3 Crucial Marketing Tips From a DJ

As a person who associates with many different communities (Tech, Latinx, Nightlife, etc.), I've been able to take things that I've learned from one group of people and implement them in other areas of my life. I devote an entire chapter to this particular topic in my upcoming book, "How Successful People Get Ish Done", but instead of keeping you waiting, I've pulled a few marketing strategies that I've learned as a DJ for the past 10 years.

1. Community is King - Engage with your audience. Acknowledge people who comment on your posts. Foster a community and make your audience feel part of the group by asking questions. DJs are some of the best marketers in the world. They also understand the power of geo-locations and hashtags to find people that they are trying to engage with. In their situation, they might use geo-locations of nightclubs to find people who are regular attendees, then invite them to their next show. You can use this same tactic for your own business or brand. Think about who you are you trying to reach and where are they spending their time online. Then find them online and let them know who you are or how you can provide value to their life.

2. Always be Branding - The most successful DJs understand how important their brand is when it comes to standing out from the tons of other DJs in the world. They look for opportunities to highlight their brand online, in-person, on print materials, and so forth. They rep their brand. They own their brand. And they always remain on-brand. During my peak DJ career, you'd catch me rocking a DJ Ishh hat at my gigs, with a DJ ISHH sticker on my laptop because I hired my own photographers and videographers to capture the night -- which I would then create content and promote my brand as a DJ moving forward. Embrace your brand and find creative ways to highlight it whenever you can.

Click here to check out the video above. LinkedIn isn't allowing me to embed it.

3. Network and Uplift Your Peers - In the DJ community, it is extremely important to show love for other DJs. Sometimes this means going out on a Monday night to support a friend that spinning at a local bar -- or sharing information about a friend's new mixtape (like below). You can use this same strategy for your business. Think about the other community members that you can support. How can you elevate them by using your platform? I promise it will always come back to you in the long run.

I know these tips are simple, but they're the foundation of any strong brand. Every good marketer understands the power of these three tips and it serves as the foundation for all of their strategies.