needadisco.com Member Blog
Supplementary Help and Information
DJmark terms of issue – update 01-06-2012
4 days
by admin
in Announcements
This post announces an amendment to the terms of issue for ALL levels of DJmark Award and commences at 00:01hrs on 1st June 2012.
To discourage members from joining the site simply to obtain an award and then take no active part in the site, we will be adding the following condition of membership:
- in order to remain eligible for a DJmark Award, the number of ‘Pending’ client leads must be kept below 100 at all times
Any DJmark holder who allows their ‘Pending’ lead count to exceed 100 will have their award temporarily withdrawn until the ‘Pending’ leads are reduced.
The number 100 was arrived at because some members can (and do) receive 100+ new leads within a 1 week period. Because we understand that some members can have an exceedingly busy few days around weekends and are unable to deal with administrative tasks for short periods, we feel that this is a sensible compromise number.
Why are we taking this step?
Every time a lead is issued to a DJ, a client somewhere is advised that the DJ has been asked to quote, or at least advise their availability.
We have received many comments and even some outright complaints from clients who have received far fewer quotes than they were originally expecting. On investigation, we have identified that a small minority of DJmark Award holders are simply appearing to ignore quote requests, yet will happily provide updated documents in order to maintain their award levels.
At the time of writing this post, we have one member with over 500 ‘Pending’ leads and three more with over 300 ‘Pending’ leads.
Members who wish to partake in the awards scheme but not receive leads are advised to use the most appropriate combination of preference filters (eg. disabling all but one budget level, disabling all venue types etc.), availability calendar and coverage area to reduce to an absolute minimum the number of leads received.
Availability Calendar and Instant Checker
10 days
Availability Calendar
On the Your Dashboard tab you will see a calendar view below the ranking section.
You can mark dates as Unavailable or Available by clicking on the numbers. Green is available, red is unavailable. Navigate through the months and years using the arrows.
Now, when we process new quote requests, we check against your calendar before offering jobs to you. If you are showing unavailable, we won’t send you the lead.
Also, when sending you new leads, you will now see additional options which allow you to automatically flip the availability for the lead date.
Availability Checker
Available only to users who are running in Secure Mode.
This FREE availability checker can be placed on your own website. It allows your site visitors to immediately see your availability based on a check of your needadisco.com availability calendar.
If the date is available, the client is directed to the appropriate page on your own website (contact form etc. as you see fit).
If the date is unavailable, the client is offered quotes via needadisco.com instead. If they go on to book one of our members, you will receive a free 1-month extension of your subscription.
The availability checker is fully detailed on your Tools tab.
Eire Coverage
19 days
As Eire does not have a postal coding system, you may declare that you cover Irish Counties instead. For example, Donegal, Sligo, Kerry and so on. It is not possible to subdivide Counties. Each County will require one credit.
If you would like us to add Irish Counties to your listing, this is currently a manual process. Please email us on admin@needadisco.com stating your requirements and we’ll take it from there.
Announcement – Client Testimonials By Post
22 days
by admin
in Announcements
Due to the unprecedented increase in UK postal charges we will no longer check client testimonials by post after 30th April 2012.
All validations will take place via email.
Therefore all new referees offered should be accompanied by a contact email address from now on. It may take us some time to change the website descriptions to match this new policy so please ignore any reference to postal testimonials from now on.
Postcode Map Style Change
29 days
You may notice that the postcode map has started to transition from the old geographic style map to a new streamlined schematic or ‘block’ map.
The reason for this is the forthcoming introduction of a new simpler way of updating your coverage area which was simply not possible with the old map which has been around for about 5 years now.
The old-style map will still be shown on Public-Facing pages for the indefinite future.
SPG Media cold calling members
35 days
by admin
in Announcements
We have been alerted to a company “SPG Media” cold-calling members selling SEO / advertising services and claiming to have taken member details from needadisco.com
We would just like to reassure members that
a) we do not sell or pass on member details to third parties EVER, under any circumstances unless instructed to do so by a law enforcement agency
b) we do not hold any membership database online in any format. All member details are stored offline at all times.
Therefore for this company (or others) to have taken your contact details from needadisco.com would require the third party to visited the site page by page much like any genuine client.
April 2012 – NEW Member Dashboard
37 days
by admin
in Announcements
Partly in response to member feedback and partly to address the future needs of the websites we are delighted to announce the launch of the NEW Member Dashboard.
Designed from the ground up to be more logical and consistent in design and layout, experienced members should have no trouble migrating to the new dashboard as many of the individual aspects have changed very little. In most cases we’ve just had a good spring clean!
Key Changes
New “Your Dashboard” default landing button showing any administrative alerts prominently. Key details will be shown here, and the foot of the page contains the transaction log which previously held it’s own tab.
An “At-a-Glance” key documents summary visible on all pages, showing the status of PLI, PAT, Testimonials etc with consistent labelling of the icons enabling the visitor to quickly identify any aspects requiring intervention.
New “Sub Sites” tab detailing where your details are currently being shown, and why, based on your configuration settings. This tab now also contains the badly-placed additional picture and description upload fields.
KNOWN ISSUES – Last updated 22:00 on 24-04-2012
1. We are aware of a slight display bug on Internet Explorer affecting the display of DJmark Validator logos on the Creatives pages
2. Some Open Mode users may need to clear their browser’s temporary files if challenged with an unexpected sign-on screen when accessing the site.
We hope you find the new layout and tools logical and easy to navigate. We’re always ready to hear your feedback, so please feel free to tell us what you think!
UK-DanceFloors – RELAUNCHED
42 days
by admin
in Announcements
The UK-Dancefloors.co.uk website has been relaunched.
Previously routing quotes to a select number of advertisers, this has now been opened up as a FREE resource for all needadisco.com subscribers who offer dance floor hire.
needalastminutedisco.com – NOW LIVE!
42 days
by admin
in Announcements
needalastminutedisco.com targets certain search terms found to be popular with site visitors who are trying to arrange DJ cover within the next 7 days.
All needadisco.com members are opted in to a free listing on needalastminutedisco.com unless they opt out using their Preferences tab.
Same-day DJ requests are accepted until 7pm and thereafter for 6 days ahead of the current date. Requests for >7 days are diverted to the normal needadisco.com quote process.
We will prioritise last minute DJ requests.
Any that we feel require messaging via SMS to alert DJs we will process with no additional charge.
cheapdisco.com – RELAUNCHED
42 days
by admin
in Announcements
Previously running as a spoof website, due to the levels of traffic seen we have now relaunched this as a real DJ finding site.
Members who enable the “Budget” price band on their needadisco.com listing are now automatically listed on cheapdisco.com
Members who disable the “Budget” price band on their needadisco.com listing are NOT listed on cheapdisco.com