You're listening to cubicle to CEO episode 208. You all gave rave reviews on our 10 out of the box marketing tips to try in 2023 RoundUp episode we published at the end of last year. So for the next few weeks, we're taking a break from airing new interviews to bring back underrated gems from our guests. We've compiled the best of pitching, lead generation, conversions, and customer feedback advice into four themed roundups. This first roundup features 10 Must try pitching tips. I'll introduce each soundbite with the name of the guest and the original episode number and title it was pulled from in case you want to go back and listen to the full conversation. The links to all referenced episodes will also be listed for you below in the show notes.
Welcome to cubicle to CEO the podcast. I'm your host Ellen Yin. I quit my job without a backup plan and bootstrapped my first $300 freelance project into $2 million in revenue by age 28. On this show, you'll hear weekly case study interviews with leading entrepreneurs and CEOs who share one specific strategy that successfully grew their business revenue. Skip the expensive and time consuming learning curve of testing everything yourself by borrowing what actually works from the best and brightest mentors. You'll also get a front row seat to my founders journey through transparent income reports and behind the business solo episodes. Subscribe now so we can grow together every Monday.
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Alright, so tip number one is actually from me, your host, Ellen Yin, in Episode 141. 'Include This One Easy Thing In Your Next Podcast Pitch to Guarantee a Response'.
Here's this quick tip for you. And I know when you guys hear this, you're going to think, Wow, this is so simple and obvious and easy. Are we really sure more people aren't doing this. And I'm here to tell you Yes, like I can literally count on both my hands, which you know, only got 10 fingers, I can literally count on both hands the number of times over the last three years that a podcast pitch has actually included this. Very simple, but just super standout detail. And here's what it is. Next time you send out your podcast pitch, I want you to go to the shows page on Apple podcasts or Spotify because those are the two biggest podcast players in our industry. And literally take I mean 30 seconds to leave a positive review for their show a five star rating a positive review, go ahead and screenshot your review.
And here's a pro tip on Apple podcast. Once you hit send on your review, it takes sometimes you know up to 48 hours 72 hours for the platform to actually publish your review. So before you actually hit send, go ahead and make sure you screenshot it so that you have that screengrab and you're not waiting days before you can find your review actually show up on that podcast shows page. So go ahead and screenshot your review and rating and attach it to your podcast pitch and do this for every single show that you want to be on. Because here's the thing, it shows that not only are you you know someone who has actually done your research and has clearly listened in to the show that you want to be on. You'd also be surprised how many people pitch to be on shows that they have never tuned into an episode on. And so therefore they have no idea really if their area of expertise or their pitch idea or their content will even resonate with the listeners, right? So super important to actually listen to the shows that you want to be on so that you can really make sure that your pitch is effective and tailored towards that audience.
Which again, I show you exactly how to do that in a really easy way inside the template that I've created for you but with this super simple tip of attaching a screenshot of your review to your pitch, it's also showing that you are leading with generous action, you are actually showing up from a place of service and saying, regardless of whether or not I'm a good fit to be a guest on your show, I am supporting your show, right, I'm showing up for you. And now I'm asking if you'd be willing to show up for me and give me a space on your online platform on your podcast stage for me to share my story and my message and my business. And so I think showing up in that way just creates a totally different energy. And it really is going to make your pitch stand out so much because nobody does this nobody thinks to give before they ask to receive. And I think that's the biggest takeaway here is, whenever you are pitching yourself, whether it is for a podcast, or whether you're pitching yourself to a potential client, or whether you're pitching yourself for a partnership or collaboration, it really doesn't matter what it is always lead with generous action.
Tip number two is for Mattie James episode 189. 'Three Strategies That Made $3 Million Over Three Years, The Business of Being An Influencer'.
Mattie number two, that you implemented in your business that helped you get to 3 million in revenue is you started actually pitching brands instead of waiting only for inbound requests. So I want to know, how do you approach cold pitching, what is the structure of your first interaction with a brand your first outbound email to them. And as a follow up to that, what is the action that you are hoping for at the end of that first email, meaning for example, when we let's say, cold pitch, a potential brand that we want to partner with? Typically, the first action that we are hoping to get from that conversation is just to gauge if they're open to exploring collaboration opportunities with us, sometimes that looks like them, just giving a verbal consent for us to send over more information. Sometimes it's to book a call so that we can get on the phone and have that initial conversation. That's how we approach it. But I am assure there's lots of different ways to approach that. So for you, what is that initial driving action that you want from them based on the first email?
So I'm not sure if anybody here in your or anybody listening is familiar with Russell Brunson books think I have it and like literally looking at my library, but he has like the secret series. So expert series, .com series, and there's one more series I can't think of it...
The traffic secrets
The traffic secrets. Yeah. I think I read traffic secrets. And he talks about the dream 100. And he talks about, you know, just like the 100 people you want to connect with and collaborate with. And those are the people you should actually really pay attention to online. So we made our own list called the magic 100. And on land, and it's Yeah. We actually did that for brands, we did it for both people. And we use the people version to do a live series called Magic makers, as I was promoting my book, and then we did a brand version. And that's who we decided to reach out to. And we, I mean, we just got kind of granular with it, we were just like, Okay, who's this brand? Do we have an existing relationship with them? Again, because of how long I've been doing this, I think it was about 50/50, 50% of it was cold, 50% of it was warm. And I think that was a real huge advantage. And again, I think you also have to pay attention to what you're advantages and lean into that. A lot of times, we always want to play from a disadvantage to kind of justify if something doesn't work. And it's like, no boo, boo, figure out what you're winning in and go win the championship ring. Let's do that, you know.
And so we just made a spreadsheet. So if we did have a contact, who wrote the contact, you know, their their information and their name, because we wanted to address them by name. We looked at past press releases to see what was like their focus. And then we would put what the focus in the pitch would be right. So if we knew that they had an upcoming collection, or launch coming up and stuff like that, then that's what we would actually personalize within the pitch and the outreach. And then out of that as well. This is so good, because I really don't really talk about a lot of this stuff outside of pitch, please, outside of the specific thing we wanted to point to then we wrote like an alignment point, like how was the Mattie James brand aligned with what matters to them because then that because also you can't really fake that right? You know, like the whole pay would love to see if you want to work together. And it's like, you know, if I say Hey, Ellen love cubicle to CEO podcast, and I know that the last three episodes have really been focused on influencers and we have an influence. See, so if it's like that, then that level of attack Attention to detail actually shows that I'm paying you attention. And so you actually care, because I'm coming from a point where I am revealing to you that I specifically care about what you're doing, versus just vaguely trying to make something happen. Yes.
So I have a wonderful brand manager, Chrissy has been with me longer than anybody on my team. And we just collaborate. We're like, Hey, what's going on? And then we also think about, like, we have pretty much the whole year of content for the site planned out. So we theme out each month. So I'm like, Okay, if we're focusing on organization, you know, is there an opportunity? Or what does Container Store have going on, you know, in the month that we're launching that and don't we have a contact from there, and then we just start connecting the dots, it's like CSI, and we start pinboard everything ever, like what's going on? I mean, I do think it has to be that granular, I think you do have to get one.
It's certainly easier, in some ways, in a lot of ways. But it's certainly easier if you have a team that can help you do that. So I'm really fortunate because I have to create the content. So I have somebody who's literally dedicated to doing that part for me. But I will say like, if you're a solopreneur, or you're figuring it out, just create like a PR email account from you and just like run it from like your PR or like your marketing account, just so it feels a little bit more, I don't know, a little bit more pointed, you know what I mean? Because when it comes straight from the Creator, I get it like brands and agencies can kind of act weird or whatever. But if they see like that you have like a dedicated PR, dedicated marketing, even if it's just still you, you know what I mean? And it's just like, hey, PR, you know, like cubicle to ceo.com, then it's like, oh, okay, this is the PR inbox. So they must be serious about, you know, whatever they are talking about. And I think that was one of the biggest things for me that I did early on, I just had a PR, I think it was PR@MattieJames.com have never had a publicist. I've never had a publicist. And I wasn't acting like I was a publicist. But it was just like, you know, it would just say like Mattie, James PR in your inbox whenever I reached out and stuff like that.
And so now we've gotten a little bit more pointed about that the outreach, and just doing research literally looking for current press releases, old press releases, literally paying attention to the news, things like you know, Women's Wear Daily, or I mean, anything essence.com Just like paying attention to what's going on in niches and categories that matter to me. I'm also paying attention to either conferences, I want to attend or speak at, you know, events, you know, whether it's South by Southwest, whether it's the Oscars, whether it's the you know, NAACP Image Award, whatever it is, it's like, what are we paying attention to? What do they have going on, but it does require you to pay attention. And sometimes it is just like, creating a reminder in your calendar to go review what's going on, you know, for Essence fest or what's going on for the VMAs, whatever it is that matters to you. So that's pretty much how we did that we just kind of made a magic 100 list kind of filled out us, you know, a spreadsheet with details and just kind of took it from there.
And our first point is usually like, can we get on the phone, like we're usually pretty specific. In the initial email, we won't send like my press kit or anything like that without permission. But usually I'm like, if I can get you on the phone, I can get you to like me. So my goal is just to get you on the phone.
Tip number three is from Pauleanna Reid episode 201 'Stuck at Six Figures? Key Changes That Scaled This Agency From Six to Seven Figures'.
At the top of our interview, we mentioned that I was in the lobby of a building, Bing Bing, bang, like I landed the deal. But I also think what is really important is patience. So one of my mentors connected me to a woman who I've been wanting to work with for a very long time. And I had emailed her consistently for a year in three months, okay. And after a year, in three months, she finally agreed to meet with me and we met at Soho House in Toronto. And she said you are the most persistent person I've ever met. You remind me of myself. And she said, Send me the invoice. I'll make sure you're financially taken care of. I think it's really important to let people know that sometimes you will close the deal right away sometimes requires nurturing for several weeks, months, maybe even years. So send a text, send the email, right. Like I think people are just afraid to ask for the business. Right?
I think people are also sometimes you can move too quickly that you'll miss clues. Right. So I think we've all heard the saying success leaves clues. So like I could listen to a one hour talk. For instance, one of the former CEOs of SoulCycle I couldn't listen to a one hour talk I'm obsessed with watching them on YouTube. And she had mentioned something about not being good at English, automatically. I'm like, Okay, we got to get in touch with her. You know what I mean? Like, I look out for clues and interviews, I look out for clues in social captions and in videos. And there are times where I may cold approach someone's team and explore the idea of what it could look like to work together.
And honestly, look in your phone. I'm like an old school door to door salesman. I love just looking at my phone, I looked at my contacts, when it comes to networking. I don't like that word. But for the sake of the interview, when it comes to networking and building relationships with people, I have a spreadsheet. I'm very intentional, right? So my spreadsheet consists of the basics. So name, company, your email, and then I also have columns for when was the last time we touched base? What did I learn from that conversation. So I can personalize the next one, a column for whether or not you're a hot, warm or cold lead, and a column for whether or not you are a high or low priority. I spend when I was an executive assistant, my CEO and president bosses 80% of the time, they were in meetings, flying around the world, having dinners having coffees, building relationships, and they would bring home the business, a lot of the deals that I have attained. So whether it was writing for the CMO at BT, writing for one of the presidents at Disney writing a script for one of the hosts of the view, like it's been really interesting, those have come through just organic conversation touching base with people a text to say WhatsApp goes a very long way.
It doesn't even always have to be a Zoom meeting. Sometimes I'll just leave a note in the subject line. Hey, girl thinking about you. Let's touch base soon, right? Like don't overthink the process. But I think most people are just unorganized when it comes to managing their contact list. Don't ever assume that your friends know what you do. Like my capabilities that oh, that's another tool that was really important. My capabilities deck has been a phenomenal tool. Most busy people, they're not trying to scroll through a website, I'm sorry. Most people, they like the deck because they can easily circulate it, they can easily skim it. And that has landed me a ton of deals as well.
I love that you're so, so diligent about noticing opportunity. I think that in and of itself is a huge talent. So many people miss incredible opportunities because they discount either the thing in front of them themselves, or they're just not paying attention. And the fact that you take note of those little details. I mean, I would challenge each of you to approach your next week of work with Pauleanna's mindset and look for clues that point to people maybe silently asking or even screaming for help that you're not noticing and take the initiative to reach out and say, Hey, I noticed that you said this, or you mentioned this or this happened to you. And I would love to whatever it is, I would love to connect with you. I would love to tell you about this thing. I would love to help you with whatever it is. So that was nugget number one.
Nugget number two that I feel I want to actually get more details on is that one woman that you email for one year and three months. Yeah, persistence, right, that persistence game. Tell us? How did you repeatedly email this woman without, for lack of a better word, annoying her? What were those reach outs? Like? Were you just constantly being like, hey, thinking of you touching base? Or did each interaction look a little bit different? And how did you pace that? How did you decide what to say each time so it felt different to her?
That's an excellent question, reducing stress and adding value. So I was keenly interested in her career, I'd follow her on social media, I read the captions I was locked in. And so there was a post one day, just to give you one example, there was a post where she was talking about her desire to do more public speaking. And so there are times where I'd email her and I would include a link to a conference that she could apply to, or I would give her feedback on some of the video content because I've been a public speaker since 2012. I give her feedback on how she can approach opportunities, I make a suggestion, you know, maybe you should consider designing and making a media kit. So it's a snapshot of your zone of genius. So reducing stress and adding value is how I've been able to get into any room.
Tip number four is from Sandra Chau, Episode 176 '5X Your Prices and Book Out Your Calendar with Dream Clients By Using This Creative Director's Visual Strategy'.
The last piece the client proposal, like what is an example of a visual strategy that you that you've implemented there?
Yeah, so with my proposals, obviously, you've got sort of information in the pricing. I always add a visual next to it like some kind of image, like let's say if I'm pitching to a new jewelry brand or something like that, I will make sure the images that I actually select are images that would probably, you know, relate to the brand or resonate with them. That kind of lifestyle elements. I might put some images have models in kind of a lifestyle setting or with like jewelry or something like that, if I was then using the same proposal for, I don't know, let's just say a graphic design or something like that, then I would actually be looking at changing those images out so that they would be visuals that might speak to a graphic designer. So perhaps, it could even be like product photography that shows a logo and packaging design really well, you know, I always just make sure that I change the visuals, and I don't just put something there, that looks really good. You know, because there's, there's a lot that you can put on in your proposal. But I try to make sure that you know, the photos still speak to that person that I'm pitching to. And then it makes them think like, or imagine like, Okay, if Sandra was doing this, for me, this is kind of what I'm gonna get, or this is kind of what we can do as well.
And I like to do like a little mood board as well, too, so that they know, they have an understanding of my understanding of their brand. And then I feel like that usually converts pretty well for me, when I've sort of taken that time to be very strategic and thoughtful, I think in my proposal, and I think sometimes those little details make all the difference.
Absolutely. My big takeaway from you is honestly, I've never really thought to pair visuals with a proposal. I don't know why. I mean, if it was for like an event sponsorship, let's say in my brand deck, I might include some visuals, but most of the time, I'm not including visuals with my proposal. It's really just like an outline of you know, here's a bulleted list of what we can cover. But it's so smart. You're right. Like even even if the work that you do may not necessarily be visual in nature, where you have a ready made portfolio to pull from, I'm sure you could still find perhaps stock images that again, evoke a certain feeling that you want your client to have in parallel with a written proposal. So that's a huge takeaway in and of itself.
Tip number five is from Hannah Murphy, Episode 145, 'Creating a Five Hour Workweek While Growing from 3 to 27 Retainer Clients in Six Months'.
Yeah, so referral programs definitely were huge. They were a key part of it. But another key part where I got a lot of the clients that eventually became a referral partner was pitching. I actually literally cold pitched clients, I would look them up on Instagram, think, wow, they'd be amazing to work for, and would craft an email and pitch it. And that definitely was especially the first like I would say, half of those clients came from pitches. And I just, I get so nervous every time I was about to hit send, but and just often would cringe at me having to do it, but it worked. And it was helpful. And that's how I got so many dreamy clients and also how I then was able to turn those dreamy clients to get more dreamy clients from a referral program. So those were my top two.
I love that you said that because I think cold pitching gets such a bad rap. You know, because I think so many people do it wrong. And they're like anything, right? Like any strategy, there's always a way to do something that is of service and a way to do something that is aggressive and pushy and you know, all these different things. And, you know, I've been on the receiving end of both types of pitches. I've gotten pitches before in my inbox for a service that I may not have necessarily needed at the moment, but it really made me pause and think wow, this is a great solution. If I was in need of this right now I would totally hire this person versus you know, other pitches that just go straight to spam.
Tip number six is from Kelly Moser episode 164 'Set Up A Strategic Podcast Guesting Tour That Will 4X Your Weekly Audience Reach and Double Your Launch Revenue'.
When you're actually I guess, pitching for these shows, what are some of the metrics or KPIs that you're looking at on your side to determine whether or not a show that you're pitching is the right one to pitch? For example, do you look at their ratings or reviews? Do you, I'm assuming, listen to some of their content? What other particular KPIs are you looking for to determine whether a the show is an aligned fit, but be it's also a worthwhile use of your time to pitch that show and try to get on it.
It's so important? The first thing that I would recommend, and this seems so simple, read the show description. Does it sound like the show description that the host likely wrote is something that would apply to your ideal clients, customers members? If it is, that's a green flag, it's not necessarily a go for you. You also then have to look through the episodes and make sure that you have something of value to add. Because if you don't, the host isn't going to say please come on the show. So that's number one is to that's and that's a very, very simple, almost zero lift, step that you need to take a look on their Instagram, see what kinds of people are following along see what kinds of people they're following that also can tell you a lot about that ethos of the show who they look up to who they admire what shows they're listening to.
And then as far as making sure that the juice is worth the squeeze, if you are going to go through all this effort to pitch and bring your value to the show, I really love the resource listen notes. It's a free website. It's essentially a podcast database search engine, rather. And you can type in the name of the show, and it will tell you where that podcast ranks globally. Now, I'm not one for vanity metrics. I love that the podcast world doesn't really lay all that out on the table, you can't necessarily see how exactly how many subscribers a podcast has. But I would recommend for the purposes of your show, if you are really looking or for the purposes of your tour, rather, if you're looking to really drive conversion to get in front of new audiences, I would shoot for shows that say they're in the top 10% of shows worldwide. And that might seem like a really small number of shows, but it's actually quite a few shows, you will absolutely find podcasts whether you are just starting out in your business. Whether you are a seasoned eight figure CEO, you will find shows within the top 10% of all the shows globally ranked, that will be so happy to have you if your pitch is super strategic, and you lead with reciprocity, as you mentioned.
And of course, read the reviews, read the ratings. Look at the ratings for the show. See what it is about the show that people love, because you will find so many good nuggets in those ratings. And those reviews. If people for example, say I love you know how every episode has three tangible takeaways for me great, that's going to inform how you show up to that show what kind of content you bring and how you pitch yourself to. So just look for those little clues from the audience that's already engaged to make sure that you are not changing how you would show up. But making sure that if there is some customization that you want to do to your pitch and how you show up to the show that you are accounting for that.
Tip number seven is from Kim Lewis, Episode 167. 'After Rejecting a Shark Tank Investment, She Raised $1 Million in 4 Hours Through This Crowdfunding Strategy'.
So CurlMix started with a DIY box, like a Blue Apron but for hair, and I could not I like that when I first launched it, I sold one box to my cousin. She loves me, you know. Now she's our Director of Operations in our warehouse which is so funny, you know, little does she know she's investing in both of our futures.
But I was trying to get press to cover it, nobody would cover it. And I went back and learned how to actually pitch journalists. Like, it's not just like, I'm gonna throw up and put everything in your inbox that I want you to know about my brand and when I'm launching, because nobody cares, they care about getting eyeballs for them. Is this gonna get them clicks? Is this gonna get them shares, is this gonna be newsworthy, because that's what their boss cares about. So I ended up learning how to write copy for a good headline, basically putting in a subject heading. The hardest part about pitching journalists is rereading their previous work. You don't want to send them something and you've never read anything today written before.
So I had to go back, and I we use this app called Buzzsumo where I could type in like my category like DIY haircare, and then see what the top articles in that in the last 12 months. You want to do in the last six months really because they will switch jobs a lot in journalism. And then I found okay Refinery 29, you know, Jessica from Refinery 29, let me read her work. Read an article about DIY masking, DIY oils, DIY this. So then when I'm actually pitching her, I can say Hey, Jessica, I read your article on diy oil DIY method. And I think you would love to write about our DIY but subscription box. So the first one for curly hair. We already have Nikki Mae or natural chica on board. She didn't get our first box. Hey, friend, hey, for our second one, which I paid for. And I think it's gonna attract this kind of attention. I think you would love to cover it. Everyone else had told me no. But Jessica from Refinery 29 said Yes. And then when she said yes, I went back to Essence, back to Ebony, back to you know, back to places said, 'hey, Refinery 29 is covering our launch. We hate for you to miss out.' And then we got like seven people PR articles to cover it when we launched right. And we sold 100 boxes that first day. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this is how you launch. You know, like, I felt like I had unlocked something you know, like this is it.
Notice and I'm sure you guys caught this. But just for those of you who didn't quite catch this, I want you to put this down. The people that said no to Kim, right. She went back and said wait a second. Now I have somebody on board to do this article. And I don't want you to miss out. Oh my gosh, the power of that FOMO saying, Look, I know you said no, but I want to give you one more chance because now we have validity and credibility on our side with a big fish right? So keep in mind when you're going out there pitching yourself. If you got 100 no's you really just need that one Yes. So keep believing in what it is that you're doing. And like Kim said, manufacture that momentum, whatever it looks like whoever you think you have the best shot at getting that first yes from whether it's your loyal customers. Whether it's you know your cousin who's like, I will buy your DIY box because I love you, like whatever that looks like go to the person or go to the group People who you think are going to invest first, and then use them to piggyback, right, it's like a constant piggyback effect.
Tip number eight is from Doone Roisin, Episode 172. 'Pitch Without Social Proof! She Secured a $25,000 Sponsorship for a Newly Launched Podcast'
This sponsor that came to you was this a sponsor that you pitched and had a previous relationship with? Or was this a cold pitch was this an inbound relationship, give us a little bit of the background there.
Definitely a cold pitch, I did not have any relationship to this company, I'd never worked with them before. I had never, I didn't have a contacts, nothing like that. So my approach was, as with everything in business, creating a list work through the list. So I created a list of people who, you know, really suited the audience that I was going after, who kind of would add value to my audience, but also value to me, I was also thinking tech businesses, tech businesses have budget for podcasts, I was looking at other podcasts in the space to see who was advertising at the time to understand who has budget for the podcast advertising. And so I made a list and I put together a template, explaining my vision, and started sending out to that list and, you know, spreadsheet, classic spreadsheet, name, company website, who's the contact, if there's no contact, contact form, link, that kind of stuff.
And funnily enough, this particular deal, I just sent off a quick message on a contact form. I didn't know who it was going to, I didn't know if it was going to be read by anyone. And I just really simply explained my vision, what I was looking for, and I wasn't pitching a certain deal or anything in that message, it was actually just to get on a call the cell was let's get on a call and chat and see what we can do. Because as I mentioned, I was looking for sponsorship, but I was also looking for distribution partners. So if someone could come to me and be like, Yep, great, you can create content. And we'll distribute it to our, you know, email list or our website or whatever it might be and give you backlinks. That was great for me, I was really interested in that. So I had no particular pitch specifically, other than let's get on a call.
And I went to bed, I woke up the next day, 10 hours later, I have an email being like, hey, yeah, let's get on a call. And of course, there's a little bit of Right place, right time that plays into these things. You have to work hard, you have to plan you have to have strategy, but also Right Place Right Time. For this particular brand, they were looking specifically for partners in exactly the industry that I was doing. They wanted more female founded voices. And so it was just the right time, and we were able to get on a call we not about all the details. And then eventually, we landed on a deal for $25,000. And that is really what gave me the confidence to be like, Okay, this is something this interest here, this is a signal for me to pursue this. And I can hire my editor and we can get cracking and go to the races.
Yeah, you really, I mean, went off to the races with a really strong start. But to your point, there was a lot of preparation and work that you had already put into the show. By that point, even though you had not yet reached your 100 episodes, you know, you had just set that goal. But the podcast itself had already been around for a couple of months. And I really want to re emphasize what you said about how your approach was not to pitch a company, hey, I had this package for this amount of money. Would you be interested yes or no. Right? It was really selling them on, let's have a conversation. And I think that piece leading with curiosity, and being willing to come to the table and say, here's what I have to offer, let's hear about what you are interested in and how we can mutually support those goals, and then figure out what that might look like from there. And I really appreciate that you said, whether it ended up being a monetary sponsorship, or whether the value ended up being that they could distribute your content to their audience. Both were valuable to you. Right. And you didn't know going in which it would be but I think that the way that you approached it was so smart. And so many people can learn from that as well as to lead with that curiosity. And I think there's no better setting to have a sales or collaboration conversation than on a call. I just think email can't quite replicate that. Would you agree?
Absolutely. And I think another thing I'd like to add is like on these calls, you also want to find out if they're the right partner for you, you need to it's like an interview you need to interview back you need to find out if it's an alignment if actually what their KPIs and their goals and what they're working for in that quarter or in that month or whatever it might be actually aligns with you so you can both get the best value out of the deal. And so always now when I approach partnerships and sponsor deals and things like that, it's about understanding that person's KPIs and whatever the company goals are at that time.
Tip number nine is from Julie Solomon episode 103. 'How to Pivot, Pitch Like a Pro, and Find Your Purpose'.
Pitching is really a timeless skill. It is not something that here today gone tomorrow with Instagram algorithm changes or something trendy, it really is a universal skill that applies even beyond business. And so I would just like to kind of talk about that a little bit. What are some of the myths around pitching? And why do you believe in the power of putting yourself out there?
Yeah, and I love that you mentioned that about how, you know, there's a difference between kind of the gimmicky, trendy things that people jump on, versus the things that are truly timeless. And that's why, you know, I've said it from the beginning. And I'll always say it, the work that I do, and the work that I teach and, and it's always foundational, no matter what, and pitching and marketing is one of those foundations, it's how we connect with the world. It's like the weather, right? It's like it's part of our life. It's like the air that we breathe, and whether you are in the workforce, whether you are a mom, whether you're a student, no matter who you are, you are pitching all the time, whether you realize it or not. It last night, I was pitching my husband on what we should have for dinner, you know, what movie should we watch? What school should we, you know, look into our summer camp should we look in for kids to go to, when you're talking to a potential, you know, person that you want to do business with, you've got to always tout yourself and pitch yourself and show up. And so it really is this timeless foundational skill set that I truly believe is the foundation of a lot of not only how we communicate in this world, but how we really grow and live our best lives.
And, you know, throughout my journey, not not only have I been able to pitch for, you know, a ton of clients, a ton of authors. Back when I was consulting, I was you know, pitching and landing media for a lot of my clients pitching and landing brand deals for a lot of my clients. You know, every week, I have to pitch someone to come on my show to be a guest I had to pitch to get a book deal. I had to pitch students all the time to join forces with me, and you know, why am I the perfect fit for what it is that they need. And so that was really the the idea that I knew that I needed to do something that was truly evergreen, and it didn't matter what time it didn't matter what social media platform was hot at the moment, none of that mattered as the foundation's would always stay the same. So pitching is really that specific skill set that I think anyone needs to show up and be successful. And a reason why a lot of people aren't really good at pitching really comes down to a few things. They have these false beliefs about pitching these limited blocks that they create. So they actually don't show up in pitch. They lack the confidence to pitch or they lack the know how. And that's really the three key points as to what keeps someone from pitching.
That totally makes sense. And it's so interesting, you know, what you described about how pitching really, it's just a matter of influence, right? Which is again, I think probably what inspired your podcast, The Influencer Podcast, it's it's how you use your perspective, skills, knowledge experience to influence someone else's decision, or choices, whatever that may be. And so what if you could give like three key tips that people should keep in mind when pitching what would those be?
First it is you have to know who it is that you not only that you are talking to that you're pitching but what is their pain point. And so the way that I share this and teach this to my students, I call it the spotlight method. I think the biggest mistake that a lot of people make is that they will go in let's say that you want to get on Good Morning America. And so you start pitching the producer of Good Morning America. And all you do is talk about yourself. I'm this I'm that this is what I can do. This is what I want to do. This is what I want to talk about, this is what I want to promote, and you make it all about you instead of about them and what solution are you providing for them. So I call it the spotlight method meaning, instead of putting the spotlight on yourself, you actually put the spotlight on the person that you're pitching. And so you have to talk about what is it that they're looking for? What are their pain points? What are their challenges? And how does your service your expertise, your perspective, your background, your experience? Whatever that is for you? How does that provide a solution for that? And so that is the first thing that a lot of people make it about themselves. And the second challenge I see is that they don't do proper research to know what those pain points are to then be able to properly pitch and land what it is they're wanting.
That's so good. I could not agree more with this concept in you know, we call it something different But same idea of leading with generous action and really making sure that you're constantly keeping what's in it for them at the forefront of your mind. And you're leading with that rather than leading with your story, which is not to say that your story is not important, but I think that a lot of people have been taught, you know, your story is what makes you unique. So always lead with that. But I feel like in the context of pitching, your story needs to come second to the relevance of what is being discussed, right?
Yep, I would agree. That's a really good one. And then one specifically that I see when it comes to this kind of, you know, a lot of people that may be listening to this, maybe they're bloggers, content creators, influencers, and they're wanting to partner with brands, or they're wanting to, you know, do influencer marketing on a social media platform platform, they're wanting to pitch and land brand deals, a lot of times what keeps them from actually doing it. And I'd kind of mentioned that they'll either create this myth in their head that they have to have a certain amount of followers in order to pitch and land brand deals, which is completely not true inside budget, perfect. We have students with, you know, 300 followers, that are pitching and landing brand deals and making actual money, not just like, hey, I got this t shirt as a gift, but they're putting money in their pocket and in their bank account. I think that that's a big one.
And then another one is that I'm not blank enough. So when you use these excuses of like, Oh, I'm not enough, or I have to wait for the right and perfect time for XYZ to fall in place. And then once that happens, then I'll be ready to pitch and then I can get brand deals, and then I can make money, when really it is the act of doing that creates all of those things that gets you the results that you're wanting. And so instead of who I really see being the most successful at pitching, really anything that they want, are the people that don't wait for everything to fall into place, because it's not about what they need to have today, but it's who they need to be. And so it's really about emulating the mindset of you know, a person who is successful at pitching a person who is landing media, who is getting all the clients that they want, who is able to show up on a webinar or on a YouTube video and sell their services with confidence. How does that person think that's the type of person that I need to be today. And so those are some other examples of, you know, some issues that people could have, and then how to overcome those.
And finally, tip number 10 is with myself again, in 'Bonus Episode #8: Is Cold Pitching Dead?'
When possible, this one is huge. This one I think actually makes the biggest difference for me in the initial pitch, at least in terms of my willingness to respond, is when possible, provide value upfront. So anytime you can use the initial pitch as a platform to showcase your skill sets or your service in real time to actually show what it looks like applied to that potential clients, business or life, the more likely that person is actually going to want to respond to you, right? It's like giving them a sample.
You know, like when you're walking through Costco, like, I don't know if how many of you are Costco members. But I remember as a kid, I loved going to Costco on Saturdays, because they would have all of those sample booths where you could walk around and just like fill up on all these, you know, little samples for different foods and brands. And it was so much fun. Think of your pitch email as as a sample of you know, how can I include some sort of value add into this email where I can give a little sampling of what our capabilities are in, kind of show it as a proof of concept? But also, how can I leave someone with more than what they came in with? Right? Like, how can I ensure that when someone opens my email, and reads this thing that regardless of whether they choose to invest their dollars or their time with me, they leave this interaction better off than they came into it? Right? It's that philosophy that I always talk to you guys about in leading with generous action anytime you can give before you ask, you're always going to have a better chance at starting a relationship with someone.
And so I saw this done really well recently, when a video agency actually pitched me. I actually received several pitches recently from video agencies on this particular service, but they were the ones that I'm talking about. They were the only ones that actually did this extra step of adding in value, which is they are a video agency that specializes in helping podcasters or people who create long form content, clip up that content into short form videos to repurpose across YouTube shorts, Instagram, Tik Tok, etc. And their whole goal of course is to use The short form content pieces as discoverability channels to bring people back to your podcast, to create mini viral content that attracts in new listeners, etc, etc. So the proposition, of course made instant sense to me, because this is my space, they obviously did their research, they understand our product and what we're working on as a company. But what I loved is that they actually attached to the email, two video examples that they had created for us off of our existing content. So they actually went through and you know, pulled clips, both B roll video clips, as well as audio clips from recent episodes. And they put together two samples of what they would actually produce for us if we were a client. So we could get a sense of their editing style, their capabilities, their skills.
And then here's the generous part, right? They said, Hey, go ahead and use these if you would like, like, if you enjoy this content, please go ahead and share this to your social, like, they didn't ask for any tags or credits or anything. They were like, just utilize it. And let's see how your audience responds, right? If they seem to enjoy this content, then maybe that's a good sign that we could work together and create even more of this, but let's just test it out for you. That's no risk. It's our free gift to you. Like, here are these two videos that we created for you that you can use as you please whether or not you choose to end up working with us. And I really loved that value give because it allowed me to again, see their work in action, but also test it with my own audience and see, yeah, is this a viable thing that my audience would actually enjoy? And then would it make sense for me to invest in a service like this or outsource a piece of our content creation in this way to an agency?
Let us know which pitching tip you're going to try and if you enjoy this episode, make sure you come back next week for our roundup series featuring the best of lead generation tips.
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