When we say “pitch,” we don’t (necessarily) mean doing your best Don Draper impression for a room of stony-faced tobacco executives. Pitches are actually an everyday part of everyone’s lives: selling your partner on takeout when you both know there are goddamn beans in the fridge, convincing your neighbor to register and SHOW UP to vote this time, or writing a cover letter, to name a few. Whether we like it or not, pitching is part of sharing this small blue marble with a few billion other folks and trillions of other critters. But for artists in particular, pitching yourself and your work is a necessary part of bringing your art out of the basement and onto the stage.
It's the funder you're introducing yourself to before a grant cycle opens. It's the donor you're trying to bring along for the ride. It's the venue you want to perform or exhibit in, the gallery you're hoping will take an actual look, the potential collaborator or producing partner you want on board, the client who could hire you for the next commission. If you've ever sent a cold email hoping it leads to money, a stage, a wall, or a working relationship — congratulations, you've already been pitching yourself. You just might not have had a concrete plan!
💭 Know what you want
Before you reach out to anyone, get clear with yourself about what you're actually asking for. A meeting? A show? A commission? Press coverage? Vague asks get vague (or no) responses — if you're not sure what you want, nobody else is going to figure it out for you. Name it, then build the rest of your pitch around it.
📌 Get specific
Why you, specifically, for them, specifically? Skip the generic "I'd love to work with you" and say what it is about your particular work, perspective, or approach that fits their particular space. If your pitch could be sent to ten other people unchanged, it's not specific enough yet!
🔍 Look them up
You can't be specific without doing your homework first. Look into who you're pitching — what they've made, what they've said, what they seem to care about. This isn't only strategy, it's respect! People can tell within a couple sentences whether you looked into their work or just found their email somewhere.
📥 Use the right door
Do a little digging into how someone prefers to be contacted — an email in their bio, a submission form, a general inbox — and use that. Shimmying coyly into someone's personal DMs when there's a clearly marked front door is likely to read as a boundary problem, not resourcefulness.
🔌 Get a personal intro if you can
A warm introduction does more vetting in one sentence than three paragraphs of cold-pitch credibility ever could. Ask your community if anyone can make the connection. And once you're the one with the connections, be generous with them for others.
✨ Take their perspective
It's easy to get stuck thinking about what you need. Flip the script: what does this person get out of knowing you or working with you? What are you solving for them? A pitch built around their needs, not just yours, is much more likely to get a thoughtful, honest response.
👯♀️ Frame it as a partnership
Even if it feels like you're asking for a favor, don't write like you're asking for one. Show up like someone who has something worth offering, because you do. You'll come across as more confident and more credible the moment you stop apologizing for reaching out.
💬 Follow up, then let it go
If you haven't heard back in about a week, one follow-up is completely fair. After that, let it rest. You're aiming for the sweet spot between "clearly interested" and "Leslie Knope with a clipboard."
Don Draper would tell you that good pitching never stops being a little uncomfortable, because you’re putting yourself out there and actually care about the outcome. But following this mini-plan — by doing your research, taking their perspective, framing it as a partnership — practically guarantees that you’ll learn something new about your field, and the opportunities available to you. Pitching might seem like it’s all about the outcome (that check, that gig, that elusive yes), but like most things, it’s actually about the people you meet along the way and the experience of believing enough in your work to pitch it in the first place. Now, friends…you knew this was coming…give us your best mini pitch in the comments!
.svg)