Pitching yourself to others can feel weird. In all honesty, this is a cringe-worthy topic for a lot of us. Humbleness is a quality that is often revered in our culture, especially among women. But here’s the deal: if you have a brand or a business that you want to scale or monetize, knowing how to pitch yourself is part of the deal.

If you’re not willing to pitch yourself, who will?

Pitching doesn’t have to feel icky or stressful or like you’re crawling out of your already stretched-too-thin skin.

Mai-kee Tsang has such a sweet but powerful way to put yourself out in front of the right people! She’s a sought-after launch strategist, conversion copywriter and podcaster who helps business owners make a greater impact by getting their message out into the world! She pitched herself to 101 podcasts in 30 days (including Scaling Up!) to be a guest on their show (what?!) and I’m sharing all of her tips with you on how to nail the perfect pitch!

Create your own impact

You have to be prepared to start from scratch. It’s so easy to rely on connections and the network you have built for yourself, but at some point your network pool will probably become shallow. And the reality is: you, and your connections, don’t want every conversation and interaction to be about you and your business.

Focus on where you can make an impact, right now.

What connections can you make that are new? How many authentic conversations can you have today?

Pave the way for who you are in your business and in your industry. Create a name for yourself by reaching out to others and telling them who you are and what you do.

Redefine what’s “safe”

You have to ask yourself, “Is it safe to stay within a comfort zone that keeps you from ever becoming the person you’re meant to be?”

Does that feel safe to you?

It shouldn’t.

That is a limiting and unsafe belief because you are keeping yourself from becoming who you were meant to be. You can’t just show up for your dreams, you have to constantly encourage and remind yourself that you are the authority figure, you are capable, and you are going to do amazing things.

Make it personal

This may sound surprising to you, but there are so many people that don’t personalize their pitches. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve had potential guests for my podcast send me a pitch and they didn’t even include my name, or they spelled it wrong, or they used the wrong podcast name! Don’t do that.

Make sure you know who you’re pitching. Do your research. Listen to their podcast, read their books, check out their website. Make sure you have an understanding of their tone - are they formal or informal? Can you take more of a relaxed approach in your pitch? We can’t expect someone to invite us onto their platform if we aren’t willing to put in a little bit of work upfront to get to know them!

Demonstrate that you understand their mission

It’s important that you understand their mission to make sure that it aligns with what you believe in. Before you pitch someone, you need to not only familiarize yourself with that person’s audience, voice, and content, but you need to make sure you understand their mission as a whole. If they believe in helping female entrepreneurs grow their business through online services but you work as a corporate recruiter - you may not be aligned with their mission.

This is what Mai-Kee calls a W.I.F.T. pitch, a “What’s In It For Them” pitch. When you send a pitch, take the opportunity to demonstrate that not only do you know what their mission is, but you can add valuable information that their audience is going to find helpful and keep them coming back for more. Keep in mind that while you might be pitching to grow your business, you also need to provide something valuable to the person you want to work with. It’s not all about you.

Propose a topic

So now that you’ve done your research, you feel aligned with their mission, and you’ve made the intro to your pitch personal, it’s time to propose a topic.

It may sound crazy: give away free content?

It’s not exactly free content, but you want to propose content that you feel:

Will resonate with their audience
Provides value in an area that you are confident in

Maybe you suggest a topic that the host hasn’t talked about before. Maybe it’s a topic they haven’t talked about in awhile and you have a different perspective. Maybe you pitch a big idea that has a bunch of smaller sub-topics.

You’re the expert in your area, and it’s completely okay to share content ideas that you feel you would speak to best and that their audience would truly appreciate and enjoy. It’s all about personalization and relevancy. If you’re able to include both of those in your topic proposal, you’ll be amazed at the positive response you receive.

You have to remember that whoever you are pitching is risking their reputation and brand by having you on their show. They are going to be super selective with whom they choose to have on the show - and you want to make sure they choose you!

Develop Your Signature Method here!

Prove that you’re a credible expert

This is typically the step where you might experience the most mental blocks. You’re going to feel like you aren’t an expert when, in reality, you are.

The number one reason people fail to pitch is because they doubt themselves. They wonder if they are “bothering” the person they are pitching. They feel that it’s not worth pitching because “no one will want to work with me anyway.”

But here’s what you need to remember - you are the expert in the topic you want to discuss. So ask yourself:

Have you done the research? Have you studied the topic in question? Have you talked about this topic before? Do you know the ins and outs of this topic? Have you used this method to grow your own business?

If you’ve taken the information that you’ve studied, applied it to your own experience and have gotten results, you have credibility. But you are able to demonstrate a higher level of credibility if you can demonstrate that you helped your clients get results with the same strategy, too!

Can you show some proof? Include links to other interviews you’ve ever done, blogs you’ve written, videos you’ve recorded, or mentions in articles. Show them that not only have you gotten results for your clients, you have examples to prove that you know what you’re talking about.

Close with a no-pressure sign off

It’s important to let the person you are pitching to know that it’s okay if you aren’t the right fit for them or their show, and you wish them all the best anyway. The point of the pitch is to let them know that you are there and that you feel you could add value to their show, but if they don’t feel the same way, that’s okay too.

P.S. Include a fun fact

So now that you’ve done your research, crafted a pitch that’s personal and is reflective of their mission, proposed a topic, proved you’re a credible expert, and have closed with a no-pressure sign-off, what’s next?

How about a P.S. section?

Who doesn’t love a P.S. section in an email (or a blog)?!

Using a P.S. line allows you to add one last thing that truly speaks to who you are, and why they should work with you. Take this opportunity to share something interesting, fun or personal about you. This is the time to spruce up that personal relationship because, if they decide to work with you, you want the relationship to be fun and you want to get along with them. That last piece of information could take a “maybe” and turn it into a “yes.”

Be patient

It’s no secret that a big part of pitching yourself is also learning to grow a thicker skin. You are going to get far more “no’s” than “yes’s” and that’s okay. So many people quit after so many “no’s” because they feel that those rejections define them. That if they’ve been rejected this many times, why would someone say “yes”?

The truth is, there are so many unknowns. Maybe the host’s schedule is already full and they aren’t accept any pitches right now. Maybe they are right in the middle of a crazy busy season and are prioritizing another area of their business. Maybe they already have another guest lined up to speak on the topic you pitched. A “no” isn’t personal!

The world of pitching is scary, but if you don’t put yourself out there, nothing will ever change! If you don’t take the risk, you will never see what you are capable of.

So stop waiting. Research your target. Craft a killer pitch, and don’t be afraid to fail.

You’ve got this!