Every year, Forbes sends its best educators to hotels around the world, on a mission to teach resort employees how to provide guests with the best experiences possible (and how to help their luxury properties earn the 5-Star designation).

And, in 2018, when I was the head concierge at Cape Cod’s Most Beautiful Address—aka Chatham Bars Inn—Forbes sent Jason Raimondi.

He spent a week teaching us CBI employees all about how to prioritize guests, how to be anticipatory, and how to pass our Forbes audit.

…before leaving us with the reminder that, one day, when we least expected it, and undercover Forbes auditor would be back to evaluate our performance, and determine whether we deserved 5 Stars.

& let me tell you—no one wanted to be the asshole that was the reason we didn’t.

ESPECIALLY not my perfectionist ass.

So, every single day, with every single guest, I was anticipatory as hell.

I asked “Good Evening, Mr. Jones, how did you enjoy the clambake last night?”

I said “Good Morning, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, did you see any whales on yesterday’s charter?”

I smiled at Jonny and Casey, and shared a knowing glance with Mrs. Kelling, as she charged them off to Kids Camp before her 9am reservation at the Spa.

And I was the queen of guest experience, the top seller of private boating excursions, the most charismatic concierge, and the all-knowing ultimate Cape Cod recommendation holder.

(This job was a Cape-loving extrovert’s dream.)

& all my hard work paid off one busy August afternoon where, thank God, that conversation about the best lobster roll I told you about in the last TOC happened to be with the undercover Forbes auditor.

A week later, Jason reappeared, this time for a vacation with his family.

(Side note: how lucky were his wife and daughter?! They got to accompany him all over the world to the best luxury resorts, enjoying all of the amenities because it was his literal job… like, can we trade places?!)

During his stay, we inevitably became friends, because my desk was in the center of the hotel lobby, and he was practically the center of the hotel.

We connected on LinkedIn, and—fast forward a few careers for both of us—when it was time to consider who I could reach out to in hopes they’d take a chance on my brand-new business, Jason became my first-ever paying client as the Founder of his own hotel education business, JOR Hospitality Solutions.

Actually, he was my first-ever non-paying client, too.

“Sara has been nothing short of phenomenal!”

Not everyone has the opportunity to do what they love, and it is clear that Sara is not only in love with copywriting, but is also very talented. Not only does she make the reading easy to enjoy, but she does a wonderful job capturing my voice. She really cares about the integrity of her clients and how they look online to their audience. I would highly recommend Sara and Between The Lines Copywriting!”

— Jason Raimondi, Luxury Hospitality Consultant

Want to see the *exact* email I sent to convince him to take a chance on me & my brand new business. 

I thought you might.

“Good afternoon Mr. Raimondi, 

I hope you’re having a great Wednesday! I wanted to reach out and first say thank you for everything you have helped me with and all the resources you have lent me since my time working as a concierge at Chatham Bars Inn to even recently reaching out to your contacts in Montreal on my behalf. 

I appreciate your dedication to lending your ear and your time, and I value your opinion very much. That being said, it’s my turn to (hopefully) lend a hand to you! 

As you know, my husband and I are moving to Canada in a couple weeks, and I had been turning over every stone looking for potential work up there, until I realized that I’m perfectly capable of working for myself if I truly put all of my effort behind it. 

I have loved writing for as long as I can remember, and I don’t know why it has taken me so long to turn it into a career. I plan to wholeheartedly pursue the art of copywriting. 

Because I have little ‘official’ experience, I would love to offer copy for JOR Hospitality Solutions for no charge, as I am simply trying to build a portfolio. 

This could include blog posts, social media copy, landing pages, newsletters, or anything else you may need copy for. I am also happy to create content for your Instagram page and assist with increasing engagement and following. 

Should you be interested, I am happy to draft something for you! As I’ve said, I do not expect any compensation, aside from potentially a testimonial if you are so inclined! I’m available to discuss further today, and any time next week. 

Feel free to call or text me at [my phone number] if there are any questions I can answer for you. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this email! 

Best, 

Sara Karlstad Noel-de-Tilly”

& that was it!

Important things to note about me cold pitching to Jason:

• we already knew each other and had a good professional relationship
• I didn’t pressure him into anything, and made it easy for him to agree (it was no skin off his back—I was doing it for free!)
• I explained exactly what type of partnership I was looking for
• I made sure he knew I was available to chat based on his schedule

If you’re a brand new freelancer or business owner looking for new client work, consider cold pitching. There’s a right way to do it, and a definite wrong way to do it, and I’m telling you EVERYTHING you need to know in my free cold pitching guide —download it right here!

Want to learn how you can get YOUR first (or next!) client as a freelance copywriter?

You’ll want to download my FREE lesson about 3 easy ways to get your first 3 clients as a freelance copywriter. 🙂

I hope you found this post interesting! Thank you so much for reading. 🙂 If you’d like to learn more about getting started as a freelance copywriter, check out my small group mentorship program for copywriters — I host 3-month sessions every Spring and Fall.