Thursday: Some reminders regarding NOT to do when sending a pitch + four newly published Father's Day gift guides!
Also: A 20% discounts on my virtual consulting/lunch & learn sessions!
Good morning!
So, some admin updates: I’m nearly done with this season’s Father’s Day gift guides. I’m still working on one (details on that in the section below..) but four have published in the last few days, including for Forbes.com: Father’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Culinary Traveler, Father’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Dad Who Wants To Be Bobby Flay, and Father’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Sandwich Lover. And for RetailMeNot: Father’s Day Gifts for Every Type of Dad.
If you or your client are included in any of of these stories - thanks so much for taking the time to read this newsletter, browse my story leads, and pitch - and I’d so appreciate any social shares!
And speaking of pitching, I figured it could be fun to do a quick rundown of what not to do when sending pitches (think of it as the red light equivalent to my recent green light rundown).
Mass emails
We hate them. Whether it's a cc to 100 of our colleagues or a bcc to who-knows-how-many people. They are insincere, and show zero targeting. Please avoid them whenever possible. Targeting and tailoring are key to a good pitch.
You didn’t target your pitch
Sending a beauty writer a pitch about lawn mowers will not make them start to write about lawn mowers - you are just wasting your time. Take some time to research them and make sure you are looking at what is current for them. My favorite way to do this is visit their Muck Rack profile. See what they have written this week or this month (an added benefit of this: You’ll be surprised how many writers out there are writing a lot less content than they’ll lead you to believe - this is how to vet them!)
You haven’t successfully shared the value in your pitch
I know that sometimes you get stuck pitching things you yourself have no interest in, and that makes this element harder.
But there has to be an element of value in a product or expert or destination in order for a journalist to be able to then write to it, or then go on to pitch it to their editor. What sets this product about? What is special or unique about this destination, or this expert's expertise? If there is a special sale or deal or promotion, is it actually a sale?
About follow ups...
You are just doing your job, we get that. Follow Ups are a part of that are entirely welcome. But try to pace yourself. Be patient, and try not to be a stalker. And understand that very often we don't know the answer. If we're pitching a story to our editor, we're waiting on them to respond. If we wrote a story and it hasn't published yet, we're waiting ourselves to see it published. Emailing us every six hours will not make it happen sooner, but it will annoy us!
Calling
Please don't call unless it's a scheduled and agreed upon call. It's disruptive and counter productive. I explain in a lot of my consulting sessions that the way I proceed when I get a new assignment is that I search my email for specific phrases -- say "nutritionist" or "pastry chef" - if our contact has been a phone call or a DM (more on that soon)...it's not going to appear in my search.
Speaking of DMs...
Please don't pitch on DM ever. It's rude and invasive. But also, see above: It's counterproductive to your goal. Now, that's not to say you can't contact me on social media. I LOVE when people respond to my pup photos or cooking videos. But keep pitching out of there.
You didn't EDIT your pitch
We edit our pitches to editors, we edit our stories, we're always editing. You should be editing your pitch before you send it by tailoring it. That includes researching the journalists and reading a few of their recent stories, putting a personal twist on your email, and making sure you are sending this email to the right person. Also make sure you tailor to their MEDIUM. The sort of pitch you'd send a TV producer is not the same as sending a digital editor, which is not the same as sending a podcast. I get so many pitches that will mention my "next segment..." - what segment?!
DO say thank you
This isn't really related to pitching but I feel like it's something that needs to be said...as journalists, we get a lot of emails asking for unnecessary "updates," additions, "corrections" and edits...but very few that just say...thanks for inclusion. A great way to say thanks is to share the story on social media, but also just a quick email acknowledging makes us feel good. Especially since people love to send the opposite!
Grab the Dads and Grads Gift Guide Pitching Webinar Recording Now!
Thanks to all who attended our Dads and Grads Gift Guide Pitching Workshop 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.
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 have a dedicated section about your client or product (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!
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: Father’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Culinary Traveler
Forbes.com: Father’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Dad Who Wants To Be Bobby Flay
Forbes.com: Father’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Sandwich Lover
RetailMeNot: Father’s Day Gifts for Every Type of Dad
Southern Living: Can You Freeze Baked Beans?
Forbes: A Hot Dog-Inspired Cocktail Takes Summer Cookout Season In A Savory New Direction.
Food Network: Uber’s New Student Membership Program Makes Delivery Deals Sweeter
Food Network: I Tried the New Pizza Hut Cheeseburger Melt and While It’s Not a Burger, It Has Everything You’d Look for in One.
Clean Plates: 7 Blue Zone Foods That Help Increase Longevity
Forbes.com: Celebrate Season 3 Of ‘Bridgerton’ With Regency-Inspired Cocktails
Forbes.com: Martha Stewart And Breads Bakery Collaborate On Martha’s Good Thing Babka
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
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
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.
Apartment Therapy
The One Thing I Never Remove from My Luggage (It's My Favorite Packing Hack) - The toiletries bag is the last man standing of packing and unpacking. We may plan for a trip by packing clothes and shoes days in advance, but as we need those toiletry items — those are often packed the final hours before departing. Of course, that last minute scurry and hurry has proven to be a great way of leaving items behind, so I've found a different solution. I keep a dedicated toiletry bag in my luggage at all times. That toiletry bag has everything I need as far as hygiene, skincare, and makeup as I travel — everything from a hair brush to a toothbrush, to moisturizer, cleanser, and all my makeup and styling needs. For this story, I’m going to cover why I keep a stocked toiletry bag in my luggage at all times and only replace things as needed. Would totally be open to a travel expert or flight attendant to quote as far as why this is good for people who travel frequently — and as I’ll be taking some photos of my toiletry bag and its contents in my luggage for this piece, am open to toiletry and toiletry bag related pitches!
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 working one final Father’s Day gift guide. Here’s what I’m working on and how to pitch me. Please pay attention to ALL these details before pitching to save us both time (and if you want some tips on how to best pitch for Father’s Day gift guides, be sure to check out the webinar I linked to above!)
The Best Gifts For The Traditionalist Foodie: Maybe he loves steaks from Texas or bagels and lox from NYC. He appreciates the classics and knows where to find them and how to best enjoy them.
To pitch for these gift guides, please include:
name of product
a few sentences describing the product so I know if I want to learn more
a LINK to an image (and any necessary photo credits)
a link to a major retailer where available (it must be currently in stock and not a presale link or out of stock or discontinued…people need to be able to click and buy it right now.)
Looking forward, my favorite culinary food holiday is soon upon us - that’d be National Martini Day! If you have a fun or unique martini going on, tell me more about it (and i’m of course also open to dishes inspired by martinis for this one!). 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.
It’s also National Burger Month and for Forbes, I’m looking for inventive and creative spins on the burger, available on menus at bars and restaurants. (Same parameters as above, please!)
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.
<3
aly