How to get hired by a content marketing agency

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Here’s the deal:

I’ve hired HUNDREDS of writers for my content marketing agency, Optimist. I’ve seen THOUSANDS of applications, work samples, and pitches.

And I’ll be honest…

The worst way to get on my radar is to cold pitch me.

And I know a lot of the content leads and agency owners I speak to feel the same way.

Here’s why – and what you can do to land more freelance clients instead 👇🧵

🙅 Why I never respond to cold pitches

Every week I get literally dozens of emails and LinkedIn DMs like this:

And these days, half of them of them are from tech bros using AI to spam out thousands of cold emails a minute:

So, rather than spending hours every month reading and responding to all these pitches…

I just ignore them all 🤷

Which means that some legit pitches slip through the cracks. 

Like this one I received a few months back:

This is a perfectly good pitch. 

But I didn’t read it at the time… because I don’t read cold pitches 🤷

And honestly: if I do happen to read your pitch, it might actually work against you…

🙃 Why cold pitching can be counterproductive

Look, I get it. Pitching sucks. Applying for jobs sucks. The silence, the rejection, and the uncertainty can be absolutely grueling.

And I get that folks want to stand out from the hundreds of other writers looking for work.

But here’s a glimpse into the hiring side:

We’ll get 500 applicants for every freelance writing role we post at Optimist. And we have to sift through all those applications to find the best person for the gig.

As you can probably imagine, that’s a huge investment of time on our end. And it’s a really difficult decision to make – especially when we know it’s going to impact people’s livelihoods.

Anything you do that makes that process harder for us – like DMing me a pitch instead of filling out the application form – counts against you. Because now I’m annoyed you’re filling my inbox when I already have hundreds of applicants to review.

So in my case: even if I’m actively looking for freelance writers… I still ignore pitches from freelance writers.

And there are people with much more crowded inboxes than mine 🤷

👀 So… what actually works?

Okay, so if cold pitching isn’t likely to lead anywhere, what can you do?

Just wait for calls for writers on LinkedIn?

Luckily, there’s a much better way. And honestly, it’s not particularly complicated. 

Because the thing is: I usually hire people I know, like, and trust. When an opportunity opens up, those are the first people I reach out to.

Here are some real examples:

Marc Thomas and I have exchanged messages and comments on LinkedIn for years. Nothing earth-shattering – just friendly conversation with a guy who clearly knows what he’s talking about when it comes to content.

One day I saw a post about him running growth audits just as we were discussing what we could be doing to grow TOFU. 

And a week later, I’d hired Marc to take a look at the TOFU funnel and make some recommendations.

Another is Anna Sonnenberg, who’s been a member of TOFU for a long while (and even purchased one of our courses!). 

When we did a big hiring round for a new client a few years back, Anna applied. 

I recognized her name, which made her stand out. Plus, she had great experience. 

We hired her for a pilot, she did great job, and we’ve been working with Anna ever since 🙌

It’s the same basic story for many people I’ve hired over the years and continue to work with like Brinda Gulati, Raphael Ibrahim, and Shannon Clark.

None of these folks hit me with the “perfect pitch”. 

They just hung out here in TOFU, commented on a few of my LinkedIn posts, and maybe exchanged a few DMs with me. 

Then when I was hiring they came straight to mind – or stood out among all the job applications.

So, if you seriously want to work with someone, I’d personally recommend you forget about pitching them. 

Instead, just get to know them.

And if you’re thinking “but I need clients now”...

Think about it: if someone doesn’t need a freelance writer right now, a cold pitch isn’t going to change their mind. So you’re only going to land them as a client when they’re actively looking for writers.

Which means you might as well try to spark up a conversation with them. If they need a writer right now, they’ll think of you for the role. And if they don’t, you’ll be on their radar next time they do.

Obviously, this all begs the question:

How do you get to know a busy agency owner without being annoying? And what's the difference between relationship-building and stalking?

Well, that’s exactly what I cover in Sales for Sane People – the course where I lay out the pitch-free approach to biz dev that has landed me dozens of clients over the last year or so.

Want to see what it’s all about?

Check out the first four modules of Sales for Sane People for free!

Here’s what you'll get:

• An overview of how (and why) the Sales for Sane People system works

• A walkthrough of how the Sales for Sane People pipeline works

• A breakdown of the daily workflows Tyler has used to build a sustainable, predictable pipeline of client work 

• A look at how you’ll progress prospects through your pipeline and into warm contacts who know and like you

All 100% free!

👉 Grab your free preview of Sales for Sane People here