In today’s world you have to understand the art of a pitch. It doesn’t matter if you’re a teacher or a CEO of a major corporation. A successful pitch could change the trajectory of your professional career.
The Art of a Pitch
In a world of social media that we arbitrarily surf through and are bombarded with advertisements and pitches every thumb scroll, we often miss the importance of delivering a pitch. Whether it’s a pitch to your boss for a new project or a pitch to your classroom full of second graders to behave for the substitute teacher, you have to understand the necessary elements.
Play into your Relationship
If you are pitching someone that you have to have some sort of relationship with them or are looking to a build a relationship with them. You need to be able to pull on those relationship’s strings or be able to show how that relationship could mutually benefit both of you.
So, if you are looking to guest post as a blogger on a larger site then you need to be able to show them how your relationship could benefit them. If they have a much larger social media following, but your photos are exquisite then you might show them how they would be benefitting from your skills. If you are pitching a brand then you would show them how your influence will benefit them {Grab our Pitch Checklist to help you with that}. You absolutely need to be able to show them that by working with you or doing what you are asking will end up benefitting them in the long run.
Give! Give! Give!
Too often, people are so fixated on what they are going to get out of the relationship or the pitch. You need to be sure to place specific emphasis on what you are giving and make sure to go above and beyond. You need to prove yourself and the giving also begins before the pitch is ever made.
For example, if you are a distributor for Young Living Essential Oils then you want to provide opportunities for your friends and family to learn about the oils so you might provide them with samples or create products for them using the oils. This not only gives them opportunity to experience the products, but also for them to see that it’s not all about the money for you. It’s about bettering their life with a product that you love enough to give away.
Know your End Game
You absolutely have to know your end game or goal when creating a pitch. It doesn’t make any sense to build a targeted relationship with them and then not know what you are looking to get out of the relationship. Now, I am not saying that every relationship is built with the premise of getting something out of it, but if you are part of an MLM it doesn’t make sense to give away all of your products.
This is the same with reaching out to a mentor with the intention of building your brand or site. On my podcast, Influencer Entrepreneurs with Jenny Melrose, I reach out to top influencers with the hope of interviewing them to share their expertise with my audience. I am not only trying to build a podcast with amazing guests, but I’m also hoping to create future business relationships with the influencers that interview. I am hoping that they will want to help promote my products and services as well as look to me to help them do the same as an affiliate for their products.
Be Authentic
No matter the type of relationship or the “ask” that you are giving in a pitch, you have to be authentic. You have to be authentic to the person you are pitching as well as to your values. You do not want to pitch a brand for a product that you truly do not believe in or to work with someone that you disagree with their values but love their social media numbers. When it becomes all about sales and what you are going to get out of the relationship, the pitch will 100% come off sleazy and salesy. The worst part is that it doesn’t need to be that way. As long as you speak from your heart and have thought about how your are giving to them, then it can be the beginning of something that is likely to benefit both of you.
