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ARTICLE
I agree with Pete, although I'd expand on his point by suggesting that we’re on display even before we arrive at the gig. Whenever we are out in public, we are potentially affecting our company's reputation. My focus for this article is about one aspect of this – our driving.

Why should that matter?

We all use different vehicles and some DJs have vans or cars with their name or logo displayed on them. It's a great way to advertise your business and potentially increase the number of bookings. In the marketing world, they like to compile statistics on the number of opportunities people have had to see an advert and this includes things like your logo and business name. The more times they see it, the more likely they are to remember it when they decide to look for a DJ. So it makes sense, from a marketing point of view, to have your name or logo on your vehicle.

But there is a flip side to displaying your business branding – it puts you in the spotlight if people don't like or agree with how you drive. Imagine if you are seen regularly speeding past a school, are you likely to be booked for their next school disco? Probably not. (And hopefully you don't regularly speed past schools anyway.)

Even without branding, people could still recognise you or spot your vehicle when you arrive at the venue later on. For me, this is an opportunity for you to think about how you drive and take it more seriously.


Some of this goes back to basics:
- Do you leave enough spare time to get to your venue?
- Have you checked the tyre pressure?
- Is there enough fuel for your return journey?
- And what state is your vehicle in - when was the last time it was washed?

Your guests may well see your vehicle before they see you, so it doesn't matter how nice your tux is when the first impression they have of you is the mud-covered vehicle that you've parked across three bays.
You would expect a professional driver to make sure their vehicle is clean and fit for the road. And it should be something we all do. If you're rushing to a venue, you're more likely to be stressed, which could lead you to make poor decisions. If you get aggressive and start swearing at another driver, imagine the apologies you'd have to make when it turns out they were heading to the same wedding as you. Again, your reputation has been tarnished before you've even played your first track.

For those of you that use a trailer, take care when towing. Looking at data on road collisions from 2018, the majority of fatal collisions involving a vehicle towing were single trailers rather than caravans.

You can even use apps to monitor your driving experience. I've used Appy Fleet before and found it interesting to reflect on how I’d driven. It measures your speed against the known speed limit for the road and how smooth the drive was – ie how quickly you were accelerating and how harshly you slammed on the brakes. For the record, I will state that on a journey when I was penalised for doing 140mph on the M20, I was in fact on board a train and not in my car!
Most of the advice on driving better seems obvious but looking at collision stats the evidence suggests otherwise. It’s easy to criticise other drivers without looking at ourselves. One survey I looked at recently showed that 80% of drivers have experienced being tailgated and don’t like it. Yet the same survey showed that 60% of drivers admit to tailgating. The double standards are clear to see. So, a good place to start when evaluating your own driving is to consider how others might perceive you.

Most these points are based around upholding the reputation of your company. However, there are also financial benefits to being a safer driver. Driving for Better Business
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 110, Pages 34-36.
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