Wireless microphones have numerous uses, from amateur to professional, from bars and clubs to educational institutions and churches. A good, reliable wireless microphone system can be an excellent addition to any of the mentioned locations, but it can also be used on stage, during a concert, a prize contest, announcing a play or for karaoke. Radio and TV stations often use such cordless microphones with great success. There are several frequency ranges in which you can get a microphone: VHF, UHF and Giga Hertz. Cordless microphones may also take shapes like hand held wireless microphones or clip-on microphones.

Advantages and potential problems of cordless microphones

When looking for a cordless microphone, one of your main concerns has to address the mobility range that the device will offer. Although the absence of a cord gives the person holding the microphone more freedom, this must also translate in the distance you can use the microphone, in relation with the wireless receiver. A good wireless microphone will allow a club DJ, for example, to leave his mixing desk and walk on the dance floor with the mic in hand, without experiencing any signal loss or quality problems. Also look for battery life specifications – it’s better to get a cordless microphone that has a battery level indicator on it, so as to get early warning and not be surprised by a sudden battery failure in the middle of a speech. In fact, batteries used to be one of the biggest disadvantages of older cordless microphones: they were heavy and had a short life. Today, however, you can expect to get dozens of hours of battery life and most wireless hand held microphones are actually lightweight.

A few popular wireless microphone models

VHF performance gear microphones are the least expensive in the line of semi professional and professional microphones. They work well in a wide area, but you cannot expect extreme recording environments to produce high quality results. Such microphones are, however, suitable for 80% of all sound recording situations. Fixed frequency UHF units are another popular choice for many musicians and even for educational institutions. They come with a series of microphone types, such as cardioid, super cardioid or omni directional. Broadcast quality UHF models are usually used in award shows, TV shows and other high-end locations. They offer agile frequency responses and excellent ambient noise cancellation filters.

In order to become a great disk jockey (DJ) you must have an extensive knowledge of music, as well as the ability to lead a crowd. Charisma is a must, as is the ability to listen well and use equipment to make seamless transitions between tracks.

Steps

1. First, decide whether you want to be a crowd pleaser or a music specialist. Crowd pleasing means playing songs that would, most likely, hit the taste of the biggest number of people in any given crowd.
   • Music specialist would mean playing music that you like, regardless of what the crowd demands.
2. Obtain DJ equipment[1]. You can become a DJ using CDs or vinyl (with a turntable).
   • If you plan on doing house parties and low level corporate events then , go ahead and get the table top CD players. But, if you want to go out into the big glamorous parties and play in the major leagues, then you should need to know how to work your vinyl.Most venues, clubs, bars, whatever, have Serato Scratch Live as their base DJ setup [operated by turntables, not CD players] so all you have to do is bring your laptop and plug into their system.
3. Be economic.Your most money should be spent on turntables[2] and a mixer.Forget that other stuff for now. You can pick up a pair of Technics and a decent mixer for around $800.00. The suggested option is to buy the turntables used , in order to save your money, so you can buy your mixer brand new.
4. Play around with your mixer and turntables for a while and get comfortable with it. Learn the basics, watch other DJ’s, ask questions and make sure that you really want to pursue it as either a serious hobby or even a career because it gets easily very expensive.Alternatively, search the google for online DJ lessons or tutorials [3].As a good start, it is recommended to download Virtual DJ[4], a DJ program.
5. Start small, with 2 1200’s and a mixer (Vestax & Rane are good). Practice into your headphones and get comfortable with your skills. Mix with vinyl, cds, or digital files. It’s the quickest way to learn how to be a real good DJ.Then when you feel that you’re good enough, go out and get an amp, some speakers, and possibly even a Serato set up.
6. Learn about all genres of music. Often you may know of a couple hit songs in a few genres, but that is not enough. Try going to sites that try to help independent labels. Often these sites have songs that are free and therefore you are able to sample before downloading. Also, make sure you learn about all the hit songs in most genres, because those will be the ones that the crowd recognizes and most likely they will like it if it’s a hit.
7. Legally download all of the music you think four out of five people like and can be danced to. By doing this, it encourages even those who don’t particularly like the song to go with the flow and dance to it.
8. Play a song you think a group of friends might like. If eighty percent or more say they liked it, then you correctly associated the song to the group.
9. Develop your charisma. Try to be a someone that attracts attention in a good way when necessary. Also know when to step back and let the group dynamic take over. Constantly vying for attention will make people uncomfortable.
10. Learn party games designed for a memorable experience while eliminating a large number of people last.
11. Ask a friend who has a party that you were invited to if you can do a free gig there. This will allow you to observe the crowd’s reaction to you.
12. If DJing is right for you then begin to get a few small gigs at a price much lower than an experienced DJ would charge. A few ideas are a senior center dance in which you will be exposed to different music tastes than yours, a dance at a local youth center such as the Boys and Girls Club, and maybe a company gathering.
13. After the smaller gigs if you still want to do it then partner with a few people and start your own business or work for an existing one.

Video

This is a great introduction on the basics. Go to the related videos to take it from there…

Tips

• Take requests for songs to play and if you don’t know a song just look it up on your laptop.
• Focus more on learning the danceable genres of music vs. say emo rock which as most people familiar with the style will tell you is strictly for listening to.
• Download You Tube music videos for some songs you are going to play. Almost every place has a projector that can hook up to your laptop and a decent blank screen, or an average sized TV to project the video on to.
• Develop your charisma at lunch when everybody is eating by telling a story. This helps by showing that when a crowds’ energy is dying down you can step up to keep them entertained.
• Create a laser light show. For more information look at related wikiHows.
• Divide different styles into different sections. Put the slower songs at the beginning, eating time, and at the end. The jazzy songs go at the middle of the party, while the heavier songs go after meal time and before it.
• Always check out the top forty lists. Good site to go to is www.popculturemadness.com This site will also help if you have to do a certain era of music like the 50’s, 60’s, or 70’s.
• If you get puzzled for what to play, arrange the song titles of the popular songs into a story fashion. Like my “Lady in red” drove a “Little Red Corvette” down to “Funkytown”. Get the basic idea.
• Think of a cool name, try developing it from your personality!
• It is easy to think of your own dj name try adding no words together
  • e.g dj redstorm

Warnings

• Don’t make a habit of doing free or cheap gigs as it ruins the industry and you will be type cast as the ‘cheap DJ’.
• Clients are hiring you because you are cheap, not good.
• Do not try to get a party involved at lunch as this is when people just want talk and eat.
• Never play a majority of fast songs at a wedding. This will take away from the specialness of it.
• Do not play a majority of slow songs at a gathering of kids. They will get bored fast.
• Don’t play rap music for grandmas 50th anniversary.
• Don’t go to the DJ and ask “Do you have something we can dance to.”
• Don’t say “Play something with a beat”
• keep your dj gears above average shoulder height so they dont spill any drinks on it.
• Don’t ever say that you are better than that DJ. Even if you are, there may be just one DJ out there better than you.
• Never ever put another dj down, he may be your helping hand in getting another djing job when your times are slow.
• Don’t copy anybody else’s style. In the course of you learning, you’ll develop your own style. And don’t waste time thinking up hilarious or corny names because your name will easily get confused with other DJ’s whose names are spelled the same.

Things You’ll Need

• DJ Gear: DJ turntables (e.g., Technics 1200s) or CD players (e.g., Pioneer CDJ series), a mixer, and amplified speakers.
• Music (the more, the better)

Related wikiHows

• How to Become a Popular DJ and Make Money
• How to Be a Non Hip Hop DJ
• How to Find a DJ Name That Isn’t Taken
• How to Grow Your DJ Business
• How to Install Your DJ Booth
• How to Make Your Own Laser Light Show

Sources and Citations

1. ? http://123dj.com
2. ? http://www.topdjgear.com/tesldidrtu1.html
3. ? www.djtutor.com
4. ? http://www.virtualdj.com/

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Be a DJ. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

I have been a fan of Tom Peters for well over 20 years. I found his book “In Search of Excellence” a little difficult to read but ground breaking at the time.

I love his speeches and teachings and how he has encouraged managers and sales people alike to ‘mix it up’ to ‘make a difference’ to ‘make it happen’ and to buck the system.

My guess is that each and every day I use just a little of the Tom Peter’s philosophy.

This series of three video’s are both inspiring and how ‘historic’ as he is promoting a change in the Whitehouse and now that change has been realized.

Yes we live is history making times and history will judge 2008 an one of the most important years of this century, so far anyway!

There are three video here, Enjoy!

Till Next Time, Live, Love and Laugh

Stephen

Guys,

This is one of the best videos I have ever seen . .

Enjoy!

A good friend ‘Don’ recently sent me a short email . . . It just read “Stephen, You must listen to this lecture” and it came with a YouTube link. Well I looked quickly and saw that the video went for over an hour so I filed it away until I had some time to watch it.

Last night, as my loving wife slept soundly beside me I fired up my trusty laptop, plugged it into the TV and clicked on the link my friend Don had sent me.

The video (below) is one called “The Last Lecture” and the author Randy Pausch, sub titled it “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”.

Although Randy at the time of filming the video was dying of pancreatic cancer his lecture is about living. It’s about determining what matters and following though to “make a difference”

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
—Randy Pausch

His lecture is touching, aware, enlightening and educational. It’s truly worth the investment of time that you invest in watching it. I wish to thank Don here and encourage you to “listen to this lecture” as Don encouraged me to do.

So here is the video – Enjoy!

Oh by the way you can visit their website <Click Here>

And if you should want to download the video to watch it either on your iPod or another device then <Download it Here>

The Sales Funnel Based on Contact Type

The Sales Funnel concept is based around ‘people’ or contacts being of a particular type: Suspect, Prospect, Lead and Client. An important mistake to avoid is the confusion and therefore a lack of appropriate prioritization around whether a contact type is a Suspect, Prospect, or Lead.

Suspect

A suspect is an organization name or a target account at this stage a “name” is all you have it may only be the company name. You may not know the contact name of the person who is responsible for their buying decisions, or, if you have a name, it may be a reader of a publication, an attendee to a technical update or another type of trade event. It may be just an interesting person, or a business card that you acquired whilst clover leafing in an area. You don’t know if this person is the appropriate buyer. You only suspect this “entity” is a target for your products or services.

Prospect

A prospect is a suspect that has engaged with your business in some way, whether it is an action taken on a web visit, from a technical update, a telephone enquiry, etc. Your goal in this stage is to qualify this prospect to the point that you know the decision-maker and you have identified an interest in your product or service.

This is when the Art of Discovery comes into play.

Lead

A prospect becomes a lead when you have established a need for your product or service with the prospect.

The more immediate the need, the greater the reason why the decision maker wishes to deal with you - the more hot the lead.

Before we can move the lead to the “assess phase”, we must determine what information we most need to know. For example, what is their decision-making process/timeline, do they understand our offering and value proposition, does our solution align with their business and expectations, etc?

Client

A client is a person or organization who has entered into business arrangement with you or your business to supply the agreed products or services. The dictionary defines a customer as “a person or company that buys goods or services” or “an individual with whom one must sale”

The same dictionary defines client as “a person or entity helped by another: a person or entity dependent on the protection or patronage of another person or entity” and “The party for which professional services are rendered” therefore you wish to develop client relationships rather than acquiring ‘customers’.

The Stages of the sale relates to specific milestones that occur during the sales process.

The main purpose of defining the major stages of the sales process is to enable sales forecasting with a level of predictability.

Although it may not be accurate with an individual opportunity or a very small sample, as your working pipeline grows the accuracy of this forecast will increase. Over time, if each opportunity’s probability index is kept up to date sales forecasting will become surprisingly accurate.

• Try it for yourself, you can use a simple tool like excel or a more sophisticated tool like a CRM