Have you felt the cringe effect?
A cold pitch email or DM that leaves you completely uninspired to finish reading….or worse…wondering if AI wrote it?
“Hi, I’m Donna X. VP of Marketing at a 7 billion organization. I’m reaching out because one of our brands is expanding into your area…”
(And five more paragraphs later, I still couldn’t get through it.)
Would Donna have used those words if she were talking to me face-to-face? (Would she have led with her title and told me how much her organization made right from the get-go?) I certainly hope not.
Cold pitching can get uncomfortable if you allow it. But it can also be a new way to connect with others and find your dream clients.
Here’s my cold pitch mindset and email framework that sets me up to hear a response.
Table of Contents:
The Cold Pitch Mindset
Let’s get real for a minute.
If you’re cold pitching, there’s a high chance you need the work. And that stressed-out feeling only gets bigger the more you hear “crickets.”
Sound familiar?
But if you’re a freelance writer, this uncertain cloud and fear you’re internalizing can negatively affect how your cold email comes off to a potential client.
That’s why these four important points need to stay top-of-mind.
#1. It’s about THEM, not YOU.
One of the worst mistakes you can make in your cold pitch email is to talk all about yourself.
Sure, you’re excited and want to show you’re the best person to work with. But there’s a way to showcase the benefits of “why you” without your cold email turning into a monologue.
The star of your cold pitch needs to be about your potential client…always.
#2. Kindly address the problem or challenge.
For the one receiving your cold pitch, you must address the problem (or opportunity) that stands out where you can be of service. But do it delicately.
I say “delicately” because what you don’t want to do is call out their challenge as a mistake. Remember, they’ve never met you before. No one wants to hear from a stranger how they’re doing something wrong.
That doesn’t do much to build a positive relationship.
Instead, reframe their challenge as an opportunity. Paint a clear picture of all they can gain as a result of taking new action…made easy…by you.
#3. Empathize with them.
Let them know you get it.
Maybe they are busy or short on resources—pain points you, too, have felt at different times. Relate on an emotional level. This makes a big difference to the receiver of your cold pitch.
This is where you connect.
You’ve got to recognize what they are going through or experiencing as they contend with this challenge and let them know they aren’t the only ones. They’re not alone.
#4. Remember, it’s a human you’re addressing.
We’ve all experienced the highs and lows in life. We’ve had challenges, and we remember how difficult those moments have been to overcome.
Don’t come off robotic or scripted. That will only make your potential clients feel unseen and disconnected.
With cold pitches, your client acquisition strategy should be about finding the right partners where you “click” professionally together. You do that by being yourself, talking how you speak, and remembering that it’s a person (with very similar stresses and joys as you) reading your words.
My Cold Pitch Email Framework
With the right cold emailing mindset, the next step is following a pitch framework. These are the lucky seven points I address in my cold pitch emails.
Starting With the Clear & Personalized Subject Headline
You know what your inbox looks like. And there’s a high likelihood it’s just as full (if not fuller) for the person you’re contacting about a potential opportunity.
So, make the subject line super clear and personalized.
“PLEASE REVIEW: Content Opportunities to Help Increase Traffic for XYZ Business”
It’s a balance of…
- Being polite
- Adding something specific
- Personalizing it with the business name or the person’s name
Creating an Introduction That Features Them
Make the introduction brief but memorable.
This is not where you want to go on and on, tooting your own horn.
Remember…they’ve never met you. And this email is about them, not you.
Instead, provide a sentence or two about what caught your attention about the business or person you want to write for. But don’t point out how they’re doing something wrong with their content.
This can immediately be off-putting.
Talk more about the qualities/features you noticed about them or their business (in a good way), and end on a humble note of wanting to help.
Giving Them the Solve for Free
After the brief introduction, lead with a helpful tip that demonstrates your expertise. This is where you “show” and not just tell.
And this should be the “meatier” part of your email.
For example, if you want to offer SEO blog writing services, reference their helpful offering first. Note how, based on some preliminary keyword or audience research you’ve done, you’re recommending “X” long-tail keyword as a great way to help pull in more traffic to their site.
Taking this initiative shows…
- You care
- You want to be invested (or why would you have done this initial work for free?)
- You’re knowledgeable in your field
Positioning the Humble “Why Me”
Next is your “why me” area, where you can write a sentence or two to highlight why you’re the one to work with.
Again – Don’t go too long here. (Give them the quick highlight reel.) Even use this opportunity to pull out something the two of you share. (Ex. You’re both fans of bicycling, working in healthcare, are parents, etc.)
Maybe you have an RN background and can show writing samples you’ve written that would fit with their patient audience. Provide the links.
Or…
You’ve ranked other clients’ articles on page #1 of SERPs with related keywords, which could benefit this potential client. Show a fun screenshot and give quick context.
You want your potential client to think, “Cool, YES…I need this person to help me.”
Providing Social Proof
Then, re-emphasize your “Why Me” section with a client testimonial about how you’re so fun and knowledgeable to work with.
If you don’t have a testimonial, don’t sweat it.
You can further enhance your recommendation or “why me” section by including an additional link to your portfolio.
Making It Easy to Connect
Definitely don’t skip over how key ways of how the client can get in contact with you.
The standard things to include are…
- Link to your website (perhaps a direct link to your portfolio page)
- Link to your LinkedIn / Instagram / Twitter / Youtube (Place(s) where you share your knowledge about the subject matter.)
- How best to reach you – probably email or maybe by phone if that’s what you prefer
Closing With Gratitude
Always, always, always thank them for their time at the close of your email.
Everyone is busy.
The fact that they could get to the end of your email is a success. And you want them to know you’re thankful they’ve used time out of their day to pay attention to your email.
Cold Pitching Works (When Done Right)
A good cold pitch feels the very opposite of cold.
Successful outreach like this should feel genuine and warm, like you have a shared familiarity, making your reader want to follow up quickly.
Your cold email is also an opportunity to demonstrate your writing skills. You would be foolish to overlook that. So be intentional. This is your first impression with someone you’ve never met, and you want grammatical mistakes cleaned up. You want it to be orderly and easy to read.
But mostly…remember to be human.
Especially with AI now, it’s far too easy for people to try to take a shortcut and have an automated, generic, and often cringe-full reply spit out to use as a cold email pitch. Don’t do that. It’s such a huge mistake.
New clients will appreciate and respond to a message they can connect with.
