Aly's Wednesday Edition: Tons of newly published stories, pending assignments, how to start your day a little brighter, and job leads!

Sometimes, getting through a long day at work is all about what you have waiting on the other side.

Tonight, I have exciting plans with some of my very favorite people on earth, and looking forward to that is how I’m weathering all the randomness and stresses that pop up in my inbox during the day.

But it’s also about starting the day right.

You know how sometimes, you’ll be chatting with someone and they’ll grumble about how they woke up on the wrong side of bed that morning? We've all been there. And sometimes it feels like if we start our day on that sour note, it never gets better from there.

So, make an effort to start the day right -- and keep it that way. How you start the day can affect your mood for the rest of the day. 

If you start the day in a bad place, and continue to feel bad or sad, you'll be less productive. But if you are in a good mood, you'll feel more positive about your work. And you'll get more done.

It all comes back to starting the day in a good frame of mind, so you are ready to conquer whatever that day sends your way. Start your morning with something you know will brighten your mood. Maybe that's listening to your favorite music, or going a few blocks out of your way on your commute to pick up a bagel from your favorite spot or an oat milk latte from your favorite cafe. Or maybe it's just cuddling for five extra minutes with your dog. The point is, start the day with what makes you happy. Wake up on the right side of bed. And the rest of the day will follow.

What are you watching?

In other news, I’ve just finished season 3 of Dickinson and I’m so sad. Why did it just END like that? And what is everyone else binging right now?

Job Leads

New York Post: They are hiring for full-time commerce positions within the New York Post Digital Network —  New York Post Deals Reporter, Decider Commerce Reporter, Page Six Commerce Reporter, Commerce Partnerships Coordinator.

Newly published stories…

• Food Network: Salt & Straw Brings Back Its Version of the Choco Taco Just When We Need It Most

• TODAY.com: How to get free wings on National Chicken Wing Day

• Forbes: 20 Bright Pink Cocktails That Embrace The Barbiecore Trend

• Forbes: The Bellagio Conservatory Has Launched A Meal Experience That Is Like No Other In Las Vegas

• The Kitchn: Dave & Buster’s Has Just Made Our Childhood Fantasy a Reality

• Taste of Home: How to Get the Bacon Smell Out of Your House

• Forbes: JetBlue Teams With NYC-Based Legacy Records For New Mint Food Menu

• Her Money: Trip Ruined Due To A Nightmare Travel Scenario? Here's How To Get A Credit For That

• Clean Plates: The Best Ways to Eat Healthier and Save Money When You’re Flying

If you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social media shares! Please remember to tag @alywalansky and the outlet.

What I’m working on now:

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.

Please remember when pitching me: Email me at alywalansky@gmail.com - do NOT just hit reply on this newsletter, or there’s a good shot your email will be lost in the heap. Give your email a subject line that makes it clear which story you are pitching me for — it’ll help you in the long run.

Clean Plates

I'm looking for nutritionists and RDs to share their go-to takeout order and why it's the best way to go in terms of nutritional value, well-balanced meals, being satisfied but not over-stuffed, and so forth. Obviously not specific restaurants, of course. but more like "if getting Chinese takeout, get this..." "if getting Indian takeout, get this..." and so forth. It’s fine to say “I order this but sub out this aspect for this aspect, or get it without the sauce or whatever.” Please reach out if you have someone who can comment!

Forbes.com

I’m working on a roundup of great oyster-centric dishes in honor of National Oyster Day. To pitch me for this one please remember to include all the following parameters:

• Name of dish

• Where sold (restaurant, city, state, URL)

• Description of dish

• Quote about dish (please remember to give me the name AND title of the person being quoted - you’d never believe how many people forget to do this!)

• High-quality image of dish (AND any necessary photo credits). Please be sure to name the image something like the dish’s name or restaurant’s name (I get A LOT of photo galleries of a million unnamed photos…you can imagine the carnage that can ensue if I choose the wrong image!)

2. On August 1, the world will celebrate National Spritz Day! Believe it or not...not everyone loves an Aperol Spritz. (No hate on Aperol, it's just not for everyone...). So I'm doing a roundup of OTHER spritzes to enjoy to celebrate this day. If you represent a bar or restaurant with a great spritz on the menu, please email me and let me know (and you can follow all the same parameters as the oysters story!)

3.Also for Forbes, I’m rounding up the celebrity chef restaurants that opened in the last year or so or are opening later in 2022 that are especially exciting. If you have any that might be a fit, please email me. I’ll need info about the restaurant, and some images I can use, and would LOVE if I could get a quote or two from the chef/owner. This is not a full-length feature on any restaurant but more of a roundup/list. (Though if any sound especially great I can consider for a more focused story down the line!)

RetailMeNot

I have a few weeks to play with these two, but that's because I need to compile a whole lot of info for these...

The Best Labor Day Sales to Shop Now - This is similar to the sales roundups I did for July 4th, Father's Day, and so forth. I'm rounding up the best Labor Day sales this year, focusing on major retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Kohl’s, Macy’s etc. When pitching me, please include the details of the sale, if it’s in-store or online, and any cash back offers from RetailMeNot.

Your Guide to Labor Day Store Hours -  I'm going to be doing a revamp of this article, about the store hours of major retailers during Labor Day weekend. I want to include the retailers that were in last year’s update (so please email me if you are any of those stores) but will be expanding and adding more in this update. Yes, this is very similar to the hours updates I've done for Memorial Day, July 4th, etc, so you know the drill by now as far as format goes!

TODAY.com

I am looking for deals/discounts/freebies at chains for

• National Avocado Day

• National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

If you have any, please tell me what the deal is, when it’s available and where, and how to claim it.

Share the love

Every morning, I share what I’m working on that day and links to newly published stories and send it right into your inbox — for free! I also share productivity tips, job leads, links to volunteer and mentoring opportunities, recipes, and more — all always free.

Please share this newsletter with a friend or colleague today. Every Friday, I randomly choose one new free subscriber who signed on that week. They will be automatically upgraded to a paid subscription for free — and, if they tell me who referred them to this Substack, that person will as well! These opportunities only get better if we share them with our friends.

Paid subscriptions get additional benefits, such as my weekly industry insights newsletters, subscriber Zoom chats, and much more.

Virtual consulting sessions...

Looking for a consult as you plan your next event or trip? Or just want someone to take a look at the pitches you’ve been sending and give some feedback?

I've been popping into a lot of PR team virtual meetings and some other fun stuff (I even recently joined in on an agency’s team retreat right here in Brooklyn — it was so fun and I made so many new friends!) and making myself available to answer all sorts of questions about pitching, events, and trips from a media perspective.  I like to keep these things chill and comfortable and relaxed all by sharing perspective and learning from one another.

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!

Potential new availability: A few people have reached out to me and asked if I was also open to doing consulting for freelance journalists in addition to the PR consulting sessions I currently do, and I am absolutely considering it. I need to spend some time thinking on what a session like that may look like and be structured, but after 20+ years in the industry, I’ve seen a whole lot change and it may be interesting to share my own experiences with someone just starting out. So, stay tuned!

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’s advice and insight is invaluable to our team, not only is she incredibly knowledgeable, she is approachable, generous, and kind too. While we read every one of her newsletters, we decided to go one step further and invited Aly to host a Q&A with our agency. During the session, we felt comfortable asking her everything and anything. She went above and beyond, providing examples and reasoning for each answer, and the team walked away with an abundance of new insight, tips, and tricks, plus a new confidence in handling some of the most crucial parts of our jobs." Sacha Bell, Rachel Harrison Communications

"Looking for a brilliant writer that always goes above and beyond?  Look no further than Aly!  She is an incredible teacher, tells it exactly how it is and is so generous in sharing her knowledge.  She knows what she wants from publicists, is very clear on her needs and expectations, and how to best support one another.  Most of all, her kind personality jumps off the page, and her giggle and smile are infectious.  In this consistently changing world of media, it’s so refreshing to know someone so genuine.” Kirsten Wanket

“Aly spoke to our team to help us all gain a better understanding of the media side of our business. Whether it was the best ways to pitch media or understanding the editorial process of content, she gave us tremendous insight into a vital relationship for mutual success. We were thrilled and our team came away with not only a deeper understanding, but with greater empathy for our colleagues in the media market. Definitely would recommend Aly for any agency looking to better work with their media counterparts.” Dawn Britt, Founder/Managing Partner/CEO of OneSeven Agency

“Aly has very kindly agreed to join a few sessions for us talking to both smaller and larger internal groups, and it has been incredibly helpful for our team to understand more about her process, and garner best practices that we leverage as we work on various programs. From sharing dos and don’ts for virtual and in-person events to pitching tips, Aly is a pro and always so thoughtful in her responses. And her own first-hand knowledge has helped us all to better understand the work process for freelancers and how we can most effectively work with other freelancers like Aly. We always appreciate her time and insights!” Erin Delahanty, Edelman

“I would highly recommend booking a virtual consulting session with Aly for an agency of any size!  She offers up to date perspective on everything from the affiliates to how to get your pitches read to timing your pitching correctly. These virtual consulting sessions literally save you time trying to figure out what the media is looking for and give your team an immediate edge.  Aly took her time and answered questions from the team. She is super friendly and you can tell she genuinely wants to create a win-win relationship between the media and publicists. Our team loved having Aly on and we cannot wait to have her back!  It was a blast!” Leah Cybulski, ChicExecs

“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.

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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