Should I send a photo with my email pitch?
Should I follow up after I send my initial pitch email?
Should I follow up after I send a sample?
What's the best way to send high-resolution photos?
What's the best way to keep track of the opportunities that I've pitched?
I notice the blogs that you post on GMH have much lower Alexa rankings. I feel nervous that if their rankings are that low that they are less likely to write me back though. Do you have any thoughts around that?
I sent a few pitches and have not heard back. Should I cancel my membership?
If I am pitching and it's rather close to the deadline and my follow up email the next week is after their deadline, does that mean the follow up email was pointless because they are no longer looking? Should I aim to have my follow up email arrive before their deadline?
Should I mention in my pitch that I found out about the opportunity through Get Media Happy?
Are there better days of the week for sending pitch emails?
How often is your database updated?
Is using an email service like Sendicate or MailChimp is a good idea - this way the images are imbedded and you can see if they opened and clicked?
Should I mention my other press mentions in my email pitch?
If I don't hear back from a pitch to a magazine for a particular issue (like a holiday issue, for example), should I pitch to that magazine again at a later date for another article/month/occasion or have I basically used up my chance for that magazine or outlet? Is there a specific amount of time you recommend between pitches to a particular outlet?
I recently submitted two sets of samples to a magazine for review. I received email from an assistant telling they really liked it, following by email from editor telling me that my product would be perfect for advertising in the special section of the next issue and to let them know if I am interested in it. I want to respond to them without sounding that I am offended. How would you deal with this situation?
I see that some opportunities have a deadline that's a few months from now. Should I pitch them now or how soon should I start reaching out to them?
How can I cancel my membership?
Should I send a photo with my email pitch?
Yes, absolutely! The best way to do this is to embed the photo in your email body, not as an attachment. Click here for an example. Depending on what email program you use, you can display the image on top, on the left/right or on the bottom. Editors rarely open attachments, so please don’t send an attachment with your email.
Should I follow up after I send my initial pitch email?
Yes, you should follow up about a week after you send your pitch. Keep your followup email short and to the point ( to view an example) and use the words FOLLOWING UP or FOLLOW UP the subject line, for example: “Following up: your holiday gift guide in Redbook.”
If you don’t hear back from your followup email, please do not email the editor/blogger again. Instead, pitch a different opportunity and move on.
Should I follow up after I send a sample?
Yes, you should follow up about a week after you send your sample. Keep your email short and simply ask if they received the sample, if they need additional information and whether or not they think they will be able to include your products in their story.
What's the best way to send high-resolution photos?
Your best bet is to store your high res photos either on your website or on a service like Dropbox, instead of emailing your high resolution photos. Editors might not receive your email if the attachment is too large. The more variety in your photos you can provide, the happier the editors/bloggers will be!
What's the best way to keep track of the opportunities that I've pitched?
We are working on a feature that will allow you to mark off pitches that you responded to right in your membership area, but until that feature is ready, please use this handy to keep track of your pitches and update it on an ongoing basis.
I notice the blogs that you post on GMH have much lower Alexa rankings. I feel nervous that if their rankings are that low that they are less likely to write me back though. Do you have any thoughts around that?
Actually, the lower the Alexa rating, the more visitors a blog has! Alexa ranks sites according to their popularity, so site #1 is the most popular, #2 the second most popular, etc. So the lower the Alexa rating the more popular a blog is and the more traffic they get. At GMH we list only blogs that have an Alexa rating of under 100,000 (with a few exceptions) because this means that they have a substantial amount of traffic to their blog (which means more exposure for you).
I sent a few pitches and have not heard back. Should I cancel my membership?
Publicity is often a numbers game and sending out one or two pitches isn’t going to yield much success. You might have to send out quite a few emails to different media outlets before you get a response. We recommend being a member of Get Media Happy for at least three months if you want to see results. If you still don’t hear anything back, just contact us and we’ll take a look at your email pitch and give you suggestions for how you can improve it. We want to see you succeed and the more pitches you send out (to relevant outlets), the more success you are going to see. Please don’t give up after just a few emails and, most importantly, please don’t take it personally if you get a NO or if you don’t hear back from an editor or blogger.
If I am pitching and it's rather close to the deadline and my follow up email the next week is after their deadline, does that mean the follow up email was pointless because they are no longer looking? Should I aim to have my follow up email arrive before their deadline?
It depends! If you are responding to a query that is due the same day or within 2-3 days, I don’t recommend following up at all. But, if the deadline is 4-7 days away, you can follow up on the day of the deadline. Following up after the deadline doesn’t make sense because the editor/reporter has already moved on to a different story.
Should I mention in my pitch that I found out about the opportunity through Get Media Happy?
Absolutely! Editors have either submitted the request specifically for Get Media Happy members and they are more likely to answer you if they know that you are a member. In the case that they didn’t submit the opportunity and we sought it out, we’ll email them before we post it on the site to let them know that it’s been posted and that they will start hearing from GMH members.
Are there better days of the week for sending pitch emails?
Yes! We recommend you send your pitches on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday because editors are super busy catching up from the weekend on Mondays and on Fridays they are busy trying to wrap things up before they leave for the weekend. As far as time of day, you should send them between 10AM – 3PM EST. However, having said that, there really is no wrong time to send a pitch! You should also experiment – try sending a pitch on the weekend, in the evening, on Monday, etc. and see what works best for you!
How often is your database updated?
It depends! We update our database of publicity opportunities as soon as a new request comes in. Our goal is to add new opportunities at least 3 times per week, but at times it will be on a daily basis (especially during June-August with Holiday Gift Guides).
Is using an email service like Sendicate or MailChimp is a good idea - this way the images are imbedded and you can see if they opened and clicked?
Unfortunately, Mail Chimp and most email service providers do not all you to import an email list if the recipients did not specifically opt in to receive your email. If you import someone in MailChimp, the system automatically sends them an email asking to confirm that they opted in and you are not able to send them an email unless they confirm their optin.
Should I mention my other press mentions in my email pitch?
No! If you received a mention in Ladies’ Home Journal, for example, you should not mention this in your email pitch to similar magazines (or to any other type of magazine). You can mention it in a pitch to a blogger, though. What you should do, however, is to highlight these publicity mentions on your website, on your product pages, in your email to potential retailers, in your media/press kit and in your emails to your customers.
If I don't hear back from a pitch to a magazine for a particular issue (like a holiday issue, for example), should I pitch to that magazine again at a later date for another article/month/occasion or have I basically used up my chance for that magazine or outlet? Is there a specific amount of time you recommend between pitches to a particular outlet?
Yes, absolutely you can pitch for a different story/issue/theme. If you don’t hear back for the holiday gift guide it just means it wasn’t a fit for that story, but you can always feel free to pitch for other opportunities in other issues.
As far as waiting, here’s what I recommend:
– Pitch about Topic 1
– wait a week and follow up about Topic 1
– wait a month and pitch about Topic 2
– wait a week after that and follow up about Topic 2
– etc…
I recently submitted two sets of samples to a magazine for review. I received email from an assistant telling they really liked it, following by email from editor telling me that my product would be perfect for advertising in the special section of the next issue and to let them know if I am interested in it. I want to respond to them without sounding that I am offended. How would you deal with this situation?
What often happens at smaller magazines is that they are considering your products, but at the same time they forward your contact info to the person in charge of advertising so they can get you to try to advertise as well. This doesn’t mean that they are only going to feature you only if you advertise…
Here’s what you can say:
Hi,
Thanks so much for considering our products for your next issue. Unfortunately, we don’t have a budget for advertising right now, but we would still love to be considered for an editorial feature in your magazine. Are our products still being considered for editorial?
Thanks so much!
I see that some opportunities have a deadline that's a few months from now. Should I pitch them now or how soon should I start reaching out to them?
Some bloggers or editors start looking for products way in advance of their deadline. If that’s the case, we recommend waiting about four weeks before the deadline to pitch your products. So if it’s July now and an opportunity has a deadline of October 25, for example, we recommend waiting until September 25 to pitch your products for that opportunity.
How can I cancel my membership?
If you need to cancel your membership, you must do so BEFORE your account automatically renews.
To cancel your membership or to see when it’s due for renewal, please visit the MY ACCOUNT link at the top of this page. Please note that if you cancel your membership before the renewal date, you will still have access to the members area until your renewal date. For example, if your account is due to renew on 8/3 and you cancel on 7/25, you will still have access to everything until 8/3. No refunds will be issued after your card has been processed for membership renewal. No exceptions!
Still have questions?
If so, please use the form below to ask us! We want to make sure that you get the most out of your membership.