Stefany DiManno: How did you land desksides with Seventeen and Lucky Magazine for DiManno Designs?

When planning my PR campaign for my accessories company, Di Manno Designs, I booked a couple of desk side appointments for myself with editors at magazines such as Lucky, Self and Seventeen simply by emailing the editor and asking if we could set up a time to meet so I could personally show them my accessories.  Last year, I spent some time compiling a list of editors through a resource called contactlistonline.com.  I gathered some great contacts there and this year, I gathered even more contacts by using the Media Contact Lists that came with my Collective-E membership.

I’ve been fortunate to have Sabina Ptacin’s professional PR guidance as part of our Agency Program work that I am doing with the ladies of Collective-E.  On one of our calls, Sabina told me that October is a good month to do desk sides, and encouraged me to try to set up appointments.  I gave Sabina a list of editors that I had researched and she went through and advised me as to which editor to contact at the magazines.  I then reached out to those contacts and on that very day, got responses back from Self and Lucky with appointment times!  I find that editors respond better to emails than to phone calls, especially when they don’t know you. 

My pointers for this type of cold emailing is:

• Don’t be afraid, the worst answer you could get is a no response or a no.
• Be straight to the point and suggest a certain day and times. This way, it makes it easier for the editor to just look at his/her schedule and say yes or no.
• If the response is a “No, I can’t do that time,” suggest another day and time that may work.

Learn more about Stefany Di Manno