Last week on Episode 338 of “Now Hear This Entertainment” you heard Jack Forman, the president of BiCoastal Productions, a New York City-based concert and theatrical booking agency, talking about (among other topics) cold calls that he receives. He referred to unsolicited phone calls, U.S. Mail, and, of course, email.
I mentioned to him that as an artist’s manager and as the host of NHTE, I too receive similar outreach. Sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming to the point of, “Am I going to open them all or am I going to open just one.” To the sender, the answer is, “I don’t care, just as long as you pick mine.”
Do your homework, folks. If you write, “Your Now Hear This Entertainment podcast” on the subject line, I will likely open it. If you start your subject line with “Re:” because you want to fool me into thinking that you’re replying to something I sent you, or that it’s ongoing correspondence we’re having, I’m not going to fall for it and will actually be turned off by your attempted deception.
If your subject line says, “Music submission” (and believe me, lots and lots of them do), and then you refer in your email to getting your songs heard on my “station,” you’ve ticked me off because I can tell you’ve been sending to radio stations and somehow think that I am one. Delete!
But that’s only half the battle.
Once I do open your email – and again, the subject line is going to have a lot to do with whether your message gets opened or not – there had better be something inside that’s going to make me want to get back to you. Opening it is one thing, but reacting to it beyond, “Nah. Next!” is another.
Last night an email came in that, inside, actually started like this:
Hey [name],
Wow. Way to not do your homework. The sender claimed, “I found you on Instagram.” Well, if that’s really the case, you’d either click the proverbial link in bio and go quickly investigate or, even easier, tap on one of the pictures that I’m tagged in to see my first name so that you could write Bruce instead of [name].
| Related posts: |
| When Does MY Break Come? |
| 20-Plus Ways to Promote |
Inside the email, whether you’re wanting Now Hear This to consider managing and promoting you or you’re trying to get booked as a guest on the podcast, tell me what your hook is. Is there a new single, EP, or album or a new music video that you’re promoting? Don’t think that, “I’m a recording artist” is your story. That’s like me pitching a radio station or TV show or newspaper or magazine to interview me because I have a podcast. Really, Bruce? You and hundreds of thousands of others! So, tell me what your angle is. Again, to repeat, “I’ve shared the stage with Rascal Flatts, Kellie Pickler, and Scott McCreery,” is not a hook. What’s new now?!
This is going to sound contradictory but is different. In addition to the hook, I do like to see a short bio that gives me some highlights, such as if you’ve opened for big names, like the example above, and maybe a reality TV show you were on, perhaps your Spotify numbers, any major features you’ve gotten (i.e., Billboard, CMT), and even touring that you’ve done and/or major events that you’ve performed at.
Next, do have links in your email. I want to see your website, and, make it easy for me to get to your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Any more over and above that is a bonus. Yes, an EPK (link) might get my attention, but – to me, at least – it’s not a deal breaker if you don’t have one.
Don’t start giving me mp3s and photos and/or Dropbox links until I ask for them. And don’t give me your whole life story.
As the saying goes, you’re going to get out of it exactly what you put into it. If you’re just copying and pasting from one email to the next and not tailoring your emails to the recipients, then don’t be surprised and don’t complain when you get little to no response.
How are your pitching efforts going via email? Tweet at me to @NHT_tweets to let me know. Alternatively, use Facebook, LinkedIn, or even email to continue the conversation.