Monday: Final batch of Mother's Day gift guides are now live + Grab the recording of our Dads and Grads Gift Guide Pitching Workshop!
Plus: Featured ad space is now available. Also: New job leads, and a 20% discounts on my virtual consulting/lunch & learn sessions!
Happy Monday!
You may recall that last week, I was a panelist on Muck Rack’s big State of Journalism webinar. They just posted a great LinkedIn piece on some of the takeaways from the discussion and if you were not there to give a listen, it might be a great one to check out: Pitching preferences, AI and more: What journalists and a PR pro say about Muck Rack’s latest State of Journalism survey. It’s a great roundup of a lively hour of discussion. To delve a bit more (OK, a lot more) deeply, watch the recorded webinar and dig into the complete State of Journalism 2024 report.
Hope everyone had a great derby weekend. And, if you had any Cinco de Mayo fun yesterday, hope it involved delish food and cocktails. (I made my go-to homemade spin on carne asada burrito bowls and they were a hit.)
First, some administrative news — Mother’s Day content is officially — and fully! - wrapped up.
If you scroll down to the newly published stories section below, you’ll find a total of FIVE published Mother’s Day gift guides, related other Mother’s Day content, and much more…and that’s perfect timing because Father’s Day content is now upon us!
(Yes, I’ll be working on Father’s Day gift guides…stay tuned for specific details!)
Grab the Dads and Grads Gift Guide Pitching Workshop AMA Now!
Speaking of Father’s Day — thanks to all who attended our Dads and Grads Gift Guide Pitching Workshop AMA last week. We had a full house and an hour packed with really great questions and conversation — and now the full recording is available to any subscriber who may have missed it (or wants to go back and give another listen.) You can check out how to grab that recording and what we covered right here.
Some new content to share today includes for RetailMeNot, 10 Gorgeous Pieces of Mother’s Day Jewelry $150 and Under, Forbes.com: 20 Cocktails Perfect For Honoring That Special Woman In Your Life On Mother’s Day and Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Meals You Can Have Shipped To Her Door, as well as for FoodNetwork.com: It Was Only a Matter of Time Before Velveeta Started Making Its Own Queso, for Southern Living: What Is An English Cucumber? (this is a deeper dive than you may expect!), for Clean Plates, 11 Mediterranean Diet Foods You Can Get at Trader Joe’s, for Best Life: 11 Essential Kitchen Items to Always Have for Entertaining, and finally, a rather personal one for RetailMeNot: How Using My Air Fryer Makes Cooking on a Small Budget (and In a Small Space) Possible - I share a lot of my own personal home recipes, too!
Featured ads are now available!
This newsletter goes out to well over 8,000 engaged publicists, business owners, and journalists each and every day. If you are looking to sponsor a daily installment of this newsletter or place an ad (assuming it’s an organic fit for the interests of my audience!), that is now available. Email me at alywalansky@gmail.com to discuss.
The steepest discount I’ve ever offered on consulting sessions
In exciting news, I’m doing something I’ve never done before: I’m currently offering 20% discounts on my virtual consulting/lunch & learn sessions. Times are really tough and I am hoping to make these insights as accessible as possible to any of you who are interested. If you want to schedule a session for yourself or your team, to discuss anything from pitching to followups to events or press trips or anything else…drop me an email at alywalansky@gmail.com and lets chat!
Job leads
Quinn is hiring an Assistant Account Executive - NYC and a Account Executive - NYC as well as an Account Coordinator – NYC and Senior Account Executive - NYC.
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!
RetailMeNot: 10 Gorgeous Pieces of Mother’s Day Jewelry $150 and Under
Forbes.com: 20 Cocktails Perfect For Honoring That Special Woman In Your Life On Mother’s Day
Forbes.com: Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Meals You Can Have Shipped To Her Door
FoodNetwork.com: It Was Only a Matter of Time Before Velveeta Started Making Its Own Queso
Southern Living: What Is An English Cucumber?
Best Life: 11 Essential Kitchen Items to Always Have for Entertaining
Clean Plates, 11 Mediterranean Diet Foods You Can Get at Trader Joe’s
RetailMeNot: How Using My Air Fryer Makes Cooking on a Small Budget (and In a Small Space) Possible
Southern Living: How To Preheat An Air Fryer
Soaps.com: 17 Hallmark Channel Gifts For Fans Who Watch Year-Round — Including Items Starting at $3
RetailMeNot: How to Save on Food Delivery Apps: 10 Tips That Actually Work
Today.com: These affordable drugstore wrinkle creams are recommended by derms and makeup artists
Forbes.com: Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Mom Who Really Loves Salad
Forbes.com: Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For Her Foodie She Shed
Forbes.com: Mindful Consumption Gets A Bespoke Feel With New Loews ‘Free Spirited’ Program
Clean Plates: The Best Healthy Snacks to Buy at Target, According to Dietitians
Forbes.com: Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Mom Who Loves To Grill
Southern Living: My Recipe for Air Fryer Green Beans (these are so good!)
Clean Plates: The Healthiest Tomato Sauces You Can Buy at the Grocery Store
RetailMeNot: How Growing My Own Herbs At Home Has Helped Me Keep Meals Creative Without Busting My Budget
Clean Plates: How to Clean and Organize Your Fridge for Spring
HerMoney: The Best Timing For Hotel Bookings - How To Save On Your Stay
RetailMeNot: Savings Star Origin Story: How I Learned to Eat Well (In NY!) On a Shoestring Budget
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.
Southern Living
Can You Freeze Baked Beans? A Comprehensive Guide to Freezing and Storing Baked Beans — I have a list of questions for this one, and I’d love if chefs and food safety experts can weigh in. Please do NOT send me commentary before receiving my rundown of questions.
How Long Do Brown Sugar Substitutes Last? Storage Tips and Recipe Ideas — for this, I’m looking to explore different types of brown sugar substitutes, as well as the ratios and measurements for each substitute to achieve the right amount of sweetness and consistency, how to make homemade brown sugar substitutes. I also have a list of questions for this one I’d love a chef or related appropriate credentialed food expert to weigh in on.
Clean Plates
I’m working on a story pegged for July 4th/BBQ season, geared toward all my fellow Trader Joe’s lovers out there: Products at Trader Joe's RDs love for summer cookouts …I’m trying to focus on newer products coming out this spring that would be great for summer grilling or a summer cookout - obviously with a component that RDs are a fan, and why. So if you have a RD that will want to comment, please reach out!
RetailMeNot
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.
Forbes
For Forbes, I’m rounding up Bridgerton-inspired cocktails. I need name of drink, where served, a description, a quote about it, and an image of the cocktail. These cocktails MUST exist on a bar or restaurant menu in order to be considered.
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...
Whether you need 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, followups, mailers 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.
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aly