How often does this happen...

letitrip · Post by **letitrip** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:03 am

OK, so I'm going to take a moment to brag. My oldest show is also my lowest paying show. I've been keeping the gig because I love playing at the bar. I have a great following there, the people are awesome and the owners treat me well even if they don't pay the most. So I have been planning to ask for a raise come the new year. Well the other day I got an email from them (husband wife team) saying they had discussed it and had decided to give me a raise. Sweet!! I didn't even have to bring it up with them, they took the initiative. A great endorsement of the quality of your show and the success it is bringing the bar to have them come to you and offer you a raise. Outstanding!!

Bigdog · Post by **Bigdog** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 4:24 am

It's rare...they never want to pay the set fee, let alone ever offer to pay more...

What if their raise isn't what you were going to ask for?

I had an owner tell me what he was willing to pay for karaoke. And it's less than what I normally charge.

Well it's like this...you can get a public defender or you can buy a top gun....how bad do you want to stay out of jail???

They don't tell me what they pay...I tell them my price. I can work anywhere, but not everyone can get me...

I know right now that 3 of my 5 nights...the karaoke is the only thing keeping the bars open...it's their best money making night. Without it they are going under...I want to raise my price but they are all sitting on the fence and could flop either way ...from death to survival...

Hard times are upon us...gasoline prices are hurting every type of business and ours especially...they just added a 10% drink tax...that's not going to help anyone...

OnTheMicDJs · Post by **OnTheMicDJs** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:12 am

Congrats Tony...you must be doin something right

letitrip · Post by **letitrip** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 9:53 pm

Bigdog wrote:What if their raise isn't what you were going to ask for?

Well in this case they actually asked me what I felt and we agreed on exactly what I had been planning to ask for. One thing I've made sure to do in this job is make sure I know what I'm worth and what the market is like.

I pay attention, as it seems you do, to the success my shows are having in the venues. I regularly get opinions from the bar tenders, after all they're the ones that have the best finger on the pulse of the crowd and also know what's going in the till and in their pockets. I also have been very successful in finding out what other KJ's in my area make. The key to negotiating your prices in the business is knowing what you're worth to your clients and what KJ's in general are worth in your market area.

In this case I'm very happy with the bar owners and obviously they're happy with me. It's my favorite show for a reason, and the raise they gave me just adds icing to the cake.

mwadeson · Post by **mwadeson** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:20 pm

One Thing I did that helped me is made my regular bars owners realize what they were getting with the raise in our rates we raised our price 20 dollars an hour or 80 a night but with that i brought in new lights and new additions to our book which we were planning to do anyway They said they could see were the money was going and glad to do it. Another thing I found is to help them out or someone who is a regular offer to help with a benifit it seems to really look good to the patrons along with the bar owner