Friday: What you are doing right now is how you get to the end of that task (my productivity tip of the day!)
Also: See you next week, LA!
Good morning!
TGIF, amiright?
It’s been a week of weeks, and it’s not over yet - I have a busy day today, wrapping up a deadline and also preparing to host a virtual lunch and learn session in a little bit. But it’s doing what I love most, and that’s always something to be grateful for and celebrate.
A reminder that I’m wrapping up both my March Madness and St. Patrick’s Day content today - so if you have anything for either, please send ASAP.
As today is Friday and we’re pushing on midday, I know a lot of you are already in wind down mode for the week. But I wanted to quickly share a little bit of a productivity tip that helped to motivate me this morning. I was in bed, scrolling my phone, and realized there was a life administration task I had been putting off that I really just had to get handled and out of the way.
And, then, I reminded myself: What you are doing right now is how you get to the end of that task.
The reasoning behind this (other than sounding hokey, which is always possible with me) is quite simply: By doing anything but tackling that aforementioned task, it does nothing but ultimately push back when the task will be completed and out of your hair. This thing you are avoiding doing, you yourself are prolonging. You are making the thing causing you frustration to continue to exist.
Takeaway: If you find yourself going through hell, keep going.
Newly published this week
In other news, I have a bunch of newly published content to share. For Apartment Therapy, I Asked Pro Travelers to Share Their Packing Tips for Spring Break.
For Southern Living, I wrote about What Exactly Is "Check-In Chicken" And Will It Actually Help You Get A Better Seat On A Flight? (as someone who notoriously is at the airport like three hours early, it’s comical I wrote this story!). For Forbes, I interviewed the ALWAYS delightful Molly Yeh about her new babka collab just in time for her latest book release - Molly Yeh’s Collaboration With Popular New York City Bakery Involves A Heavy Dose Of Nostalgia.
This week for Food Network, I wrote about one of the most interesting items on Starbucks’ newly released spring menu - Starbucks’ New Spring 2025 Drink Features Cherry on Top, and for Travel & Leisure, I covered one of my go-to travel tech essentials — Frequent Fliers Say This Genius Hack Makes It Feel Like They've Upgraded Their Seat — and It's Only $30.
Travel next week!
Speaking of travel, I’ll be in LA all next week!
It’s a pretty packed itinerary so I’m sure my downtime will be very limited - but maybe I’ll get lucky and be able to give a few of you a hug while I’m there :)
Limited-time deals on consulting sessions and ad placement!
Reminder: I’m offering a limited-time special consulting session discount for paid subscribers: If you are a paid subscriber, you can for a limited time, get 25% off a virtual consulting session (where we can have your own private or agency-wide AMA session on anything you want to chat about!) — I have some slots open in the next few weeks, so if you or your agency is interested in booking one, email me today and we’ll chat details.
I’m also offering a seasonal special on advertising in this newsletter. I do limit advertising to only what would be of interest to my readers, but am open to both short paragraph blurbs and dedicated posts - if you are interested in chatting details and scheduling something, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com today!
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Thank you for helping get the word out!
We had an amazing turnout at last week’s Mother’s Day gift guide pitching workshop — and there’s a full recording available for paid subscribers. If you are interested in me sending you the video link, drop me an email. Thanks so much for your support and happy gift guide pitching!
Related: We loved how many of attended you took the time to attend our webinar event last month, covering the upcoming ShareASale to Awin migration. We covered an overview of the migration process and timeline, pricing of networks, and choosing a network for your specific client needs. If you missed it, we do have a recording available for paid subscribers. Email if interested and I’ll share how to grab that recording as well!
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!)
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.
Newsweek Readers Choice: Best Cruise Ship for Families 2025, Best Apres Ski Spots, Best Casinos with Live Music (outside Vegas), Best U.S. Wellness Resort, Best Packing Cube, Best Vodka, Best Gourmet Subscription Box, Best Mattress, and Best Outdoor Grill - more categories coming very soon!
Apartment Therapy: I Asked Pro Travelers to Share Their Packing Tips for Spring Break
Southern Living: What Exactly Is "Check-In Chicken" And Will It Actually Help You Get A Better Seat On A Flight?
Forbes: Molly Yeh’s Collaboration With Popular New York City Bakery Involves A Heavy Dose Of Nostalgia.
Food Network: Starbucks’ New Spring 2025 Drink Features Cherry on Top
Travel & Leisure: Frequent Fliers Say This Genius Hack Makes It Feel Like They've Upgraded Their Seat — and It's Only $30.
Forbes.com: Exotic Meats Are On The Menu At Indian Speakeasy In New York City
RetailMeNot: How to Save Money on Groceries in 2025: 10 Tips That Actually Work
Southern Living: The Unexpected Reason I Always Travel With Duct Tape—And You Should Too
Apartment Therapy: We Asked Experts for the Best Way to Store Sex Toys — Here’s What They Said
Saatva: Daylight Saving Time and Sleep: 5 Ways to Sleep Better When the Clocks Change
Apartment Therapy: I Tried the 30/30 Rule, and I Discovered Something Unexpected
Travel & Leisure: A Travel Writer's $10 Amazon Packing Hack for Shoes
Travel & Leisure: I Travel Solo Often, and I Won’t Stay in Another Airbnb Without Packing This 1 Safety Device
Southern Living: The 9 Best Bottles Of Bourbon, According To Southern Chefs And Bartenders
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.
Forbes
With March Madness and St Patrick’s Day coming up, let me know if you have anything fun cocktail/dish wise going on for that…
If you have anything for me, please make sure you have all of the following before pitching:
Name of drink/dish
Where served: Name of restaurant/bar, city, state, URL
Description (not a recipe!)
Quote about dish from chef/bartender
LINK to image (low res is fine) - and appropriate photo credits
If you are a restaurant or bar doing anything special this year for Purim, I’d love to hear more!
I’m also beginning to round up Kosher for Passover treats/snacks/beverages (must be certified as SPECIFICALLY kosher for passover and not just regular kosher. Please email me if you have anything!)
<3
aly