The follow-up nobody sends

Most first pitches are not rejected. They are missed: read on a phone, left for later, buried by the afternoon. A follow-up is not pestering, it is putting the email back at the top of a list where being at the top is the whole game.

A cadence that works

1. 1.Day 0: the pitch.
2. 2.Day 3 or 4: a short bump that adds something new — a fresh piece of content, a result, a second idea.
3. 3.Day 10: the last one. Short, friendly, and closes the loop yourself.
4. 4.Then stop, and re-pitch in a quarter when there is a new reason.

What to write

• Never “just bumping this” on its own. Add one new thing, every time.
• Keep it under 60 words. It is a nudge, not a second pitch.
• Reply in the same thread so the original is one scroll away.
• On the last one, make it easy to say no: “If this isn't the right quarter, I'll come back when you're briefing again.”

When to stop

Two follow-ups, then out. A third rarely converts and it does cost you the next relationship. Silence after three touches is information: your idea, your timing or your contact was wrong. Change one of them and try again next quarter.