Tweezers. Borrow a pair from your wife. Needle-nose pliers are too potentially damaging to use for this job, IMO. If you squeeze too tight while concentrating on mating the connector to the pin, you can narrow the opening and thereby lose all hope of making the connection. As to your other question, DEFINITELY mount the cartridge in the headshell first, before attempting to make connections. (No need to align the cartridge prior to making connections; just use the headshell as a way of stabilizing the cartridge while inserting the clips. Then you can make the fine alignment adjustments of the cartridge AFTER the wires are connected.) BTW, a good contact enhancer, like the Walker SST or whatever else you like, is very beneficial when applied between the cartridge pins and the connectors.
Installation Instructions??
Regarding the installation of the cartridge in a tonearm. Is there a suggestion how to get the tonearm wires on to the pins of the cartrige? Last time I tried, my hand slipped because of a tight fit of the pins, and I broke off the conector on the Valhalla wire of the VPI arm. VPI sent me a new arm much to their credit, but I would not like to do that again. Do you install the wires, and then affix the cartridge into the headshell?? Do you use a special tool,etc. etc.