Happy Tuesday: Job leads, today's productivity tip, and pending story leads
NY -- today is primary day. Don't forget to go out and vote!
Good morning!
Every day I try to share a little bit of a productivity tip or way I save time (or budget my time) wherever possible.
To that end, I'm all about to-do lists. And I don't even mean specifically today's story deadlines (though those are on every day’s list too, of course). But I write down all the tasks I hope to complete in a day -- from finishing those stories, to sending those pitches, to stuff like returning a phone call that I haven't returned yet. Today, I have a Zoom in the afternoon (it’s actually going to be a fun one — I’m pretty excited!), and then hope to dash out to get my brows done after -- and then, as it's primary day in NY, vote on the walk home and remember to pass a mailbox to mail out some stuff. I also have on the list to take boneless skinless chicken thighs out of the freezer to throw in the fridge to defrost. It's not just the work tasks but all the tasks you hope to check off in a day. Even the little ones that feel small but are actually pretty significant to your overall routine. When all those tasks do get checked off, you feel so great!
We’re all so busy, it can feel really overwhelming at times. And we’ve all been that person at one point that has so many things we need to do, we don’t know where to start, and end up paralyzed with indecision — which then wastes time and takes away from getting anything done.
Keeping to a personal agenda will help with that. It's all about managing your life, one task at a time. And making sure you leave nothing out! Sometimes I will put these to-do lists in priority order, with the biggest tasks on top and the smaller or less important on the bottom, but you can also design your list from what is easier to knock out to what is more demanding. Whatever works for you!
Looking for a new job?
Confidant is currently looking for two PR Managers (Corporate and Consumer Reputation) to join their NYC team!
The ideal Consumer candidate will have agency experience focused on driving earned media and creating integrated campaigns for large consumer brands or well-known D2C brands, specifically for food/beverage, CPG and retail or e-commerce clients; and the ideal Corporate Reputation candidate will have experience in helping companies develop corporate campaigns and narratives, including CSR, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, executive visibility and thought leadership. To apply please find LinkedIn job posts here.
Do you have a job listing to share? Job listings are ALWAYS free and always welcome — will share any jobs and/or internships in media, PR, or any related field. Have a job lead in a field that’s not related? Send it anyway and if it sounds like it may be of interest to subscribers, happy to share it.
What’s cooking?
Last night, I made air fryer harissa chicken wings, live on video on my Instagram stories. You can still check them out there, but I’ve also added them to the highlights section on my Instagram profile. That’s where you’ll find loads of other recipes, too!
Must-See TV
Don’t forget there’s a special session of the Jan 6. hearings today at 1 PM ET. I’ll be glued to CNN and I hope you will be as well…
Speaking of current events….
It’s primary day in NY — you can vote for Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, judicial delegates, judges and a bunch of state committee and district leader seats, as well as State Assembly. Remember, change begins at the local level. So please take a few minutes to go vote today. Find your assigned poll site and sample ballot here.
Newly published or freshly updated stories
The Kitchn: Salt & Straw Is Releasing a Line of Culinary Perfume That You Can Spray on Both You and Your Ice Cream
TODAY.com: Where to score the best 4th of July food freebies and discounts
RetailMeNot: 13 Stores That Let You Bring in Old Clothes for Recycling
RetailMeNot: Stores Open Fourth of July + Fourth of July Store Hours
TripSavvy: The 9 Best Sedona Hotels of 2022
If you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social media shares tagging @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.
TODAY.com
I’m putting out preliminary feelers for a potential story on National Ice Cream Day deals at chains. If you have any deals brewing, please tell me what the deal is, when it’s good for (is it just for National Ice Cream Day or all of Ice Cream Month?), and how to claim the deal.
HerMoney
I working on a story on different travel situations and why they may qualify for a reimbursement. For example: delayed or cancelled flights. Everyone is dealing with this more than ever of late. I’m looking at that and other travel scenarios and seeing when and how you can get credits and travel reimbursements. This will also fall into other travel situations you can get reimbursements on, such as flight issues, luggage issues, cancelled events, issues with vacation rentals, natural disasters, etc. I would love to chat with personal finance experts and travel experts on different travel situations and why they may qualify for a reimbursement - including the ones no one thinks about!
I’m also working on surprisingly affordable last-minute vacation deals/destinations for your summer vacation. For each destination, I’m looking for a pitch that includes: destination, a few factors that make it a fun/unique/affordable destination, an affordable hotel option, and a few affordable/standout food/drink/nightlife options.
RetailMeNot
I'm writing a roundup of student discounts. I am updating this article, so if your client is listed among the existing deals, I’d love it if you can confirm for me whether it has changed or not. But I’m very open to new deals too!
I’m also working on a story on best reusable cups freebies and discounts - establishments that give some kind of BYO cup discount. These types of discounts fell by the wayside for COVID, but have since started coming back.
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!
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 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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aly