Hello, you wildly successful travelpreneur!
I hope you’re having a fantastic week so far?
Personally, I’ve been kinda tired lately (apparently there’s a major astrological event happening this week that’s draining all our energy 🪐). But I’ve also been working really hard lately and my output has been higher than ever. But now I’m in that messy middle in-between stage of waiting on the returns of my efforts. Not that I don’t have a lot to do (I do) but I’m just also impatient to see the outcome of a number of projects and it’s really affecting my focus.
But enough about me, let’s dive into the final installment of the psychology of pitching!
So, there is one truly crucial step to pitching that most people overlook (either by mistake or on purpose - who knows 🤷♀️).
Can you guess what it is?
Don’t worry - I won’t leave you hanging 😉
It’s following up!
*gasp* “So you mean to tell me there’s more work to do after I gathered all my courage and sent an actual pitch?”
Yup!
The follow-up is super important, my friend! When I first started pitching and my response rate was as low as 10 -25% (out of 100s of pitches), my follow-up emails actually pushed this response rate to at least 50%. For a newbie, that was a big deal.
Once again, there is a psychological aspect to this.
First - yours. If sending that initial pitch already took all your courage, then sending a follow-up will be even more difficult for you. You may be worried that you’re bothering the recipient or feeling hurt that they didn’t reply or wondering if your pitch was so bad that it was automatically deleted.
The sense of rejection can be overwhelming but I can assure you that if you haven’t received a reply to your pitch, it has nothing to do with you. Please don’t take it personally. That’s a sure-fire way to keep yourself paralyzed with fear.
Here are some reasons you may not have received a response to your pitch yet:
The recipient is busy (sales & marketing managers have a lot of responsibilities) and hasn’t had time to reply yet.
The recipient is working on a bunch of projects and forgot to reply to your pitch.
It slipped through the cracks or landed in the spam folder (certain words in the subject line could cause this to happen).
Your email wasn’t sent to the right person (aka marketing or management) and the person who received it didn’t pass it on to the relevant staff member.
These ☝️ are usually the reasons you didn’t get a reply and as you can clearly see it really has nothing to do with you, your experience, your stats, or even your pitch.
And that is why the follow-up email is crucial to your pitching success!
Because a gentle follow-up reminder email (approximately a week after your initial pitch) will help resolve any of the problems listed above. All it does is bring your pitch back up to the top of the recipient’s inbox which will either prompt them to reply or prompt someone to pass it on to the correct person.
Next - the recipient. Receiving a follow-up email that simply asks whether they received your previous email is usually enough to cause some feelings of guilt for the recipient. Not enough that it’s offensive or makes them feel terrible but just enough for them to feel like they’re being rude by not responding. I mean it’s common courtesy to respond to emails (even if it’s just a “thank you but we have to decline”), right?
That’s why the follow-up email should be short and sweet. There is no need to explain yourself again. Just hit reply on your original pitch email and the person who receives the follow-up will be able to see what you sent them initially.
Whereas the “did you receive my previous email?” line should already prompt a response, you can improve your odds by reminding the recipient what’s in it for them. Something like “I can provide great international exposure for {travel brand}” will make the recipient feel like it’s in their best interest to respond.
As you can see, there is a lot involved in the pitching process. But by understanding the psychology of pitching, you can make it less scary and improve your results!
If you want access to my personal pitch, follow-up, and negotiation pitch templates, join the Wildly Successful Travelpreneurs membership!
Next week, we’ll get into pitching editors at magazines for commissions but for now, let’s get into…
The Good Stuff 🔥
I just want to thank everyone who responded to my collaboration requests last week - I can’t wait to partner with some incredibly talented people to bring you even more value through this newsletter.
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*Remember if you want first access to these leads, call-outs, and opportunities as well as the ones I don’t share in the newsletter, plus exclusive guides, templates, resources, and pitching sprints, you can join the Wildly Successful Travelpreneurs membership!
Interesting Reads... 📰
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Until next week…
With love,
Daniella
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