The 3 rules of writing successful pitch emails

The 3 rules of writing successful pitch emailsThe 3 rules of writing successful pitch emailsWhats something that you want in your career? More clients? A new job? Attention for your app? More readers?Whatever it is, before you get it, you need to pitch it to the person who can give it to you. Ive been pitching all kinds of things during my career Myself, my ideas, and my products. My pitches have failed mora times than I can count my successes.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreBut those failures have been good to me. As renowned Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor, Carlos Gracie Jr., once saidThere is no losing in jiujitsu. You either win or you learn.The only way to survive your career is to not acknowledge failure as a setback. Instead, look at every failed pitch as a lesson. After failing many times, I created 3 rules for sending pitch emails that actually work.When you apply these rules correctly, I guarantee you will get more replies.Rule 1 Never use the Hey, youre awesome techniqueMost cold emails you get from strangers abflug something like thisHey, DariusReally like your work. Ive been reading your articles for a while. I especially enjoyed your article about Topic X.It really resonates with my app/article/product.Thats what I call the Hey, youre awesome technique. You open the email by saying something nice about the other person. And then, you find a way to transition into your ask.Its a sophisticated technique that requires research and effort. Im not criticizing it. I know how much time it takes to craft one of these emails. And it works in many cases. However, it will NOT work when you email people who get dozens of pitches per day.Investors, journalists, bloggers, venture capitalists, C-level executives, or other people that get a lot of requests are good at detecting patterns.Instead, be genuine and get to the point.Theres no need to say something flattering if you dont mean it. And if you do, why not say it to somebody without asking for something in return?Rule 2 Spend 80% of your time on crafting the subject lineI say that for a different reason than you might think. Most people say that the subject line is important because it grabs the attention.True. Ill give you that. But its not why I spend 80% of my time on crafting a subject line. Heres the reason I do itWhen you nail the subject line, you automatically nail the rest of the email.Why? Well, if youre able to describe exactly what your email is about in one short sentence, youve already accomplished your task.When someone reads your subject line, there should be no surprise what the email is about. Thats why I avoid subject lines likeQuick questionA requestIntroducing blah blah blahGuest post about no one caresAnd yes, Ive used all of these in the past. So has every single other professional. And thats the problem. If you want to stand out from the crowd, guess what, YOU HAVE TO STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD.Just dont use all caps in your subject lines. Other than that, you can do whatever you want as long as it tells you what the email is about andyou make it about the recipient.Rule 3 Never follow-upMost pitch emails you send will not get a response. Thats the nature of the game. But its not the end of the world. And you shouldnt give up after the first try. After all, you know that other people have a lot on their plate.If you dont get a response, that doesnt mean its an automatic no. However, if you screw up the follow-up, youredone.This is something most people dont get. I often get a follow-up email within 24 hours Thats just too much.Heres why. Following up is for annoying salespeople. So please keep this in mind NEVER FOLLOW UP WITH PEOPLE.What? Yes, never mention in your emails that youre following up. Remove those two combined words from your vocabulary.Following up has a negative association. It means hey, I emailed you before, you didnt r espond. Whats up? No one likes that.One of the most successful salespeople I know once told meI never refer to a failed pitch attempt. Instead, I give it some time and reach out again. But the next time, I try an entirely different approach. Its clear the first time didnt work. So you need to be creative.The problem with following up is that people just do more of thesame. And that hardly ever works.Be patient. Do your research. And be creative with your emails.And that, my friend, is the key to sending good pitch emails. Theres no one size fits all. Theres no template that always works.Its hit and miss. But with every miss, you learn something new that increase the chance of your hit the next time.This article first appeared on DariusForoux.com.