Today we are going to talk about how to get into Stylist magazine!
Stylist is a fantastic free magazine that is paid for by advertising revenue and is normally given out in shopping centres and city centres. Of course with the pandemic they have had to adapt their business model somewhat and you can now download the editions via their app for 99p – an absolute bargain I think you will agree! Hopefully as the lockdown is lifted more and more, we will start seeing them on the high street soon enough.
I recently attended an exclusive webinar with the editor of Stylist magazine, Lisa Smosarski, and she gave lots of juicy hints and insights on the magazine, what they are looking for and how we can get featured – which is what we are going to dive into today!
What is Stylist all about?
Stylist has a very clear target audience. The mission statement that the editorial team work towards is:
“Stylist is an advocate for women who are defining a very modern take on feminism.
Our readers are the country’s most influential women who are time-poor but thought-rich; they demand the best out of life. But they are also searching for meaning and connectivity.
As a trusted and much-loved brand with an established audience, Stylist is superbly placed to help our readers on this journey.”
Since the method of distribution is in city centres and public transport locations, traditionally it has been aimed at the city career woman interested in food, drink, fashion, beauty – the ultimate lifestyle topics.
How is Stylist structured?
You may not have known this but there are different aspects of Stylist magazine. Not only is it distributed in a physical printed magazine, a digital edition and a podcast, but within these they also have additional sub brands:
- Stylist Loves: A weekly newsletter including a summary of top stories covered in the magazine.
- Strong Women: Focused on fitness, lifestyle, nutrition, wellbeing.
- Nobody Told Me Podcast: A brand new podcast that takes listeners through the life lessons of brilliant women.
- Working from Home: Inspired by the pandemic this focuses on sharing tips working from home and the future working lifestyle.
- Style Lists: A products page where every week they will look for 5 products from fashion, beauty, interiors and share their favourites (they typically work 4-6 weeks in advance on this).
TOP TIP: Stylist covers a wide range of topics and has a lot of regular features. The actual publication itself has specific sections that are in every week such as travel, life, health, food, home, finance, fashion etc. I would recommend researching the magazine and seeing where your story or expertise would fit within the main features themselves (and the sub brands!).
Topical Areas for Future Opportunities:
Lisa discussed some areas that were hot topics that they were looking to cover in future publications that could be of consideration:
- Travel is coming back in a big way! Obviously it is more about staycations, easy to reach European destinations or destinations where you don’t need to fly.
- Mental health triggered by the pandemic. Looking for experts in mental health, case studies during lockdown and how people have coped.
- Pursuit of Creativity – classes to help fill the furlough void, new skills to learn, online learning, things to do to fill in your time (books, audio books, podcasts etc)
- Personal finances – how to manage, how to cope with uncertainty around finances, planning your money.
- Side hustles – women in business who are focusing on a side hustle or who have had a side hustle that has turned into a business.
(this also gives you a good idea of what other publications will be looking for!)
If you have any advice or stories to provide in these topic areas, now is a really good time to pitch them. Stylist are always looking for experts to provide commentary, quotes, stats and research data, so keeping an eye out for these opportunities could be very fruitful for you, particularly at the moment when there are a lot of hot topics on the table.
So get researching, get to know this media brand inside out and find where you fit!
Start pitching your ideas NOW!
Additional resources to help you get featured:
You can catch the replay now:
https://www.facebook.com/caroline.joynson/videos/10158891196580016/
I’m offering some FREE 30-minute PR Breakthrough sessions via Zoom to help you to get clear on where you focus your PR efforts going forwards. To book your FREE 30-minute call click here.
To download my PR Ready Checklist click here.
