Pitching is literally the start of a baseball game. It’s how two different teams connect; one pitches the ball and the other team tries to hit it. Pitching can change your life in a nano-second. Game on!
But pitching isn’t just for baseball players (or freelancers)
It’s also the act of lobbing an email, making a phone call, or otherwise (figuratively) throwing information at someone hoping they choose to connect with you.
In other words, pitching is a way of introducing yourself in the hope of creating a new connection with someone you don’t know.
When done well, pitching can change your life.
We all pitch ourselves every.single.day. hoping to create something new. Whether you want a new job, a raise at your current job, a date, or you need to make some fast money, I hate to break it to you, but you’re pitching.
Here’s the deal though. If you don’t know you’re pitching, you may be struggling to live the life you know you should be living. Maybe you don’t have the job you want. Perhaps you’re not making the money you KNOW you should be making.
Let me prove it to you.
Here are 5 examples of how pitching could change your life.
1. You need a new job.
So you’re out there sending your resume all over the place but your cover letter is vanilla at best. It basically just tells people what’s on your resume. There’s no pizzazz—no personality.
Your cover letter doesn’t even begin to represent you, your personality, or your unique skillset.
When done well, your cover letter makes whoever is doing the review take a double take at your resume, and they AT LEAST put your resume and cover letter in the maybe pile to pass on to the hiring manager. They may even put you straight in the “definite” pile for an immediate interview.
When you pitch yourself, you sell yourself. Your first line of business is always to show that you meet all of the requirements for the job but your second (and equally important) job with your pitch is to be personable. Until the robots COMPLETELY take over the hiring process, people will be involved and they will (at least subconsciously) evaluate whether they like you on paper.
And if they no without a doubt that you’re qualified for a job AND they like you on paper, they’ll want to meet you to see if they like you in person. And you get an interview.
Pitch successful. Connection made.
Whether you get the job or not depends on how well you interview, which is in itself a form of pitching, but we’ll talk about that later.
The point of the pitch was to make an opening for yourself; to make a new connection and to create an opportunity to show that you are the right person for a job. A new job, more money, a better commute —all due to one little pitch. Pitching can change your life.
2. You want a partner/spouse
Getting a date is nothing more than an effective pitch. It has nothing to do with being “compatible” although that will play a factor in whether you ultimately end up in a relationship with someone, but getting the date is about the pitch.
Now, in this case, the pitch isn’t in writing (but if you’re online dating, it definitely could be).
But in person, your pitch is all about your appearance and the way you handle yourself.
Are you clean? Groomed? Not dressed like a bum?
Are you doing all the talking or are you legitimately interested in the other person?
While getting a date with the intention of creating a long-term relationship isn’t formulaic and there’s no simple way to guarantee compatibility, you do pitch yourself to get a date and you continue to pitch yourself even after you’ve created a long-term relationship.
Because at the end of the day, your partner is always making a decision to choose you. So you can’t ever stop pitching yourself as the right person for them.
3. A New Referral
You can write a pitch to individuals in your current network to request referrals. But you just can’t ASK for people you know to refer to you to people you don’t’ know. While that’s essentially what a referral is, it doesn’t work that way.
Most people protect their network. After all, it’s a valuable resource and one wrong move could sour your own network against you.
So, if you want referrals, you have to pitch your network, explaining to them WHY you’re worth the risk to their reputation to refer you. Plus, you also have to write in a way that reminds them how they know you and why you’re a great resource to have in their network.
In other words, they need to like you.
4. A New Sale (Affiliate or personal product)
If you’re a blogger, a product creator, an affiliate marketer, or a marketer of any kind, you’re always pitching.
When you write blog posts, you’re pitching your brand. If you’re an email marketer, you’re pitching your brand, you’re trying to encourage your readers to click over to your website, and you may even be selling a product or service you want to encourage folks to buy.
You can even pitch products and services on social media.
When you pitch well, you know your audience in such detail that you know how they talk, think, and feel. Then you can write to them in a receptive way, enticing them to buy and making yourself instant money.
5. A New Contract
Pitching is just an abbreviated way of writing contract proposals. For small businesses that want to win more contracts, knowing how to write effective pitches will help you write winning proposals for new contract work.
Pitching Can Change Your Life
Whether you’re looking for a new job, a new client, a date, or to make instant money, you need to perfect your pitch.
Pitching isn’t just for freelancers or baseball fanatics. Pitching is a skill that you can use every day to create new connections and opportunities in your life and business.
You could definitely get a raise. You just need to first prove you deserve it, using hard data. Then, you also have to be likable doing it. That’s your pitch: a combination of hardcore facts (in your favor) and a winning personality.
Are you pitching the right way?
Pitching is about data and likability. That’s it, and there’s a definite art to it. If you want to perfect your pitch game, check out my pitch checklist.
Sign-up below and get my pitch checklist for an instant download.