Episode #60: Send a Product Pitch with Joni Sweet
“I’m hesitant to accept samples if I’m not sure if i can cover it, and the PR person seems overly eager or demanding. I don’t even want to bother trying it, because I don’t want to have follow ups in my inbox every week asking when I’m going to write about it.”
-Joni Sweet, on receiving products from publicists
In today’s episode, we analyze a product pitch that inspired a freelance journalist to write a gift guide for Forbes. We’ll learn the etiquette around offering a product to a journalist to test out, the fact that coverage is not always guaranteed, and the balance of being polite, direct, and professional. Walk away empowered with the skills to pitch a product and potentially earn a spot in a future gift guide.
In this episode, you'll learn…
When aggressiveness can work against you in product PR
How gift guides and product reviews are written for top-tier publications
Why more journalists are turning toward Substack for story sources
Our guest is:
Joni Sweet is a freelance writer who focuses on travel, health, and wellness. Her work has been published by TIME, National Geographic, Forbes, SELF, Health magazine, Lonely Planet, TripSavvy Real Simple, and dozens of other publications. She travels often, but when she's not on the road, you can find her at home in the Hudson Valley, practicing yoga, cooking vegetarian food, or biking. Check out her Substack to see what she’s working on!
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Show Notes:
:00- Jackie introduces our guest.
1:49– Jackie asks Joni to go over the gift guide she wrote for Forbes, and how it came to be.
6:40– Joni summarizes what she liked about the pitch.
7:53– Jackie asks if having included commentary helped at all with the coverage.
8:44– Britt asks if Joni spoke with the CEO.
9:00– Britt shares the initial subject line and noticed that the subject line changed for the follow-up email and remarks how interesting it was.
10:08– Britt asks if Joni had worked with Dana in the past.
11:00– Britt asks Joni to talk more about her hesitancy to receive products.
13:54– Britt asks if Joni ever writes about products without receiving them.
14:45– Britt asks Joni what happens if she does not like a product.
17:23– Jackie asks Joni how she approaches testing more expensive products.
19:46– Britt asks Joni if affiliate programs are required for pitching products.
21:14– Britt asks Joni about her Substack.
25:04– Jackie asks if Joni has go-to PR people that she reaches out to regularly.
26:43– Joni asks Jackie and Britt what they’ve been seeing in terms of journalists Substack. Britt mentions Qwoted.
30:41– It’s shoutout time! Joni gives a few shoutouts: Dana Quinn (Jack Taylor PR), Crew of Two (Boston), Maria Silva (Newlink Group), Jennifer McDermott (ThriveWorks), and Alexandra Gavan (Mercury Global Partners).
Things we talked about…
Connect With Joni Sweet
Connect with Jackie & Britt
