Etini
Valued Contributor
So this is part 2 of writing perfect pitch emails to get those mega online writing jobs. I have to say that this is very important if you want to make it big in writing.
Let's say they don't have specific directions. Or even if they do, they don't give you a ton of information. Here's how you write an effective pitch that's going to get an editor's attention. Step number one is to write an irresistible subject. The line for your pitch. Everything starts with the subject line.
The numbers vary, but some estimates say that somewhere in the ballpark 47% of recipients are going to decide whether or not they want to open up your email based on the subject line alone. I usually start my subject line with the word pitch in all caps. So that ad grounds the editor knows what they're getting, then you want to follow that with your proposed headline. And keep in mind here, the number one goal of this subject line is to get the editor to open the email. That's all we care about right now. Get them to open the email. This means that you're going to need something that is seriously going to hook the reader in this case the editor, we're not going for clickbait don't be that person but instead, you just need to think of something that's going to pique their interest enough to incentivize them to click.
A surprising statistic is usually a good approach as long as it's relevant to the article that you want to write. If the topic you're pitching is time sensitive, like if it's something seasonal or holiday related, or it's related to something that just popped up in the news mentioned that in your subject line you can just put in parentheses, time-sensitive, and just to be clear if it is not time-sensitive. Don't put that in the subject line just to get the editor to open it.
There are a lot of ways to write a great subject line but let's do a before-and-after example, with a completely made-up statistic. Here's an example of a not-so-great subject line.
PITCH: How women can avoid being harassed on their runs too fast.
There's a better way to do this
PITCH: 63% of female runners have reported being harassed. Here's a simple solution.
Again, I made up that percentage but do you see the difference between these two? And the second example, I'm using a powerful statistic that gives my pitch more weight, and more ground to stand on, and I'm backing it with research. And not only am I sharing the problem by saying, Oh, hey but there's also a solution. And if you open up my email, you're gonna find out what that solution is
Let's say they don't have specific directions. Or even if they do, they don't give you a ton of information. Here's how you write an effective pitch that's going to get an editor's attention. Step number one is to write an irresistible subject. The line for your pitch. Everything starts with the subject line.
The numbers vary, but some estimates say that somewhere in the ballpark 47% of recipients are going to decide whether or not they want to open up your email based on the subject line alone. I usually start my subject line with the word pitch in all caps. So that ad grounds the editor knows what they're getting, then you want to follow that with your proposed headline. And keep in mind here, the number one goal of this subject line is to get the editor to open the email. That's all we care about right now. Get them to open the email. This means that you're going to need something that is seriously going to hook the reader in this case the editor, we're not going for clickbait don't be that person but instead, you just need to think of something that's going to pique their interest enough to incentivize them to click.
A surprising statistic is usually a good approach as long as it's relevant to the article that you want to write. If the topic you're pitching is time sensitive, like if it's something seasonal or holiday related, or it's related to something that just popped up in the news mentioned that in your subject line you can just put in parentheses, time-sensitive, and just to be clear if it is not time-sensitive. Don't put that in the subject line just to get the editor to open it.
There are a lot of ways to write a great subject line but let's do a before-and-after example, with a completely made-up statistic. Here's an example of a not-so-great subject line.
PITCH: How women can avoid being harassed on their runs too fast.
There's a better way to do this
PITCH: 63% of female runners have reported being harassed. Here's a simple solution.
Again, I made up that percentage but do you see the difference between these two? And the second example, I'm using a powerful statistic that gives my pitch more weight, and more ground to stand on, and I'm backing it with research. And not only am I sharing the problem by saying, Oh, hey but there's also a solution. And if you open up my email, you're gonna find out what that solution is
