5 Essential Tips To Pitch New Clients By Email In 2024

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Are you one of the many freelancers who struggle with getting new clients by email?

If you’re stuck in this situation it can suck as you can only get clients through job boards.

Related: Ultimate toolkit for your online business

Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with job boards! But to earn more money and work with the people you want to work with, sending out email pitches is what you need to do.

Here’s the thing.

Doing an email pitch to brands large or small is a daunting experience for anybody. This is especially true if you’re new to freelancing. Or just feel unsure of whether you’ll be taken seriously.

This is completely understandable! You’re new to having a business. But take one step at a time. Step 1 building your business, done. Second step is finding a client, done. Third step is to pitch the client, and this is where you’re getting stuck.

Get yourself unstuck by using these tips to pitch clients by email.

5 Essential Tips To Pitch New Clients By Email

When you finally have everything in place to show off your abilities as a freelancer, it’s time to start pitching.

Pitching is the difference between getting a client or complete and utter failure as an entrepreneur. Before you start sending out an email pitch make sure that you’ve got your portfolio ready.

But let’s get back to business with these tips for an email pitch.

Mistakes To Avoid

Pitching yourself is tough to do and if you make mistakes in your pitch, it can lead to further procrastination.

Further procrastination to give up pitching that idea to help business owners or to give up your freelance business all together. Don’t give up your freelance business, instead check out these 4 pitching mistakes to avoid.

  • Offering To Work For Peanuts

At the start of your freelance career, or at times when you’re struggling you may be thinking it’s best to offer working for peanuts.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. If you’ve done your pitch right and shown the results you can give, then any business owner will pay a fair rate for the results.

  • Sending Pitches Without Doing Your Research First

This will annoy any potential client and leave them with a bad taste in their mouth when speaking about you.

When pitching to a client, you need to show that you understand them and their business. Then pitch how you can help them.

  • Long Pitches

Long pitches just bore people, so keep it short and easy to consume.

Easy to consume by letting clients just do a quick scan and go straight to the main points of your email pitch. Any main points of a pitch should be done with bullet points and be results-focused.

  • Not Personalizing 

Sending a single pitch to 100 different clients is not going to impress anyone.

All of those clients are different people and different businesses. Each of these different businesses has different problems that they’re dealing with right now. Therefore, you need to personalize each pitch to show you understand the business and their problems

Pitch The Result (Not The Features)

The CEO or manager of a department does not have bags of time to read through a long pitch.

Nor do they have time to decipher through ‘what’s in it for them’. What’s in it for them is what you should focus on. Focusing on what big result you can give to the recipient of the pitch should drive the copy on your pitch.

Any good copy should never focus on the features of a product but instead on what results the product or service gives. 

get clients workshop and create your email pitch

Giving Clarity In Your Email Pitch

Have clarity on why clients should hire you by being clear on how you’re the expert in your niche.

Be clear by having a paragraph (after giving the results of your service) on why you’re the best person to deliver the result you promised. When you’re not clear in your email pitch, then clients won’t be clear on what they’ll receive.

Being giving clarity throughout your pitch is essential. Have 100% clarity on the offer you’re giving, the results produced, and your process to deliver the service. It’s important to note that the client isn’t in anyway interested in the process of your service. Don’t ever go into this unless they ask further.

Concentrate on what it is you’re offering and the results you give backed up by proof with a portfolio of work.

5 Steps To Writing A Winning Pitch

Producing an engaging email pitch is the difference between winning clients or hearing crickets.

Pitching to prospective clients can lead to hours or even days of procrastination, no matter how experienced you are. After years of writing pitches, some a complete flop but 75% won clients, here are 5 steps to write a pitch that wins clients.

Whether you are a virtual assistant, writer, or website designer, these 5 steps can be used to pitch yourself as a freelancer and win clients.

Know who your pitching

‘Dear Sirs’ or ‘Dear Hiring Manager’ is never going to be a great start.

All this does is demonstrate that you’ve not taken the time to know who the person is at the other side of sending your pitch.

Instead, make a great first impression by researching them on social media and getting to know them. As the saying goes ‘it’s not what you know, but who you know’.

Get to know the company and person you’re wanting to send you email pitch to first. This way the person receiving your pitch is warmed up to you by already starting to like you.

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Engaging subject line

In 2019, the average open rate was 47% according to Aweber.

Writing an engaging subject line is all the more important. Don’t let your pitch (you spent time procrastinating over) going straight to the bin.Stop it going to the bin, by writing a subject line that stirs up curiosity.

Better yet, if you managed to complete step #1 and build a relationship first, send a message that you have just emailed them. Tell them though what subject line you have used and they are more likely to open up.

Have A Hook

As with any piece of copy, your first sentence in your email is the most important.

You need to really be able to capture their attention. Capture their attention by giving away your big promise, such as to save X amount of time or increase their sales 10 fold with X.

Get Straight To The Point

Never ever give vague pitches or pitches where you just waffle on. Think of your pitch as an elevator pitch and only give these 4 details

  1. What result you can give
  2. Why they need this service (most importantly why now)
  3. Previous results you have given to others
  4. Call to action to speak with you via video, phone or email to discuss further

Have A Polished Portfolio And LinkedIn Profile

After you have made a pitch, expect the recipient to want to look at your portfolio or LinkedIn profile or even both.

Although you should already have this ready to start with before you even decide to start pitching. Make sure that your portfolio or LinkedIn profile is up to scratch by making sure they give the best impression of you.

More importantly, it shows that you are more than capable of delivering what you promised in your pitch.

Now that you’ve written and sent your pitch, do not just sit back and relax. Instead, start creating your follow up. Having a follow up to your pitch can increase your sales. 

Following Up After Not Getting A Response

Follow up on your pitch is the key to landing that freelance gig. Though with following up on your pitch, there is a fine line between being persistent and being annoying.

How can you tread this fine line?

Whenever I do a pitch, I follow up about 2 – 3 days. 2 – 3 days is adequate time to wait for a response. Wait any longer then you could end up being forgotten about.

This is not something you want.

Follow Up With Your Leads

To start my follow-up email is basically replying to my initial pitch email. How does this work?

Bring a different perspective on the pitch idea and answer questions you would expect. Granted, expected questions come more from experience. 

Take a fresh look at your pitch through their eyes and you will soon see the questions they will have. In answering their questions and giving a different perspective on your pitch. You’re keeping the communication going and adding new information in your follow up email.

Always remember in your follow-up email is that you are pitching to people who are already busy doing other things to run their business.

Receiving yet another pitch from a freelancer is not high on their priority list of things to do.

If your initial response didn’t get a response it’s possible that it just ended up in the bin by accident. Their inboxes are already cluttered and your email just didn’t stand out as something they should pay attention to.

Conclusion

Freelancers need to land clients or they just don’t have a business, just an idea or dream. Creating a sales pitch template for your freelance business will help you to land clients. Doing a sales pitch to brands large or small is a daunting experience. Once you’ve pitched and landed a meeting with a potential client, use these 5 tips. Grab these essential resources to get clients and grow your freelance business.

About Post Author

Alison Wolf

Helping you to build an online business so you have an extra stream of income or quit the day job. Don't forget to follow me on social media using the handle @heyalisonwolf