Write a pitch that survives being forwarded

Your pitch has one job most of us never think about. It has to survive being forwarded. The person who opens it often isn't the person who decides, and they'll only pass it on if doing so takes no effort from them.

So write it for the second reader.

Why it works

A forwardable message has four things visible without scrolling: who's writing, what they'll produce, what they want in return, and when. If any of those needs interpreting, the first reader has to do work to pass it along. Busy people don't do optional work.

The one thingWrite it so a receptionist can forward it to a marketing manager without adding a single word.

The seven parts, in this order

This is the order Questroo writes in. If you'd rather do it by hand, you're doing the same thing it does.

1. One specific, true compliment. Its setting, its design, a named feature — something you could only say about this property. Generic praise reads as a mass mailing, and it's the most common reason these get ignored.
2. Who you are and what you specialise in. One sentence.
3. When and where you're travelling. The month, exact dates if you have them, your flexibility if you don't.
4. What they receive. Photos and videos that are theirs to use on their own social media, website and marketing. Lead with this rather than with exposure — it's the concrete part they can act on.
5. Your proof. Past collaborations and testimonials if you have them, then the portfolio link. It goes here, before the ask, so they're already reassured by the time they read what you want.
6. The exchange, plainly. Three nights asked for, two the minimum. Then the deliverables.
7. An offer to adapt, and an open question. Anything specific they'd like featured, and a closing question that invites a conversation rather than a yes or no.

Two things sit around all that. A subject line about them — “Content collaboration — March, Seville” is fine, “Your courtyard in the late afternoon” is better, “Collaboration opportunity!!” never. And write it in the language they're most likely to read: yours if the destination shares it, otherwise English.

The template

What to change, and what not to

Change the specific detail, the dates, the city. Leave the order alone. It's doing work: proof of attention, then who you are, then when, then what they get, then why they can trust you, then the ask. Shuffle it and pitches turn back into requests.

Don't promise more than the list, either. Questroo won't do it on your behalf, on purpose — an extra ten photos are worth far more arriving unannounced than they are as a line in an email.

If you have an audience

Don't hide it, and don't open with it. It goes in one place — just after the deliverables, where it reads as a second reason rather than the whole case.

Two lines, with numbers you can back up. The placement isn't modesty. Somebody reading a list of files they'll own is already relaxed by the time they reach the reach, and reach on its own is harder for them to act on.

One exception: a chain with an in-house photographer and a real media budget doesn't need your camera. There, lead with reach and bring real numbers — median story reach, saves, link taps.

Three ways to lose in the first line

• “I'd love to collaborate — my followers would love your hotel.” Nothing concrete, nothing they keep, and it invites a question about your numbers before they've seen your work.
• Four paragraphs about your journey. Nobody reads past line six on a first contact.
• Flattery you made up. “Your stunning infinity pool” to a property with no pool ends it, and it happens constantly when people mass-produce personalisation without checking.

Sending forty of these

You should. That's the right number, and it's where people cut the wrong corner. The rule: automate the formatting, never the facts. Personalise the opening from something you actually looked at, keep every other line identical, and read each one before it goes. One wrong hotel name undoes an otherwise good pitch.

Do this now

1. Write your version of the template. Save it as your only template.
2. Write the opening line for your first ten properties. One sentence each, from their actual feed.
3. Send them, and log the date — lesson 10 depends on it.