.

You may have wondered how different DJs came up with their names. The ones that immediately peak your interest and tell you who they are and the ruckus they bring.

You know these DJ’s:

• DeadMau5
• Richie Hawtin
• Dieselboy

And the list goes on and on.

The name just snags you, pops out whenever you look at a party flier. A DJ name is your personal brand, a moniker so people recognize you. It makes you go from being “that guy” to “holy shit, it’s that guy!”

So how do you choose a DJ name? Read on and let’s figure it out.

The “Nickname”

Not all DJ names are ones you choose. Nicknames often transfer over, a natural choice for Beginner DJs.

Amongst your friends and social circuit, many people may already know you best by your nickname. It’s only a given that you adapt your nickname as your DJ name.

The benefits of using your nickname is that it doesn’t feel alien. You can easily use your nickname as your DJ name without it sounding as if you are changing up everything you’re used to.

Your Real Name

Some DJs choose to use their real name as their DJ name.

Sometimes this can be a hit or a miss. If you have a silly name such as Dick Cheese, I highly doubt that it’s going to work well as your DJ name (sorry everyone, DJ Polesmoker is taken).

Likewise, your name could be one of those names that immediately stand out. Take, for example, Richie Hawtin, it’s not that common of a name, Richie used it perfectly to make…a name for himself.

A great benefit of using your real name is you’ll never have the confusion by your fans and random listeners trying to figure out who you are.

Com+bina+tions

A good way you can choose a DJ name is to combine words or some of your interests together.

I remember when I was creating names for my MMO characters, I would take parts of my name to create something awesome.

I took the first 3 letters of my first name, combined with the first 2 of my last name and voila! Murlu.

You could also take things you like, combine them and create a cool DJ name.

Let’s take cigarettes and beer: Cigeer? Eh, nevermind.

The “combo” is great because you can take things that people love about the rave community and twist it around to make them think. Remember the old 90s rave fliers where they’d use popular logos? Yeah, kind of like that.

Inside Jokes

Inside jokes make some of the most unique DJ names around.

Every group of friends have their inside jokes, maybe you could use this to choose a DJ name.

Although your fans may not all know what the DJ name means, it also gives them something to talk about. A little bit of an edge.

This inside joke can be also amongst the music scene you listen to. There’s certain terms people always love to sling around.

I’m sure you’ll find a ton of variations of ‘Grime’ as a Dubstep DJ name. DJ Grimelock, Grime and Punishment, Grimeior Grimlock? Eh.

The Random Ass Randal

So finally, let’s just take the most random ass words and names, throw em all together and what do you get? A random ass DJ name.

DJ names such as Moderat come to mind. It’s seemingly two random words thrown together but it’s definitely something you remember.

These DJ names work just because of how batshit insane they can become sometimes. Who would have thought Aphex Twin would become such a well known name in the Electronic Music world. You don’t hear that name every day.

Read On…

There are plenty of discussions already going on and happening where people are trying to figure out their DJ names.

Check out some of these links to find other ways to choose a DJ name:

• How To Choose A DJ Name on Ehow
• How To Get A DJ Name (Video) on Ehow
• DJ Names on Pro DJ Forums

What’s your DJ name and how did you choose it?

You may also like these posts...

• How To Find Great DJ Deals On Ebay
• DJ Etiquette: How To Be A DJ Everyone Loves
• Beginner DJ Equipment: Tips and Tricks
• New Years Eve At Level 3 – A Night To Remember
• Learn To DJ Online: 10 DJ Courses To Teach About DJ Techniques and Club Life