Give it the finished video (and a side-by-side, if it remakes something of theirs), who it's for, what it was made from, the time and the spend. You get a short message for the person to send privately, in their voice. Draft it; never send it: the person reads it, changes it and sends it themselves.
Inputs
- The recipient and what of theirs you noticed (their launch, their repo, the story about them) and where.
- What the video was made from: their site, their repo, their launch video, one public article. Only public material, or what they shared.
- The real time and the real spend, from the job's notes.
- What the person wants back: feedback, a reply, permission to share.
The note
Four parts, a sentence or two each, after the video's link:
- Why them: the specific thing you noticed, in a line that shows you looked.
- What it was made from, and how: "from your homepage and your launch video, with an AI video agent".
- Honest time and cost: "about an hour and $7 of model time". Round honestly, never down to make it sound effortless.
- An honest ask: what you'd like from them, and that it's theirs to say no to. "Would you be up for me sharing it? Happy to keep it private if not."
Example (invented):
Hi Nora, here's a 30 s ad for Globex Kitchen I made this week:
I've been using it to plan Sundays and wanted to see what a cartoon version of the weekly chain would look like. It's made from your homepage and your launch video, with an AI video agent: about two hours and $10 of model time. There's a side-by-side with your launch video too.
Would you mind if I posted it? Totally fine to keep it between us if not.
Rules
- Private first. The video is posted or shown publicly only once the recipient says yes. A spec piece with a real employee in it stays private to that company.
- Nothing the source contradicts: no feature, number or claim the video or the note
makes that their own material doesn't support (
guide-pull-product-highlights). - Their logo only on work for them. A news short about a company is not theirs: no logo on it, and the note doesn't imply they endorsed it.
- Lead with the video, not with who you are; keep it under about 120 words.
- No pitch in the first note unless the person asks for one: the video is the pitch.
Check it
- Every fact in the note is in the job's notes or the source.
- The time and cost match what was spent.
- The ask can be answered with a yes or a no.
- The person has read it; you have not sent it.
