The Pitch Email That Got Me Booked (Plus the Media Kit Template I Use Every Time)
Photo: Peter van der Sluijs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Let me tell you about the worst pitch I ever sent. It was 2021, I'd just hit 10K followers, and I fired off an email to a skincare brand that was basically three paragraphs of me gushing about their products with zero ask, zero attachments, and a subject line that said "hi!" I never heard back. Shocker, I know.
Fast forward to last month, when a single email got me booked for a paid appearance within 48 hours. Same person sending it — me — but a completely different system. That's what I want to hand you today.
Your Media Kit Is Not a Résumé
The biggest mindset shift: a media kit isn't about you. It's about making a brand manager's job easier. These folks are juggling dozens of creators, tight budgets, and a boss who wants results. Every friction point you remove gets you closer to "yes."
My kit is a simple 5-page PDF (I build it in Canva, takes an afternoon to update quarterly). Here's the structure:
Page 1 — The Hook. One strong photo, one line about who I am, and one sentence about who I serve. Not "Brianna Jordan, content creator." Instead: "I help accessible-style brands reach women 25–40 who want luxury looks on real budgets."
Page 2 — The Numbers That Matter. Not just follower counts. I include average reach, saves and shares (brands care way more about saves than likes), audience demographics with a US breakdown, and story completion rates. If you don't have analytics access yet, screenshot your insights monthly — start now.
Page 3 — Proof of Work. Three to five campaign examples with actual outcomes. "Partnered with X brand — 4.2% engagement, 38K video views, 212 link clicks." Numbers close deals; vibes don't.
Page 4 — Services & Rates. Yes, list your rates. I resisted this for two years and lost count of how many hours I wasted on "what's your budget?" email ping-pong. Even ranges work.
Page 5 — Contact & Logistics. Email, city, turnaround time, and a note about usage rights. Brands love knowing you've thought this through.
The Email Script That Actually Gets Replies
Here's the exact framework, and I mean it literally:
Subject line: [Brand] x [Your Name] — idea for [season/campaign]
Body: Two short paragraphs, max. Paragraph one: a specific, genuine observation about their recent work — something only someone paying attention would notice. Paragraph two: one concrete idea with a deliverable and why it fits their audience. Then the link to your kit.
That's it. No life story, no "I've been a fan forever," no paragraph about your engagement rate. The kit does that work.
A real example that landed: I pitched a Midwest-based denim brand ahead of fall, referencing their new curvy line specifically, and proposed a "5 ways to style one jean" Reel series. Booked in three days. Why? It was obvious I'd looked at their business, not just my feed.
Follow Up Like a Professional, Not a Pest
My cadence is simple: initial email, then a follow-up at day 5, and one final nudge at day 12. Each follow-up adds something new — a fresh stat, a timely hook ("saw your holiday campaign just launched"), or a revised idea. Never just "bumping this!"
After that third touch, I let it go and move on. Half my booked deals came from follow-up #2. Brands are busy, inboxes are chaos, and persistence done politely reads as professionalism.
The Flops Taught Me the Most
Quick rundown of what's gotten me ghosted so you can skip the lesson: pitching without a specific idea ("I'd love to collab!" — deleted), attaching a 9-page kit (nobody read past page 2), sending at 5pm Friday, and — this one hurts — pitching brands whose aesthetic had nothing to do with my content because I wanted the paycheck. Audiences smell it, brands smell it, and it burns goodwill you'll want later.
One last thing: track everything. I keep a simple spreadsheet with the brand, date sent, follow-up dates, and outcome. It takes two minutes and it's the reason my follow-ups are actually on time.
You don't need a manager or an agency to get booked. You need a clean kit, a two-paragraph email that shows you did your homework, and the nerve to follow up twice. Start with the template idea above, customize it to your numbers, and send three pitches this week. The worst case is silence — and now you know exactly what to do about that.
