Friday: Final days to take advantage of 50% subscription deal + new assignments! + today's productivity tip will help you climb those 'unsurmountable' mountains

Good morning and happy Friday!

First of all, thanks so much for all the incredible emails I got in response to Wednesday’s email. I was in a pretty vulnerable place and it really meant so much to me to be reminded I had so many supportive friends out there.

I have a few new pieces I’m sourcing for below (please scroll down to find everything new and pending!), but whew…TGIF indeed…it’s been quite an eventful week! Lots of new content went live this week, including for Travel & Leisure, I wrote a bit of a deep dive into while I’m so obsessed with packing cubes: I’m a Travel Writer, and This Is My Secret to Packing for a Week in a Single Carry-on Bag.

Newly published today is a fun piece I wrote for Forbes: Wonder Brings Celebrity Chef Cooking To Home Dining Rooms (this is a fun app that those in NY and NJ NEED to try), also this week for Forbes.com: 7 Anti-Valentine’s Cocktails For Those Who Are Not Feeling The Romance as well as 30 Romantic Dishes To Savor On Valentine’s Day and finally an unexpected but interesting stat: Taylor Swift Has Had A Surprising Influence On Game Day Pizza Orders.

In honor of Valentine’s Day being this week (as well as Galentine’s Day, as well!), I’m going to be offering 50% off paid subscriptions for the remainder of the month of February. This is the biggest discount I’ve ever done and is good on either annual or monthly subscriptions — meaning that upgrading and getting the value of AMAs and industry insights emails and all the other subscriber benefits will now cost you roughly as much as a monthly cup of coffee, as my Valentine’s Day gift to you!

Check out my appearance on this week on the Behind The Media podcast, with my gal Juliana Martins. We chat about A BUNCH of stuff, such as how brands can stick out to editors in a saturated market, how I decide which events I will attend vs decline, what startups, new venues, or brands with minimal budgets can do to get media attention, PR/pitching do’s and don’ts and more…including our mutual celeb crush and some of our favorite places to eat and drink!

So honored to see Muck Rack included me in their 2024 list of top ten most popular freelance journalists. Check out the list here.

Productivity tip of the day

Today's productivity tip is about setting small goals rather than trying to climb insurmountable mountains.

(Let it be noted: I've never actually climbed a mountain. I did go hiking once, but I was totally tricked into it on a press trip and wouldn't have otherwise.)

But back to the topic at hand: We all have those assignments or projects, as the case may be, that seem huge and overwhelming, and we keep on putting it off because it seems like we never have a span of time big enough in our day to get it done. But what if we just break it into more manageable pieces? Like when you are on a diet -- you celebrate every milestone, you don't wait till your goal to give yourself credit.

So with each new large project, break it down, and take a moment to figure in how each part you can accomplish fits together to complete the whole. If you look at an assignment as, say, something you are building, you know it has parts and a foundation, and certain pieces that need to be done first in order to make later pieces fit.

Every project is like that too. If you figure out what the parts and pieces are, and what that first piece that needs to be handled is -- a person that needs to be spoken to, an email that needs to be sent, research that needs to be done, you have laid a foundation. Then you can set a timeline, and start building those blocks. You've broken down your project into smaller, more manageable goals, and put the steps in place to ultimately, reach that big goal in a way that feels a lot less overwhelming.

And, sometimes this way, we find out that big and scary project isn't that big and scary at all!

Newly published or freshly updated

Since people are often asking about the status of stories from a while ago, and I only share stories in this newsletter that were published or updated in the current week, I have created a list of my author pages at various publications to which I contribute. Bookmark it and make your life a bit easier.

This list will live on my Substack URL and be updated as necessary. That way, you can see what I’m doing at any publication, at any time, from types of stories to general structure of stories to even volume and frequency of my content at that outlet.

This can also help you to target pitching a bit better. That makes your job easier, and mine too!

• Forbes.com: Wonder Brings Celebrity Chef Cooking To Home Dining Rooms

• Travel & Leisure: I’m a Travel Writer, and This Is My Secret to Packing for a Week in a Single Carry-on Bag

• Forbes.com: 7 Anti-Valentine’s Cocktails For Those Who Are Not Feeling The Romance

• Forbes.com: 30 Romantic Dishes To Savor On Valentine’s Day

• Forbes.com: Taylor Swift Has Had A Surprising Influence On Game Day Pizza Orders

• The Kitchn: Applebee’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and More of the Best Food Deals for Super Bowl 2024

• Southern Living: A Guide To Enjoying Leftover Salmon

• Travel & Leisure: In-flight Theft Is Unfortunately a Thing, but These 12 Items Give Me Peace of Mind When I'm Traveling by Plane

• Forbes.com: 25 Creative Pies To Try On National Pizza Day

• Forbes.com: 25 Cocktails Perfect For A Super Bowl: Taylor’s Version Viewing Party

• Forbes.com: 30 Hot Pink Cocktails For A Fetch ‘Mean Girls’ Viewing Party

• RetailMeNot: 5 Superstar Ingredients for Your Meal-Stretching Pantry Starter Pack

• Forbes.com: 40 Romantic Cocktails That Will Add A Little Love On Valentine’s Day

• Today.com: Say goodbye to wrinkles with these expert-approved drugstore creams — starting at $12

• Food Network: Oreo’s New Cookie Will Take You to Outer Space

• Clean Plates: The Healthy Trader Joe’s Sauce I Use in *Everything*

• RetailMeNot: Affordable Valentine’s Day Gifts That Show Lots of Love on a Budget

• Martha Stewart: 8 Storage Mistakes That Are Keeping Your Home From Being Organized

• Forbes.com: Valentine’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Most Romantic Kitchen Gifts

• Today.com: 27 healthy fast food items at popular US chains, according to dietitians and doctors

• Southern Living: Can You Freeze Brussels Sprouts?

• Forbes.com: Valentine’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Heart-Shaped Food Gifts

• Forbes.com: Valentine’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Bougie Culinary Gifts

• Clean Plates: 7 Mediterranean Diet Dinner Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less

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.

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.

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.

Please consult my industry insights guides on submitting expert commentary, sending emails that will catch a journalist’s attention, how to craft pitches journalists will say ‘yes’ to, and the right and wrong way to submit photos, if you need any extra guidance before sending your pitches.

RetailMeNot

I’m rounding up the Best Easter Sales that Shouldn't Be Missed for 2024. I’m open to sales that aren’t necessarily billed as "Easter Sales" – there are going to be a ton of spring sales going on, too. So, really anything that helps you get Easter Basket stuffers, clothes, table decor, spring decor or whatever else for Easter is fair game. I’m trying to include these specific retailers - Target, CVS, Walmart, Michaels, Macy's, Kohl's, Carter's, but I’m open to others as well. Please remember to include the following in your pitch: When Do Easter Sales Start?, timing of Easter sales (when they begin, when the last-minute deals start, etc.), what is included in the sales, how to claim the deals, and so forth.

Budget shopping and cooking/eating smarter: As you all know, I write a lot of content for RMN related to budget shopping and cooking/eating smarter. I’m going to be working on a monthly column on the subject of cooking/eating well on a budget, and I’d love you to pitch me products/ideas to consider for it - maybe a new meal-stretching product that is a good deal at a grocery store, an awesome product to try that may cut my meal prep time in half, other themes as far as saving money on food/cooking/eating and doing it in a way that is smarter.

Clean Plates

In preparation for the spring holidays, I’m working on a story on how gathering with loved ones is good for our mental health (we all can relate to how big an issue loneliness can be!). For example, the Passover seder tradition — it’s very much about tradition and eating and drinking, but it’s foremost about gathering, and I’d love to speak to some experts about why that’s so important.

Forbes

National Margarita Day is coming up very soon and I’m looking for bars and restaurants that are doing really interesting, fun, unique spins on the margarita — this can be cocktails and also margarita-inspired dishes. Please pitch me by Friday with the name of the drink/dish, description, where it’s served/available, a bartender/chef quote and an image. Thanks!

Looking to up your affiliate marketing game?

Affiliate marketing is complicated, and it seems that the landscape keeps changing. If you are looking to be prepared for gift guide season and all other shopping-related content, you may want to try the 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!)

Virtual (and now in-person!) 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’m available for PR team virtual meetings to answer questions about pitching, events, and trips from a media perspective.  Note: I’m also available to travel for consulting sessions as long as travel expenses are covered. We can chat! This is available for entire agencies or smaller group lunch and learn type concepts.

Have a great day!

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