Pitch Holiday Gift Guides
2019/06/11 6:00 AM
Pitch holiday gift guides
The time is approaching to pitch holiday gift guides over the next 6-8 weeks.
I know, I know, it’s only June, but Holiday Gift Guide submissions are starting now…….so get on it sister, as it will end in July.
This can be a great way to get into magazines that might be more challenging for you in the “everyday” editorial world.
Gift guides often put in items that appeal to their audience, but might not have a good place in the monthly magazines.
Magazines try to appeal to a broad audience with the holiday gift guides, so I would suggest being bold about your choices. Here is what you’ll want to do…
Here are the 4 simple steps to get into a holiday gift guide:
- Figure out which magazines you should submit for holiday gift guides.
- Get the names and emails for the editors that review the holiday gift guides.
- Decide what category you plan to pitch: Under a certain dollar amount $$$, Baby Gifts, Mom Gifts, Dad Gifts, Home Gifts, Gift for the Gardener, Gifts for the Runner, Gifts for the Chef, Hostess gifts, etc…
- Send them emails each week starting end of June beginning of July through the first week of August.
Pitch Holiday Gift Guides
Your letter might read like this – remember to keep it simple.
Hi {First Name},
Are you looking for a unique product that is under $50 to feature in Real Simple Holiday Gift Guide?
If so, please consider my patented Handy Hold All® which is the ultimate closet organizer for handbags, BB caps and scarves.
Your readers will love to learn about The Handy Hold All because:
If so, please consider my patented Handy Hold All® which is the ultimate closet organizer for handbags, BB caps and scarves.
Your readers will love to learn about The Handy Hold All because:
- It clears out shelf space in your closet
- It easily hangs on the back of your closet door, or inside the closet on a hook
- It holds up to 28 handbags, BB Caps, and scarves
- It comes in a gift box
You can find our Handy Hold All at www.SimplySarahShaw.com
Retail: $30 I’m happy to send samples for you to test in your closet.
Thank you for considering our products and I look forward to hearing from you.
{Include a link to your line sheet}
{Your Contact Information}
Pitch Holiday Gift Guides
If you are chosen to be in the holiday gift guide, your products could be in a magazine like this: http://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/gifts/holiday-gift-guide
You can find links to magazines editorial contacts here: https://sarahshawconsulting.com/getting-into-holiday-gift-guides/
So make your list and get going!
Want to learn how I can help you with this? Book a discovery call with me today and let’s see if we are a good fit.
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There are 7 comments
Parisbreakfast says: Thank you Sarah!
wonderfully useful information.
the trick is finding those elusive emails of the peep you want to reach..
i've found often there is one standard format for corporate emails. If you can figure that out you can reach the very top person. How I reached the owner of Ladiuree after they used my artwork without permission or payment.
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Carol,
Yes, once you get the email format – you can contact anyone. Often in the media kit area they reveal the email.
Sarah
Thanks for the great idea! I have never done this before so do you have any suggestions on what types of magazines to pitch for handmade bath products?
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Jessica,
Figure out which mags your target market reads and go after those. Many main stream mags have beauty sections too, so check those out and see which ones look like they’d go for your line. Good luck!
sarah
you saved us again. thanks so much for your generosity, your willingness to divulge these helpful tips.
blessings to your enduring spirit and good health!
aloha
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Building an email list can be tough, I totally agree. But an email list is just as important as social media in my opinion. Social media is fleeting. Your customer might not see your post flash by, the FB or Instagram algorithm changes all the time so you never really know if anyone is seeing your posts (as much as you hope at least), and unless they purchase, it’s hard to tell if it is driving traffic or not.
When I started my handbag line, the internet was just getting started, and people were just beginning to get online for the first time and the biggest thing since sliced bread was www.match.com.
Note the www…… everyone used that back then so you’d KNOW it was a website. LOL.
And to get on the website, even just to learn more about it, you needed an email address to get past their “paywall”. The Paywall was a pop up of sorts that asked for your name and email in order to “grant” you access to see what was behind the curtain. They built a list of millions in a few short weeks and that was more valuable than anyone just “knowing” about their company because they could market to them incessentanly.
Daily. And I mean sometimes multiple times a day. I’d never seen anything like this.
They were the first company that I knew of who “collected” emails, then turned around and marketed to you to get you to sign up for their services. And they were relentless……
I’m not saying you need to send emails daily, or emails multiple times a day, but if you don’t email your list at least weekly, they will forget about you and end up buying something similar chez someone else who is sending them emails.
So Why are Pop ups so important? Pop ups are a way to collect emails via your own “Paywall” and continue to market to potentially interested customers. If they take the time to sign up (first baby step) then they are showing you that they are on the first step of the staircase and want to keep walking up. It’s your job to keep enticing them to the top! AKA buy something.
Step 1: Sign up with a content management system like Active Campaign, Mailchimp, Klayvio or whichever one you like best. I like Active Campaign and have been using it for over 10 years. Some people choose to use the forms that come with these programs and I have too in various situations, but I also recommend Privy if you use Shopify, and Ninja Pops if you use Wordpress. They can easily be installed and connected to these CMS systems.
Step 2: The first and easiest way to collect emails is to have a homepage pop up with an offer for a % off the first order. That is a way to ‘collect” emails and give something in return. It’s the first step in building rapport with your potential customers. It’s like saying, let’s be friends, I’ll give you something you want, and you give me something I want, your email.
Step 3: Make sure you have an automation set up in the CMS system. This is an automated email series that will be sent to anyone who gives you their email address on your pop up. I call it the Hello Series. The idea of this series is to again, build rapport, and tell the customer a bit about you and your company over a 2 week period. This series has nothing to do with your regular email marketing emails. This is a sole and separate email series to build rapport so just set it and forget it. Yes customers will probably get some of these on the same days as other marketing emails but just don’t worry about it.
This is how it works:
The first email to go out immediately is the one with the coupon code they just signed up for. Add something about your brand and photos of your products linking to your website.
The second one goes out the next day and asks them if they had a chance to use the coupon yet, and then tells them to whitelist your email so they don’t miss your promotions and special offers for people on your list. Always have images of products that link to your website.
The third email goes 4 days later and in this one I like to tell a story about how I got started with the business. Add images and links here too.
The fourth email shares something cool about your business. Could be some nice stores you are in, a press placement, a celebrity who has your stuff or perhaps posted about it on Instagram. It can also be a tutorial about how to use your products, or a blog post you wrote on a topic they’d be interested in. Share something that will make them feel happy for you, and encourage them to hang with you.
The fifth and final email in this sequence encourages them to follow you on social media. I like to entice them with “doing” something in exchange for a gift. Could be something like “post your photo using or wearing our product, and be entered in our monthly drawing for a free X”.
Step 4: Now that you have collected more emails with a pop up, your ongoing marketing efforts will start to pay off faster. As the list continues to build, you’ll have more people to market to, invite to events you do, and share your good news with. Hopefully they will become loyal customers, share your site with friends, and continue to be an active part of your social media channels. Keep sending emails weekly ( at least) to your list so keep them active and engaged. I’m sure you’ll see a big difference.
If you want ideas to help you fill in the blanks about the above, drop me a comment below and I’ll be happy to help out.
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Do you know how to set the right price for your product line? Lordy knows I sure didn’t when I first started my handbag line. But once I learned the correct way to do it, I never mispriced anything again! Now I want to share this method with you so you can be profitable and not wonder why you can’t pay yourself.
It took me years to figure out how to set the right price for my product line when I first started out, so I can imagine you might be in the same situation. If you are not sure if you are making any money, then there is a good chance you’re not pricing your products correctly.
Proper costing is the lifeline to your business and profitability. Taking into consideration and finding all the hidden costs, is the key. So many people forget little things that they add up and then BOOM, you are not making any money. Once you have the actual cost (cost of goods sold) then it is easy to figure out the wholesale and retail prices so you are always making money.
I’d love to share this formula with you. It totally saved my rear when I was in year 3….. Just thinking of all that lost money in the first 2 years…. I want to cry!
Drop me a comment with “PRICED FOR PROFIT” and I’ll reach out and connect with you.
