Are you ready to see your products featured in gift guides?
How to Pitch for Holiday Gift Guides is a course for product-based businesses that want gift guides features, but don’t know where to start.
You'll get the exact method Nora uses to get tons of press for her clients to support their holiday sales goals. The course includes the tools, email scripts, and pitching calendar that a professional publicist uses every year.
We want you to get gift guide features year after year! So, when you sign up, you get lifetime access to all the course material.
Hi, I’m Nora
I’ve worked in PR for 16 years and have been running my public relations shop Wolf PR since 2011.
Since gift guides are such a stellar PR opportunity, every year Wolf PR works to get more features than the year before.
And if I’m humble bragging (or normal bragging?) I’ve gotten really good at pitching gift guides.
I finally took all that knowledge and put it into the course I wish someone had made for me.
Enroll in How to Pitch for Holiday Gift Guides, today!
Four monthly
payments of $367
most flexible
One-time
payment of $1,297
best value
Psst- This course is all actionable tools. No fluff. No mindset.
I won’t tell you that you can get PR if you believe in yourself. You won’t. You get all the tools a professional publicist uses and you do the work.
What gift guide features can do for your biz
✔ get millions of new eyes on your stuff
✔ increase traffic to your website
✔ grow your email list
✔ build brand recognition
✔ improve your SEO ranking with high-quality backlinks
✔supercharge your end-of-year sales
These are all real gift guide placements I've personally secured.
I’ve seen how this press positively impacts my client’s businesses!
What course participants are saying
Go behind the scenes.
See *exactly* what you’ll get when you register.
Enroll Today
Four monthly
payments of $367
most flexible
One-time
payment of $1,297
best value
Should my business really invest time and money into holiday gift guides now…? The holidays are so far away!
A loud, resounding, YES!
Lead times for holiday gift guides are longer than any other product placement opportunities. Editors at national publications start working on gift guides in the early summer -- think Cosmo, Vogue, Outside, Wired, etc. Regional publications like Time Out, Southern Living, and Colorado Homes, start this work late summer.
If you want holiday gift guide features, NOW is the time to find the publications that are the best fit for your products. And to make sure you have the right photos.
Psst- the course helps you do all this step-by-step.
We’ve been getting our retainer clients into gift guides for 10+ years.
When you sign up for this course, you’ll get access to all our gift guide expertise!
So, you’ve got two choices…
Keep scouring the web for free posts with incomplete info as you cobble together a gift guide pitch plan.
OR
Get the time-tested tools and email scripts to ensure you’re pitching the right publications, at the right time, the right way.
Our course members have landed great press, and you can too!
Using the tools and step-by-step instructions we provide, product-based businesses just like yours have secured top tier gift guide placements!
Enroll Today
Four monthly
payments of $367
most flexible
One-time
payment of $1,297
best value
Not quite ready for the full gift guide pitching course?
So, who is this PR course for?
Independent brands, designers, and makers
who want to see their products in gift guides but don’t know where to start.
Anyone who sells “giftable” products
like: home goods, tech products, jewelry, consumables, small electronics, ceramics, stationary, books, beauty products... the list goes on and on.
Publicists & in-house marketing teams
who want to supercharge their holiday season outreach.
Does any of this sound familiar?
You get that little tinge of jealousy every December when you see competitors’ products in gift guides. And you ask yourself, “How are they getting so many placements!?”
You know holiday press placements can supercharge your end-of-year sales goals, but you don’t know how to go after these great media opportunities.
You don’t have the budget for a PR firm but you are excited to do outreach on your own? With all the right tools, of course!
You only want “how to pitch” guidance if it’s concrete, actually helpful, no-fluff, actionable, and specific? Rest assured you’ve come to the right place!
When you sign up you get:
✔ Lifetime access to all my gift guide pitching knowledge.
✔ My tried and true method to find the right publications for any giftable product.
✔ My week by week pitching calendar, so you know precisely when to reach out.
✔ The exact email pitch scripts that I use every year.
More stellar gift guide placements our course participants have secured
Enroll Today
Four monthly
payments of $367
most flexible
One-time
payment of $1,297
best value
Quick note to tell you I finished the gift guides course!
It was a great experience as a whole. Great that I was able to come back to it in digestible chunks. The videos are really what makes it!
Jenny Nguyen, Hello Human
psst- Jenny is a publicist too! This course works for PR and Marketing teams as well.
You may think that PR is totally mysterious
You might be overwhelmed if you’re pitching for the first time. Or for the second time after an unsuccessful first time.
If you don’t have a plan to follow, it can be easy to make mistakes, get off track, and never end up sending pitch emails to editors.
That’s why I took all my knowledge from successfully pitching gift guides for 16+ years to create this step-by-step course, How to Pitch for Holiday Gift Guides.
Before starting
How to Pitch for Gift Guides
Every time you think about PR you’re totally overwhelmed.
You’ve googled “holiday gift guides” and seen the opportunities, but don’t know if your product is right for any given publication.
Pitching gift guides is perplexing. When to pitch? Who to pitch? What images to send?
You sell your product on Etsy, Amazon, or at a local retailer and are unsure if you can still pitch your products.
After finishing
How to Pitch for Gift Guides
You know exactly how to do research to determine the right publications for your products.
You know when to pitch print vs digital publications. You’ll do gift guide outreach for your products every year.
You’re super confident that you have the right images to pitch and they’re organized to a T.
You’ve got a media outreach list started and are excited to keep building it year after year.
So what’s in
How to Pitch for Holiday Gift Guides
Publication research worksheet
So you'll know what to jot down when you look at last year’s guides
Weekly outreach calendar
So you'll know exactly when to pitch editors at magazines and blogs
Exact email scripts
So all you have to do is copy and paste from from your course handbook
9 video trainings
So you have support and examples you can go back to every step of the way
In-depth pitch reviews
You'll watch me review the pitches of two other product-based businesses
BONUS Photography Guide
So you're sure you have the right product images for holiday gift guides
BONUS Affiliate link module
You'll know how to use affiliate links for holiday gift guide pitching
How to pitch all year long
You'll learn to pitch for other holidays like Mother's & Valentine's Day
LIFETIME ACCESS!
You don’t have to keep all this info in your brain! Come back every year
Click to see what is covered in each module:
+ Gift Guide Course Introduction
In the intro module you’ll get all the downloadable tools that you’ll use throughout the course, including:
- Your How to Pitch for Gift Guides Handbook
- Holiday Gift Guide Outreach Calendar
- Gift Guide Research and Contacts Spreadsheet
- PR Terms Glossary
- BONUS: Product Photography for Media Outreach Guide
In the intro you’ll also learn about lead times so you know the types of publications to prioritize first.
+ Module 1: Create an Outreach Strategy
In Module 1 you will use the Gift Guide Research & Contacts Spreadsheet template to:
- Understand which publications are a good fit for your product
- Identify what assets you need
- Determine the publications you plan to pitch
The template includes specific examples for Print National, Print Regional, Weeklies, and Digital publications so you’ll know exactly how to fill out your spreadsheet.
+ Module 2: Make Your Assets Media Ready
In Module 2 you will use the information you compiled in the Gift Guide Research & Contacts Spreadsheet to determine if you need to create any additional material.
This includes things like:
- Merchandising
- Sales Platform
- Samples
- Photography
+ Module 3: Pitch Your Gift
In Module 3 I break gift guide pitching down week-by-week based on dates that I’ve found have the best press outcomes.
I tell you exactly what to send when, from June all the way through December.
This module includes all your initial outreach email scripts and what to do depending on the response you get from the editors you reach out to.
+ Module 4: Follow Up With Editors
In Module 4 you get all the email scripts and information on how to respond to editors once they’ve answered your initial outreach and are interested in your product.
This includes things like:
- Sending samples
- Sharing high resolution images
- What to do if you don’t hear back after initial interest
+ Module 5: Leverage Your Press
In Module 5 we cover best practices for maintaining editor relationships since you’ll likely reach out to many of the same publications year after year.
This module also covers how to get the most out of press placements to legitimize your product and build your brand.
Enroll Today
Four monthly
payments of $367
most flexible
One-time
payment of $1,297
best value
Did I mention the BONUS module about getting press all year??
I want you to take all you’ve learned pitching gift guides and get press for your products all year!
That’s why we added a BONUS module about how to pitch your product for ALL the other holidays, a $450 value, for free!
You’ve built an editor contact list, now you’ll know exactly hot to pitch them for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, even things that are not quite holidays, like back to school and summer time entertaining.
psst! All headlines to the left are articles that Wolf PR has secured client placements in!
…and a second BONUS module about pitching with affiliate links!
Media has changed A LOT in the past few years, that’s why we’ve added a bonus module all about affiliate links, a $100 value, for free!
What the Understanding Affiliate Links module covers:
How affiliate links give you an advantage when pitching
The most popular affiliate networks and how to get started
The types of affiliate links deals you can set up for your biz
How to pitch your affiliate link product
What media outlets are looking for to publish your product
psst! All the features to the right include placements with affiliate links that Wolf PR secured!
… yet another BONUS about photography!
Since photography is *the most important* part of media outreach, we’re including our Product Photography for Media Outreach PDF guide, a $74 dollar value, for free!
This 40 page guide covers:
An intro to product photography for media
A detailed description of the 7 types of media images with examples of each, and links to the articles where they appeared
Tips on how to strategize before you hire a professional photographer
More tips for shooting and editing your work
Best practices to create file management systems editors will love
Enroll Today
Four monthly
payments of $367
most flexible
One-time
payment of $1,297
best value
This is a lifetime-access, self-paced PR course
No fitting zoom calls into your busy schedule
No worrying about when you’ll lose access
No waiting around for new modules or videos
You can do this course at your own pace, from home or anywhere in the world.
If you were to buy these resources individually…
Photography for Media Outreach Guide - $74
Gift Guide Research & Contacts Spreadsheet with examples for Print and Digital publications - $74
Week-by-week Gift Guide Outreach Calendar that’s been fine tuned after 10+ years of successful pitching - $400
Recorded how to’s with Nora where you learn how to do publication research and when to pitch - $650
A 20+ time-tested email scripts for editor outreach and follow-ups - $350
Weekly emails reminding you what you should be working on from June to December - $345
An additional training about how to pitch your products for media opportunities all year long - $450
Another training about setting up and pitching with affiliate links - $100
Two recorded in-depth pitch reviews with other product businesses doing gift guide outreach - $300
A $2,743 value for $1,297
That’s well over half off what it would cost to buy these resources individually.
Enroll Today
Four monthly
payments of $367
most flexible
One-time
payment of $1,297
best value
But, what if I hired a PR firm instead?
PR firms charge thousands of dollars per month to do media outreach for you. That’s what my sister company Wolf PR charges. We’re really good at it, and we charge appropriately, but for many businesses that expense isn’t realistic.
In fact, this is why I created Wolf Craft! I’ve seen the impact media placements have had for my clients.
I wanted to create an actionable PR course for businesses like yours who want press but haven’t been able to work with a retainer PR firm.
Image: Wolf PR placement for client HAAND in Green Building & Design
A bit more about me, and why I’m even qualified!
I’ve worked in PR my entire professional life and have been running my boutique public relations shop Wolf PR since 2011. Because holiday gift guides are such a stellar PR opportunity, every year Wolf PR sets the goal to get more gift guide features than last year. And if I’m humble bragging (or maybe just normal bragging?) I’ve gotten really good at pitching gift guides.
One year we got so many gift guide placements, one of our clients pulled their giftable products apart from their furniture line and started a whole new website! Another client relayed the ultimate compliment, “Our product has been featured in so many gift guides this year! We’ve never had this much publicity, even after working with other PR firms.”
All this to say, gift guide placements make a big bottom-line difference, and we know our stuff.
In 2020 (during the Corona outbreak, no less!) I decided to launch Wolf Craft to address PR needs that Wolf PR was not designed to do. I wanted to help small businesses do PR successfully in-house.
I was surprised to learn that most holiday gift guide advice available online was very surface-level. That’s why I made this very niche PR course. I worked hard to build a course that helps makers and small business pitch to be featured in gift guides. You’ll learn the things that I do every year to get my clients tons of press placements to support their holiday sales goals.
I finally took all that knowledge and put it into the course I wished someone had made for me. The tips in this course, like all our work, are useful and actionable and always abide by our no-fluff policy.
In case you’re still unsure if this is the right PR course for you…
We’ve scoured the internet for free resources that teach you how to pitch for gift guides. The few that do exist are so surface level that they’d be nearly impossible to implement on your own.
I’ve worked very hard to distill over a decade of experience successfully pitching gift guides into this course. As far as I know, this is the only place where you’ll get time-tested, step-by-step instructions on how to pitch for gift guides, including a calendar with precise timing information.
We literally tell you what to do and what pitch to send, week by week, through the whole season.
How to Pitch for Holiday Gift Guides - FAQs
+ Do I get lifetime access to the material in this PR course?
Yes! We want everyone who enrolls in this course to be able to pitch gift guides year after year, so we’re happy to give you lifetime access.
+ When does the course begin and end? And how long will it take?
How long it will take depends. It depends on how many publications you want to pitch, what month in the year you’re starting this course, and if you need to take new photographs of your products.
You can start this course at any time in the year. Based on the time of year you start, in the introduction module we will give you specific instructions on what to do first and how to approach the course. Here is a quick outline:
If you start in the winter, spring, or early summer: Set aside three to four hours a week in May for publication research, Module 1: Create an Outreach Strategy. In June set aside three to four hours a week for asset creation and organization, Module 2: Make Your Assets Media Ready. You’ll then spend July through early December reaching out to and following up with editors, Module 3: Pitch Your Gift and Module 4: Follow Up With Editors. This should take about two hours per week on average.
If you’re starting the course earlier you’ll have more time for Module 1 & 2, which, in my opinion is great!
If you start in the late summer or fall: Editors at digital publications take pitches as late as December. So if you purchase this course in August or later, you’ll focus on researching and pitching digital publications only.
But don’t worry, since we’re giving you lifetime access to the course you can take what you’ve learned and be even better prepared to pitch print publications next year.
Gift guides are an amazing PR opportunity for businesses that make products and it’s not one-and-done, you’ll want to circle back to this course, build your media list, and improve your pitching year after year.
+ What type of photography will I need to pitch holiday gift guides?
When photographing products for media outreach including gift guides, you must produce images that meet industry standards. Editors will select images that meet their publications criteria and pass over images that don’t fit within the publications established point of view, no matter how great the product or how artistic the photos.
We’ve condensed 10+ years of asset development knowledge into a useful straightforward guide Product Photography for Media Outreach, and it’s totally FREE with this course. This guide was developed specifically to help product designers create media-ready photography so that you can: 1) assess your photography; 2) prioritize the types of photos to take; and 3) create an editor-ready file management system. In the guide we include high quality examples of each type of media photography with links to the articles where they were featured.
+ I sell my product on Etsy, can I still pitch to gift guides?
YES! It is important to know that not all gift guides will include products that are only sold on Etsy or Amazon, particularly guides in large print national publications. However many smaller print regional publications and a lot of digital publications will include these products. Additionally, if your product is available at a local retailer you should definitely pitch to local publications. If you are a growing business this is a great way to start small, the process will be the same next year and you can always work to build a stand-alone sales platform next year!
+ What is your money back policy?
Because this course includes several downloadable resources that you’ll get the minute you sign up, including our Gift Guide Pitching Handbook, Holiday Gift Guide Outreach Calendar, Gift Guide Research and Contacts Spreadsheet, PR Terms Glossary, and bonus Product Photography for Media Outreach guide, we do not offer a money back policy. Please feel free to reach out to hello@wolf-craft.com if you have any questions.
Please keep in mind that to be successful this course requires you to do the work. Your products won’t pitch themselves.
Enroll Today
Four monthly
payments of $367
most flexible
One-time
payment of $1,297
best value