Six rejections in a row is a normal tuesday

when someone tells me they are getting rejected, my first question is: how many is tons? it matters.

when i do a trip i send about 20 to 40 emails and get 3 to 8 yeses. roughly one in eight. so six nos in a row is a normal tuesday, not a verdict on your work. i get rejected constantly.

across the people i work with it looks similar. the consistent ones are sending 20 to 40 pitches per trip or per push and landing around 5 yeses, of which they can usually only fit 2 or 3 in. that is about one in eight. normal for any kind of sales.

if you are sending 5 emails and hearing nothing, that is not a portfolio problem. that is a volume problem, and often a copy and paste problem.

THREE THINGS TO CHECK BEFORE YOU CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR PHOTOS

1. who are you sending to?

info@ is the front desk.

reception handles bookings, lost keys and complaints. they have never once hired a photographer. but they do answer questions.

pitch only the owner or marketing director, by name.

if you need help check my other posts:

"who to actually email" and

"HOW TO PITCH"

2. is your best work on page one? every portfolio i have looked at had the strongest photos at the end. mine did too. switch it and put ONLY your best photos on your porfolio, and put the very best one first. Imagine a first glance or impression. They may not see your best work on page 4.

3. are you following up? 5 to 7 business days, then two weeks, then a month. i pitched a place in Vienna six times before they said yes.

SEND MORE THAN FEELS NORMAL

i usually email about 40 places per trip and go with whoever responds. that is the whole system.

the nos are the math. they are location dependent too, and they are not always a verdict on your work.

I could pitch 20 places in paris and maybe get one or two yes's. but when i pitched the best surfing spot in Brazil, 4 out of the 4 places i emailed and pitched all said yes.

besides that, do not worry about it being over saturated. there are a million hotels, brands, companies, airlines, resturants, in every single country around the world, and they will always need photos. you are not competing with better photographers. you are competing with people who stopped at one email or never tried at all.