Self Marketing & Advertising

Self-marketing is a must if you want to establish yourself and make yourself known.

But you should also know how to go about doing it. So here we go,

a) Giving an advertisement in a newspaper, especially in the matrimonial section. By doing this a very large amount of people can be aware of what you do. Give a very brief description of your services.

b) Register with the Yellow Pages

c) Also register with telephone facilities like Ask me, Just Dial and 888.

d) Give ads in various magazines now and then.

e) Ask your friends, relatives and other people you know to spread a word about you.

f) Register your name with various websites like yahoo, khoj, sholay, rediff etc.

g) Have brochure/leaflets printed and hand it out to people.

What else you could do?

Networking is an important tool in this profession. After you have established yourself fairly, try launching a web site on your self. You can give details about the activities you undertake, your achievements in the profession, brief write-up about how you came to the profession, important photographs etc. There are some web sites like Geocities and Tripod that gives you a small amount of space on the net. You could make use of them.

Always maintain a portfolio. It is like showing your prospective client of how you have done your job. It creates a good impact on him when he/she is going to see how you have done your work. Always maintain a record of all the projects you have handled. Keep the photographs of all the weddings you have co-ordinated, neatly in an album.

Creating your own style could also be another idea of working. If you specialize in something, you could make it an important tool in your style of working. For e.g.- Some wedding co-ordinators arrange for a private party for the newly wedded couple after the wedding is over. Some give a nice gift to the couple. Says Pradeep Gidwani, a wedding co-ordinator, " I always give a small token of appreciation to the newly weds. Once I made a heart shaped bread and gifted it to the couple whose marriage I had handled. They were extremely happy." D’Sylva says, "I normally give a big bouquet of fresh flowers to the couple on the wedding day. Actually these little acts of kindness will take you a long way in this profession."

You could also open a marriage bureau after you have gained a considerable knowledge in this profession. Here you could take up tasks like fixing up matrimonial alliance and marriage counseling. Also remember to keep an effective name for your agency. B. D’Sylva says, "When you want a name for your agency select a name which would remind one of a wedding. I liked the name ‘Traditions and Trends’ so I settled on that for my agency."

How to… deal with your client?

This is the most important thing you should know- the art of dealing with your client. First of all try get to know him. What sort of a person is he/she? What does he/she want you to do? What do you want to do for him? What is his budget and things like that. Remember to negotiate for your charges if necessary. Above all learn to trust each other. The art is in getting along to get ahead!