Why You Should Read Spammy Sales Pitches (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Bothering People)

"If I followed up that much they would ask to 'unsubscribe'!"

I'm used to hearing the fear of followup from nervous solopreneurs still building confidence in their brand. I myself had to overcome this fear in developing my own strategic self-promotion and sales outreach.

I am not used to hearing this reservation from someone who works in communications, with an extensive background in PR. And yet, there it was. The reason to not followup on a media pitch, even with a new angle or idea.

The fear of being blocked, cancelled, or unsubscribed is a strong one. And with good reason. There's a business outcome attached to building and maintaining these relationships. You don't want to burn any bridges or build a reputation for being spammy.

Most of all, we just don't want to annoy people.

In my years pitching clients, and now pitching my own brand, I've learned something pretty remarkable: people don't think of you as much as you think they do.

The idea that an email or DM will annoy someone is often rooted in our own reactions. We get annoyed by random outreach, so clearly others will too.

This belief kept me locked in place for years. I held off asking for a sale or even following up with a warm lead because I didn't want to be a bother.

Even as I kept this belief I knew it was creating unnecessary kinks in my pipeline. I needed a new belief around outreach. And the best way to get over this was to examine my thoughts around spam.

Anytime I felt myself get annoyed by an unsolicited introduction or pitch, I stopped myself from immediately hitting "delete". Instead, I read the message as if it were any other email.

Some pitches were completely off-the-mark. Yes, my company has the word "media" in it, but that doesn't mean it's a telecommunications business.

Other pitches seemed to come from the future. These were offers to solve the problems of a much larger company dealing with a much larger client volumes. I started to see these as aspirational offers.

And for any pitch that annoyed me, I examined why. A pattern started to develop and I noticed three key things I avoid in my cold outreach.

1. Faux familiarity. I'm instantly suspicious of cold outreach that references an unnamed (or even a named) "friend" who mentioned McEwen Media. I never fall for it and assume they're playing a numbers game. Instead, I actually take the time to become familiar with someone's brand. By the time I reach out, I have a firm sense of what they're currently sharing and where I see room to grow.
2. Assuming the problem they solve is a high priority for me. I had someone reach out to me on LinkedIn. He's a coach and nutritionist. Coaches are a natural fit for my work, so I accepted the connection request. When he reached out, my first response was "do you want to connect because you're interested in media? Or because I'm in my later 40s and need to lose weight?" It was the latter. I have deleted that thread. It's a risky move pointing out the flaws in other people, even if you do have a magical solution. You may make them feel singled out or attacked. Instead, show empathy. Make a safe space for people to come to you. Also, be strategic. You wanna help me lose weight? Find me on Facebook or Instagram. Not the place I do business.
3. Zero brand presence. Out of all the spammy emails and automated messages I've received over the years, only one has motivated me to download a freebie. It came from a well-established brand. I've listened to her business podcast for years and follow her advice on Instagram. It took years of hearing her insight and advice to build enough trust for me to download a freebie. Respect how much information consumers need in order to feel comfortable clicking anything from a stranger. This is the power of your brand, and it needs to come first.