Thursday: Lots of new content to share + the dangers of context switching
Also: New job lead and new pending assignments!
Good morning!
Lots of new content to share today!
For Clean Plates, just in time for spring cleaning (and preparing for Passover!), I wrote a comprehensive guide to How to Clean and Organize Your Fridge for Spring. And if Spring Break is more your thing than Spring cleaning (I get it!), for Her Money, I wrote about The Best Timing For Hotel Bookings - How To Save On Your Stay.
Also new for Forbes, I have three new stories — 8 Delicious Ways To Savor Cherry Blossom Season, Just Salad Partners With Celebrity Chef Marc Forgione To Upgrade A Classic, and a Boutique Spot In Tuscany Schedules Intensive Food-Centric Series Hosted By Celebrity Chefs.
In news I know that many of you are awaiting, I should have a few Mother’s Day gift guide assignments to source for within the next few days (so stay tuned and read carefully!)…in the meantime, 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. It covers everything from helping your pitch to stand out, the importance of following directions and delivering 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.
For today’s tip, I’d like to talk a bit about why I try to avoid context switching.
On the average day, I’m juggling working on several stories, pitching for others, researching, an absurd amount of emails, a constant barrage of text messages and phone calls, and usually a few scheduled phone calls or Zooms and meetings or events and dinners to prepare for. In the midst, my bell will probably ring a few times with messengers and deliveries.
It’s always tempting to try to work on multiple things simultaneously. And, I often try to do it. I might be answering an email at the same time as I text a friend and listen in on a Zoom about olive sourcing.
But the reality is when you engage in context switching, it’ll take more time than you’ve lost to return to the original task after an interruption. That’s a waste of useful time.
Essentially, by trying to do multiple things at once, you’ll actually take longer to do ALL the things than if you had decided to do one thing, complete that thing, and move on to the next thing.
So, take things one thing at a time. Do those emails. Finish that story. Then move to the next story. But try to do one thing at a time versus six things at the same time. You’ll actually get everything done faster!
Job lead
Quinn’ is looking for a Senior Account Supervisor to join their LA team!
So honored to see Muck Rack included me in their 2024 list of top ten most popular freelance journalists. Check out the list here.
In just about the coolest news that can happen to a girl who grew up in Brooklyn, there’s a pizza named after me! It’s inspired by my Dirty Aly martini and it’s at Gelso & Grand in Little Italy. Please go check it out and tell me what you think <3
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!
Forbes.com: 8 Delicious Ways To Savor Cherry Blossom Season
Forbes.com: Just Salad Partners With Celebrity Chef Marc Forgione To Upgrade A Classic
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
Southern Living: The Difference Between Chives And Green Onions
Travel & Leisure: Comfy Spring Shoes Are Up to 64% Off at Amazon This Week — Shop the 20 Best Deals for Travelers
Food Network: Hostess Launches Meltamors, The First Snack It Explicitly Suggests Microwaving
RetailMeNot: 20 Easter Sales That Shouldn’t Be Missed for 2024
RetailMeNot: 20+ Stores Closed on Easter Sunday (and 20+ That Will Stay Open)
Forbes.com: Patrick Mahomes And Travis Kelce Partner On Upscale Kansas City Steakhouse
Forbes.com: Hop Over To These 11 Bars Nationwide To Try Their Fun Easter Cocktails
Travel & Leisure: Zappos' St. Patrick's Day Sale Has Us Feeling Lucky — Hoka, Birkenstock, and More Are Up to 55% Off
Food Network: Del Monte’s Newest Pineapple Is Made for One
Forbes.com: The Settepani Rainbow Cookie Croissant Offers A Fresh Spin On A Dessert Classic
Forbes.com: A Soup Made With Louis XIII Cognac May Be The Ultimate Luxury For Seafood Lovers
Forbes.com: 10 Relaxing Nightcaps To Enjoy In Honor Of National Sleep Awareness Month
RetailMeNot: Savings Star Origin Story: How I Learned to Eat Well (In NY!) On a Shoestring Budget
Best Life: 11 Things You Should Put Away When Guests Come Over, Experts Say
RetailMeNot: How to Save on Groceries: Tips That Actually Work
RetailMeNot: Meal Prepping Products That Are Actually WORTH It
Travel & Leisure: I’m a Travel Writer, and This Is My Secret to Packing for a Week in a Single Carry-on Bag
Travel & Leisure: In-flight Theft Is Unfortunately a Thing, but These 12 Items Give Me Peace of Mind When I'm Traveling by Plane
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.
Forbes
Counting down to Passover coming in just a few weeks, 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 - drop me a note if you need clarification, please!
I’m also looking for Passover-inspired cocktails you can find at bars and restaurants. This one is trickier because I realize for this one a lot of submissions will probably come from places not kosher for Passover or even kosher — that’s fine for this story (but not the other one). This one, I need name of drink, where served, a description, a quote about it, (how is it inspired by Passover?), 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...
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’m available for PR team virtual meetings to answer questions about pitching, events, 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.
<3
aly
