Tuesday: How to be better when pitching expert commentary + last call for pitching for several Father's Day gift guides + more!
Also: A 20% discounts on my virtual consulting/lunch & learn sessions!
Good morning!
I wanted to take a few minutes this morning to do a bit of a overview of best practices when sending expert commentary.
We chat a lot here about products and images and all that, but a lot of stories have nothing to do with those elements, and are good old-fashioned reported stories involving interviewing sources (and for that, those of who enjoy doing actual journalism are thrilled), but pitching expert sources and their commentary often opens a whole other can of worms.
Is the expert credible?
Your client may be the nicest person ever, but if they are a yoga instructor, that doesn't mean they are qualified to weigh in on organization techniques. We used to run into this a lot with the former HARO before it underwent a very necessary reset (We love HERO! Check out my friend Alice’s epic Zoom recording on the topic), where people who are baristas by day will respond to queries looking for travel experts.
It's important that an expert is credible to the topic that is being discussed, and is credentialed in their field, if it is applicable. Also, in most instances, we need to avoid brand affiliations in responses. If I need a nutritionist, sometimes I can't use a nutritionist that works with a brand, as that may be a conflict of interest.
Never submit responses you have submitted elsewhere.
This SEEMS obvious, but there’s been more than a few times I’ve received bunch of responses that my spider sense told me were being repurposed. A simple cut and paste of the quotes to Google confirmed my suspicions. Never submit anything you have submitted to another journalist, or has been published elsewhere. This includes your website, book, or blog.
Including all relevant info re: title and credentials.
If I am interviewing Jane Smith about her nutritional advice, I want to know if she's a RD. I also want to know if she's affiliated with a brand or company or not, and her website, and other credentials. If she wrote a book on a related topic, I want to know that too. I can't tell you how often I get pitched a person, then use them in a story, and then after the fact, someone asks me to drop in a URL or affiliation. Send it in the first place.
One quote per person.
This is a weird one but I've noticed sometimes I'll receive commentary and then there'll be a whole team or more than one person credited with it. "The Smith team" or "John and Jane Smith." - words can only come out of one mouth at a time, so If you are sending me commentary, it needs to come from a person. One person.
Give me something to work with.
Sometimes I'll ask interview questions via email and get bullet pointed phrases or single words in a list as responses. That is not something that can be quoted. Often I'll respond and ask them to flesh out the answers to complete sentences with some better explanation. Something with meat to it. Unfortunately, I don't always have time to do this.
Please self-edit before emailing me.
Make sure you spell everything correctly, including people's names and locations, and if you are linking to studies or research, make sure that link works. If you mention dates, or facts, or figures, or stats, back those up, and fact check yourself before submitting to me. If you are a publicist typing responses from an expert - especially if it's a health or medicine related subject - have them go over the answers before you submit it as well. No one wants to pass on wrong information.
Be available for follow-up questions.
Traditionally, phone interviews would be ideal. In person interviews, even better. That's how we were all trained in our journalism programs while we were in school - phone or in-person interviews are the way to get organic answers and take the conversation in new directions based on those answers and where the interview goes. However, the fast-paced method we all work in these days means email is the way we have to go most of the time. So, it's so helpful that if I have followup questions or need clarification, you are available for me to reach out to in a quick manner.
Deadlines
Please please please don't ignore my deadlines. And don't wait until the deadline to submit. If I need to chat with a podiatrist for a story, and I get great responses from a podiatrist an hour in, I'm not going to wait till the deadline to hear from someone else. The early bird DOES get the worm. So, meet the deadline, but get it in as early as possible if you can. And if it so happens you discover your client can’t meet my deadline, don’t just ghost me. Please. Let me know so I can find someone else — or I’ll miss my deadline, too.
Moving on…
My first Father’s Day gift guide of the season is now live — for RetailMeNot: Father’s Day Gifts for Every Type of Dad.
I also have four Father’s Day gift guides pending for Forbes, and those will wrap up in the next few days - so get those pitches in now. (For specific content areas and pitching instructions, please be sure you read the pending assignments section below thoroughly before emailing me - it’ll save you time and give you your best possible chance of seeing your product in one of my guides.
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!
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!
We Asked Travel Writers for Their Best Packing Hacks: For this, I’d like to chat with a handful of travel writers to ask for their top packing hacks/tips — how to stay organized when packing for short/long trips.
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 trying 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
For Forbes, I’m working on FOUR Father’s Day gift guides. 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 culinary traveler: He loves to travel, but maybe his wanderlust can't be realized right now. Or at least not realized to his preferred frequency. These are food/spirit gifts that are globally inspired and related to travel.
The best gifts for the dad who thinks he's Bobby Flay: For the guy who doesn't just throw steaks on the grill but gets really into creativity and sourcing ingredients and the latest chefy gadgets, really unique spices/sauces/hot sauces, fun techy kitchen gadgets, celebrity chef cookbooks…
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.
The Best Gifts For the Sandwich Lover: This could be meats, cheeses, sandwich lover cook books, fun breads and spreads…
To pitch for ANY of 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