I have come to realize that many DJs don’t market themselves out of fear of seeming pretentious. Let me ask you…do you think anyone in hip hop or pop music has this problem? Just because someone else is doing all the work for them doesn’t change the outcome. I think this is more deeply rooted for many. I think this is not only fear of seeming pretentious but also fear of HATERS. After all, no one really wants to be hated.
So if you market yourself hard, you appear to be pretentious or big headed? Why, because you registered a YOUR name with a “.com” after it? Because you’re a public figure who got a photo shoot? Or maybe it’s even worse than that….you created a FaceBook Fan Page! These are not characteristics of pretentiousness. This is just basic marketing. More importantly, anyone who thinks you’re high on yourself for doing it is actually nothing more than a hater. Don’t let haters get in the way of your career.
It’s true; they do see you as pretentious for your marketing techniques. They also don’t even know you. But haters are simply jealous of what you’ve been able to accomplish and dislike you because you have surpassed them. It is an inner conflict…and it’s THEIR problem…not yours. They need to look inside themselves at what they’re doing wrong or not doing at all instead of bashing you for succeeding. Perhaps they should take a step back and learn from you. But they can’t because they are too caught up in their own hate…hate for you and for themselves.
Hey I get it. Have you ever met a celebrity who was really cool and when you mentioned it to a friend you said. “I met such and such and they were really nice”? Well why wouldn’t they be nice? Were you expecting something else? Perhaps you were expecting all their fame to have gone to their head. See we assume that people who have some fame (no matter how much or how little) are going to be stuck up.
Many people have said that “if you’re getting a lot of hate, you must be doing something right.” Well some of people who get a lot of hate might actually deserve it. And if you are that kind of person, you probably aren’t dealing with this issue anyway. But there’s also a lot of truth to this statement. So let me ask you; would you rather seem like the nice, down to earth person who is not pretentious and be right where you are now? Or would you rather market yourself well, pick up a few haters along the way, and be at the top of your game?
Only you can make that decision.
David Sabat
DJ Marketing 101 
I say scoop up some haters along the way and keep it moving! Those who really know/love you know your true self and that’s all that matters. Strive for excellence, be at the top of your game and do what you love. Haters will always be there but you don’t have to be there with them.
Excellent topic/blog Dave, I use too lose sleep over what people felt about me, I wasted mad time and energy with people that had their 3 cents to say. Now frankly I don’t give a damn. Some people will love what you do, while others will hate your guts. You have to continue doing what you love, in DJing or any other field of choice. I lose a fan on my fan page and friends on my friends page on Facebook, every single time I post something, but when they remove themselves, 3-5 people become a fan or request to be a friend. You have to keep moving! Don’t slow down for no damn body.
Nice! I feel the same way some times! Keep doing what you love!
great post and great response from boolumaster. great attitude & approach
i love haters, they motivate me to keep working harder. if people are hating on you then they know who are and they are talking about you, sometimes good and sometimes bad, but they are talking about you and getting your name out there for free 🙂 plus i believe being a DJ is like running for office, you have to shake hands, kiss babies and be nice if you want to be in office. people have to know who you are and if your personality is crappy well, you dont go far. but i have had many gigs booked just on being a likeable well known person. not because i had the best mixing skills or production, but based on people actually knowing “of” me being a nice person and i consider myself a “no name nancy” dj/producer.
as always Dave, you give great advise and have excellent discussions. i appreciate the hard work you put into these blogs. its helped me come a long way in the past year in my attitude and perspective in life.
bests,
Tim
you are very right on this! Good way of putting it! Haters are inevitable I suppose as long as your doing something that is positive and rewarding there will always be some one there to be negative and hate you because your making a success and they are stuck in the same old rut! Maybe they need to take some marketing courses!
Great advise!! “Haters only make you stronger” and as long as you are doing the best that you can do and give back to your community and care about your family and friends, you won’t lose sleep at night. Awesome post!!
always good info thanks dave!
I have received some pretty nasty comments from haters over the past few years. Its best just to ignore them.
I like to take it out of the context of hating and look at it more like a crippling disability. Many people can not come to terms with their inability to achieve what they feel they deserve. This is generally due to in balance of paying attention to what they “should have” rather then their own actual bench marks of success. By focussing on what you don’t have, you do not allow yourself to recognize your own progress. So, being that this person is in a black hole state of confusion, taking responsibility for your actions is the only way to see clarity. Unfortunately. these thought patterns cripple a persons ability to take responsibility. So, a person generally produces the same actions, but expects a different result, but actual generating the same results. This frustratingly launches he or she right back in the black hole.
As an outsider, I would never disqualify someone’s opinion, but I recommend that you just recognize opinions as insight. Sometimes it makes sense to you, and sometimes it doesn’t.
My advice to all artists is to pay attention to what works for you and to what does not. Invest in what is producing results for you and never stop. If you re unhappy with the rate of results, invest more while continuing to be creative.
Lastly, always hold close what you love about your particular craft. No one can ever take that away from you. Use it as fuel for your vision!
Ha! Haters a plenty in our hometown. The problem with people sending hate and negativity is that some of us can’t just bite our tongue and move on. It’s hard to let it go sometimes. Myself I think I finally am able to just turn my head and delete the hate mail b4 I let it get on my nerves.
I’ve had a few incidences where somebody sent some negative comment to me when all I was doing was sending a link to free music, guestlist etc… I guess they were too shallow to realize that I went out of my way to be able to offer these opportunities. I couldn’t just let it go and had to tell them off, and add them to every spam mailing list in the world… :-0
I feel bad for doing so, but at the time stress and negativity got the best of me.
the best advise for haters and promoters. If you don’t want to be on a mailing list then don’t give out your info. If you send someone text/email and they send you a bunch of trash talk back delete them and move on.
Actually, everything you wrote is true… but I’m a bit upset tonight because I’ve just come home from my regular weekly gig, which is always busy and we have a wicked time… but they have a new female manager… and guess what ? She’s hating on me… she’s told me “Were switching things round a little bit” And basically dont call us we’ll call you… it’s a real shame………….. and then strangley came home and stumbled across this article 😦