A good pitch sent to a brand that never works with creators goes nowhere. A plain one sent to a brand already buying video gets a reply. Choosing well is most of the work.
The four that say yes
Brands you already buy from. Open your bathroom cabinet and your kitchen. "I have been using this for a month" is the strongest opening line there is, and you can only write it honestly about these.
Small, founder-run brands in your niche. The person reading the message can say yes tonight. No agency, no procurement, no quarterly cycle.
Local businesses. The café, the studio, the boutique. They get almost no pitches and the owner answers personally.
Brands already posting creator content. Scroll a feed. If there are videos that clearly were not made in a studio, there is a budget line for them already, and you are just the next person they book.
Skip the household names for now. Their creator programs run through agencies and move slowly.
Two signals worth two minutes
Before you write anything, check two things. Does the product actually fit what you make, because a forced fit reads as spam. And is there money visibly moving — paid ads running, creator posts reposted, an ambassador or affiliate program on the site.
A brand showing both signals is worth ten that show neither. Cut anything that fails on fit and start at the top of what is left.
Three is enough to begin. Not thirty. Three brands you can say something specific and true about, held on a list where you can see them, so the ones you pitched and the ones you have not stay separate in your head.
Open the deck and pick your first three.