Yo! Joey and Christy here.

If you're anything like us when we got started: the idea of pitching brands through a cold email was intimidating. Anyone else?

I'm sure you can relate. And to be honest, we all respond to intimidation differently. I (Christy), would spend hours thinking about what to say & second guessing myself into being paralyzed: ending up not reaching out at all. If you're like Joey, you just fired off something like this (look down) to brands 30 times a day. 

(if you're thinking: hey, that looks a lot like my pitch 👀... keep reading)

Little Joey would pump those types of copy & paste DM's to every company imaginable... only to get left on read by company after company (and maybe the occasional - hey, sure we'll send you some free stuff). And having a free camping mug is cool & all... but if you can't afford the coffee to put in the mug, it quickly becomes not cool. 

So, why is this pitch a big fat no-go? 😉 

This pitch doesn't work because it fails to do what a pitch should do: create awareness around their problem and your ability to solve it.

Where it all changed from getting rejected or overlooked by companies to working with big brands like Yeti, Ford, Hydroflask, etc. was learning the right words to say behind that cold pitch. It wasn't (and still isn't) about having unreal photos or a massive following: it is about knowing the right words to say to get a marketing director at a company to go "hey, we should take a shot with this person." 

If it is: here's the unfortunate (but hopeful!) truth - the pitch Joey used to send doesn't work 99% of the time. So while you go off giving 100% effort, you're only getting about a 1% return. YIKES. That isn't a great investment of your time.

At Creativ Rise, we're trying to take the 'free' out of 'freelance' (see what I did there). We know you're sick of wasting time on pitches and want to start landing deals... and fast. Which is why we want to share with you 3 keys when it comes to pitching brands: 

1. You're Making It About Yourself

Too many creatives pitch a company and start with "Hi, my name is Joey and I am a photographer from Canada and I have won these awards and I want to do X, Y, Z." This is a surefire way to make the brand yawn and lead them to believe you only care about your business, not theirs. If you can turn it around and leap into talking what THEIR desires are and how you can help make that happen (getting them on Tik Tok by creating short form video content, growing their socials and expanding their reach through social management, etc.), you'll be moving in the right direction. 

2. You're Copy & Pasting The Same Pitch

Don't just copy & paste generic email/DM pitches and blast it to a list of companies. Brands can sniff a copy & paste message out like hounds, so intentionally craft each pitch with unique points directly related to their brand. [But also, your time is extremely valuable. And you'll be wanting to send out roughly 10 pitches per week if you want to start gaining traction with brands. Therefore, we created Outreach Templates for you, so you'll know exactly what to say with minimal editing - saving you time & landing you deals! Head over there here to snag yours!  

3. Your Call To Action Is Passive

Most people say "let me know if you're interested!!," which puts no pressure on the brand to respond - resulting in them not responding back in a timely manner. Ask instead to set up a call and give a few specific date options. "I'd love to hop on a discovery call to chat about this, are you available either Thursday at 3pm or Friday at 12pm?" This will be much more effective and you'll find they will get back to you much faster with this active CTA. 

 

If you can implement these 3 strategies into your pitching, you'll find you will get faster and more positive responses from brands - and start landing deals! We hope this helps as you continue to build a business you've been dreaming of. Comment if you have any questions - we'd love to help! 

 

CHEERS, 

Joey & Christy

PS: If you want the template WE USE to work with brands like Yeti, Ford, La Croix, BHLDN, and many other large & small brands... you can get our Outreach Templates TODAY. It'll come with email & DM templates, along with a video course walking you through the 7 pillars, so you can use today to start landing brand deals ASAP.