Whether you are a tiny startup, a small owner-owned company, a promoter wanting to book a celeb for an event, a large corporation trying to hire a celebrity for nationwide endorsement, or a media brand looking to interview a celeb, working with celebrities can seem like a daunting task at first. The idea of having a famous celebrity endorse or recommend your product, or appear at your event or for an interview certainly can help you, no matter what your cause might be. For every type of person, business, or corporation wanting to work celebrities, finding an influential person to offer you their voice of support is one of the absolute best promotional strategies for long-term success.

While an Instagram model with 10,000 followers might certainly help your growing fashion business, getting Selena Gomez (the most followed person on Instagram and the face of Louis Vuitton brand) to endorse your line of clothing would obviously be a major game changer for any business. Similarly, having Cristiano Ronaldo agree to a short interview for a widely followed soccer podcast would certainly boost your popularity and probably increase your audience size.

Knowing how to reach out to a celebrity representative is the best way to get in contact with a celebrity for whatever your purpose. Below, we offer a few tips and examples of what to do and what not to do when reaching out to a celebrity representative.

What to Do?

Reach out By Email: Sure, we live in a world that is increasingly dominated by social media, but that doesn’t mean that email is dead. Do not reach out via Facebook messages or tweets, and even if you do stumble across a phone number, an unsolicited phone call can be considered invasive by the celebrity representative.

An email, on the other hand, is a good starting point that will allow you to introduce your business and your proposal, and puts the ball in the corner of the celebrity representative to follow up.

Be Concise: Celebrity representatives receive hundreds (if not thousands) of emails and phone calls every day. If they open up a 2,000 word email diatribe on why your company is a great fit for the celebrity they represent, their first reaction will most likely to hit the delete button.

A good introductory email will sufficiently introduce your company, brand, or product, clearly explain how you want the celebrity to be involved, and explain what you are offering the celebrity in return. Do not provide ALL of the information for what exactly you are proposing. You just need to do a short email explaining Who/What/When/Why/Where/How. If your pitch is appealing, the representative should get back to you with more precise questions.

Mention Other Celebrities: One other thing you should include in your introductory emails is other assets that you have for the proposed advertising campaign.

While most celebrity representatives will want the celebrity they represent to be the center or focal point of any campaign, if you can show the celebrity representative that your company or brand has successfully worked with other celebrities in the past, this might instill confidence that you know how to work with celebrities in a mutually beneficial manner.

Do Your Research: Before sending out the email, it is important to do your research on the celebrity you are attempting to contact to do business with. Find out their interests, ideals, and what causes/products they have supported in the past and then craft an email that succinctly weaves in your knowledge of those interests.

For example, if you know that Angelina Jolie does a lot of work with organizations that work with refugees around the world, offering a certain percent of your profit or proceeds to a UN-sponsored refugee program might help you get your proposal in front of her eyes.

One Follow Up Email: If you haven’t heard anything back from the representative after a week, feel free to send one follow up email that basically sums up what you are offering. If you haven’t heard back after the second email, it is best to move on to your plan B.

Seek a Long Term Relationship Even if the first response is no, thank the representative for their time and ask if it would be okay to reach out to them in the future. In the future, another pitch might be accepted, and showing respect for the representative is a great way for them to remember you and maintain the connection.

What NOT to Do?

Do Not Use a Template: While it might take a lot of time to send out 20 personal emails, representatives hate receiving a generic email that begins with “To whom it may concern.” Using an email template that you copy and paste and send to 50 reps is not a good strategy and will probably not give you any success.

In hand-crafted and personalized emails, make at least a couple mentions that show that you have done your homework and know exactly why a certain celebrity is the perfect fit for what you are pitching.

Do Not Call Their Cell Phone: Respecting the proper channels of communication is essential, so you should never directly call the cell phone of a representative. If they do show interest and respond to your introductory email, you can ask if a cell phone call might work as part of your follow up.

Do Not Tell them How to Do Their Job: Whatever you do, you should never come across as sounding bossy or authoritarian. In the end, the decision on whether or not to introduce their celebrity client to your business or product is solely in the hands of the representative.

Do not offer suggestions on how they could “pitch” your offer to their client, as that is completely their decision. Rather, simply try to promote your product or brand in the most appealing way possible, and let it go from there.

While landing a celebrity endorser is certainly not an easy task, these simple suggestions on what to do and what not to do when reaching out to a celebrity representative represent the best strategy to get your foot in the door.