Monday: Save-the-date for Zoom AMA session: Everything you need to know about Father's Day AND Graduation Day gift guides (sign-up sheet herewith!)
Yes, still working on Mother's Day, too! And: A 20% discounts on my virtual consulting/lunch & learn sessions!
Hello, friends!
It’s fair to say it that seems like nothing good ever happens on April 15. It’s tax day, it’s also when a lot of us are due to pay our first quarterly estimated taxes for the next year.
It just feels very …well, taxing.
While nothing I can do here will ease anyone’s tax day burden (a sage friend recently said April is the poorest month of the year for freelancers, and I’m sure that applies to many people in many industries), I hope I can do something that I think will make your day a little better (at least for a little while!).
My dear friend and colleague (and a fellow listee on Muck Rack’s top 10 freelance journalists of 2024), Alice Dubin and I are teaming up again for another AMA Zoom session!
This session, which will be focused on Father’s Day and Graduation Day gift guides (BUT ALL QUESTIONS ON….ANYTHING…ARE WELCOME), will be held on May 2 at 11 am PT/2 pm ET and we hope to cover the following (but so much more)
When we actually start working on these gift guides — and when to start (and stop!) pitching for them.
What are WE working on right now as far as gift guides
Looking for ways to entice an editor or journalist to open your pitch or write about your product? Here’s some ways to create some buzz…
Remember the “pink envelope effect” from sending resumes back in the day? Here’s how to make your email pitch stand out in the same.
What are some trends we’re seeing in this year’s gift guides (and content in general!)
What price points are we looking for?
Is there any. hope if you’re not on affiliate networks?
…and so much more!
Want to join us? All are welcome…if you are a paid subscriber of either one of our Substacks (monthly or annual can equally attend!). The registration link will be under a paywall at the bottom of this email, in the section beneath all the usual daily assignment-related content (which is never behind a paywall, and always public facing, 100% of the time, as it should be)!
Reminder: There’ll be space on the sign-up sheet to send your questions ahead of time, too! Whether you have something you want to make sure gets chat time or you feel camera shy and don’t want to ask live, we want to make sure all your questions are answered (but there’ll be time to ask questions that come up live or in the chat box during the session as well, of course!) — and all questions are welcome, whether or not they are about pitching gift guides! Or pitching at all. If you want to chat events or trips or your next press dinner, we’re here for that as well.
And, notice: We did these for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, and the RSVP list reached capacity super quickly, so early bird gets the worm on this one!
Lots of fun new content to share today, for Southern Living: What To Bring To Passover Seder, for Clean Plates: The Best Healthy Snacks to Buy at Target, According to Dietitians, and for Forbes.com: Celebrate Passover With 6 Festive Cocktails and Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Mom Who Loves To Grill.
More coming very soon.
It’s a rare day today where I am leaving my desk in the middle of the afternoon (never happens, but it’s for good reason), I’m attending an event that I think will be really fun, and then after I’m having an early dinner with a dear friend. But that said, need to keep things a bit sweet and tight today - Here’s to making this Monday a great one!
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!
Reminder: I’m currently sourcing for several Mother’s Day gift guides — and yes, indeed, the early bird does get the worm. Scroll down to the pending assignments section below to see that and everything else I’m working on right now (it’s actually quite a lot).
If you want to prepare to pitch for these guides, you may want to take a second to grab the recording of our Mother’s Day Gift Guide AMA Zoom Event from a few weeks ago. The video covers everything you may find helpful about pitching during any gift guide season, from helping your pitch to stand out, the importance of following directions and completing ALL deliverables, as well as better email subject lines to followups and photo submission best practices (trust me, this is one that will help A LOT of you), and SO MUCH MORE. You can catch more information on what we covered and how to access the recording here. This video is free, as a benefit to paid subscribers. Membership does indeed have its rewards.
Job Leads
Hue & Cry (one of my fave teams!) is looking for a Public Relations Account Executive in New York City.
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!
Southern Living: What To Bring To Passover Seder
Clean Plates: The Best Healthy Snacks to Buy at Target, According to Dietitians
Forbes.com: New Concierge App Promises Curated High-End Culinary Experiences
Forbes.com: Celebrate Passover With 6 Festive Cocktails
Forbes.com: Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Mom Who Loves To Grill
Food Network: I Tried Cup Noodles’ Most Mind-Boggling Flavor to Date
Wine Enthusiast: 10 Passover Wines to Make Your Seder Shine
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
Today.com: These drugstore wrinkle creams are approved by experts, and they start at just $10
Clean Plates: How to Clean and Organize Your Fridge for Spring
HerMoney: The Best Timing For Hotel Bookings - How To Save On Your Stay
Forbes.com: Boutique Spot In Tuscany Schedules Intensive Food-Centric Series Hosted By Celebrity Chefs
Forbes.com: Patrick Mahomes And Travis Kelce Partner On Upscale Kansas City Steakhouse
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.
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 not going to file this story until May, so we have LOTS of time, and I’d like 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.
For my next Saving Stars column, I am going to chat a bit about my air fryer and how it helps me do a lot more in a small space - it's one appliance that sort of does the job of a bunch (from roasting and baking and "frying" to reheating and so much more), and even share a personal recipe or two that I like to make, which are themselves examples of budget stretching and saving. But I plan on incorporating a shopping aspect with some budget-friendly air fryers but also some very useful air-friendly friendly kitchen accessories. So, pitch, pitch, away!
Forbes
I’m sourcing for FOUR Mother’s Day gift guides! Here’s what I’m currently working on:
The Best Gifts For Her Foodie She Shed: So many women love to have a private retreat away from the constant demands of the household, be it to read, craft, or to use as an office. This can be anything from garage or outdoor space to even an actual shed - but the take on this is that if a foodie was using her she shed for all things food and bev. Whether a breakfast nook to enjoy her coffee in peace, to maybe a spot to have a girlfriend or two over for wine and cheese. I’m looking for fun gift ideas to outfit her foodie-centric she shed.
The Best Complete Dinners You Can Have Shipped To Her Door: I’m looking for complete meal kits or readymade meals she just had to pull together or reheat and can have a full beautiful gourmet dinner ready without even having to leave home. Note, I’m NOT looking for restaurant takeout. This is strictly items that can be shipped/ordered online nationwide.
The Best Gifts For The Mom Who Really Loves Salad: To balance all those MEAT guides, y’all. For this one, I’m looking to be pitched along the lines of veggie boxes, salad kits (that can be ordered online/shipped), cool grow your own herb kits, salad dressing cruets, fun salad bowls and tongs, and all that.
To pitch for ANY of my gift guides I’m currently sourcing for, please include:
Name of product
Link to retailer where it’s currently in stock and available, no pre-sale links please
Description
Price
LINK to high res image (please make sure to remove restrictions so that I can access image, and also make sure the image will not expire for a few weeks, so it can be accessed when necessary. Also please try to avoid large galleries and JUST send the image being requested, no others…it’s the best way to assure the image used is the one intended!)
Counting down to Passover coming very soon, I’m looking for brands doing fun new products, spirits, wines, etc for Passover (note: They must be both Kosher and Kosher for Passover - and no, this isn’t the same thing - check out my recent post explaining how to know the difference when pitching.)
I’m rounding up Cinco de Mayo, Kentucky Derby and Mother’s Day inspired cocktails. I need name of drink, where served, a description, a quote about it, and an image of the cocktail.
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.