Aly's Thursday Newsletter: Exploding To-Do Lists, New Story Opps, and Flooded Basements
Is it Friday yet?
Just kidding (Welcome to Thursday!)….but, I’m so ready for the weekend to get here.
Overnight, we had some crazy rain in NYC. While I for the most part slept through the bulk of it, I did wake up to a call that my parents' basement was flooded.
Fun fact: As I live in a tiny studio apartment walk-up, so I store a lot of my stuff in said basement. So, yeah. Yay for me.
Anyway, that's all to say I have a fun weekend ahead of me...
In the meantime, some positive news -- cat-sitting is going purrrfectly.
And, in TV binging news, I'm obviously counting the MINUTES to the premiere of THIS this weekend:
Now, let's get right to it -- I have two Zoom events this afternoon, and a virtual consulting session later on that I need to prepare for. And, in between, I need to transcribe an interview I did earlier this morning, and hopefully I will write a few articles along the way too (that's what I'm here for, right?).
Virtual consulting sessions...
I've been popping into a lot of PR team virtual meetings and making myself available to answer all sorts of questions about pitching, events, and trips from a media perspective. If you are interested in setting anything up for your own team in the coming months, please email me and we'll get something on the books! This is available for entire agencies or smaller group lunch and learn type concepts. If you are a freelance publicist and want to join in with a few other freelance publicist friends and set something up, we can do that as well!
On the fence over whether this is a good fit for your team? Here’s some feedback I received from people who I have worked with recently:
Aly was able to join our agency for a PR Perspectives chat and not only was it so much fun, but it was so informative! Keeping a pulse on the constantly changing media landscape is so important and we loved the insights and expertise Aly was able to share with us. Highly recommend setting up a chat with her!
Jennifer Haile – Dentsu Creative PR
I am always looking for ways to share new ideas and learning opportunities with our team to improve how we pitch and offer value to journalists and in turn their audience. Aly's no nonsense approach gave us accessible advice about the best way to communicate to media, what formats works best, and basically how we can share our client news in a way that will get us noticed and included in stories." Would do again in a heartbeat!
Samantha Davidson – Say My Name Communications
For my team’s first hybrid media event for a product launch in the COVID era, Aly quickly jumped on a Zoom and dropped great insights that drove many of the event elements. The direction she provided helped us increase attendance and gave her journalist colleagues a more memorable experience. It was a bonus that she was so easy and fun to talk to.
Apryl Ash – Approach Marketing
Now, it’s your turn! Email me at alywalansky@gmail.com to get something on my schedule for this summer.
Pay It Forward
Story leads and source opportunities are free in this newsletter and always will be — but these are only as useful as the eyeballs who see them. Please help a friend out by sharing this newsletter with a friend (or a few) today. Whether it is someone on your team or someone at an agency across town who you sometimes meet for martinis, it’ll be super appreciated!
Newly published or freshly updated stories
TODAY.com: Celebrate Father's Day with 15 food discounts and freebies
The Kitchn: This Tasty Spin on the Classic BLT Calls for Herby, Anchovy-Spiked Dressing
Her Money: How To Plan A Budget-Friendly Last-Minute Summer Vacation
Forbes: Perfect Cocktails For Toasting To Dad This Father’s Day
The Kitchn: Fluffernutter Brownies Are the Treat That Sweet Childhood Dreams Are Made Of
RetailMeNot: The Best Father’s Day Sales and Deals to Shop Now
YourTango: 30 Most Incredible Marriage Proposal Stories Of All Time
If you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social media shares tagging @alywalansky and the outlet.
Here's what I'm working on:
Be sure to read the below list carefully. Many are stories I posted about yesterday, but some of yesterday's stories are no longer listed and a few new ones have been added since yesterday. This (below) is everything that is still a currently open opportunity as of today.
Clean Plates
I’m working on a story on Real Food Vitamins vs. Synthetic Vitamins: How to Select the Vitamins Your Body Can Actually Absorb. Would love to do some interviews with experts (dietitians/MDs probably but open to other experts with legitimate and substantial credentials). I’m looking for expert input on what real food vitamins actually are, how they differ from synthetic vitamins, what makes them better, and how you can suss out real food vitamins vs. their synthetic counterparts. (Note: I can only take unaffiliated experts for this one - i.e. if you work with or for a vitamin brand, I can’t take commentary from your expert about a brand, and I’m actually not interested in being pitched ANY specific product or brand for this one, only expert commentary.)
Forbes
National Sushi Day is coming up, and I am working on a post on best practices on making sushi at home. These can be products and tools you can order, and tips for how to make this process easier and faster (and fun!) - while also, obviously, delish. Please send your pitches and sushi chef commentary my way!
RetailMeNot
Fourth of July Store Hours + Stores Open Fourth of July (similar to the Easter and Memorial Day store hours roundup I did for this same outlet). This is for major retailers, look at my versions for other holidays for an idea of what I'm looking for.
I'm also working on - Fourth of July Sales: The Best of the Best - it's an update of last year's story, but in a format more like this like this. Basically, I'm just going to be featuring the retailer and then a blurb about what kind of sale they're doing for Fourth of July. So, instead of being product specific, it'll be more "store specific" so, i'm looking for store-wide sales with promo codes (or department-wide discounts). Looking to include major retailers such as the following, so if you rep any of them, please do reach out! ie: Kohl's, Macy's, Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe's, Old Navy, Gap, Casper, Mattress Firm, Ashley HomeStore, Target, Walmart.
TODAY
I’m done with dads and grads, but I’m now putting out feelers for restaurant chains doing 4th of July freebies/deals/discounts. If you have anything that may be a fit, please send me info on the deal (what you get, when you get it, how you claim it), asap. Thanks :)
Are you confused about affiliate marketing?
If you are having trouble learning how to navigate issues of affiliate marketing (trust me, we've all been there!), you may want to try out my friend Sarah Karger, a publicist, and former editor Dana Baardsen (and all-around fab girl!)'s Ultimate Masterclass and Introduction to Affiliate Marketing for Publicists. It's a brilliant course and it'll answer all your questions (including some you didn't know you had!)
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<3
aly