January Focused Pitching
A new year calls for a new pitch plan. Just because the holiday season is over doesn’t mean gift guides are. The next big shopping holidays are closer than you think.
“Two pitch events are your focus this month. Digital market editors are still putting together Valentine-related gift stories. Pitch quickly. Their emphasis for the following two months will be Mother’s Day gift guides.” — Amy Flurry
Wondering who to pitch to? The Media List is your one-stop shop for finding both editors and freelance writers, the latter being an ever-growing community in the current media landscape.
February Focused Pitching
February and March are active months for home and design editors with the January trade shows behind them. This is prime time for pitching products, house tours and new projects.
“Summer is a slower sales season. But you can potentially gain some press and boost sales in June and July by landing your product in Father’s Day gift guide or a must-have travel accessory for summer. February is the month to pitch summer print editions.” — Amy Flurry
Pitch Tips
Tip #1 — Expand your search for editors
Not every editor works in New York. The RFP Media List is a Who’s Who of market editors, home editors, freelancers and influential bloggers who work with magazines and online publications across the country looking for products and projects like yours. The Freelancer section alone is PR Gold, a list of 150 freelancers who are likely working on multiple articles at any given moment.
Tip #2 — Pay attention to current content
What’s trending today in newspaper special sections like the WSJ Off Duty section will be what editors for print publications are writing about tomorrow. Tailoring your pitch to appeal to current events gets you that much closer to seeing your product or project in print.
Tip #3 — Follow up after pitching
When pitching products for gift guides, follow up your pitch one week to ten days after pitching. Only follow up once. Know they may not respond. It is typical to put potential product emails into a folder until editors are ready to put together their gift guides.