Monday: Please don't miss out on my complete guide to being better at submitting photos + newly published content!
PS: Grab the FREE recording of last week's blockbuster Zoom webinar event covering pitching, trends, and all things holiday gift guide season.
Hi, friends!
I’m back in town and there’s just so much going on…
Today, I wanted to discuss a topic though that I am pretty sure impacts every single person reading this email.
I have shared photo submission best practices guides in my industry insights emails pretty often, and it’s a topic that’s always much-needed and well-received.
But there’s SO MANY instances of people not-doing those best practices (and I saw dozens of examples of it when I was working on my latest cocktail roundup this past weekend) that I decided it’s about time I share some of these guidelines in the daily version of this email as well. I hope it helps people. And please be sure to share this with your friends and colleagues, in the event it may help them as well.
Believe it or not, the photo submission aspect of the pitch or response to a call for sources is incredibly important -- and, at times, a deal breaker.
While some of these tips are a bit more evergreen – as they apply to my cocktail or food stories as well, I’d love if you can take the bulk of these tips into mind when submitting photos for holiday gift guides.
High-quality photos
Whether it’s blurry, out of focus, poor quality, or the wrong image – a bad image can be a big problem. Make sure your photo is high-quality and just LOOKS GOOD, but also is a high enough resolution to be suitable to share with the world.
Size
While I'm not going to be a stickler for it needing to be a super huge photo (in fact, I'd prefer if it's not for reasons I'll touch on in a moment), it can't be a postage stamp size either.
If a photo is too small, we'll need to adjust its size to fit the story -- and that could end up with a photo looking blurry, distorted, and just not good quality.
Somewhere around 300 dpi, hi-res, and ideally 2mb plus is usually a good way to go, as they are able to be resized to the article and maintain their quality.
Lifestyle vs. product shot
I know you want to share those fun lifestyle shots but generally speaking, I am very much more likely to use a photo of your grill on a plain white background than one where a bunch of people are standing around the grill laughing and flipping burgers.
While I might sometimes use a photo that involves a hand squeezing lime or what you have in a cocktail or food photo, in a product photo, you're better off keeping things simple.
Credits
PLEASE don't pull a random photo from the Internet and include it with your submission.
You need to have permission to use a photo and thus give us appropriate photo credits. That means it's a photo that you took, own, or were given permission to use and share. Send those photo credits with your pitch, not as a "BTW!" after the story has been published, please.
If it’s a retailer or brand photo, of course, this is not an issue and a different story entirely. It’s fine to include a photo of your desk fan that can be bought on Amazon and grab an image from Amazon (make sure to label it tho!).
But if it’s a shot taken by a photographer or owned by someone, credit is necessary – before, not after.
Give consideration to the file name — it matters A LOT.
Please don't send me photo attachments. Use a dropbox or google drive. I always ask specifically for this and people still ignore the request daily.
Please send ONLY one or two photos with your pitch. No one wants a huge gallery or look book to sort through and pray they chose the right photo.
Be sure your images are labeled AND HAVE A DESCRIPTIVE FILE NAME. I get a LOT of photo files titled something like "image01" or "screencapture" - I want images that tell me what this is. If you are pitching me a knife from XYZ brand, that's your title of your image. If you are pitching me cocktails, name the cocktail in your image.
If you are sending me a headshot of someone, make that person's name the image title. Labeling a photo correctly is the best way to avoid corrections after the fact.
Avoid Restrictions
Recently, I was working on a story and went to click on an image sent by the publicist and it required that I request permission.
Another asked for a password.
This happens A LOT.
As I was deadline and it was the weekend and they were not as attached to my email as I was, I was not able to gain access to that photo and ultimately include that item in my story.
Always make sure you remove restrictions before sending an image for consideration in a story. By the same account, make sure that image has no expiration link.
You may be sending the photo on one date, but there’s the potential it’ll be a week later before the link is clicked and the image is downloaded.
Remember the golden rule: Read the instructions and follow the submission guidelines of whomever you are pitching.
If you skip that photo they need or send it in a way other than they need, it could greatly impact your chances of being included in a story. If someone has 25 spots to fill and 2000 pitches (real talk), your best chance is that you include all the correct deliverables. It's just the way it goes.
Check out our complete holiday gift guide pitching recording - it’s available right here, right now!
For those who missed out, you can grab the whole recording of our best practices for pitching holiday gift guides this season webinar for free (yes, completely free!) as a benefit for upgraded subscribers - it’s well over an hour of commentary, Q&A, and tons of information you can use this season. Grab the details here.
Book your consulting session!
I still have some space available for September and October!
I can join your team on Zoom, a phone call, or in-person and do a team Q&A and answer any of your questions about planning events, mailers, trips, pitching, followups, etc — giving you a very necessary media perspective. Email me at alywalansky@gmail.com if you are interested in chatting more and setting something up :)
I’m now contributing to the Yahoo Creators platform, writing a wide range of lifestyles topics: check out my author profile to see some of my most recent pieces! (This is updated daily - usually multiple times daily - so you’ll want to keep checking it out for new content!)
Limited-time deal on ad placement!
I’m offering a seasonal special on advertising in this newsletter. I’d love to place your sponsored posts and advertising in this Substack, which goes out to nearly 10,000 media professionals every single day.
Note: 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!
Tools of the trade
Press Hook is where journalists, newsletter writers, and podcasters source expert quotes, hi-res images, product samples, affiliate info, and brand story angles — all from vetted brands in one searchable hub. It connects journalists and brands in what feels like a really user-friendly, organic way and I use it often to browse for sources and products aligned with my current projects and I’ve often found precisely what I need, when I need. Give it a try!
Exciting news from our friend Sarah Karger (who recently was a star expert panelist for our big holiday gift guide pitching workshop!) - she just launched her new course, Affiliate Marketing & Performance-Based PR for Publicists - It’s built specifically to help PR pros and agencies add affiliate management as a core capability, something we all know is completely essential in today’s media landscape. This is in-depth training that equips publicists with the exact strategies to:
Set up affiliate programs for clients
Pitch commerce editors with confidence
Deliver measurable ROI through performance-based PR
It’s a must-have for anyone trying to navigate this ever-changing biz!
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.
Yahoo Creators: Check out my author profile (I have several new stories a day across the lifestyles umbrella, so that’s the best way to stay updated!)
Southern Living: The Best Potato Chips, According To Southern Chefs
Southern Living: The Best And Worst Times To Go To The Grocery Store
Forbes.com: Welcome The Flavors Of Fall With 8 Perfect Maple Cocktails
Food Network: What's on Subway's New Fresh Fit Menu?
Southern Living: How To Cook A Perfect Steak Every Time, According To Southern Chefs.
Travel & Leisure: This Portable Door Lock Is Traveler-loved
Travel & Leisure: I’m a Travel Writer, and This Seat Cushion Is My Secret to Arriving at Destinations Pain-free
Travel & Leisure: 15 Amazon Business Casual Clothes for Summer Travel.
Southern Living: The One-Pan Cheesy Meal I Make Whenever I'm Too Tired To Cook
Travel & Leisure: 6 Best Business Travel Airplane Outfits, From $12
Travel & Leisure: I’m a Travel Writer, and I Swear by These Packable Ballet Flats for Comfort, Support, and Long Days on My Feet
Travel & Leisure: I Found the Perfect Walking Shoes to Prevent Sore Feet During Travel — Score Styles on Sale Up to 62% Off
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
Before pitching: Please be sure to refer to my photo submission guidelines for help with photo submission best practices!
One of my favorite comfort foods is queso - you’ll always see me ordering it when my soul needs a hug, and National Queso Day is soon. So, I’m looking for fun queso presentations at bars and restaurants around the country. What fun things are you doing with YOUR queso? Please pitch in this format:
Name of dish
Restaurant, city, state, website
Description of dish
Quote from chef about dish (plus name and title of person quoted)
Image and photo credit (I prefer links to attachments!)
Also beginning to source for Halloween-inspired cocktails, National Cheeseburger Day, National Guacamole Day, National Coffee Day, and National Taco Day.
thanks so much, and have the best day <3
aly
Great info!! Thanks for sharing! I particularly like that you shared picture dimensions. I am a rookie with tech so this was very helpful. Thank you!