I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about Holiday Gift Guide submissions. Here are some pitching tips:
1. Some holiday gift guides close in July. Major magazines such as Family Circle, O Magazine and Glamour are all working on this issue now.
2. Put together a special pitch just for Holiday Gift Guide submissions. It should state why your ‘gift’ is perfect for that particular outlet and include all of the necessary information such as pricing and where to buy. Popular themes this year seem to be budget gifts (under $50 or under $100) and eco-friendly gifts.
3. Realize that gift guide editors are sometimes a special contributor and not your normal contact at the publication. You’ll need to do some legwork to find out the right contact. Or you can hire a publicist with access to the information to do your gift guide pitching for you.
4. Be ready to send samples. If you are limited to the number of samples you can send, reserve them for your most-wanted spots and then divide the rest among other placements. Don’t blindly mail samples to a bunch of outlets.
5. Don’t ignore newspapers. I know we all want to be featured in O Magazine’s guide or on the Today Show – and I don’t blame you! But don’t forget the Top 250 newspapers and also your local papers. Magazine editors read them. TV producers read them to find segment ideas. I had a client that made all of his holiday sales last year strictly from newspaper coverage. Another client was recently featured in a local NYC newspaper and landed a feature in More Magazine. Newspapers work!
Melissa is the founder of Cassera Communications an entrepreneur, national public speaker, and professional story spinner. She uses her storytelling mastery to help people craft compelling stories for use in work and in life. Melissa gained experience in various industries including entertainment, healthcare, and publishing before starting her own company at the age of 26. Her ambition gained her recognition as one of the Southern New Jersey’s Top 35 under 35 business professionals. Melissa was also named the 2007 ‘Woman of the Year’ for the Southern New Jersey Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and is dedicated to serving the community through various philanthropic efforts.
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Twitter: heathall
July 23, 2009 at 1:11 am
Great post, Melissa! Thank you! I can say from my experience that you should definitely not over look newspapers…or BLOGS. And make sure you put together a great pitch that shows you’re familiar with the publication and WHY your product makes such a great gift.
Heather
This was an eye-opener for me. I, too, was thinking more national than local (newspaper/mag), but learned from experts like Melissa that editors from major publications do source local media for some of their segment ideas. I also work with bloggers (love ‘em) and think it’s one the best ways (affordable with the cost of only samples) to get the word out. They’re fun to work with and love their enthusiasm.
This is awesome! Great post. I’ve been thinking of how to delve into this arena and the information presented here is definitely a good place to start developing an action plan.