Question

Topic: Taglines/Names

Violinist For Hire For Weddings...creating A Flyer

Posted by Anonymous on 10/12/2009 at 11:33 PM ET 50 Points
I'm a violinist. I play at weddings.

I've tossed several ideas around in my head...here are a few that I'm not happy with:

Getting married?
Make it memorable with the music of a violin.

Planning a wedding?
Make it grand. Add a violin.

Planning a wedding?
Make a statement. Add a violin.

Got money?
I want it.

Just kidding on that last one... :)

Here's what I offer:
I play violin, so long as I'm accompanied by a keyboardist or guitarist. I am very flexible and will learn new music. I always secure legal rights to play everything. And I always get the following comment: "That violin...it adds so much!" Yes, those exact words, every time...go figure?

The flyer will be posted on the local university campus outdoors in the weather a few feet from the sidewalk, so I'm trying to keep the wording brief.

I'm adding one of those tear-off sheets beneath it so people can take home my number easily instead of writing it down.

You can see what I've got so far here:
https://yfrog.com/2gflyerp
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Gail@PUBLISIDE on 10/12/2009 at 11:37 PM Member
    Wedding Music -- Strings Attached.
  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 10/13/2009 at 1:51 AM Accepted
    Quick lesson in marketing:

    There are 4P's in Marketing - Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

    Two of these we don't need to worry about today - Price, and Place, because you'll be delivering your services at a place of the customer's choosing, and at a price you negotiate.

    But you have some issues with the other two:

    Product
    You mentioned you play violin, so long as you're accompanied by a keyboardist or guitarist...

    Does the customer have to arrange the other musician?

    If you arrange them - maybe you need to rethink what you're selling. You are not just a violinist - you're bringing along a string/piano duet, or trio, perhaps with the guitarist?

    What does the customer get? Not just a couple of pieces of violin music, but an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime romantic musical event to make their special day unforgettable. So don't undersell what your offer is - you'll be doing yourself a disservice and doing yourself out of income at the same time.

    What would you call yourself? Something along the lines of The Amadeus Wedding Trio would position you nicely, with a tagline like "Classic Romantic Interludes" or "Music to fall in love with"...

    Promotion
    Is this University campus fringe advertising the only promotion you will do?

    Last time I was at University I didn't see too many people getting married, but maybe times have changed.

    You should consider printing some flyers and taking them to reception venues, churches and synagogues, hotels with functions facilities, and mailing them to civil celebrants and wedding planners (find them in the yellow pages).

    You could attract attention by busking in malls with your accompanists, if feasible. Or dropping in to upscale restaurants (by arrangement with the owners) Friday and Saturday evenings - always with your flyers and business cards close at hand.

    Also, create a MySpace page and make a short video of you with accompanists playing a couple of deeply romantic pieces. e.g. Hearts & Flowers, or the Intro to the Gadfly Suite, or whatever your specialty is... Put a link to the Myspace page on your flyer so prospects can see and hear you to understand what you will add to the occasion.

    Also distribute your flyers to wedding-dress stores, wedding caterers, and wedding florists.

    If you can get one of your clients to agree to allow you to have someone film you at their event, you could create a promotional video on YouTube with a link to click through to your website or MySpace...

    Clicking through to your picture of an upright violin, it looks more like a 'cello - you might want to think about angling the instrument across the page - or maybe getting a line illustration drawn of you playing the violin.

    Hope that helps.

    ChrisB
  • Posted on 10/13/2009 at 2:22 AM Author
    Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

    Strings Attached...sorry, that has a very negative connotation I don't want to be associated with.

    ChrisB...from Wikipedia? It's Bob the Wikipedian, nice to see a familiar name!

    I am not responsible for choosing the musicians...sort of a mix'n'match musician. It's neat getting to work with different musicians. Besides, directing a quartet failed after about a year since everyone's schedule changed.

    I do guide the client through the music planning process, helping them decide what pieces are appropriate.

    As for MySpace, I hadn't thought about that. It's a good idea.

    Actually, I'm currently attending the university, and I'm amazed at how quickly my friends are getting married. A surprising number of them have been due to the "unexpected baby problem".

    I certainly wouldn't be distributing this flyer anywhere other than bulletin boards-- I may try several local churches, though...that's a good idea. If I go that route I would be able to probably put more on the flyer...the reason I'm leaving this one so brief is because it's going to have to stand out on an outdoor bulletin board that doesn't even face the sidewalk...if you want to see it you pretty much have to walk around the other side, and even then, it's so full of junk that it's impossible to get anyone's attention with a page with a small font, lots of words, and no pictures. It's a shame there's no other public bulletin board on campus!

    Woah, an illustration sounds like it could get expensive! I don't know anyone that would do one...and the revenue from the weddings wouldn't pay for that very quickly.

    Mom was able to come up with one that seems better than the others I came up with so far...

    Sometime later this week I might see if I can find a better angle for the violin. I can see where you got a cello pretty easily. Maybe adding a bow for scale couldn't hurt?

    Planning a wedding?
    Add a little romance with a violin.

    Does that one do anything?

    Thanks again!

    I'll be putting the flyer up tomorrow morning, but of course, I can take it down and replace it later with an improved version.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 10/13/2009 at 9:08 AM Accepted
    Since you already know that people aren't thinking about violins when they're planning their wedding ceremony, don't just show a violin on your flyer. Show a wedding ceremony shot from the perspective of a violin (such as: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/86530711/Brand-X-Pictures). If you have friends getting married already, find someone to take a bunch of photos of you playing to get a similar depth-of-field look.

    The image will connect wedding + violin better than the violin + text alone.

    So why should someone add a violin to their wedding? Perhaps: "Playing The Language Of Love For Your Wedding" or "Make Your Wedding More Classi-cal".
  • Posted by michael on 10/13/2009 at 10:41 AM Accepted
    I would suggest an alternate. You really need to go see the banquet halls and country clubs and unique venues where weddings are held a lot now.

    They are in contact with far more brides than the campus bulletin board is.

    Weddingwire.com
    theknot.com

    That's just a start of the places you can be...for free.

    If there is a bridal salon in your area, find out when they're having an open house and pay to play. People are going to want to hear you first anyway.

    Roses are red
    Violins for you
    CLassical Music
    For your "I DO"

    Actually, that'd make a better corny greeting card than flyer....but maybe corny is attention-getting.

    Michael

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