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Topic: My first website - constructive criticism wanted! - Page: 1

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Hi everybody. I just finished my (first ever) web site to promote my DJ-ing activities... Constructive criticism is highly appreciated!

www.djcorny.org


THX!
 
Inviato Sat 10 Dec 11 @ 3:59 am
Quote :
And I don’t play any kind of music, either
:(


Im not sure of your target market but if you are trying to sell your self as a generic professional DJ for weddings etc, IMO that is not the best site for that. If people want to book a DJ last thing they want to see is the word Hobby.

you have limited yourself to tropical, disco and Reggae. is that all you do? what if a client wants a bit of everything, straight away they are off elsewhere

Im just thinking how many people will read your rider then think what i did (that wasnt a pretty thought)

sorry mate i have only read a little bit.....its pretty poor...IMO
 
All personal opinion of course,

But you might want to get rid of all the links to wikipedia, especially since you don't see its a link. Besides that it sorts of makes your audience think you are suggestion they are so ignorant they don't know the Canaries, Holland, reggae etc.

For the media section, get your brochures in PDF to a different location and get a mixcloud or soundcloud account to host your media and than embed them in your site. Make some nice mixes so people get your vibe.

Have fun :)






 
@MINTYDAVE
Thanks for taking the trouble to check it out and for commenting!
I should explain that it is NOT my intention to earn money with this: DJ-ing is a hobby, something I enjoy. That's why I don't play any kind of music anymore. I used to be a professional deejay (pleasing my crowd with whatever they wanted), now I've turned into a "hobby deejay" if you like: I only play that which I enjoy, and people who like the kind of music I play, can come and enjoy with me. :)

@JBOERLAGE
Again, thanks for taking the time! :)
I will delete the more obvious links to wikipedia. Good point. I would not want to insult my readers. The lesser known music styles, however, I will keep linked. Not many people know Zouk or Kompas music, for example. I will also follow your advise and embed the music promos. Thank you for your tips and opinion!
 
Ah if that's your intention thats ok, sorry i thought you were trying to promote yourself as a commercial dj.

I still think the phrase "i dont play any kind of music, either" sounds like you dont play music full stop.

I think you need to put the point across a bit more clearly of what you do as people may visit your site and think you are a commercial DJ with a bad site

You could have an openng statment saying you are just a Tropical, Disco ,reggae only dj and play for fun not for profit and that you are available for this type of event

I'd still ditch the rider

but thats my opinion only

Have fun with it buddy and i hope you keep spinning.
 
What Dave suggested was typical of the UK as a whole, the UK has become a place thats all just about the money!

Especially when it comes to DJ's, every DJ it seems is playing anything and everything in a bid to please but in reality isn't pleasing anyone by going back n forth all night between multiply genres.

I'd like to see more specialists.

And I don't see whats wrong with the rider either, it's good to have instruction and term that are easy for your customers to follow.
 
Hi there, I've just had a look at your website, and the first thing I asked myself was: "how old is this guy?!" because you make a joke about "when I grow up..." in the first few lines and at that point, I really thought you were a teenager or something!

I understand that you don't want to do this as a business to make money, but you would like people who are organising parties or events to read your site and then book you wouldn't you? If that's the purpose of your site then here is my advise about "selling" your service so that people will book you.

Intro: The reader needs the basics first before the details: Who are you, where can you play at and what do you play? All in the first 2 or 3 sentences. Then, once people have understood that, then you can put your personality in to it and make some jokes and all that stuff :D

I think the "media" section needs to be deleted and instead put the reggae mix in with the writing about your reggae theme night, and the same with the others.

Also, the rider should go I think. If someone hires you to play in another town or location you can just tell them that they're in charge of transport and your accommodation and then you can email them your rider at that point, when they are actually booking you. Maybe you could add a "how to book" page where you can say where you are able to play (anywhere on your island? Anywhere in the Canaries? Anywhere in the world?) and that they should just get in touch to find out how much you cost an if you're available.

And here are some general tips for writing good websites:

Always write POSITIVE statements: say what you do, not what you don't do. So instead of saying "I don't play just any types of music", you could say something like: " I specialise in playing only reggae, funk, tropical, soul and disco music."

Instead of writing about "what I do", put yourself in the place of the customer, write about what the customer might want. So instead of saying

"I show videos on 3 large screens, go go girls, etc". Think about when or why a client might want that service. Maybe something like

"If you are planning a party or event with a disco, tropical or reggae theme, then my spectacular audio-visual DJ sets are sure to leave your guests with their jaws on the floor in amazement. I project music videos and visuals onto 3 giant screens that compliment my DJ set and add an extra dimension to your event, club night or party."

- okay so maybe that's not great, but I've tried to show that I'm thinking about what the party organiser might want: not just any old DJ, but an awesome show that's really going to impress their guests and make their event or party stand out from everyone else's.
 
@ MintyDave
I'll try to formulate the sentence a bit different. English is not my native language, so I could be expressing myself badly. Thanks!

@ Charly Wilson
Thank you for your views and opinions.

@ Andy Taylor
Wow! I will indeed re-organize the following order of infos, I'll make a page for each theme night with pics of that night and an embedded music player playing the promo, and I'll re-write several texts with, as you suggested, the "client" in mind! Great writing there from you! Are you in the advertising business? Mind if I use some of your phrasing? ;) Many thanks for your input!

Many thanks to ALL of you!!!

A side question to the VDJ society: should a rider be downloadable from a DJ's site or should it be sent by email when contacted by a potential client?
 
Thanks, I'm glad you thought my advise was useful! Feel free to use any of what I said, no I'm not in advertising, but I've made a few websites and, most importantly, read lots of other DJs websites for my research before I made each one.
 
Not trying to bust you balls, and I see from the site that you are not in the U.S.......but from the standpoint of a native English speaker, DJ

Corny flat sucks as a moniker...it implies that you are unprofessional and quite frankly, silly.....Like I said, maybe something is lost in the

translation, I hope so.....Anyway u wanted the real deal feedback, just my 2 cents (or Euros) worth.......... =D
 
@ jusblaze246

I have been told this by some of my friends aswell... It does seem to be a "corny" name. I don't particularly like it myself, but it was given to me by people who came to my gigs. My real name is Cornel. From that point of view, Corny is actually a cute abbreviation. But for Germans I know now it makes them think of a certain candy bar that is sold there. For Americans it obviously isn't very flattering either, as you make clear.

I'm open to suggestions, guys (and dolls)!
 
Charlie Wilson wrote :
What Dave suggested was typical of the UK as a whole, the UK has become a place thats all just about the money!

Especially when it comes to DJ's, every DJ it seems is playing anything and everything in a bid to please but in reality isn't pleasing anyone by going back n forth all night between multiply genres.

I'd like to see more specialists.

And I don't see whats wrong with the rider either, it's good to have instruction and term that are easy for your customers to follow.


Sadly i have to make £2500 a year just to pay the bills and where we are specialist dj's exist but the jobs are so far and few between its practically impossible to get regular work that pays

I would love be be a one genre Dj but that wont go down very well at the functions that pays the bills. I often get criticism from punters who want modern chart/dancy rnb stuff when the floor is packed with motown and disco lovers and vice vearsa.

PS... i miss read the rider and meant the hospitality bit. we all need terms and conditions.
 
Okay, I fine-tuned the site a bit. There are still some things I want to change. Anyway, if you see any grave errors or other kind of bad stuff, feel free to post your views! I would really appreciate it...

www.djcorny.org
 
Deejay Corny wrote :
@ jusblaze246
I have been told this by some of my friends aswell... It does seem to be a "corny" name. I don't particularly like it myself, but it was given to me by people who came to my gigs. My real name is Cornel. From that point of view, Corny is actually a cute abbreviation. But for Germans I know now it makes them think of a certain candy bar that is sold there. For Americans it obviously isn't very flattering either, as you make clear.


You know what – if it works for you, run with it. Some people are overly-concerned with the “serious, cool” factor when trying to come up with a name, when in reality it’s about having something unique that leaves an impression. If it’s a spin on your actual name, even better. I’m sure LMFAO don’t worry about their name being slang for laughing at a stupid joke as they roll around on their giant piles of money.
 
You said you wanted constructive criticism, so here is my .02 cents

The site looks very childish (not professional at all) which I read you don't want 2 do it for a living but you should still want a professional site....

I think a DJ having a rider is IMO rediculous, As a dj what some considers as a rider I include in my contract, that way for 2 things, 1 it doesnt seem as if I'm being unreasonable & 2, I don't want to be unreasonable,I do leave some things up to negotiations. there were a few things that I lol'ed at that was listed in your rider....
An example of what would be in my contract that you have listed in your rider is the thing about the ferry, in my contract I have a line in there that says I am willing to travel a certain number of miles (can't exactly remember right off hand) before there would be an extra fee involved, & if there is a charge for parking then that is also added into the cost of my services.
 
Now for the finetuning..

step 1: Get yourself a mixcloud.com site

Step 2: Make various 20 minute mixes of your vibe and your unique musical styles like Merengueton and Soukous (sounds interesting, need to check that out :P). With all the mixes of some unique style, copy paste some of the wikipedia description in the mix description. (as done for example here: http://i.mixcloud.com/Cor6r or more your taste here: http://i.mixcloud.com/CmKYR .)

Step 3: Get a Youtube account and upload your video's there

Step 4: Embed your mixes and movies in the media site, you might wish you make a separate section for video

Step 5: Instead of linking to wikipedia for things like Merengueton, link to your own embeded mix in the media section! Is has the music and the description and your vibe.

Cause eventually.. its all about that, not about the site!
 
@ rd423 Thanks for your input! I don't have contracts so I'll have to make use of the rider for certain conditions. I like clarity, so cards on the table (=rider on the website). I reduced the rider a bit, hope it does not offend anymore. If you still see details that need polishing, by all means, let me know. I appreciate your views, I do not share all of them, but thank you for your 2 cents!

@jboerlage I'm getting to that. I'm unfamiliar with mixcloud, soundcloud, etc. but I am going to look into that and the embedded video player aswell. I already embedded a player for the audio previews, inside a lightbox. Kinda liked the effect. Did you see it? I am planning on making seperate pages for each theme night with audio and video players embedded, but I first have to come out with my new equipment (I have not done that yet, I'm still testing it and preparing the material) and make those video recordings...

The website is still in the testing fase. I have not given out the address yet, and will not do so until the site (and my show) is ready.

Once again, thank you all for being so supportive and sharing your concerns. This really is a helpful community!
 
Personally I wouldn't leave cards on tables, take a couple with you incase anyone asks.
 
LOL! I meant that in a figurative way (is that English?), not literally! "Cards on the table" in Dutch means that you're open, honest, no surprises. My business cards I indeed have in my pocket, in case anyone asks. :)
 
lol
 
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