I used to write three-paragraph pitch emails with custom hooks for every brand. I closed maybe one in twenty.
Now I send the same five-sentence template. I closed twelve in the last quarter. The template:
Hi [Brand], I've been buying [specific product] for [time]. My audience of [follower count] in [niche] over-indexes on [demographic that matches your customer]. I have one slot open in [month] for a [deliverable]. My rate is [amount]. Want to talk?
Why it works
Five sentences. No padding. No 'I love your brand and your mission resonates with mine.' Brands get 200 of those a week.
Sentence 1 proves you're a real customer, not a random pitcher
Sentence 2 shows you know who their customer is
Sentence 3 creates urgency without sounding desperate
Sentence 4 puts a number on the table so they don't have to
Sentence 5 makes it easy to say yes
What I don't include
I don't attach a media kit. I send my Zela link. If they want to see numbers they click. Most do. The ones who don't, save me time.
I don't pitch on Friday. Brands queue Monday-Wednesday for sign-off.
I don't follow up more than twice. If you've sent two emails and heard nothing, they're not interested. Move on. There are 999 other brands.