TGIF: Earth Day fun, matzah creativity, and some stories I'm working on!
TGIF: Earth Day fun, matzah creativity, and some stories I'm working on!
Good morning friends (and happy Friday!)
We're at the tail end of Passover week and I'm super excited to be reunited with my oat milk later this weekend.
This whole week, I've been taking part in the UJA's #MatzahChallenge on my Instagram. During the Matzah Challenge, every social media post using hashtag #MatzahChallenge will unlock $18 toward humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
It's an incredible cause, but it's also felt a little bit like a Passover version of the Food Network show Chopped, where I'm always trying to find creative new ways to use matzah and post about it!
So far this week, I've shared everything from matzah lasagna to matzah avocado "toast" and matzah meal chicken schnitzel to a matzah stuffing inspired kugel and even Passover "bagels" made with matzah meal. Last night, on my Insta stories, I made stuffed cabbage, and incorporated matzah meal into the filling - therefore getting to #matzahchallenge it up again...
Passover ends tomorrow night, so I still have a good day and a half or so to come up with a few new ideas…
Today is also Earth Day, and a day in celebration and recognition of the earth has never been more important. We all need to make small changes wherever we can. But we can have some fun in the process! Today for Her Money, I rounded up 10-eco friendly gift ideas for Earth Day - but, really, embrace the thought of Earth Day being every day.
Other stories published since yesterday:
The Kitchn: Aldi’s New Fan-Inspired Gear Capsule Collection Just Hit Shelves and Yes, the Prices Are Wildly Low
The Kitchn: These 5-Ingredient No-Bake Cheesecake Bars Just Made Snacking on the Go So Much Easier
Virtual consulting sessions...
Speaking about that, over the last six months or so, I've popped into a fair amount of PR team meetings and made myself available to answer all sorts of questions about pitching, events, and trips from a media perspective. 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!
As always, if you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social shares.
Attention Vegas and Louisville:
I'll be in Vegas next weekend on a media trip (April 29-May 1) and in Louisville the following weekend for the Kentucky Derby. If you'll be in either place either time, drop me a line!
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.
RetailMeNot
For RetailMeNot, I'm rounding up Father's Day gifts for every type of dad.
I'm looking for great gifts that's affordable ("affordable" obviously varies by budget, but I'm trying to stay under $200 and have a wide range of prices) for a variety of categories. I'm hoping to include picks for the following categories:
Foodie dad
Techy dad
The dad who has everything
For the fashionable dad
For the outdoorsy dad
For the indoorsy dad
For the bookworm dad
For the handy dad
The Dad who's trying to downsize and doesn't want clutter
For the fitness-obsessed dad
For RetailMeNot, I'm also doing Memorial Day store hours for 2022. This is the Memorial Day version of the Easter store hours story I JUST did for them, so take a look at that one for format, but I'll have 3 sections - Stores Open on Memorial Day + Store Hours, Stores Closed on Memorial Day, Restaurants Open on Memorial Day + Hours. This Memorial Day story is an update of this piece from last year. So if you represent a store or restaurant in that story, it'd be so helpful if you can reach out with your Memorial Day info if you have it handy.
Forbes.com
I said it was coming and here it is, I'm working on a bunch of Mother's Day gift guides for Forbes. Here's the topics:
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Mail-Order Gifts For A Mother’s Day Meal At Home
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Celebrity Chef Merchandise For Home Cooks
To pitch me for any of these, please be sure to start a new email thread, email alywalansky@gmail.com (NOT my substack) and let me know which one(s) you are pitching for. please be sure to include:
name of product
where solid, link, price
description, and why it's a good fit for this theme
and a LINK to a high res image (dropbox preferred...just please make sure you are SHARING the image and not just cutting and pasting a URL...that will ensure I actually GET it and not ... a dropbox home screen lol.)
Today.com
I'm rounding up restaurant/food chain deals for Cinco De Mayo. I'm ALSO rounding up deals at restaurant/food chains for MOTHER'S DAY.
For either of these, please be sure to send the name of the chain, what the deal is, and how customers can claim it. (Do they need a promo code? A rewards app? A QR code? etc)
To pitch me for ANY of these stories, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com (and start a new thread, please!).
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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<3
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