How to Pitch Yourself for Anything

I’ve been fortunate to get interviewed on some cool AF podcasts and we often talk a lot about how we can all stop freaking the eff out about social media because leveraging real relationships is where it's at when it comes to growing a biz.

And one thing I preach as especially important is getting comfortable doing outreach and the importance of creating collaborations.

But it occurred to me recently: what if people don't know how to do outreach in the first place? or how to even propose a collab? (that's what everyone's calling it now these days and honestly I feel pretty weird about it).

So I decided today I'd take ya to the starting line and share with you my go-to template for pitching myself.

You ready? Let's go!

First things first, lemme give you some examples where pitching comes in handy:

Getting yourself interviewed on podcasts

Scoring a guest article on a blog or publication

Speaking on a panel or at a conference

Creating an in-person workshop

That's just a quick spitball list but you get the idea...these are he fastest ways to

a) get yourself in front of your ideal clients by leveraging OPA (other people's audiences)

b) demonstrate your expertise

and c) skyrocket your know-like-trust factor

Now that that's outta the way, onto the real action!

Here's the exact email template I use myself for pitching:

***

Hey NAME,

How're you liking the cooler temps? I'm a child of summer myself but totally appreciate the chance to finally bust out my scarves. What about you?

Glorious fall weather aside, I know your plate is full so I'll keep this short -- my name is ___ I'm a ___ and I help ____ to ____.

I've been following your ___ (insert their medium) and I love how you ____.

I wonder if I might be a good fit to _____. Highlights would be:

highlight 1

highlight 2

highlight 3

If this'd be helpful to you and valuable to your audience let me know the best way for us to move forward. No rush on replying!

Thanks for considering,

NAME

***

Is it cool with you if I take a quick minute to break down the key components here? Okay, sweet:

Start with a conversational greeting: no offense, but how often do you actually say IRL "hope this message finds you well."? Pretty much never, right? Don't be stuffy and you'll immediately grab attention and let the person reading know you're a human they'll enjoy talking to

Acknowledge their time is valuable: people appreciate that you appreciate they're taking time out of their day to read your email

Give your 3-part elevator pitch: short, sweet and simple. We don't need the Hallmark movie version of your life story and how you got to where you are

Let them know you care about the work they're doing: but don't just BS this. Ie: if it's a podcast, actually listen to a couple episodes and reference particular deets you liked

Communicate the value you can bring: and I like the bullet points because it shows you've put some thought into this stuff

Close by reiterating the ball is in their court: some peeps disagree with me on this one and recommend that you say something along the lines of, "look forward to hearing back from you soon!" or "I'll follow-up on Monday so we can talk details" but I think that's annoyinh. They obviously already know you really wanna partner up so no need to be pushy, ya know?

Now let's make sure you're clear on how this can work for you. Let's say you're a photographer and you're just starting out. You know you want to do family photography but you need to build your portfolio *and* get those crucial first clients in the door.

Here's how you'd pitch a collaboration: (swear you'll get better results than a hashtag and a prayer on Insta)

Brain dump ALL the businesses in your area that are also serving families but in a different capacity. Who else reaches your ideal client? (in this case, families). List out baby boutiques, children's boutiques, book stores, preschools, libraries, Mother's Day Out programs, children's museums, kid's art/music schools, etc.

Now you're going to pitch to those businesses photo mini-sessions for their clientele (portfolio work? check! plenty of new potential full-price clients? check!)

Here's how your pitch email would look:

***

Hey Amanda,

How're you liking the cooler temps? I'm a child of summer myself but totally appreciate the chance to finally bust out my scarves. What about you?

Glorious fall weather aside, I know your plate is full so I'll keep this short -- my name is Phyllis and I'm a photographer. I help families capture their memories with documentary style photos.

I've been following your Baby Boutique and I love not only the adorable lines you're carrying but also how you continue to give back to the community with your monthly charitable giving.

I wonder if I might be a good fit to offer your customers photography mini-sessions at the store? I'd be able to:

Provide (8) 15-minute sessions

Bring my own props to stage the pics

Help market and promote the sessions

If this would valuable let me know the best way for us to move forward. No rush on replying!

Thanks for considering,

Phyllis

***

If you still have sweaty palms no worries. Believe me when I say pitching is a learned skill and you'll get better at it and more confident every time you do it. Your 10th pitch will be way better than your 1st so just get out there and start somewhere.

Whaddya think? Do you see how you could use this pitch template yourself?