“Don’t underestimate the obvious”

Unsurprisingly, amid the September fashion weeks my inbox is noisier than ever, not only with show notes and invites but the hustle and bustle that comes with it (‘so-and-so is in town and wants to talk’; ‘this hot new collab is a hit backstage’; ‘get the front row look from xyz’ etc). Inevitably, it makes other pitch emails harder to unearth.

The ones I have managed to digest stood out for their practicality – and it demonstrates just how useful a simple client catch-up, and some top line ideas, can be.

The email version of editorial listicles, they tend to bullet point experts available for interviews, and the topics they can speak to (which often act as feature ideas in themselves). And that’s it.

This isn’t to say it’s a guarantee I’ll readily respond to them. (Sorry!) But don’t think I’m not grateful to receive them. Perhaps, instead, I’ll reply when I want to access a specific type of professional (my editor suggests I speak to a meditation teacher, for example, so I use my email folder like a search engine and discover one you mentioned). Or I make a mental note of a trending topic you flagged, and when I have the capacity to cover it, I’ll come to you first.

Perhaps this is a personal preference, though I find it makes sense to concisely pitch various high-level ideas (connected to a theme) in one email, rather than separate ones which overload an already bloated inbox.

Sorry if what I’m describing is glaringly basic, but in our increasingly complex jobs we can easily get lost in the intricacies and overlook the obvious – and sometimes it helps for someone else to point them out. Here’s hoping, anyway.