Wednesday: Sourcing sleep experts, chefs, and more for pending assignments + last call for my final Father's Day gift guide of the season!
Also: A 20% discounts on my virtual consulting/lunch & learn sessions!
Happy Hump Day!
First of all, a super happy birthday today to my bestie Lisa Richards - a good way to wish her a great day is to subscribe to her brand-new Substack!
Lots pending this week, as far as newly published stories and fresh content I’m working on - so scroll down for more information. And please, please remember to follow instructions. I have gotten hundreds of pitches for the martini roundup - and a fair percentage of them are missing at least one of the elements I’m looking for.
(As a reminder: This weekend’s Industry Insights edition was focused on Why You Were Not Included In That Story (And How To Up Your Odds) - one of those ways? Sending all the information requested, in the format it was requested, and by the deadline. It helps, I promise!)
In upcoming travel news, I’ll be in Martha’s Vineyard next week for Martha’s Vineyard Food & Wine Festival (and for a few days before, too). If you’ll be there too, drop me an email!
This week I’m wrapping up one final Father’s Day gift guide as well as my guide to martinis for National Martini Day. Scroll to the pending assignments section below to see what I’m looking for as far as pitches for these and other assignments, too!
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.
On occasion, people reach out to me for help with planning press dinners and events - from choosing the perfect location to keeping things fun and interesting to how to get top journalists to want to attend. If you are interested in me doing this for you, email me any time at alywalansky@gmail.com.
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!
Clean Plates: 7 Grocery Store Shortcuts for Fast, Easy Lunches
Forbes.com: 20 Delicious Ways To Celebrate National Burger Day
Forbes.com: The Italian Wedding Cake Martini Is A Dessert Cocktail Perfect For A Celebration
Southern Living: The 9 Best Brown Sugar Substitutes That Will Be Just As Sweet
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.
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.
The next column in this series will focus on bulk buying groceries and household essentials, which is something I personally SUPER believe in. I am constantly buying in bulk to save on per unit cost and benefit from the best deals. I even buy family packs of meat and fish to portion and freeze. I’d love some expert commentary on why bulk buying (rather at the supermarket on sales or at warehouse stores), is a great way to maintain a household meal plan and also live within our food budget.
Saatva
I’m working on a piece on blackout curtains and if they are really worth adding to your bedroom - I’m looking to interview a sleep expert for this one! (Caveat: They can’t work for a competitor's mattress brand.) There’s all sorts of items can get for your bedroom to improve your sleep, and blackout curtains is one of them. But do they really work? I’m looking to explore everything you need to know about the benefits of blackout curtains, how to choose them, and how they work. Please email me if you have someone who can give commentary, I have specific questions to ask for this one!
Plate Magazine
I’m putting out bites/drinks of the week feelers, which is sort of a drink/dish spotlight piece. (Some examples are this Peruvian-inspired sweet potato in Savannah and a molecular banana daiquiri in Chicago.) Basically if you are pitching me something for this, think along the lines of: Is this dish/bite something new? What interesting techniques are used to make it come together? If the technique is simple, what’s the hook? An interesting ingredient? Something being made in house or in an interesting way? What’s the story behind the dish? What inspired it? Is there a cultural/family story behind the dish? An ingredient the chef got their hands on? Love to hear what you might have for me!
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.
These stories will BOTH be wrapped up by EOW.
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