I find that one of the best ways to make your songs sound good is to listen to the experts. Not only for advice but mainly listen to their songs as much as possible. I fyou want to make it big on the dance scene then listen to as much dance music as possible. Also, listen to the up to date stuff to see what the new trends are (e.g Latin rythms). Buy CDs of top DJs and listen closely. Don't just sing along, listen carefully. See if you can pick out each individual element of the song. Study the techniques and use them.

I'm not saying take exact copies out of songs as that could get you put in prison but listen to the techniques that are being used across the board at the moment, for example, how many dance tracks do you hear that don't have any fills in it?

It's not only pros that can help, many unheard of DJs are using new techniques and familiar ones and you need not buy their CDs so check it out!