If you run a product-based business you may be feeling the dreaded summer slump.

If that sounds like you, we have a suggestion... start thinking about holiday press.

Over at Wolf PR, we start pitching holiday gift guides at Print National publications in July. Holiday media outreach really does start in the summer. Since we're gearing up into full gift guide pitching mode, we decided to encourage you to also take advantage of the best press opportunity of the year for product-based businesses.

What does that mean?

* FLASH SALE *
for this week only we're giving you a $150 discount on our lifetime access DIY course How to Pitch for Holiday Gift Guides.

Dozens of business owners have signed up for the course this year already, and so far they've found it to be really valuable. See what they have to say:

Show, Don't Tell

5 Reasons Why We Start Working on Holiday Gift Guides in… July?

The biggest time of year for consumer spending is the holidays. Many of my retainer clients make the *majority* of their sales in the four weeks before Christmas. What’s interesting is how this trend trickles down into press opportunities. The holidays are also when we secure 3-5x the amount of press placements for our clients that sell products. Why? Because holiday gift guides have more products per page than any other media features. But, to successfully secure these placements you have to start working on holiday gift guides early. In this post, I talk about how and why the timing for pitching for gift guides is so different than all other pitching.

Good Links Round Up

1. The "About Us" page has two jobs, do you know what they are?
Storytelling is the core of PR. One of the most overlooked places to include your value proposition is the "About Us" page. We found a free detailed download guide on the anatomy of a great "About Us" page in the For the Interested newsletter. How valuable is this guide? The woman who wrote it gets paid up to $9500 for a single “About Us” page.

2. Why Pinterest should be a PR tool for your products.
If you have product-based businesses, you'll want to listen to this podcast episode. In it, Meagan Williamson talks about how Pinterest can help you grow your business and start posting content to get discovered by dream customers today.

3. Is this professional creative missing from your photo shoots?
This link is for all the interior designers and architects reading our newsletter. Business of Home makes a very compelling case about why you should hire a stylist for your next photo shoot. Hint - the value goes beyond the final image and helps build your network too.

4. Use this language to sound like a human.
We love digital shortcuts, but some things need a human touch. This Medium post is all about making content easier to read and understand. Learn how to swap in simple words and phrases within your copywriting, keeping content user-centered (better yet, people-centered). Found the Demand Curve newsletter.

5. How to share a copy of any google drive doc automatically.
As creatives, we often collaborate online with our team or others, like in Google Drive. Cloud-based documents are helpful, but we don't always want anonymous kolas editing our work, especially when sharing original templates. Learn how to create a sharing link that automatically makes a copy of your work when collaborating in Google Drive.

Wolf Craft Pro Tip

Photography is one of the best investments you can make in your business.
Sure, you may have some photos, but if the point of view is off, the shadows are distracting, or there just aren’t enough images, getting great media placements will be all but impossible! Ask anyone I’ve ever worked with, they will tell you that when it comes to photography, I sound like a broken record. But that won’t stop me from saying it over and over again. Photography is truly the number one, most important investment you can make in your business outside of product development.

Did you know that there are different types of photography you can and should be taken depending on what you’re trying to promote? Do you know the difference between silo against white/ecom photos, in-situ/environmental shots, and merchandised photos?

Last year we launched a series of photography guides and if I can humble brag for a moment, they’re incredibly helpful.

Wins

We know this newsletter has been pretty heavy on Holiday Gift Guide stuff because that's all we're thinking about right now. But did you know we have another service folks have found just as helpful? It's called Tweak and Edit. How it works: we review your PR goals, your site, your photography, your social, your newsletter, etc. and give you feedback to quickly make changes needed to increase conversions and engage the media.

Appalachian Baby was one of our earlier T+E clients and we're so excited they were able to land an incredible feature in their local West Virginia quarterly. As they expand their brand (they participated in their first trade show this year) we hope more regular press placements help them reach their business goals!

Appalachian Baby Design, a US-made organic yarn producer, secured a multi-page spread in a recent issue of Greenbrier Valley Quarterly and was also featured on their blog.

Work With Us!

If you want to get really good at telling your business' story, we can help!

-Tweak and Edit- for when you need a critically constructive second set of eyeballs to look at what you're doing and tell you exactly what to fix, and then show you best-in-show examples to help you get there.

-1-1 sessions- for when you want to learn how to tighten up your business and pitch it to the media yourself, and you want guidance informed by 15+ years of experience and someone to hold you accountable.

-List building- for when you want a fully customized media list built to fit your specific needs and timing as it involves launches and other company initiatives- AND you want it to include suggestions for press materials, stories to develop, order of operations for embargos and/or exclusives, and other activities for the biggest media impact.

and finally

-How to Pitch For Holiday Gift Guides- for when you want to truly knock it out of the park with holiday gift guide pitching, but also secretly learn how to pitch for all the other year round holidays as well. On sale this week only!

Thanks for giving us some time in your inbox! If you have any questions send us a note, we'll always reply.

Cheers,
Nora & Kirsten

PS - If you liked the newsletter, we’d be so happy if you shared it with others who might find it useful. Anyone new can subscribe here.

Wolf Craft - What to work on during the summer slump

* FLASH SALE *
for this week only we're giving you a $150 discount on our lifetime access DIY course How to Pitch for Holiday Gift Guides.

Show, Don't Tell

Good Links Round Up

Wolf Craft Pro Tip

Wins

Work With Us!

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Wolf Craft - What to work on during the summer slump

*** FLASH SALE *** for this week only we're giving you a $150 discount on our lifetime access DIY course How to Pitch for Holiday Gift Guides.

Show, Don't Tell

Good Links Round Up

Wolf Craft Pro Tip

Wins

Work With Us!

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* FLASH SALE *
for this week only we're giving you a $150 discount on our lifetime access DIY course How to Pitch for Holiday Gift Guides.