How It Works
We reach out to magazine editors and ask them what types of products they’re looking to feature in upcoming stories. When they tell us, we share that with you and if your products are a good fit, you pitch your products directly to the editor. It’s that easy!
If you have these types of products, we’d love to work with you
What You Get
We reach out to magazine editors and ask them what types of products they’re looking to feature in upcoming stories. When they tell us, we share that with you and if your products are a good fit, you pitch your products directly to the editor. It’s that easy!
Up-to-Date Media Lists.
When you become a member, you’ll get up-to-date media lists in every industry we cover (see list above). There are more than 5,000 contacts for both print magazines and blogs.
Product Requests Directly from Magazine Editors.
We reach out to magazine editors on a monthly basis and ask them what products they are currently looking for that month. When they tell us, we post it to the members area so you can pitch the editor directly (we’ll give you their name, contact email, title, their deadline and the exact type of product they’re looking for).
Product Requests from Influential Bloggers.
We reach out to influential bloggers (with more than 50,000 unique monthly visitors) to see what product reviews or giveaways they have in the pipeline. You’ll never have to pay for a product review (unlike other sites that work with influencers).
Sample Pitches.
Not sure what to say when you reach out to editors or bloggers? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! As a member, you’ll get sample initial and follow up pitches, as well as sample letters to send when your products are requested.
Editorial Calendars.
We’ve done all the research for you and uploaded more than 120 editorial calendars from national, regional and local magazines. You’ll know exactly what the themes are for each month – no more second guessing when you pitch.
Members’ Directory.
We share our members directory with every single editor and blogger we work with and they often look through the directory to discover new products. Yours could be one of them!
More than 1,000 brands have used MEDIA LEADS to get in magazines and in the media!
Big thanks to Andreea Ayers for her PR program. DIY PR paid off with this month’s O, The Oprah Magazine!
~ Rae Vittorelli
Cocoagraph
Thanks to your leads, our monogrammed koozies were featured in Woman’s Day magazine. Lots of orders to process. Thanks again!
~ Karen Bullard
Sugar Nest
My first feature in Cat Fancy Magazine generated over $500 in necklace sales so far. Thanks so much!
~ Sara Pocius
Sara Pocius Jewelry
How Your Business Benefits
No more hours spent searching high and low for an editor’s contact information or editorial calendar. Simply browse the media leads opportunities and, when you’ve found a match, submit your information and you’re good to go.
Launch Grow Joy MEDIA LEADS is for you if:
- You have an e-commerce business
You sell physical products via your website, Etsy or another platform. - You’re committed.
You’re a go-getter, and you’re passionate about increasing your traffic and sales. - You don’t have the budget for a PR firm—
but you still want the results you’d get if you used one. Think: MORE fans, MORE followers and MORE sales. - You already have an online presence:
your own website, email list and social media following. - You have the right systems in place.
You have the inventory to manage an influx of inquiries, you understand the sales cycle, and you have professional photographs shot and ready to go. - You’ve done the groundwork.
You can explain the mission and the message behind your business, and talk about how you got where you are today. - You’ve invested in media-worthy packaging.
Forget see-through bags and hand-tied ribbons, you understand the importance of cohesively branding every product you create.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you mean I have to be ``media ready?``
Before you pitch an editor or blogger, you want to make sure that you have the following in place:
– professional-looking photos of every individual product, as well as group product shots on a white/transparent background AND in a lifestyle format
– your own website – magazine editors and bloggers will want to link back to your site and they’ll want to see your branding before they mention you to make sure that it’s a good fit for their audience. If you only have an Etsy shop, for example, it’s hard for them to get to know YOU and YOUR STORY.
– product available and ready to ship – the media will often request a sample of your products to test, try or take photos of. You have to have the product available to ship to them as soon as they need it
– patience – publicity is not a one-time thing. It’s an ongoing effort that requires persistence and patience.
Do you provide guidance or help with pitches?
Unfortunately, we are not able to take a look at your email pitch and make suggestions/changes, but you will have access to a few sample pitches that worked in the past
Why do you only accept members in the United States and Canada?
At this time, we only accept entrepreneurs whose business has a presence in the United States and Canada. This is because sometimes you will have to overnight samples to editors and this is quite expensive to do if you are outside of the US or Canada. Also, editors and bloggers are more likely to write about products that their readers can get shipped from the US or Canada (to minimize shipping charges), so your chances of being featured are much higher if your business has a presence in the US/Canada. Also, we don’t currently have a lot of relationships/access to media outlets outside of the US/Canada.
How is Launch Grow Joy MEDIA LEADS different from Help a Reporter (HARO) or some of the other media matchmaking services?
The underlying idea is similar to that of HARO. However, there are quite a few differences:
– HARO is overwhelming for both entrepreneurs and reporters. With over 130,000 subscribers to its service, competition is quite high. Reporters often get 100+ pitches for each query (and I can attest to that because I’ve used HARO as a reporter and the amount of responses was overwhelming!). On HARO, it’s a lot more difficult to get noticed.
– HARO is not product-focused. Most of the queries on HARO are for services and experts, not products. There is a gift bag request email, but most of those require you to send a ton of product to an unknown event.
– HARO is time-consuming. You have to look through more than 150 queries each day to see if one is a good fit for your brand.
Please note: I think HARO is a great service and I’ve personally used it to get my products and services featured in the media, bit it’s not geared towards entrepreneurs with a product.
I love the idea, but hate the price. Why do you charge for this?
It takes a few of us HOURS each day to find these publicity opportunities, upload them to our database, communicate with the media and let you know about them. This is an extremely time-intensive service on our end and we would go broke if we didn’t charge a monthly fee. Our fee is minimal compared to what a traditional PR agency charges (anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 per month).
Plus, we want to work with entrepreneurs who are committed and willing to invest in their success. We found that only about 20% of people show up and take action for something free, but over 90% show up and take action when they have paid for it. We want MEDIA LEADS to be a hub of success and investing money and time in your business is one way to hold yourself accountable for your own success.
We also understand that not everyone is able to invest $125 per month for this service right now. While we get that, it’s important for us to work with clients who are willing and able to invest in their business because those are the clients who often see success with publicity. If you are not yet able to invest money for PR right now, we hope that you will be able to in the near future.
What form of payments do you accept?
You can pay with Visa, Master Card, American Express and Discover. Unfortunately, we are not able to take PayPal.
What kind of media outlets are included?
You’ll find queries from National Magazines (like Real Simple, Martha Stewart Weddings, Fitness, Self, Time, etc.), Regional Magazines (like Time Out NY, San Diego Family, Miami Magazine, etc.), Trade Magazines (like Gift Shop Magazine, American Spa, Museum Stores, etc.) and Influential Bloggers. We also have a few queries from TV shows and podcasts, although this is not our main focus right now.
How do I know how popular a blog or magazine is?
You’ll find the magazine’s monthly circulation numbers listed with each query. Where available, we also list the blog’s unique monthly traffic. We also strive to work with bloggers whose Alexa rating is below 100,000 (the lower the rating, the more traffic/popularity a blog has). You can go to www.alexa.com to get each blogger’s rating.
What kind of products does MEDIA LEADS cover?
We strive to get requests for a variety of products, including:
– apparel
– accessories
– jewelry
– baby & kids
– bath & beauty
– eco, organic and natural products
– home decor
– stationery
– home & garden
– parenting
– general consumer products
– women’s products
– men’s products
– outdoor gear
– gifts
– food
– pet
We don’t cover books, CD’s, video games, apps, or services.
How often do you update your database?
We receive queries on an almost daily basis and will update those as soon as they are available. As soon as something new is added to the membership area, you’ll be notified via email.
Do you guarantee results?
Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee results because we have no control over what editors and bloggers ultimately choose to write about. Actually, no PR firm or service can guarantee results, unfortunately. Publicity is often a numbers game and the more pitches you make the more likely you are to get your products featured. For example, if you only pitch one opportunity per month, your chances of getting featured are much smaller than if you pitch ten opportunities per month. The more “shots” you take, the better your chances are of being featured.
Did you start this to compete with PR firms?
Not at all! We actually envision PR firms as being members as well. We started this to help entrepreneurs who want to take full control of their PR efforts and who might not have a monthly budget of $2,000-$10,000 to pay for a PR firm.
We value the hard work that PR agencies do and our goal is not to put them out of business. Our goal is to make it easy for EVERYONE, whether it’s an individual brand or a PR agency, to get access to the media.
Can I sign up if I am PR firm or if I represent multiple clients?
No, unfortunately. Right now our focus is on working with individual brands and entrepreneurs who might not have access to these resources.
I sell my products through Etsy only and don't have my own website. Can I still sign up for MEDIA LEADS or should I wait until I have my own site?
I always recommend that EVERYONE have their own website in addition to their Etsy shop, but, at the same time, I don’t want you to lose out on publicity opportunities because you don’t have your own site. I have definitely seen some magazines that mention products from Etsy and a lot of them even have a handmade gifts as a theme for their holiday gift guide.
You should sign up and start pitching and at the same time work on getting a site up, even if you’re not selling products directly on there (but you can direct people to your Etsy shop from your site).
Can I cancel my membership any time?
Absolutely! You can cancel your membership any time and your membership ends on the day you cancel. However, there are no refunds on unused membership, meaning that if you cancel your membership two weeks after you start and there are still two weeks left in your membership, you won’t receive a pro-rated refund on the unused weeks.
Is my membership automatically renewed?
Yes, your membership is automatically renewed based on the original membership length, unless you decide to cancel.
How do I cancel my membership?
You can cancel any time by logging into your account and going to the MY ACCOUNT tab. There, you’ll see a link to cancel your membership. Your access to the members area will end on that day you cancel. Please note that there are no refunds.
I still have more questions. Who can I contact?
If you still have a question, contact us and we’ll get back to you right away.