I’m sending this email out to about +6,000 people, and I wanted to first CONGRATULATE Brandon Henderson of New Jersey for booking his first gig!A 200 Person wedding (not bad!!)

Anyway, he brought up a GREAT question, that I want to address!
WARNING: I am about to go into one of my infamous rants, bare with me!

Brandon writes:

I have a competitor in my area who is working for F.R.E.E. and just asks his clients if he can have a tip jar, how am I supposed to compete with that? I’m sure when Brandon first found this guy he was a little nervous. I am here to show you that this guy is not a threat and that we can totally blow him out of the water, so here goes.

1. Price Wars are Suicide!

Most importantly, you must never, ever, ever compete with someone on the level of price. You compromise

EVERYTHING when you do this, and no one ever wins (except maybe the client). Do not think for a second about lowering your prices or offering a free option. What our rookie bartender is doing is NOT creating a long-term, real business. As soon as he does his first party where he walks away with $36 bucks at the end of the night, he’ll start thinking differently about his price strategies. Hold your prices where they are (or increase them)

The real solution is to…

2. Out-Market Him!

Someone who is working for free probably doesn’t have a real business (or marketing strategy). I am assuming this is a bartender at a local restaurant who is throwing ads in Craigslist offering his services. You (as I know Brandon does) will have a top notch blog/website that is ranked high in Google, and you have created a fantastic marketing str

ategy that allows you to attract clients way easier than this other guy. So instead of worrying about changing your prices, think of other ways you can out-market him. Contact vendors and venues and build relationships. Go to local networking events, do a promotion in your local paper. Get a Google Adwords account (pay-per-click advertising) but do something!

3. Premium Services Call for Premium Prices!

You have to understand WHY people hire a bartender. They have money and they want to throw an amazing event. They don’t want their brother-in-law to pour the booze, and they want their guests to be impressed by a professional staff (you!). Personally, I would be very leary of hiring someone for .f.r.e.ee out of a Craigslist ad. People hire me because they see my website, my pictures and my testimonials. They know what they are getting. A bartender at no charge begs the question, “What’s the catch?” Bottom line, if you want to offer a Premium Service, you’ve got to offer a

Bartender Premium Service

Premium Price (that’s what your client will be expecting). Oh ya, and a lot of my clients don’t even want to do a tip jar option, so I add the tip to the final price–what is our competitor-friend supposed to do now? Trust me, leave the tire-kicking, bargain hunters to this other guy!

Bottom-Line:

All you can do is laugh at someone who is doing this. You are building a real, successful, long-term business, while this other guy is looking for a quick buck. That doesn’t work for very long. Don’t be surprised if he ends up calling you asking for a job! HAHA! Your solution is always to out-market your competiton! Set up a enewsletter, contact past clients, network for new ones, pass out more cards at your next event, just keep hustling and working hard (and smart!)!! All competiton does is drive me to excel even more, make it do the same for you! Hope this helps Brandon and anyone else who crosses this bridge.

Thanks for letting me rant,

James Wedmore
BartenderConfessions.com

P.S. I’ve got a flood of questions coming in from you guys (thanks!) I promise I am getting to all of them!!