What I'm sourcing for week of 2/13

Postpartum experts, Mother's Day gifts, dermatologists, face yoga experts, celebs for cover stories & more.

First off, thanks so much to everyone who has been sending me such fabulous sources lately — including my wacky request for dogs in wigs for a pet story I am working on. Here is our neighbor’s pup getting roped into the madness! Let’s hear it for Lexi the bulldog being a good sport!

Only A Few Spots Left! A Pitch Perfecting Workshop You Won’t Want to Miss Out On!

As many of you know, Jill Schildhouse and I started Top Tier Consulting with sessions and a fabulous weekly Substack (Check out this newsletter for a taste of what we offer) aimed at helping publicists continue to land top-tier media coverage. Our most popular session by far is our Pitch Perfecting Session. On February 21st, we are taking our private agency format to a small group setting, making it more affordable and accessible to all.

Here are the deets:

What: Ready to take your pitches to the next level? Or are you wondering why certain pitches aren’t getting much response? Learn how to take your emails from, “Here’s a client I represent,” to “Here’s a story idea you can’t possibly turn down.” Between the two of us, we receive thousands of pitches per week (sometimes one thousand a day alone), so we have many tips — and examples — of what works and what doesn’t. From coming up with the perfect email subject line to improve your open rates to sealing the deal with your closing remarks, your word choices matter throughout the entire pitch. We’ll help you perfect them.

Format: 1.5-hour workshop via Zoom with Jill and Nicole includes:

• 45-minute formal presentation of our best pitch-perfecting tips

  • subject line best practices

  • body of email best practices

  • tips to help your pitches stand out in busy writers’ inboxes

  • follow-up best practices (yes, we encourage you to follow up!)

• 45 minutes of providing feedback

  • we’ll dissect one pitch per participant, so come prepared with yours and don’t be shy … we haven’t made anyone cry yet, promise!

  • you’ll walk away with a pitch that’s ready to distribute, advice on how to tailor it to a specific target market, and all our best pitching knowledge in the palm of your hand

• Q&A throughout the session

• Opportunity to network with and learn from your colleagues

• A recording of the session so you can rewatch at your convenience

Date: Tuesday, Feb 21 at 10 am PST/1pm EST

Group size: Capped at 10 participants; first come, first served (prepayment is required to hold your slot)

Pricing: $299 per person for Top Tier Paid Subscribers; $359 per person for Free Subscribers

(Note to free subscribers: The TTC annual subscription fee is $99 — so, upgrading would save you $60 on this workshop, PLUS you’d get access to ALL our paid content and monthly Top Tier Talks for just $39 more for the year.)

Big Valentine’s Day Sale

And Top Tier’s annual subscription is currently 20% off for Valentine’s Day 2/17 so don’t forget to upgrade your membership to a paid one if you haven’t yet!

Now through the end of 2/17, we’re offering 20% off our annual subscriptions. So instead of $99 a year, you’ll pay just $79.20 a year for:

-WEEKLY newsletter deep dives into topics on how to continue to land top-tier media coverage, right to your inbox

-Access to our extensive archive of content that you can read anytime

-The ability to RSVP to our free monthly Top Tier Talks where we discuss trending topics happening in the interaction of the PR/journalist world, bring in guest speakers, and answer all the questions that came up for the month from our TTC subscribers. It’s your monthly chance to check in with the both of us and ask us anything. And if you can’t attend live, we always send out a video recording afterwards to all paid subscribers.

For a taste of what our content is like, check out this free post we wrote to kick off 2023: Our TOP Tips from 2022 (spoiler: they ALL still apply in the new year!)

Here are a few more past topics our audience has loved:

• How to Make YOUR Product Stand Out From ALL the Other Product Pitches In a Writer's Inbox

• The Right And Wrong Ways to Handle Your Clients' Titles When Submitting Them As Sources

• PART 1: A Look INSIDE the Process of How Writers Handle an Inbox Full of PR Pitches

• PART 2: A Look INSIDE the Process of How Writers Handle an Inbox Full of PR Pitches

• 8 Ways to Stand Out From the Crowd When Replying to a Writer's Call for Sources

• 8 Things You Need to Do to Help Prep Your Clients for Interviews

• Holiday Pitching Pro Tips Part 2! Everything you REALLY want to know about pitching gift guides.

What I’m sourcing for this week

Parade

Currently sourcing for April and beyond. The E-edition follows a similar distribution as Parade print did and goes out digitally to newspaper subscribers across America. Some also run print excerpts of the interviews. Looking for notable, recognizable names in entertainment, sports and music.

Huffington Post

Face yoga 101: Looking for experts in this space: Dermatologists to comment and face yoga experts to reveal their favorite and most effective moves.

Twill Health:

• What Is Postpartum Anxiety? How to Recognize the Signs and Symptoms: Looking to speak to experts in this department. May not be associated with a brand.

Woman’s Day

• For an upcoming print feature, looking for women who have inspiring friendship stories, in honor of National Best Friends Day. Looking for friends doing good for the world together, bffs who helped each other out, bffs with heartfelt stories, a pair of best friends who travel together or have some kind of fun travel connection.

Brookdale

Looking for a few more experts to speak about:

• Tips and Tricks to Upsell Your Antiques (ways to refurbish, places to sell etc): Looking to speak to some experts in this space.

• Frequently Asked Questions About Long-Term Care Insurance: Looking to speak to some experts in this space. Not attached to brands.

Also looking for products for

• Books You May Have Missed in 2022: What were the top books of 2022 that people need to know about? (Must be a top book of 2022)

• Mother’s Day Gift Guide for Seniors: What are the top gifts that people should know about as they are shopping for their moms who are seniors this year? (Note: We actually can’t use affiliate links on the blog but can link to products directly)

Don’t forget, I do copywriting too!

• Have a client who needs website copy? A landing page? Social posts? Banner ads? A speech for an upcoming talk? Commercial script? Sponsored posts? I do all of that and more. Always, always, always grateful for referrals. Gotta make that $$$ before the robots kick us writers out of work!

Please email possible sources & opps to: NCPajer@gmail.com

Thanks in advance for pitches. I promise even though I might not get back to everyone, I do read them all.

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