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Only five days until we ring in the New Year! How will you be spending your night? If you have been toying with the idea of becoming a matchmaker, New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to make it happen.

Here’s why:

New Years Eve is party central. Singles will be out at these parties feeling alone, but also festive and open. They will be looking their best, ready to have fun, and feeling friendly. These gatherings are a prime time to chat up enough people to build your database. Building a database is one of the first, and most important, tasks you will need to accomplish when starting your matchmaking business. Having an extensive database of singles to work from is imperative. Without a database you are not able to take on paying clients; you would have no one to match them up with! For new matchmakers the prospect of creating a database from scratch seems like a big undertaking, but with the right approach you can build most, if not all, of your database on New Years Eve alone.

Here’s how to make it happen:

Before the party… Know who you are looking for. If you want to work with male clients (clients are the individuals who pay for your matchmaking services), then I recommend you start off with a strong database of 30 single women. To take on female clients you will need to recruit 30 single men. If you are interested in working with both genders your database should begin with 20 men and 20 women. Once you decide on the gender of your clientele, you also need to pinpoint an age group. It is much easier to say you will match people age 20-30 than 20-80. By narrowing your market you will ensure that there are enough options in your database for your clients. You will also be able to target appropriate singles when recruiting for your database. At the party… “Are you single? I have really great people to introduce you to, can I get your information and we can talk after the New Year?” You could also say something along the lines of, “I don’t know if you are single, but I am getting into matchmaking and am looking for people to introduce to my clients.” If you have more time you can get into lengthier conversations with people, but don’t get caught in a half-hour long conversation with someone about his crazy ex-girlfriend! You will lose precious time that you could have spent meeting multiple other people. The name of the game is to talk with as many people as possible. Feeling nervous? Use your role as a matchmaker to spark your bravery. Before I was a matchmaker I was extremely shy and hated talking to people I didn’t know. My identity as a matchmaker is what made me more confident than I ever imagined I could be. I found that people loved talking to me about their relationship status, and were flattered that I wanted them to be part of my database. Don’t make the same mistake I did! Get everyone’s contact information! Don’t hand out your business card and expect people to get in touch with you. I learned the hard way most people wouldn’t always follow up when I gave them my card. By getting their contact information I was able to reach out to them myself after the party. Got 30 names, but don’t know what to do next? If you find that you were a natural at the party, and want to learn more about running a successful matchmaking business, we have a weekend long Live Training on January 23^rd at the Matchmaking Institute. This training is an amazing opportunity for matchmakers of all experience levels. Visit the Matchmaking Institute website for details. Sign up to secure your spot today! Twitter: @MatchSchool Facebook: Matchmaking Institute