Author: Jordan St. Jacques

Almost all the DJs I know out there – and that’s quite a lot, of course – use WordPress for their website foundation. I’d say that it’s 97-percent of you. This is quite normal, of course, as WordPress powers approximately 40-percent of the world’s websites, and perhaps up to 60-percent, if you count only small- and medium-sized businesses. As such, it’s important for all of you to stay abreast of major developments in the WordPress world, if only so that you’re in sync with whoever handles your website. The issue that I’m going over with you this month (along with…

DJs across all sectors (club, mobile, radio, etc.) already know that YouTube is one of the best methods for proof-of-product when showcasing to a potential client. Right after that first phone call is over, your sales workflow should include sending out links to your best videos, to hold and grow clients’ interest in hiring you and your company for their big event. Seeing is believing, and if a photo is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million. However, a lot of small companies overlook the fact that YouTube is also a prominent search engine in and…

Recently behind the scenes at Google, a truly fundamental shift in how Google rankings are calculated and kicked back to users took place. And, it’s changing the way SERPs are displayed for all concerned, including of course, DJs. On February 21, 2024, Google announced an arrangement with Reddit that allows for Google to access all Reddit posts in return for Reddit to have access to various AI featured from Google. Now, what Reddit does with that access doesn’t concern us for the purposes of this article. What does concern us is what Google does with the data they collect from…

Prom Season is in full swing these days, and mobile DJs all over social media are showcasing their prom gigs for all to see. Behind the scenes, though, a new prom committee has been elected/appointed, and these eager-beaver students are already starting work preparing for Prom 2025. DJs cannot afford to rest on their laurels after their prom performances are over, as a significant portion of schools are going to make purchase decisions soon. BOOKING TIMELINES Prom Committees break down into three categories: Eager-Beavers. The Prom Committees that will go hard all summer long, and make purchase decisions in September/October…

With the goal of countering the myths and pointing out aspects that you might not have considered with respect to using AI images in your marketing mix. Recently, I’ve been posting various AI-generated images in Mike Fernino’s DJ Idea Sharing Group on Facebook in an attempt to showcase some of the benefits of using such imagery on a DJ-centric website. There are actually quite a few reasons to at least consider AI images, and yet most DJ companies still don’t seem to approach this topic with enthusiasm. I am, of course, listening to the naysayers on the comments, such as…

The days of hidden five-star reviews proudly displayed on your DJ company’s website are long gone. Google has now brought these star ratings to the forefront, showcasing them prominently in branded search results (SERPs) and beyond. This shift in focus highlights the growing importance of star ratings for businesses, as they can: Build Trust: Positive star ratings act as social proof, influencing potential customers by demonstrating user satisfaction and building trust in your business. Boost Rankings: Google uses star ratings as a factor in determining local search rankings, meaning higher ratings can improve your visibility in search results. Drive Conversions:…

From sorting out problems with email deliverability to using DJ-event-management tools, here’s a list of tips to assure your emails are received by clients. Over the last couple of months, some of my clients have come to me to sort out problems with their email deliverability. Specifically, the DJ-event-management tool that they use – no names, we can save that conversation for another day – were “breaking,” in that the emails that were being sent by the tool in question were not being received by the customers of my clients. Now, this is a really stressful situation, as most robust…

Every WordPress site starts with a choice of theme. WordPress just doesn’t work without a theme – that’s the way it’s always been. As such, there’s literally thousands of themes out there that you can choose from. Indeed, the largest theme marketplace in the world lists over 53,000 WordPress themes (https://themeforest.net), and some themes have been massively successful (the Avada theme has pulled in over $63 million to date). Unfortunately, though, not all themes are created equally, and great care must be taken in choosing the theme for your next WordPress site. Choosing a good WordPress theme for your DJ…

When chasing those DJ-related sales, there’s more than one step in the sales funnel, of course. Depending on what process you follow, there could be anywhere between four to seven funnel steps (keep it as low as possible, please) that you use in order to drive your lead to that final step, the step that generates the Zoom Videocall in order to convert your lead into a sale. Most of you DJ/operators push people towards your website, which can be a good thing if your website is up-to-date and has good CTAs (Calls To Action) sprinkled throughout the site. However,…

When developing your DJ company’s keyword strategy for SEO, the first stop is always a Keyword Volume Research Tool (i.e., the Keyword Planner within Google Ads and more).  When crafting your DJ company’s keyword strategy for SEO, the first stop is always a Keyword Volume Research Tool (normally the Keyword Planner within Google Ads, but there are others). After all, if a keyword isn’t actually being searched for on Google, then why bother investing time and money into trying to make that keyword rank for your site? Clearly, keywords that have low search volume should not be considered, as they…

Chargebacks are a huge problem area in today’s payment-transaction environment, including the mobile-DJ world. Here are some handy tips to help you protect against a chargeback and the dispute case that will follow. As a DJ, you’ve just performed a great wedding reception (or other similar event). You rocked the crowd, and everyone had a good time. The dancefloor was packed, and the energy was insane. After the gig was over, you packed up the van and went home contented at another job well done. However…the next morning, you wake up to a nasty email from your payment-gateway provider informing…

Insights into what a ranking position means for your DJ brand, and what you can expect to obtain with an SEO investment. Anyone who runs a DJ company wants to know how often their company website is searched online by potential clients. And with that comes the understanding of SERPs (i.e., Search Engine Results Pages). What are they and why are they important for any company with an online presence? Simply, SERPs refer to the results displayed by a search engine in response to a user’s query or search term input. Pretty important, right? In the past, these results were…

Tips and tricks to help you set up a resource center to boost your website traffic, engagement and conversions. Imagine having a centralized hub on your DJ company’s website where all your visitors can explore and access your remarkable content. And, what if this hub serves as a valuable resource for your audience, enabling them to find solutions and answers, discover relevant information, learn about your products and services, and explore new content? You can make this a reality by creating a resource center. A resource center – also referred to as a knowledge base, resource library, or content hub…

Find out the many ways that we can benefit from AI with the deep dive into the various uses as well as the pros and cons of AI tools. Greeting DJs… Apologies for no new articles over the last couple months, but the core business needed my attention. As our company is growing fast (and suffering a few growing pains), I needed to make some changes in the way we operate, including hiring two new people. Like most of you, there’s not enough hours in my day currently to get everything done, and so I had to react accordingly. One…

Out of all the disc-jockey companies that we here at Digitera have as clients, there’s no one finer at dealing with bridal shows than Ken Cosco from Boston’s A Touch Of Class DJ’s. This past weekend, Cosco had his first show and kept up his efforts, resulting in his best sales results in many years. Helping him every step of the way, I found myself wondering why other DJ companies don’t do as much as Cosco does to make these shows the catalyst for a comprehensive sales effort… which, in turn, inspired the topic for this article. Here are some…

As DJs are more tech-savvy than most, I’m sure that many of you have heard of the new ChatGPT technology that is making waves. According to Wikipedia, “ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a chatbot developed by OpenAI. ChatGPT is built on top of OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 family of large language models, and is fine-tuned with both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques.” From AI-created videos to AI-voiceovers and even AI-Avatars (see my new headshot below, lol), tools in the Artificial Intelligence sector are enjoying accelerated progress. Since most of you have valuable brands that you’ve invested thousands of dollars and hours…

Google has been offering various tools for site owners and webmasters for many years now. Perhaps the two most important integrations that a website needs – for DJs or any business owner – from the day it goes live are as follows: Google Analytics (GA) Google Search Console (GSC) Google Analytics has been fairly constant over the years, although it’s being upgraded currently to something called GA4 (which we will write about in a future article right here in DJ LIFE). Search Console, however, has seen constant upgrades over the years, including a name change (it was formerly called Google…

Recently, I read an email that was written by a so-called industry-leader that proclaimed, “Websites are dead.” In the email, the author puts forth that it’s more important to have a digital funnel… which we all need, of course. However, I find myself needing to advocate for a properly designed and well-coded website, as it’s still the destination for any funnel. In my view, to throw around statements like “websites are dead” is seriously irresponsible and must have a rebuttal in the form of an opposing viewpoint – and here it is. In no particular order, here’s a list of…

So, you’ve got your DJ company’s website published live and looking pretty (hopefully). If you’ve been at any of my DJX seminars over the years, though, you’ve heard me discuss many times that simply having a well-designed website isn’t nearly enough. Remember, the most important viewer you will ever have on your site is Google itself… and Google reads your website differently than a human being does. Simply put, it looks at the code in order to make a judgment on how well your site is running. Unfortunately, most small business websites don’t look pretty “under the hood,” and need…

It’s Thursday afternoon, September 22, 2022, right now, and I’m hopping back on the article bandwagon for DJ LIFE mag. I’ve been absent for a bit, apologies for that. After a great DJX’22 in Atlantic City, N.J. this past August, I returned home to Ottawa, Canada… and proceeded to get COVID four days later. I’m all good now though, and catching up. So, this week’s topic is: What one should expect to pay for a website. This article was literally inspired just yesterday by a conversation I had with someone who’s expectations were way off. In short, he wanted to…

Perhaps the biggest time-sink these days when it comes to creating and maintaining your digital branding is the aspect of video creation. Producing real video content takes time, with steps such as Raw Footage, Lower Thirds Overlays, Intros & Outros… and then rendering for YouTube, Tik Tok and Reels formats. Indeed, one good from-scratch video can take an entire afternoon to create and publish. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining… great video content can make a massive difference in a client choosing you and your brand for their wedding, or a Bridesmaid party choosing one nightclub over another for…

By now, we all know that LinkedIn is the place to go to find sales leads for anything corporate. This isn’t just a DJ thing, of course… LinkedIn is a treasure trove of leads, and gets visited by salespeople millions of times per day. For power users, there’s a problem, though… that of regular accounts being “throttled” by LinkedIn from the ability to search for customer prospects all day. For any of you who are in big cities and are aggressive in the corporate market, that can be a problem. It’s the same story for DJs looking for leads for…

The entire mobile side of the DJ industry relies on Reviews. At this point, most of the sales and marketing Authority Speakers (like myself… lol) at DJX and other shows advise show attendees to make asking for a Review part of the standard after-gig follow up. As an added bonus, positive Google Reviews will help your overall SEO as well, through their connection to your Google Business Profile. Clearly, these Reviews help both your marketing and word-of-mouth. They’re that important. The challenge is… an individual Review can easily get lost in the shuffle. Any good mobile-DJ crew can easily collect…

As most of you out there already know, WordPress runs between 35- to 40-percent of the world’s websites, which, of course, includes the DJ industry. Indeed, DJ companies utilize WordPress in an even higher ratio, approaching 60-percent for our industry. Accordingly, DJ companies must be aware of constantly changing versions of plug-ins…and, of course, the WP Core files. Recently, WordPress upgraded its core version to v6.0, which is a major release. With major releases, there’s always special considerations to consider, so don’t upgrade the WordPress version just yet. The dangers in upgrading your website files without vetting out the versions…

It’s commonly known that if you can get your website ranking on Google Page 1 good things will happen. This holds true for almost any business, but is especially important for DJs catering to mobile entertainment. Page 1 rankings on Google will get you more leads, and hence, more business. Unfortunately, almost every DJ company out there doesn’t have a multi-search engine program out there, and this is a seriously missed opportunity because Google is not the only search engine out there. Indeed… YouTube is the No. 2 Search Engine in the world! Actually, there’s some toss-up currently as to…

Every attendee of the DJ Expo over the last several years has already heard various speakers, such as myself, talk about the importance of blogging to a DJ company’s overall SEO effort. There’s just no way around it… blogging regularly will get you a higher ranking. The problem is… most of you seem challenged with respect to writing. Whether you are lacking in good writing skills or just have a permanent case of writer’s block, most of you are not listening to the advice of people like me. Some of you hire a professional blogger, which is a decent solution.…

This article is a continuation of an article on the main Digitera site, and focuses here on how to apply the concepts in the other article to the DJ Industry. Please click here to read that article, and then please continue onto this article, as well. As those of you who’ve heard me speak at various industry shows across the world already know, I’ve been speaking more often on the topic of “Niche Landing Pages” since DJX 2021, and in greater detail. Recently, we’ve had tremendous success with this method, and so I thought it best to get something down…

As we all know – and I preach this every year at DJX in Atlantic City – SEO is vital to a strong marketing campaign for your DJ company. Ranking on Page 1 for Google in your area for the various business-generating keywords in the DJ industry is one of the two major drivers of new bookings – the other being world-of-mouth, of course. Almost every serious DJ company has some sort of an SEO program in place, and rightly so. These efforts take time and resources, of course, but are well worth it in the long run. Unfortunately, as…

Since the release of an influential 1998 thesis from Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the topic of backlinks has been at the forefront of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) industry. And when the duo unleashed the game-changing tech giant, these Backlinks became priority No. 1 for Search Engine Marketers everywhere. Here’s a passage from Wikipedia’s page on Google history… While conventional search engines ranked results by counting how many times the search terms appeared on the page, they theorized about a better system that analyzed the relationships among websites. They called this algorithm PageRank; it determined a website’s…

Not all websites are created equal. Your website might look nice, but under the hood, most DJ websites are NOT coded properly for the most important viewer of all…. Google. Since I’ve been speaking at various mobile-entertainment shows and expos since 2016 (including DJX, the longest-running such show in the industry), there’s always an important aspect I like to point out to mobile DJ companies with respect to their websites. That is, there’s a huge difference between a website designer and a website developer (here at Digitera, we’re both, by the way). You might hire a website designer and get…