Learn the 12 Best Strategies for Cold Pitching to Get Business as a Freelancer

In today’s changing business world, more and more writers are choosing to be a freelancer. 

Freelancing gives writers more opportunities to dictate their own careers and run their own businesses, rather than working for a single company. 

The freedom of freelancing has a great appeal and can bring many benefits to your writing career. 

However, finding clients can be a pain for freelancers, particularly when you are just beginning to work on building a reliable client base.

Cold pitching is a method of finding business that has been in practice for years, but isn’t always the first consideration for writers. 

When you can nail cold pitching, you can gain new business and spread the word about your services. 

In this article, we’ll help you learn about cold pitching and explain why it is useful for freelance writers. Then we’ll give you some of the best strategies to implement in your cold pitching efforts so that you can get cold pitching to work for you. Let’s get started!

What is Cold Pitching?

Cold pitching is the practice of sending out targeted emails to strangers in order to get in touch with them and explain why you are a useful solution for their needs. 

Usually, a cold pitch is an email campaign with multiple follow-ups and communications to target a potential client. 

Cold pitching can be risky. You want to make sure that you clearly identify who you are and what you do so you aren’t reported as spam.

It also requires you to take time and personalize aspects of each email so that you are targeting the specific client and not treating them like just another name on a list. 

Cold pitching has been used by many industries for decades, but freelance writers can also get in on the benefits that cold pitching can provide.

Why Can Cold Pitching be Useful?

Some freelance writers think that cold pitching is an outdated or useless method of finding new business. 

However, there are many different ways in which cold pitching can be useful. These include:

Direct Communication

Cold pitching gets your message directly in front of your target clients. 

Rather than hoping they find your website or social media profile, you can take action to proactively target the people you want to do business with. 

Getting the attention of your targets through emailing ensures that they are able to notice you and helps to spread the word about your personal freelance brand.

Showcases Personalization

Many marketing strategies require you to try and find one-size-fits-all approaches. 

You don’t have room to personalize messaging in social media posts, blogs, or even on your website pages. 

Cold pitching allows you to personalize and tailor the message to send to target the individual prospect. 

This is great for showcasing that you care and take the time to learn about the prospect rather than just sending out a generic email.

Nurturing Your Network

Building a network is an important part of freelancing. Word of mouth and referrals are important to building your brand and gaining new business. 

Cold pitching gets you on the radar of your target clients and their colleagues. 

Even without opening the email, your sending name and address can resonate and stick in the minds of your prospects.

Easily Traceable

Many methods of indirect marketing are hard to track. It’s hard to know exactly how many impressions your social post made or how many blog views lead to new clients. 

Cold pitching is a method of communication that is easily measured and can give you important conversion metrics, so you can visually see how impactful your emailing campaigns are in bringing in new business.

It Works

Cold pitching is used by many different industries and professions for a single reason: it works. 

It is a numbers game, but it’s a very low-cost method of marketing your services and can bring about great results. 

Every email is an opportunity for a new client, so when you perfect your cold pitching game, you can see definite results and improvements in your new business efforts.

12 Cold Pitching Strategies for Freelancers

Now that you understand a little more about what cold pitching is and why it can benefit your freelancing career, let’s discuss some cold pitching strategies that you can implement that will help you get the most out of your efforts.

1. Search Contacts on Multiple Websites (Google, LinkedIn, Facebook)

In order to cold pitch successfully, you need to have a large group of names to contact. 

That means you need to pull potential contacts from multiple different websites and sources, like Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media sites or online directories.

2. Send Cold Pitches to the Right Audience

Not every prospective client is going to be the right audience for cold pitching.

It works best when you get in front of a person who is able to make decisions on hiring freelancers. When you are in front of the wrong person, your efforts aren’t going to get the best results.

3. Write a Simple, Direct, and Objective Email

The email you send needs to be short and simple while also clearly explaining what you do. When your emails are too long or are confusing to read, you have an increased chance of being marked as spam or being ignored by your potential new clients. 

Focus on telling your clients what they need to hear in as few words as possible.

4. Have a Clear Valuable Proposition

A value proposition shows a prospect what you can do to help them and demonstrates the value that you can bring to their business. 

You want to make clear from the beginning what your value proposition is and make sure that message is at the core of the emails you send to prospects.

5. Have Samples or Portfolio Links Ready to Send

As a freelance writer, people are going to want to see what it is you can do. 

Have your samples ready to go in case a client reaches out, or link to your portfolio in the email so the prospect can look through your work themselves.

6. Do Research on Prospects

Doing research on your prospects is key to success in cold pitching. Without the right research, you won’t be able to personalize your message to the prospect or reach out with the right information. 

Take the time to learn about what their needs and pain points are and tailor your message to match.

7. Don’t Make it About Yourself

A cold pitch email shouldn’t be all about you, as that’s not compelling to readers. 

Instead, put the focus on the prospective client and explain how you can help them accomplish their goals rather than your own. There will be plenty of time to demonstrate your abilities in the future.

8. Carefully Select Your Language

Another important tip to keep in mind is to think carefully about the language and wording choices you use in your email. Think about the industry your prospect works in and match the language to fit the formality or informality of that industry. 

This helps you connect with prospects and make messages they want to hear.

9. Get Creative with Your Pitch

While you can definitely follow a plain template for your pitch, you can also get creative and think outside the box. 

Think about ways you can add personality to your emails or provide additional value in your initial pitch email. That will help you stand out in a prospect’s mind.

10. Give a Clear Call to Action

Make sure you clearly state what the next action should be for the prospect in the email. 

Whether it’s giving you a phone call, replying back, visiting a specific page on your website, or scheduling a meeting, your call to action is obvious, so there is no confusion about how to get in touch with you to move forward.

11. Follow Up with Reminders

A cold pitch is more than just one email. Have a workflow with follow-ups and reminders so that you can stay fresh in the minds of your prospects. 

This will increase your chances of a conversion.

12. Don’t Get Discouraged

Cold pitching can feel discouraging, especially when your emails aren’t getting hits. Just be patient and remember that it is a game of numbers. 

The more emails you send, the more chances there are of getting a reply and gaining new business.

Wrap Up

Beginning a career as a freelance writer is full of ups and downs. 

While there is a lot of freedom in picking your own clients and being your own boss, it can also be difficult to get started and earn enough revenue at the beginning of your freelancing career. 

Cold pitching helps you get directly in front of your audiences and showcase what you can do for them in the most personal way possible.

Another way to start finding business is on freelance writing websites. 

These websites help to connect freelance writers to people who are in the market for a freelancer. They are a great way to start your business and begin your career. 

If you are interested in a freelance career, then check out our blog on the best freelance websites!