Episode 204: How to Pitch Your Product to Gift Guides & Magazines (Without Paying for PR)
In this episode of the Gloria Chou PR Podcast, I break down how small business founders can get featured in gift guides—without paying for ads, without hiring a PR agency, and without sending endless free samples.
If you’re a product-based business owner, maker, or subscription box founder looking for cost-free press opportunities, this episode is your step-by-step guide to landing coverage in holiday gift guides, seasonal roundups, and national publications like Forbes, Elle, and The New York Post.
The Best Time to Pitch Gift Guides
Timing is everything. Learn exactly when to pitch for:
Holiday gift guides (Q4, Black Friday, Cyber Monday)
Valentine’s Day gift guides
Mother’s Day gift guides
Print vs. digital media timelines
Do You Have to Send Samples?
Not always. I share when journalists actually want samples, when they don’t, and how to avoid wasting money on free product giveaways. You’ll also hear creative sample alternatives for luxury products, handmade goods, or high-cost items.
How to Choose Which Product to Pitch
Stop sending your whole catalog! Discover how to:
Pitch 1–2 best sellers journalists actually want to feature
Match your pitch to seasonal trends and occasions
Leverage limited-time collaborations and bundles for maximum press
Why Curated Boxes and Retailers Can Get Featured Too
You don’t need to manufacture your own products to get press. Subscription boxes and curators are landing features in Apartment Therapy, Forbes, Brit+Co, and more—I’ll share exactly how they do it.
Breaking Through PR Myths & Limiting Beliefs
Think you need:
❌ A perfect website?
❌ Hundreds of customer testimonials?
❌ A massive social media following?
Think again. I’ll show you why journalists care more about seasonal relevance, story, and uniqueness than vanity metrics.
Final Takeaway
Gift guides aren’t just for the holidays—they’re a year-round PR strategy that can boost sales, SEO, and brand credibility. Everything you want in your business is on the other side of pressing “send.”
You don’t need a PR agency or a five-figure ad budget. What you need is:
✅ A clear, relevant pitch
✅ Consistency and follow-up
✅ The courage to start now
✨ If you’re serious about getting your products featured in holiday gift guides and top media outlets, this episode is your roadmap
Resources Mentioned:
Join the PR Secrets Masterclass
Join the Small Biz PR Pros Facebook Group
DM the word “PITCH” to us on Instagram to get a pitching freebie https://www.instagram.com/gloriachoupr
Connect with Gloria Chou on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gloriaychou
Join Gloria Chou's PR Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/42863325495194
Additional Resources:
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Join the PR Secret Masterclass
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TRANsCRIPT
00:00:00 Gloria: What's up, small business heroes? Welcome back to Small Business Hero PR where we break down all of the accessible strategies for marketing and PR that you can’t Google and that the industry agencies will not tell you. Gift guides. Many of us are product makers in the audience and we're always figuring out how can we get more sales and getting featured in a media, getting in a gift guide for free is the number one most powerful way to not only skyrocket your sales, but also your SEO, your credibility, and make yourself seen as a truly legitimate brand that people love – a noteworthy brand, a buzzworthy brand. So today we're going to talk about all of the FAQs around getting into gift guides. This is something that we cover in our PR program because we have a lot of product makers from all different niches and they all want to know what are the etiquettes around follow-up, around pitching, around sending samples. So we're just going to go through it. Okay.
00:00:48 Gloria: So the first question I get asked all the time is, Gloria, when is the best time to pitch for gift guides? If you want to be in a digital publication, which most of us do because it's searchable – so things like a Refinery29 or a Well+Good, or even a Forbes that's a digital, they can write gift guide and product recommendations up until 24 hours before the holiday. How many times have you seen last minute gift guides pop up online. Especially if you have a digital gift card or something that can be shipped immediately, you can even pitch one week before.
00:01:19 Gloria: Now want to give yourself a little bit more room and not be so cramped and stressed out. I always recommend starting to write your pitch two months before and then one month before after you have your pitch super nailed down. And by the way, this is something that you can learn by following my CPR pitching method. You can watch the masterclass, which is linked in the show notes. You'll learn how to write the structure of the pitch with the subject line, exactly how to start the sentences and how to conclude. That's covered.
00:01:42 Gloria: Let's say you have your pitch covered. You know what you're pitching. You want to start to send it out at least a month before that holiday. It means that for the Q4 holiday rush, if it's Black Friday, you want to start pitching in late September to October. If it's Mother's Day, you want to start pitching in April or beginning of March. If it's something around Valentine's Day, you can start pitching in the beginning of January. You want to give yourself at least one to two months of runway. Don't feel like you're too late because we had so many people who pitch last minute and get featured.
00:02:10 Gloria: And here's the thing. I interviewed someone who does shopping lists and gift guides for New York Post shopping. She says that they even write articles about how to spend your Christmas gift card. So there's even after Christmas gift guides on what you should get and what you should give. There's always a blue ocean of opportunities. You just have to know that the opportunities are endless and be willing to go after those opportunities. Don't ever keep yourself small, keep yourself stuck and convince yourself to not put your name in the hat because everything you want in your business is on the other side of pressing that send button. So it's my job as your PR coach and unofficial hype woman to tell you to keep pressing that send button because there are so many opportunities to get featured year round. You just have to believe it.
00:02:51 Gloria: If you don't want something that's digital, if you want to be in a print publication, we had someone get into Oprah's Favorite Things, for example, that's probably going to be a couple of months before. That's a longer runway time because they have to print it, they have to finalize it. That's going to be a much longer time frame. So you're going to want to pitch probably three months beforehand or four months beforehand. If you do that three to four months for a digital publication, it might be too long of a timeframe and they might say, why don't you circle back a little bit sooner? Rule of thumb is one to two months for digital and for print three to four months, if not more.
00:03:22 Gloria: Another question I get asked all the time is, Gloria, do I have to send samples? Actual editors – I'm not talking about the influencer of the week who is trying to get free merchandise – credible journalists, credible writers who write for these magazines, a lot of times they won't even need samples because they have so many samples. They are filled with samples, they actually don't even have room for it. I interviewed the beauty editor at Allure and she's like, I don't even need samples. I want to know your mission. I want to know why you're different. I don't technically need it.
00:03:50 Gloria: For some people, they do want a sample. If it's, for example, a home shopping network or a TV show or a Good Morning America, who's one of the TV presenters I had on the show, I asked her about this, if they are debuting, if they are showing that product live on TV, then yes, they will want samples. They will want to have the finished product there. But for a lot of times to get featured in a gift guide or a product roundup – we had someone in our PR program who makes clean beauty and she got featured in Elle without knowing the journalist just using the steps in our program. She didn't have to send a sample for that. And she was actually featured in one of the top 10 skincare oils of the year. So it's definitely not a requirement. And anyone that's asking you for too many samples, I would be weary. Then it gives me red flags, alarm bells sound that I'm thinking, is this person really a legitimate writer or are they just trying to get free stuff?
00:04:37 Gloria: Here's another thing. If it is low cost for you to send a sample, then do it. But if you make something that's very expensive, then maybe just give them a taste of what it's like. Maybe give them a behind the scenes video or if you make really expensive speakers, I'm not going to have you ship a speaker, but maybe have them listen to an audio track. Or if you have an ingredient that's very expensive, give them a video or give them like a little taste of it. If you make very expensive sheets or silk kimonos, maybe it's just a little tile, a little four by four inch of material so they can feel it. So they can still get the idea of what you're doing without you having to go out of pocket and really wreck your budget to send a sample. But I always say you don't need to send samples as a prerequisite to get featured. And all of the people who have gotten featured in our PR program have not had to send lots of samples. That's just the way it is.
00:05:27 Gloria: So another question I get asked all the time about gift guides is, Gloria, I make multiple products. Which one should I pitch? This is such a good question because I get it. We love our products. All of them are our babies. And you might be thinking, well, I can't pick a favorite child. Well, here's the thing. You need to because if you want to send a journalist a pitch they're going to love, you need to stay away from sending them the entire marketing brochure or order form. That is the quickest way to come off as salesy and to come off as someone who is just trying to get out of buying an ad. Everything that I teach here is about turning your marketing and sales pitch into one that a journalist will like. You want to steer away from anything that looks like an order form, a product brochure, a pitch deck with all the list of your products. It just means that you have not done the job to understand what is the best fit for their audience for that season. The best pitches that get featured have one or two maximum products.
00:06:18 Gloria: When you're deciding what product that you should pitch, think about what is the season, what is the occasion? If you're in skincare, for example, if you're pitching something around the holidays, it might be winter, soothing, nourishing, luxurious, something that's moisturizing. If you want to pitch for summertime, it might be something that's TSA approved, that's travel friendly, minis, multipurpose, things like that. Always think about what is the relevance.
00:06:40 Gloria: If you are in food and wine, what are the seasonal ingredients? You're probably not gonna do something that's hot chocolate in the summertime. You might do something that's more relatable to something that's a little bit more refreshing. Think about leading with the seasonal relevance and what product fits that. That is your job as a founder when doing pitches to figure out what is the best relevance and then what product fits that relevance. This is something we talk about all the time in our PR program and we're actually helping you brainstorm this and workshop what is the best one to pitch. To answer your question, do not pitch all of your entire product suite. Pick one or two best sellers.
00:07:13 Gloria: If you have a limited time collab… we have someone who makes incense who actually has a West Elm collab, pitch that. Because that is saying, okay, not only are you able to get this incense at my store, but you can also get it at West Elm. So if you have something that's limited time, a promo or a bundle, or if you're doing a collab, definitely do pitch that because that is not going to be around forever. That's also a great way to get in front of a journalist is by pitching a collab.
00:07:37 Gloria: Another thing I get asked all the time… we do have people who make boxes. So they curate boxes for different occasions, but they don't actually make their own products. And actually some of the most successful people in our program don't make their own products. A lot of times I get asked, well, I don't make any products of my own. Do I still get PR? Here's the thing, Macy's, Nordstrom, they don't really make their own products. They're selling other people's products and you do not see them shying away from PR. So yes. Absolutely. If you just curate, you can definitely get featured.
00:08:06 Gloria: We've had someone get featured over and over and over again, who makes a Read it and Eat. And this is a book and non-perishable food item and she combines them. So it's like a hot sauce and like a sizzling romance read. And the great thing about that is she's able to curate four different seasons and she was able to get featured in now I think 19 and counting gift guides, podcasts, local TV by leading with the relevance. She's curating different boxes for different audiences. Absolutely she can pitch it as well.
00:08:33 Gloria: We also have someone who is a founder of My Trove Box, which is an interior design decor box. She does not make any products. She just curates and puts it in a box. And she has gotten so many press features. Her media page is like exploding with all these different features. She got on so many like Apartment Therapy, Forbes, Brit+Co. And she uses different angles to get featured all year round. So maybe for Valentine's Day, she's pitching a box around coziness and love. She can also pitch the same box for home decor for, let's say, thoughtful gifts for a new mom. And the same box can be repurposed for Valentine's Day gifts. Another angle that she got featured with the same box is 25 unique subscription boxes for moms. Just because you have one box or one thing that you're curating or even a product, it doesn't mean that you have to be pigeonholed into that one thing. Your product, your subscription box can work for so many different angles.
00:09:24 Gloria: Karin, who's the founder of My Trove Box, also got featured with the same box with an article titled, Best Boxes and Gifts to Give to Your Newly Divorced Friend. You see how that's interesting? It's like that divorced friend article is the same box that she repurposed for the Mother's Day angle, which is the same for Valentine's Day angle, because there's something in the box for everybody. So boom, there you have it. If you are worried that you don't make products of your own, you absolutely can get featured. We had so many people have most amazing success stories.
00:09:50 Gloria: Okay. Let's keep going. Another question I get asked all the time is, well, my website isn't great or my website is not optimized. Your website doesn't need to be perfect. Your website is always a work in progress. My website is pretty crappy, but you know what? I'm not making sales through my website per se, right? All they need is a way for them to share with their audience a link to purchase. So maybe it's just one page where they can purchase that one item. Your website doesn't need to be this crazy thing, but it does need to have a way for people to find out about you and make that order. So that's really the minimum. And no, you don't need to have crazy amount of followers. You don't need to have a lot of customer testimonials. It's really about what makes your product unique and interesting and relevant to that season. Remember, journalists are always looking for fresh new perspectives. They're always looking to hunt for indie brands and interesting makers so it's your job to make yourself known to them.
00:10:41 Gloria: Another question I get asked all the time is, I am currently out of stock, so I don't know what to do. You can also put a waitlist page on your website to take waitlist orders. That's a great problem to have that you are so popular that you are out of stock. And guess what? People who want to know about you, they can still go online and sign up for the next release. Definitely don't let this be a barrier for you to keep on pitching because you need to connect with the journalists as early as possible so that even if this time around is not a great fit, you know what they're covering, you've established that rapport, you've established that connection and you have that dialogue with them.
00:11:15 Gloria: Don't let these limiting beliefs stop you from connecting with a journalist because it takes time to build that relationship like you would with somebody on Instagram, like a potential customer. You don't want to just hit them on the head with boom, “We’re launched. Feature us.” You want to be able to have a little bit of a back and forth. So that's why I always say start early, start often, start reaching out to the contacts who are in the media, who are in the position to cover your story.
00:11:37 Gloria: Another question I get asked all the time is, do I need to pay to get into a gift guide? I don't blame you because there are so many times where I get spammed with all of these DMs like, oh, like pay for $5,000 to be featured in those random disruptive entrepreneur thing, that fake pay to play feature, right? We've all gotten it. Raise your hand. That is not what I'm talking about when I'm talking about organic earned PR. That is a sponsored post. That is an ad. So yes, you can pay for it, but just know that you're paying for an ad. It's not going to have that credibility of let's say, maybe Elle saying that you are one of the top 10 skincare oils. Just know that there's a distinction when you pay to play, it’s an ad. When you are getting featured, that’s editorial. An editorial will always, always, always have more staying power, more credibility than any ad because anyone can get an ad. Let’s be honest.
00:12:28 Gloria: Another question I get asked is, can I get featured without tons of customer testimonials? And the answer is absolutely. The journalist is not a Yelp for you. The journalist doesn't necessarily care about your customer testimonials. They want to hear about your formulation, what your story is, why did you put this together. They want to hear from fresh perspectives. They're not out there to do the auditing of what your customers are saying or how many testimonials.
00:12:53 Gloria: You should have a product that is making people happy because you're fulfilling a need in the marketplace but having a lot of testimonials is not something that the journalist is going to ask as a prerequisite to get featured. That's never been a thing for anyone in our PR program, so don't worry about it. If you have raving customer reviews, that's great, but that's not your pitch. Your pitch is why is this product perfect for this season? What is unique about it? Why is your take a little bit different? Why it's really effective?
00:13:20 Gloria: One of the great ways to get featured that's not sharing testimonials is like, what are some of the main and trending ingredients? What's happening this year? There's a lot of seasonal trends. There's a lot of ingredient trends. There's a lot of celebrity trends. Piggyback on that as opposed to your testimonials because your testimonials is not your pitch. And your journalists probably don't even care that you have great testimonials because testimonials can also be fake.
00:13:42 Gloria: Okay. I went through that really quickly. You're probably going to have to go back and rewind and I'm probably going to have to record part two, part three, because I get so many questions about this all the time. I'm just so proud of all of you for listening to this because I think being able to advocate for ourselves, being able to say, yes, I'm not going to just put all my eggs in the social media or ads basket and really get into a gift guide, get PR for my business, that has the most powerful mindset shift that you can make. So you are listening to this, you are on this journey. I applaud you.
00:14:10 Gloria: If you want to take the next step, join our PR program. It's the most inclusive, supportive program that we have on the planet, I think, for small businesses and product. We are always trying to get you connected to journalists who write gift guides. We are giving you real time one-on-one coaching on how you can find the best product, the best angle and write that pitch. We give you media contacts and it's really end to end full support so that your product doesn't just live in your circles, that it really gets buzzed from everywhere else. That it really gets more eyeballs, more traction and seen as a brand that people love. If you have any questions, you can always DM me @gloriachoupr. I cannot wait to see what angles and what are some of the stories that you will pitch your product to to get into a gift guide.
00:14:53 Gloria: Hey, Small Business Hero. Did you know that you can get featured for free on outlets like Forbes, The New York Times, Marie Claire, PopSugar, and so many more even if you're not yet launched or if you don't have any connection? That's right. That's why I invite you to watch my PR Secrets Masterclass where I reveal the exact method thousands of bootstrapping small businesses use to hack their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought after industry expert. Now if you want to land your first press feature, get on a podcast, secure a VIP speaking gig, or just reach out to that very intimidating editor, this class will show you exactly how to do it. Register now at gloriachoupr.com/masterclass. That's gloriachou, C-H-O-U, pr.com/masterclass so you can get featured in thirty days without spending a penny on ads or agencies. Best of all, this is completely free, so get in there, and let's get you featured.