I am in the middle of planning my wedding, and working with vendors has been quite interesting. Most of the correspondence has been informative, but the email I got last night takes the cake. This email is spectacular in every way you can imagine. It is from a local DJ. The email had been forwarded twice, and he left the other email addresses on the correspondence. Normally I would have deleted this email but something caught my eye. Once I started reading this delightful email I was so thankful I gave the email a shot. The email was in different fonts, size fonts, different colors, underling, spelling errors, grammar issues, and stories that can only be described as amazing! Below is the entire email, while it is LONG, it is a great read and a perfect example of what not to do in email marketing.
Hello,
B4 we start, I only e-mail you this one time, then you are removed from my e-mail listing. This way I won't be bugging you over and over. Once and a while I do make a mistake and send it twice, but not very often. God bless!
I know this is a long e-mail but Brides and Grooms want as much information as possible. So I will give you a short version and you can read the rest at your leisure.
If you have any questions on any part of this letter, please do not hesitate to contact or call me. There is no charge to answer questions no matter how unimportant you might think it is. Every question from you will be answered respectfully and promptly. There is nothing I don't know about weddings. Whatever it takes to earn your trust, I will do it. As a Retired Air Force Vet, I have learned to be honest, dependable and trustworthy. As an Entertainer all over the world for over 39 years, I have sharpened my natural born God given skills to be fun and entertaining. There is nothing fake about me :-) My Dad,Mom and the Air Force taught me to be responsible and trustworth.
1) We can meet half way between our two cities for a friendly, no hard sales pressure, very informal meeting.
2) I can play music for any ethnic culture or age group. I have thousands of songs in just about every category. I can show up at your wedding/party and you might decide to change the type of music you want played. No problem, cause I have everything. I also gladly take music requests. I am there only for both of you and also all your family and friends.
3) I am not only very professional, but I am out going and I love to make sure we all have fun. It is very important for everyone to have lots of fun.
4) I charge $700.00 for the first 5 hours and $75.00 an hour overtime. This includes the wedding ceremony and the reception. For an additional $1,000.00, you can get the premium package. This includes; several plasma TV screens, additional speakers (if necessary), party favors, a slide show of your family photos, (a little) Up Lighting, a extra large light show, etc.
5) A hundred dollar deposit and a contract seals the deal and locks in the date. If you hire me within 30 days after you receive this e-mail, I will give you a hundred dollar discount. But you must ask for this discount at the time of the signing of our contract.
6) Hire me before 20 April 2012 and get a $100.00 off the balance. You must sign a contract and pay a $100.00 deposit to get this discount. You must also remind me to give you this discount at the signing of this contract. I don't want to be responsible for forgetting to remind you and have it come back to haunt me at a later date! (smile)
7) All Weddings Sites further than one hour and a half from Moreno Valley/Riverside, will be charged an additional fee of $50.00 per hour driving time on the road.
8) Also sorry but I do not have a "Million Dollar" DJ Insurance Policy. I have never in my life heard of a DJ injuring a guest because of his or her music or equipment. This happens to me maybe once a year, so it is not very cost effective for my Company. Why hotels require this is beyond me. So please check with the facility B4 you contact me. I do not want to waste your valuable time. You already have enough to worry about.
9) THE BALANCE MUST BE PAID IN CASH ONLY ONE HOUR AFTER THE WEDDING RECEPTION STARTS.
10) I have DJ'd/Acted in Movies with or met the following Entertainers; John Ritter, Danny Thomas, Snoop Dogg, Luther Vandross, Kid Frost, Sharon Gless, Joe Penny, Vanessa Williams, Nea Peeples, John Beluchi, Paula Abdul, To Short, Gerald Albright, Sandra Bernhard, Dr Dre, OJ Simpson, Davin McCloud, LL Cool J, Denice Lewis, Sid Ceasar, Gov Arnold S, Jermain Jackson, Sharon Gles, Ton Dailey,DJ Rick Dees, etc. There have been so many, I can't even remember them all. I also know I did miss spell some names. (smile)
Hello to a Beautiful Bride,
My name is Sunny Williams and I have been a Fun DJ full time for over 38 years. I started at Misawa A.F. Base Japan on 11 June 1973. This e-mail is kinda lengthy but that is because Brides and Grooms want to know as much about a DJ as possible. So please take your time and read this e-mail at your leisure.
I am an; Impromptu Comedian, Average Singer, Game Show Host, MC, DJ, Karaoke Jock, and just an All Around Entertainer. I am just real real easy to get along with, and talk too! I make a Great 1st Impression with everyone! At least 90% of my clients who meet me in person, hire me at our first meeting. The other 10% regret they waited too late to book me or did not like the cheaper DJ they thought they could afford. The DJ is the most important Vendor you will hire at a wedding or party. Without a good DJ, the party will be a failure and waste of money. The DJ is the main Vendor your friends and family will remember.
I have probably performed at well over 1,500 successful weddings and parties since June of 1973. This is a full time job for me. I DJ'd Teen Night for my city of Moreno Valley for over 20 years. A lot of my coorporate clients have hired me over and over for the past five to tens years plus....to DJ their company and Christmas parties. Numerous clients have made me their family DJ for life. My newest client for the past five years is with the Clipper Cheer Leaders in Indio, in May every year. I am already booked for them in May this year. All my parties are fun and professional. I know exactly what to do and there is nothing that happens at a wedding or party that I can't handle in a professional, timely, fun manner. I have never had any complaints at any of my events. I used to sing in bands and also singing groups all over the world. (Side Bar, You do not want to hear me sing now) I used to be an extra actor on a lot of TV shows and movies; Cagney & Lacey (their final year), Hopper Man, Sledge Hammer, HBO 1st & 10, Beauty & the Beast, numerous Commercials, and several movies.
I have every type of music for any ocassion. What ever type of wedding or party you hire me for, I have the music for it. I can play C&W, Rock & Roll, Top 40, Hip Hop, Disco, Soul, Jazz, Sound Effects, Oldies, Reggae, Big Bands, Trance, R&B, Steppin' Music, New Wave, Sound Effects, Movie/TV/Game Shows, Ol' School, Blues, Philipino, Techno, Rap, and lots of different types of Spanish music too.
I bring all my music when ever and where ever I travel. The past few years, clients and guests have been bringing their own special songs on iPods or Memory Sticks, for me to play at Events. I am very Versatile and Flexible.
I plan your wedding from start to finish. When I get there early, I will coordinate each event as it comes up during the evening. Nothing gets by me that I can't handle in a fun manner. The one thing that I have that most DJ's don't, is a strong clear deep voice. My one price is $700.00 for the first five hours and then it's $75.00 an hour overtime. But wait, there's more! This price includes the ceremony, reception, "small laser� & disco light show, Up Lights, party planning, and fun dancing. My free travel time for this price is....one and a half hours. Give or take a minute or two (smile). I usually meet my clients at a restaurant (Denny's, Coco's, Starbucks, etc) halfway between our two cities, near the freeway. There is no hard sales pressure because 90% of the time, Brides hire me at the interview. At the end of the interview, I will leave you and your fiance' for a few minutes and give you both some private time to decide if you wanna hire me or not. When I return to the table, you can hire me or may want to interview other DJ's. That is fine with me and we shake hands and depart with a friendly smile. Then I go out side and cry! (Just kidding)
Don�t forget, about my $1,000.00 Premium Package that I mentioned in the very beginning of this e-mail.
I have a lot of knowledge and I know how to coordinate each special event. There is ahundred dollar deposit required with the contract. Then there are other forms we fill out to make sure I take care of all your wishes at your special event. The more I know about what type of wedding plans you have, the better I can serve both of you. I help you select first dance songs, and other songs for each event. When I arrive at the reception (early) I take over and run each event in a timely and friendly manner. You do this once in a life time, and I go through this almost every weekend. So I know exactly what to do for each special moment. But most important of all, we will have lots of fun! My monthly updated equipment is at the top of the line in DJ systems. I purchased new more powerful speakers and small laser lights just this last year. I have also been purchasing newer LED intelligent lights for my disco light show. Music, I download daily from Sources on the internet. I do pay for this service so that the artist are compensated for their hard work. I also bring a second full DJ unit in case of emergencies.
If you can't afford to hire a DJ, I can make you party CD's that will be of good quality. It will be just like a party DJ is actually there, but without the talking. I charge $25.00 per regular CD, which is about 22 songs on each disc. For actual party CD's with the music mixed and blended together, the price is $60.00 each. For this I have to actually set up my DJ unit and basically DJ for several hours. If you want a regular (not mixed) CD in an MP3 format, the price is $30.00 each. But you will get almost 100 songs on each CD. This 100 song CD is in MP3 format, so you need to play it on your computer, laptop or MP3 Player.
Well, I will finally close for now. If you want more details, please contact or call me. I live next to Riverside, in Moreno Valley. I am retired Air Force and I consider myself very honest and trustworthy. I also dress neat and I am well groomed. The best way to select a DJ/Entertainer is to meet them in person. Anyone can fake or doctor website, a video, or photos. But to actually meet a DJ in person, is the best way. The DJ can't fake; personality, knowledgable conversation, and fake actually showing you the music. This way you can actually bond with me and experience how much I know about what I am doing at your wedding. I do encourage you to meet with other DJ's "before" you meet with me. Some clients once and a while want to shop around with other DJ's, which is very good to do. But some clients take a chance on losing that date with me because I have suddenly been booked by another wedding client. Through Brides World, I contact several hundred brides a month. So it's best to book preferably me or another DJ right away after we meet. I may not be the best DJ in the world but I am better than number two (smile). All the other DJ's claim to be number one. We all can't be number one and who made a DJ number one? I can also put together a full crew of vendors that will do a professional job at your special event. We can be a package deal if you don't have time to search for each Vendor.
Some of my best compliments I have had over the years are:
1) At one party only six people showed up. I told the young lady that only your true friends showed up so lets party! I got paid $100.00 for an hour over time with only six people.
2) This one lady had a party for her son graduating from law school. She paid for two hours overtime and tipped me over $260.00 in cash. Then she apologized to me for not have any more cash on her to give to me. I gave her a hug and told her that she and her son's happiness was all that I needed. I know that sounds corney, but it is true.
3) A Rapper/Recording Artist named Arthur Molina Jr aka Kid Frost used to work for me back in the 80�s in my DJ business and my Record Store. When his first album La Razza came out, he put my name (DJ Jumpin� Sunny of Mo.Val.) on the back cover in the credit section. Most of my music was sampled to put together his first two albums.
4) In the past 38 years at least three clients have changed their wedding dates just to have me be their DJ/Entertainer. Now that is about the best compliment a DJ could get. One of those clients changed their wedding date month. Another client wanted to fly me back early from Texas, to Vegas to be their DJ for this month also. Yes he was going to pay for the trip and wanted me to go all the way to Las Vegas DJ his wedding. Wow..... These are actually true incidents.
5) I feel bad about this compliment but it is true. I just won't mention the entertainer's name as not to make them feel bad. We are still friends. But back in the early 90's, I used to play music in between the Jazz band. This happened in Redlands, California. These guys got together during their time off touring, to jam together. This now famous Saxaphone Player, was the leader of the band. Well when they went on break, the customers wanted me to play some dancing music. So I started jamming and the dance floor was packed and everyone was screaming and hollering, just having fun. The owner told the band to just pack up and come back next week because he did not want to stop them from having fun. These guys played with Anita Baker, Sade, etc. I really felt bad and told my Friend that I would never ever do that again. Since then, this guy recorded numerous Jazz Albums and TV shows themes.
6) Back in the late 80's I was hired to DJ a party in Long Beach. Little did I know that it would be a gang party. There was this tall lanky guy that we all know now as Snoop Dogg. He was rapping on the stage with my mic. After he finished rappin' he dropped my mic on the stage floor. I fussed at him for dropping my mic and he was very polite and courteous, Had I known it was a gang party, I would never had showed up. I am glad it turned out good.
7) Then this one client asked me if I wanted something to drink. She brought me a glass of water but before she gave it to me, she sipped out of the glass. I/We fell in love immediately and we got married six years ago (smile). "WE" are sooooo happy!
P.S. HIRE ME BEFORE 17 July 2012, AND I WILL TAKE $100.00 OFF THE BALANCE. BUT"YOU" MUST ASK FOR THIS DISCOUNT AT THE SIGNING OF THE CONTRACT. I WILL NOT REMIND YOU. YOU HAVE TO REQUEST IT. THIS DISCOUNT ONLY APPLIES AT THE SIGNING OF OUR CONTRACT AND ME GETTING A $100.00 DEPOSIT. AGAIN, WE HAVE TO SIGN A CONTRACT WITH A $100.00 DEPOSIT BEFORE 17 July 2012, TO GET THIS DISCOUNT OFF THE BALANCE! ONCE WE FINISH ALL BUSINESS OF SIGNING THE CONTRACT, YOU CAN'T TELL ME LATER YOU FORGOT TO ASK ME.....SORRY.
Have a blessed day!