Wolf Craft - Nail your next media pitch

Using two examples from real businesses, this month’s edition includes tried-and-true PR tips to ensure your stuff is a good fit for the editor you’re pitching

Lots of new faces here. If you’re new to Wolf Craft, welcome!

This newsletter feature was inspired by you! If you've attended one of our workshops, you likely noticed there were A LOT of great questions. We typed out everything and once a month you'll get two in-depth answers to common PR questions.

Q: When we pitch, are we suggesting things to the editor?

How do we know the themes they are thinking of pursuing, like for a gift guide or other product feature?

A: So there's no way to know right. No one is a mind reader. But there are two answers to your question.

The first answer is research.
Seeing what an editor has covered in past gift guides will tell you a lot about the themes they may be doing this year.

Then, when you reach out to an editor you can say something like “I noticed last year that you did a music lover-themed guide. Are you working on a music-focused theme again this year?”

When you dig into past years, you’ll notice some themes carry across several years.

There's one magazine that does a horoscope theme every single year. If you go back in time and look at 2023, 2022, and beyond three will always be a horoscope-themed guide. So I have really good faith that they're going to do a horoscope theme this year.

The second answer is ask.
The our full holiday gift guide course includes the exact scripts of how to do this, but basically you’ll ask the editor if they're working on a gift guide this year and if they’ve already established a theme.

I don't think editors expect you to know everything they're working on in advance.

One of the most common responses we get when we ask what editors are working on is-- “just look at what we did last year, and send us stuff similar to that.”

So a lot of the time editors don't know what their themes are going to be really far in advance. But, if you’ve done your research, you’ll know the types of products and price points they typically feature.

At the end of the day, publications have a clear point of view.

They know who their audience is. So even if you don't know the theme, you’ll know more or less what they like to publish because you’ve done your research.

Q: I have an Etsy shop and don't have a standalone website. Will that make it harder to get into publications and holiday gift guides?

A: As always, the answer to this question goes back to research.

Print publications don't often publish at products sold on Etsy, but digital outlets, like blogs, definitely do.

Start reading the outlets you think you’d be a good fit for. Click the links. Do any go to Etsy shops? If yes, you know that they are a viable outlet for you to consider. If no, don’t bother including them in your pitching.

Overall, Etsy is a wonderful platform and a lot of people have done really great work with Etsy so I don't really have anything negative to say in that regard.

But, if one of your main business goals is to get media coverage for what you make, I would consider slowly transitioning to your own store.

If you choose to sell exclusively on Etsy, don't fret there will still be a lot of media opportunities for you, you may just have to dig a bit more.

Pro tip- go to the Instagram pages of Etsy-only shops that you think are getting media placements. See if they have a pinned highlight of their press features. If so, you know exactly where to start your research!

Useful tools to help you get started:

9 Tips to Supercharge Your Media Outreach Plan

All the info you need to pitch your favorite media outlet, this week!

Want to see your products featured in holiday gift guides??? Sign up for one of our upcoming free workshops:

• Tuesday, June 18th - 4:00 to 5:00 pm EST

• Tuesday, July 9th - 4:00 to 5:00 pm EST

• Tuesday, July 30th - 4:00 to 5:00 pm EST **this is our LAST gift guide pitching workshop of 2024. If you signed up and missed one, or need a refresher, it’s your last chance.**