What follows are a list of some of the biggest mistakes models make when submitting or pitching themselves to magazines. But first a few notes and housekeeping items.
If you like the article – be sure to check out my full e-book on how to get published in the fitness industry at www.FitModelGuide.com
Secondly, we just launched a new episode of TheProExposure in which Jason and myself interviewed Sheree Hartwell, the owner and director of Ford/Robert Black Agency and she answers all your questions on what models need to know about signing to an agency. You can listen for free here.
Lastly – our website and blog will be going dark for about a week as we update and launch our new web design. We will be returning after this time with your routinely scheduled blog articles. I apologize for the delay in content but believe this update is a great step in enhancing the James Patrick website! Thank you for your understanding.
Now onto the biggest mistakes models make when submitting to magazines.
1. The pitch was addressed “to whom it may concern” instead of to a specific member of the publication. Be sure to do your research and find out who specifically to submit your work to.
2. You sent a duplicate pitch to multiple publications and it is obvious that you cut and paste the text from one e-mail to the next. It would get worse if you forgot to change the magazine’s name in the e-mail. Write tailored and custom pitches to the magazines you want to submit to.
3. You sent one e-mail to a handful of magazines and placed all their e-mails in the TO or BCC field. It shows you did not want to take the time to write a customized e-mail.
4. You focused too much on yourself as opposed to talking about how the pitch would benefit the magazine or its readers. Show what you can do for them – not what they can do for you.
5. You have grammatical or spelling errors in your pitch.
6. You did not do your homework and pitched content that a publication would not run. Like pitching swimwear images to a magazine that never features swimwear photos.
7. You over-embellished or focused on details that do not matter. We had a pitch come in for a magazine I work for where the talent’s main credential was that he had 2 million Twitter followers. Not that a legitimate social media follow does not help (it does) but 2 million followers from someone that most people haven’t heard of raised a red flag.
If you get the gist of this post it is that you need to do your research, customize your pitches and build trusting relationships with the media to get your submissions picked up.
Best of luck in your media pitches!
James Patrick
jamespatrick.com
instagram @jpatrickphoto
