Member Article

How to Write the Perfect Pitch Email

As any freelancer knows, finding jobs often requires as much work as finishing them. You may have brilliant ideas and all the skills needed to bring them to life, but if you can’t find someone willing to pay for your work, you won’t be self-employed long.

So until you find reliable, well-paying clients who consistently snap up your work (ie. the holy grail of the freelance world), you’ll inevitably be spending a huge chunk of each workweek pitching.

A high percentage of your pitches will be rejected. A sizeable percentage of your pitches will probably be altogether ignored. But if you can learn how to craft the perfect pitch email, you’ll find that at least a large-enough percentage of your queries will be accepted to keep you afloat.

So if you are still struggling with this vital aspect of self-promotion, here’s how to craft the perfect pitch:

1. Know Your Audience

The #1 rule of pitching is personalization. Craft each pitch to appeal directly to the person you are pitching, speak the language of the company you want to work for, and use the same format they do.

First, take time to understand the work of your potential client; then take time to understand the people they sell themselves to.

If you don’t have a clear picture of how your work fits into the larger project of the company you are soliciting, neither will they. So know the client, know the market, and know exactly whom you’re pitching.

2. Know Your Subject

Never never never pitch a project you don’t know the ins and outs of. Long before you ever see a dime, you must put in long hours developing your ideas into a solid, tangible, salable form.

You must have expert knowledge of your subject matter, you must be able to demonstrate why you are the best fit for this job, and you must be able to convey a clear plan for exactly how you will execute the project.

3. Don’t Rush It

Give the seed enough time to develop into something that is obviously capable of bearing fruit.

Understand that you’ll have to invest a lot of thankless hours to do so. If you send out a pitch before it is polished, you will not only be wasting your time, but also giving yourself a bad name.

4. Concision is Key

So be concise.

5. Have Something to Show For Yourself

Another aspect of ‘knowing your audience’ is knowing whether or not you have the pedigree to work with them. Skill isn’t all that matters.

You must have something to show for yourself before you can convince the big names to take you aboard. So if you’re new to the business, start small. But always do phenomenal work.

Make the work you place with minor publications and small companies shine like a gem in a coal pit. In the beginning, accept that they probably won’t be paying you what your work is worth.

Invest the extra labour anyway to build your portfolio. Then, when you do pitch those who are willing to pay what your work merits, they’ll be able to see what you are really made of.

6. Network!

The most successful pitches are those sent to friends. The second most successful pitches are those sent to colleagues (and remember to keep it “professional”). The third most successful pitches are those sent to casual acquaintances. Are you getting the point?

Network at every opportunity. Get your name out there. Meet people who can help you get ahead.

You must sell yourself in this business. It is a crucial part of the work; so get to it.

The Essential Take Aways

DO

• Your research (on the subject and the potential client)
• Be meticulous
• Attempt to develop relationships before pitching
• Be persistent: revise, resubmit, and repeat

DON’T

• Rush out pitches: Quality always beats quantity
• Be longwinded
• Forget to sell yourself: Your proposal alone isn’t enough

Ultimately, writing the perfect pitch means being able to present yourself as a polished professional. Your confidence and experience should come across in the language you use, and your ability to execute will show itself in your clear, meticulous presentation.

Of course, once you do get the job, it is vital to build a lasting relationship with your new client. But that’s a subject for another article.

To get to that point you must first invest the time needed to make each pitch better than the last, carefully track what works and what doesn’t, and develop your pitching skills with the same enthusiasm you dedicate to your craft. It’ll make all the difference.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mike Preston .