Checklist
The client outreach checklist for video editors.
Outreach fails for boring reasons: no rate card written down, pitches sent to unqualified leads, follow-ups forgotten. This is the whole routine as a checklist — run it once a week and it compounds. Orty automates most of the middle; everything here works manually too.
1. Before you write to anyone
- Portfolio text saved — two or three niche samples with results if you have them (“retention up 38% on a fitness series”). In Orty this lives in your Profile tab.
- Rate card written — exact prices per format and length. Drafting tools can only protect your rates if the rates exist somewhere concrete.
- One niche picked — fitness, gaming, food, podcasts — pick the one whose content you genuinely understand this month.
- Free-sample scope defined — one 30-second edit, watermarked, delivered once. Decide before someone asks.
2. Prospecting (20 minutes)
- Collect ten candidates — screenshot profiles from your niche's creator pages into one folder. Handles in the filename or notes.
- No dead channels — if they haven't posted in a month, skip. Cadence is need.
- Money evidence — glance for sponsorships, affiliate links, products. You're looking for budgets that already move.
3. Qualifying (10 minutes)
- Score every candidate — Orty's Rate tab does it in ~20 seconds each; manual version is the four signals (cadence, quality gap, budget signals, niche match).
- 7–10 → pitch this week.
- 4–6 → nurture list. Re-score next month; some creators level up their posting.
- Below 4 → delete without guilt. Disqualifying fast is the highest-paid activity in freelancing.
4. Pitching your top three
- Open with their content — one specific recent piece by name or description.
- Name one fix — something an editor would notice (pacing gap, missing color grade, weak first three seconds).
- One offer, one CTA — the scoped free sample or a single question. Never two asks.
- 90–130 words — one screen, skimmable between renders.
- Compliance attached — mailing address + unsubscribe line present (Orty adds this footer automatically on send/copy).
5. Following up (calendar, not memory)
- One bump after 4–6 business days — two polite sentences, new tiny value (an idea you had since), same thread.
- Two total touches maximum — after that, close the stage gracefully. Silence is an answer.
6. Tracking & Friday review
- Log every send — status + follow-up date per lead (your pipeline, wherever it lives).
- Friday numbers — replies ÷ pitches, bookings ÷ replies. Two ratios tell you whether to fix targeting or the pitch itself.
- Feed it back — whichever opener got replies becomes next week's pattern. Kill the losers.
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to send cold emails?
Tuesday–Thursday mornings in the recipient's timezone is the honest answer, but consistency beats cleverness — pick a slot you'll actually keep every week. Creators check DMs and email at wildly different hours anyway.
How long should the pitch be?
90–130 words. One screen on mobile. If it needs scrolling to finish, it needs cutting — usually the part about yourself rather than the part about their content.
How many follow-ups are acceptable?
One bump after 4–6 business days, then stop. Two messages total. Anything beyond that converts “not now” into “blocked,” and editors live in small communities.