How to turn cold pitches into great, hot leads — and actual paid work
Plus an email pitching template!
Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash
“Hi [..], I’m [..] and I’m a freelance writer. I’d love to work for your publication/website/company. Are you looking for new writers at the moment?”
“Hi, I love your [insert name of publication or company]. Are you taking pitches at the moment?”
Hands up if you’ve ever sent either of these to a company — and never heard back. Yes, over here! I’ve made that mistake, several times, before I understood the art of cold pitching and how to do it properly.
The two examples above are both valid questions. But did you ever wonder why you didn’t get a reply? Or perhaps you did get a reply, but it was a staunch; “no, we’re not taking pitches”. That first email to an editor or marketing lead is your only chance to catch their attention.
Your email is one quick “delete” away from never seeing the light of day [ha, that rhymed!]. If you were an editor, would you be more inclined to respond to a personal, thoughtful, and engaging email from a new writer, or a vague and impersonal one like the examples above?
Cold pitching doesn’t need to be a futile exercise, with days spent eagerly and anxiously refreshing your inbox, to no avail. Follow along for some great tips on getting yourself in front of the right people, and your cold pitches accepted.
Photo by Nong Vang on Unsplash
Okay, great, but are there any other ways of getting work, besides cold pitching?
Yes, there are several different ways to get work as a freelance writer. Though how much time spent pitching cold and warm leads greatly depends on where you’re at in your freelancing career, I believe a strong and consistent client base depends on a mix of the below.
Cold pitching
You’re reaching out to a company that you haven’t worked with before, you know no one at the company and you aren’t replying to a job or contract that was advertised.Warm leads
You’re reaching out to a company that you haven’t worked with before, but you have had some dealings with them as an organization (or with specific people at the company) that you can relate to in your pitch. This changes the pitch from ice cold to warm.Referrals
You have been referred to by someone else you’ve worked with.Assignment
An editor or publisher comes specifically to you, because they know of your work and would like to work with you.
If you’re just starting your freelance writing career, chances are you’ll be doing a lot of cold pitching to grow your network and your portfolio. Once you’ve worked for a couple of companies for a while — delivering high-quality work on time, every time — you’ll hopefully experience what it’s like to be referred to an editor by someone else you’ve worked with (Spoiler alert, it feels great!!).
Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash
How to turn cold pitches into paid work
It’s all about the preparation. Yes. Really. That extra hour spent before sending your cold pitch will be worth its weight in gold. Do your legwork before you send anything. This includes:
Do your homework
Always check first if the topic you’re wanting to pitch has been covered already. Tip: type into Google “site:[insert whatsite dot com] [topic]”. If it hasn’t — great. If it has, perhaps you can change the premise of your pitch to cover a different angle of the same topic. Make sure you check out the blog/publication you’re pitching to get a rough idea of the sort of articles they publish [customer stories, case studies, profiles, topic articles, etc] and what their tone of voice is.
Get your website and portfolio sorted
Any editor genuinely interested in your pitch will ask for examples of work you’ve previously written. Setting up a website with some examples of your work, a bit about you, and how people can get in touch with you means you’re one step ahead of the game. You can send the link to your website in your pitch, or put it in your email signature. Keep the links to a few Google docs with your work on hand if you don’t have anything published yet.
Find the editor’s email address
It’s always a better idea to email someone specifically, instead of sending your pitch to a general email address. However, sometimes you just can’t — and I’ve had cold pitches accepted that were sent to a general email address at an organization. A tip for trying to find email addresses is to see if you can find any email address for the organization and see how it’s created.
For instance, it might be [first name].[last name]@… or [first letter][last name]@… If you know the first and last name of the person you’re trying to get in touch with, you can bet formatting it the same way will get your email into their inbox. This is more difficult and possibly won’t work when there are several people with the same name at the organization, and the IT department has made variations to their email addresses to meet formatting requirements.
Personalize the pitch
Once you’re ready to pitch, try and find someone, or something, to make the pitch more personal. For example, as I was doing my homework before pitching to an organization I wanted to write for, I came across several links on their website that weren’t working. When I wrote my email, I started by explaining I loved their work and that I came across some broken links I wanted to let them know about — before I went into the actual pitch. Putting that in the subject of the email as well gives the editor an extra reason to open it, instead of marking it spam or deleting it straight away.
Photo by David Iskander on Unsplash
Cold pitch email template
Instead of writing the impersonal email I gave as an example at the beginning of this article, perhaps try something like this:
Hi [name],
I hope you’ve had a good weekend/are having a good week!
I’m a freelance writer mainly focused on [..] and [..] topics and I love reading your blog because [insert reason]. I just wanted to touch base and see if you’re keen on any of the article ideas below:
#1 article idea
A summary of the article#2 article idea
A summary of the articleIn the past few years, I’ve written for several different [insert niche] publications, including [insert company], [insert company] and [insert company]. I love writing [insert type of articles]. You can find my work on my website [insert link].
Let me know if you’re interested in any of the article pitches above, or if you’d like to have a phone or video chat to further discuss opportunities.
Thanks for your consideration [insert name]!
Kind regards,
[insert name]
One of the key aspects of a successful cold pitch is the ability to make it {somewhat} personal. Even if you’re unable to link in anyone or any organization you both know into your pitch, you can make it more personal through the tone of voice in which you write.
Make it conversational, while remaining professional. And remember to do the groundwork before even thinking about hitting that send button! You only get one shot — make it worthwhile.
This week’s great reads
I think it’s important to read widely, so you can expect to find a broad range of topics in this list every week:
Freelance/contracting jobs opportunities
I think cold pitching companies and publications you’d love to write for is a great way to grow your confidence and your network, but if you’re keen on “warmer” leads - here are a few opportunities I found:
Apply for a remote writing gig for Buildkite (part-time contract)
Enjoy writing white papers? Contently is looking for B2B tech writers
Are you a dog person? Apply for a dog nutrition writing gig (freelance)
That’s it for this week’s WordCount! If you’ve enjoyed reading this edition, please feel free to share it with fellow freelance writers.