I have a confession.
I don’t have a lot of experience cold pitching.
When I started freelance writing a decade ago, most of my clients came from job boards, referrals, and eventually people finding me through my blog. My first few clients didn’t come from sending dozens of cold pitches. I just put myself out there, built my blog, and worked on connections.
But over the last twelve years, I’ve coached thousands of writers through my courses and reviewed countless pitches from students.
And through that, I’ve learned about what worked, what didn’t, and what got completely ignored when it comes to cold pitching.
For you, maybe you’re noticing on social media that a lot of freelance writers are turing to cold pitching to find work.
Why?
I think it’s because the market feel different than only a few years ago or befor AI jumped into the scene.
What I’ve seen with this market shift is that companies are cutting content budgets and hiring fewer writers. But with more writers competing for the same writing gigs, they’re noticing a bit oversatuation.
That’s why they are moving towards new ways to find freelance clients.
And cold pitching is one of those methods that can work for you.
I’ve seen students land retainers, recurring work, and dream clients from a single email. But on the flip side, I’ve seen freelance writers send dozens of pitches without hearing a word back.
If this is happening to you, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer. It may simply mean your pitch needs some work.
Here are some insider tips to help you gain freelance writing clients from your cold pitch.
1. Your Pitch Is Written By AI
AI is everywhere and as a freelance writer, you CAN use AI but don’t use it for your pitches.
Write the pitch yourself.
I mean, I know AI can be used to create perfectly formatted pitches in mere seconds. But if everyone is using the same AI tools and prompts, those pitches are going to sound the same.
The pitch becomes forgettable and generic even though it’s presented professionally.
And that’s a problem because your pitch is often the very first piece of content a potential client sees even before they click to your portfolio or LinkedIn profile.
That’s why I always tell new freelance writers that their pitch should sound like a real person wrote it. In my Youtube video I walk you through how to write a pitch for a job. Go ahead and bookmark it for later.
And this means letting your voice and personality shine through. You want the person reading your pitch to REMEMBER you. So don’t be araid to say something witty or funny.
2. You’re Making People Work Too Hard to Hire You
This is something I see all the time when I audit my students pitches.
A freelance writer has a pitch that says something like, “You can find my samples on my website.”
Then they include a link to a homepage with dozens of articles, multiple navigation menus, and no indication of where the best samples actually are.
Or they link to their LinkedIn profile they may be distracted by notifications and posts to consider your samples.
The reality is that most editors, content managers, and agency owners don’t have time to go hunting for your work. These people are busy and are probably looking over dozens or even hundreds of writers to find one that’s a good fit.
And if you’re that good fit and they’re interested in learning more about you, make it incredibly easy.
Include two or three relevant samples right in the email. Not your entire portfolio. Just the pieces that best demonstrate you can solve the problem they’re hiring for.
The less work you create for the person reading your pitch, the better.
3. You’re Showing The Wrong Samples
Another mistake I see writers make is assuming that their most impressive sample is automatically the best sample to send.
Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t.
If you’re pitching a SaaS company, they probably want to see SaaS content and the same goes with whatever writing niche you’re in.
While clients were looking for great writers a few years ago, now, they are looking for evidence that you know their audience and your samples show they type of writing they want for thier website.
So, that means look over your portfolio and see how you can arrange it to show the best type of sample for the companies you are pitching to. For example, a small writing sample that directed to their niche or industry is far more persuasive than a big-name byline with content that’s not relatable.
For example, I wrote for Walmart back in the day and while that’s my MOST well known brand that practically ANYONE knows, it’s not the best content for my niche – SaaS/digital marketing writing.
So, instead of slapping that Walmart link in all my pitches, I just have it on my Hire Me page and other places throughout my writer website or in my bios or freelance titles.
4. Your Pitch Is Too Broad
One thing I noticed a lot in pitches from brand new freelance writers is that they simply introduced themselves by saying they write about a topic like beauty or tech.
But that’s not really a pitch. It’s a description.
A freelance writing pitch should make the reader think, “This writer actually spent a few minutes learning about us.”
This is important because cold pitches aren’t all about you, it’s about what you like or see about the company and how that aligns with your service.
You can point out a content gap or suggest a blog post idea.
Or you referenced something they’ve recently published and offered a fresh angle.
For me, I always take the time to look at the company on LinkedIn, then their website or blog and see if they are on social media. This gives me some insight into their brand and message when I pitch.
So make sure to show that you did a little homework on the company you’re pitching to.
And if you don’t already know, that’s enough to stand out because most writers don’t.
5. You Think Silence Means Rejection
Maybe you assume the worse when you don’t hear back from a pitch (I know I do).
You start to think your writing isn’t good enough and your samples just aren’t strong enough.
It could be that you’re not experienced enough too.
I’ve had students tell me all of those things after a few unanswered pitches.
But here’s what I’ve learned after more than a decade in this industry:
There are usually dozens of reasons someone doesn’t respond, and most of them have nothing to do with your talent.
Here are just a few reasongs:
- The project is already filled
- They lost budget for a new writer
- They realize they have enough freelance writers to work with
- They’re buried under a hundred other priorities and simply missed your email
You rarely know the real reason.
That’s why it’s dangerous to create a story in your head about what silence means.
Sometimes silence is just silence and revisit your pitch a few days or a week later.
And that brings me onto the next reason why no one’s answering your cold pitch.
6. Your Follow-Up Feels Like A Complaint
Following up is completely fine. In fact, I encourage it.
People miss emails all the time.
But realize this, there’s a HUGE difference between sending a friendly reminder email vs a frustrated follow up email.
I recently read a LinkedIn post where the owner of a content agency was mentioning that writers were sending angry responses after not hearing back, and I had a hard time understanding this.
Cold pitches are unsolicited.
You’re introducing yourself and asking someone to consider working with you in your pitch.
If they don’t respond, that’s not great, but it doesn’t mean they’ve personally rejected you, the writer.
You can follow up with something like, “It seems you went a different way with your content so this will be the last time I will email you.”
This is final but also respectful.
So, keep your follow-ups short, professional, and respectful and never say anything rude. You don’t know if this one company will open the doors to dozens of new writing jobs in the future.
7. You’re Sending the Pitch Too Soon
You find a business that looks like a perfect fit for your writing. You get excited. You write the pitch, read it quickly, and hit send.
Then five minutes later, you notice it.
A typo.
A missing word.
The wrong company name.
A sentence that doesn’t make sense.
Or worse, you realize you forgot to include the sample links you mentioned in the email.
That sinking feeling is awful.
The problem isn’t usually the pitch itself. It’s that you’re faster than your editing process.
When you see a company that you want to write for, you scramble to draft up a pitch (this is what I do). We tell ourselves you gotta get this pitch in sooner than later or you’ll miss out on a great opportunity. And this results in grammar errors, making you look sloppy.
What you could’ve done is waited to send the pitch the next day, having it breathe for a bit so you can edit it.
I’ve learned that when I was being too trigger-happy with the send button. I was so focused on getting the pitch out that I didn’t give myself enough time to catch obvious errors.
And while a small typo probably won’t cost you a dream client, multiple spelling mistakes, awkward sentences, or missing information can make you appear rushed and less professional than you actually are.
Now, before sending a pitch, I try to create a little distance between writing and sending. Sometimes I’ll read it out loud. Sometimes I’ll paste it into another document. Other times I’ll walk away for 10 minutes while I make lunch or do a chore.
It’s amazing how many mistakes suddenly jump out at you when you’re no longer in a rush.
Your pitch is often the very first sample a potential client sees. You don’t need it to be perfect.
But you do want it to show the level of care and attention you’d bring to their content if they hired you.
8. Keep Pitching Anyway
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from helping freelance writers for more than a decade, it’s that success rarely comes from one perfect pitch.
Most writers imagine that successful freelancers send a handful of emails and immediately land dream clients. While that might be true for one or two that’s not what I’ve seen.
The truth is that writers who are in it for the long haul, keep going even if they feel discouraged. The work on improving their samples and tweaking their pitches. Once they learn what works, they go at it again and pitch.
And right now, that’s more important than ever.
There are a lot of talented writers looking for work.
Some of the best writers I know are having a harder time finding clients than they did a few years ago.
That doesn’t mean they’re bad writers.
It means we’re in a different market.
So if your freelance writing pitch isn’t getting responses right now, don’t automatically assume you’re doing everything wrong.
Take a look at your pitch.
Refine it.
Make it more personal.
Make it more relevant.
Then send the next one.
Because sometimes the difference between a writer who quits and a writer who lands a great client is simply that one person kept showing up a little longer.
It’s Time to Pitch the Right Way
I hope you’re not making these mistakes but if you are, at least you know!
And well, the more you know!
Let me know in the comments what things you are doing right (or wrong) with your cold pitches!
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