Monday Edition: Send me your Labor Day restaurant deals! Also: Fun news clips, and everything I'm working on this week

Happy Monday!

Mondays are sometimes a rough day for many of us -- and they tend to be the busiest day, too. So I figured I'd start the first email of the work week with a few quick and easy tips for how to use a Monday morning to start the week off right.

1. Consult your week/day to-do list. That you should have made on Friday or over the weekend: Basically, this is to help you avoid being scattered as you start the week. It's to have a plan of attack, so to speak. But you don't want to waste time wondering what to do, worrying about what to do first, or trying to figure out a game plan or a brainstorm for how to conquer one thing or another thing. That all wastes time and takes away from your bottom line. Who wants to START from behind? Just add your tasks to the list, be sure to target priority items, and be aware of subcategories and batched items that may be time savers to check off all at once (this is all stuff we've covered in previous weeks).

2. Wake up early. I know we're all tempted to linger in bed for an extra 30 mins Monday morning but as this IS a busy day, give yourself the gift of an early start. This way you can have a proper breakfast (it does matter) and give your inbox a once-over before that clock hits your planned work-start time.

3. Take a shower and get dressed. Even if you have no meetings or anywhere to go. I know we got into the habit of hanging out in our sweatpants the last two years when WFH, but taking that time to shower and dress no matter where our day will take us really does help to set the tone and put us in a go-to-work frame of mind. It also comes in handy if you get an unexpected virtual meeting request in the middle of the afternoon or end up with spontaneous happy hour plans.

4. Find a source of natural light.  I get that those of us who live in apartments do not have natural space, but lift the blinds, open the window, get some fresh air. For those of you who are blessed to have outdoor space, take some time to go for a walk, have your coffee on the stoop, or water your garden. Natural light helps to brighten your mood and keep you alert in the same way we use that coffee.

5. Do something that you feel good about. This could be a random act of kindness, making a plan for the weekend or later in the week you are really excited about, or even texting or calling someone to wish them a good day and tell them you are thinking of them.  My thing is that I call my mom to wish her a good day every day while I have my morning coffee. It just sets both our days off on the right note, but do whatever makes YOU feel good and ready to conquer the morning.

Doing all this, you are so ready for the day. Even a MONDAY. 

This weekend’s Industry Insights edition was on the *very* important topic of inclusive scheduling when planning events. Please take the time to read it here.

In other news...

Friday night, Benjamin Steakhouse in NYC invited me in for a tasting and I was able to bring two dear friends of over 20 years along with me.

As one of those friends is a vegetarian (and was able to eat very well!) and the others of us were very much carnivores, it was the perfect way of evaluating a steakhouse menu from all perspectives. There was a lot to love -- but I must share that the martinis were absolutely top-notch (which we know is always an important point in my book!).

alywalansky

A post shared by Aly Walansky (@alywalansky)

What I'm watching

I binged ALL of Netflix's The Partner Track yesterday (from beginning to end, 10 episodes, we see I had a productive Sunday! Ha!), and I can't recommend it highly enough.

It's loaded with romance, but its core is actually about friendship, and it's also loaded with corporate intrigue and betrayal. So basically, whether you are a Virgin River type of TV viewer or a Succession type of TV viewer (which is quite a large range!), this is a show you will like! 

What are YOU watching right now? I’m always game for a new TV binge.

In the news

Over the weekend, Marketwatch interviewed me for a story on inflation-proof food finds - think like the $1 pizza, $1.50 hot dog, $5 Costco rotisserie chicken. They are still out there! Check out the story here.

Upcoming travel

I’ll be in Greenville for Euphoria in mid-September (for the second year in a row - so you can tell I’m a big fan!). I also have a trip to Louisville coming up shortly after and other travel in the works in the coming months. Stay tuned for details!

If you are planning a group press trip, here’s some things to keep in mind from an industry insights newsletter I did on the topic a while back. I’ll be doing an updated version soon because clearly, we live and work in an ever-changing landscape and some of the factors I mentioned in this newsletter last year now have changed (but a lot remains the same). And if you are ever looking to have a more formal consult on the topic, drop me a line!

Get a special group rate

I’m now offering a 50% discount on paid subscriptions when purchased as part of a group subscription (that’s four or more people). It’s a great way to get your team involved and save some cash.

Job leads

Have a job lead? Email them to me at alywalansky@gmail.com - they are always free, and always welcome.  This newsletter goes out six days a week, so if you have a preferred day to have it appear, let me know that as well - can't guarantee it will be that day, but I will do my best. Internship opportunities are welcome as well! Please remember to include location of the job and any contact information. Blind items are also OK if you are putting some feelers out but not ready to share the job is available.

Cinch PR is looking for a  Account Coordinator (San Francisco, CA). If interested, please reach out to careers@cinchpr.com. 

Newly published …

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: ‘Modern Jewish Comfort Food’ Offers An Updated Take On Classic Recipes Just In Time For The Jewish New Year

• RetailMeNot: The Best Labor Day 2022 Sales to Shop Now

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.

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.

TODAY.COM

I’m rounding up freebies, deals, and discounts at food chains in honor of the following upcoming food holidays:

• National Cheese Pizza Day

• National Coffee Day

• Labor Day restaurant deals

Please send me the deal, when it’s good, what the deal is, how to claim it, and any other details. (Is it only good during specific hours, is it only good at specific locations? This is all helpful to know!)

Forbes

For Forbes, I’m rounding up great takes on the martini in NYC - to pitch me for this, I’ll need a high res image of the martini (please send as a LINK, not as an attachment) as well as description of the martini and a quote from a bartender/owner/manager/chef at the restaurant/bar about the martini. I’m also going to incorporate a sidebar about creating a great martini at home, so I’m very open for pitches and commentary for that. By Friday please.

RetailMeNot

I'm working on the following new stories:

• How to save at Uber Eats

• How to save more at DoorDash

• Shoppers Guide To Aldi - guide a first-time Aldi shopper through the differences (ie, shopping carts, checkout, etc.) Plus, ways Aldi helps you save (best products to buy there, etc.)

For all three of these, obviously I'm going to myself shop there and find ways to shop and save money and little time saving tips, but very open to expert advice as well.

Clean Plates

I’ll be doing a roundup of the best frozen cauliflower crust pizzas - as in the best tasting/best for you ones you can buy. I’d love RDS and nutritionists (unaffiliated with a brand ideally) to weigh in for a variety of pizza crusts - and I have a list I can share when you email me, as far as nutrient composition: Is cauliflower actually a primary ingredient or way down the list? If there are binders like rice flour or whatever, how refined are they / how nutritionally void?  Taste: does it actually taste good? - I have a lot more specific metrics, and items I specifically want to touch on, so please email me before sending commentary and I’ll tell you what I’m looking for. (As far as formatting, look to this boxed mac and cheese story I did for the same outlet as far as what I’m looking for.)

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 (This summer, I even 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 fall.

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!)

That’s it for today! Have a great day and I’ll see you same place, same time, tomorrow!

<3

aly