How to Get Featured In My 2020 Holiday Gift Guide

Guess what? It’s almost gift guide season! If you want your product or service considered for inclusion in Pretty Opinionated’s 10th Annual Gift Guide, keep reading for all the details!

If you want your product or service considered for inclusion in Pretty Opinionated’s 9th Annual Gift Guide, keep reading for all the details!

 

Get Featured In The Pretty Opinionated 2020 Holiday Gift Guide

If you have a fantastic product that you think will make a great gift, send an email to [email protected], preferably with something like “Gift Guide Submission” in the subject line. Before submitting, please skim the guidelines below to make sure your product is a good fit.

What’s New for 2020?

Most of the info below is exactly the same as it has been for years, so if you’re already familiar with my general spiel, you can just read this section and skip the rest. 😀

2020 has been…challenging…to say the least. Between shipping delays, safety concerns and the worst financial crisis of my lifetime, shopping for the holidays is definitely going to be a different experience this year.

SUPER IMPORTANT– please let me know about any shipping deadlines (if you sell through your own online store) or any other important dates that my readers need to know.

I am really focusing on affordable and/or super useful gifts this year. While I will still feature a handful of “just plain luxury” gifts, for the most part I feel like my readers will be looking for items that won’t bust their already straining budgets and that they can actually use.

HOW DOES IT BENEFIT YOU?

I heavily promote my gift guide throughout the entire season online through all social media networks and offline through word of mouth. Then I promote those promotions! I’ll also send out shares directly from your product’s page. I make sure plenty of eyes are seeing your products.

WHAT TYPES OF PRODUCTS DO WE ACCEPT?

Pretty Opinionated shares a wide range of gift ideas for the whole family, including our furry family members (the cats and dogs, not hairy uncle Joe!).  I have one very simple rule: it MUST (must, must, must) be an actual gift idea. As in, something that you would give to someone you really loved. Think about what the gift says. Does it say, “you’re awesome!” or does it say, “Wow, your house is dirty!”?

Vacuum cleaners are the odd exception, since my mother has some sort of weird fascination with them and we can never have too many, apparently.

2020 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE CATEGORIES

This year, I’m dividing my gift guide up into the following categories:

  • Gifts for Adults (I’ve ditched the gender-specific categories)
  • Gifts for Little Kids
  • Gifts for Tweens and Teens
  • Gifts for Pets
  • White Elephant, Secret Santa, and Hostess Gifts (all in one section)

If you would like to see an example of how your product will appear, check out an example of one of my past gift guides.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST & WHAT DO I NEED FROM YOU?

Gift guide inclusion is free if you are sending me product. We only accept full-size, non-returnable products. Please understand that this product is my compensation for my time. If you prefer not to send product, I do charge a fee for inclusion.

At my discretion, I may also include your product in a round-up style post throughout the season if it fits into the content I have planned. If you would like a dedicated feature-length post about your product, please contact me to discuss sponsored post rates and the additional information that I’ll need.

If you want, we can also do a giveaway for my readers together. You’ll need to provide a second item (or a gift card) and send it directly to my winner (unless it’s an e-gift card, in which case I can send it to them or you can, totally up to you). Again, if you are sending me product as well, there is no fee. This is a good way to get a dedicated post without paying a sponsored post fee, as I put all giveaways into their own post. 😀 See, look at that, I gave you a loophole!

For all products (whether you are sending me product or not), please send along a hi-res image for the gift guide page. If you have multiple images, please choose one that will look best against a white background. Or heck, send them all and I’ll pick my favorite!

To recap, at minimum I’ll need:

  • The product you would like me to include (or pre-arranged payment for inclusion without product)
  • An image of said product
  • Any discounts that you would like my readers to know about (you can email me throughout the season and I’ll update the discount info as needed)
  • The best link to use in the Buy Now button.

WHEN IS ALL OF THIS HAPPENING?

The 2020 Gift Guide will be fully live, featured on my home page and heavily promoted starting November 1st. However, the page itself will go live in October and I will begin early promotion.   I will continue accepting submissions through the first week of December for all products and through December 10th for “last-minute” ideas that can be bought in stores (or that have extended shipping deadlines). 

2020 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE “WISH LIST”

Here are some of the items that are really resonating with my readers, my offline friends and family, and my own household this year:

  • Tech Gifts: Especially if they help kids learn online or make staying at home a lot more fun.
  • Subscription Boxes: I’ve always had a mad love for subscription boxes, but I think this year they’ll be a huge hit because shoppers can order one for delivery to their own home, then “piece” it out into separate gifts. Shhh, don’t tell my son, but I’ve done this with gamer and anime boxes in the past!
  • Gifts for Pets:  My pets love getting surprises in the mail. I have high-energy Pharaoh Hound named Freya and 2 cats. Even with money being so tight this year, we can’t forget our fur kids.
  • Things That Make Life Easier: Not sure what to call this category, but think to yourself “will this awesome gift make someone’s life easier?”

Phew, that was a lot of information! If you got to the bottom and forgot my email address, here it is again: [email protected].