Hello, and welcome to Resolving Timeline Issues!

My name is Nicole. You’ve clicked here because you want to pitch me something, and I’m more than happy to listen. However, just to save us both time, please keep to the following guidelines:

Send me a brief, original e-mail, not just a press release. Your email should be brief, but contain enough information so I know what is being asked of me. I’d prefer not to receive a one-liner just asking for my mailing address. I don’t expect you to read my blog from beginning to end, but you should read enough to figure out if I’m the kind of person who would be interested in your offer.

My e-mail address is rtissues (at) gmail (dot) com.

I am located in the Greater Vancouver area, British Columbia, Canada and the products/services you are pitching should be easily available to Canadians. A US company with exorbitant shipping rates to Canada does not fit the definition of “easily available”. If your product is for kids, keep in mind I have a girl toddler.

I only write about products I have personally tried. If the product is useful to me and I like it, I will keep it. Other products will be donated/given away. I don’t accept loans (except for really huge items, like a car).

I need samples of products so that I can give a fair, honest review-much like I would to my best friend and the only way to really do that is to have the products in my hands.

The review of your product will contain a story about my experience with it, and a list of the pros and cons. It will also include a disclosure of how I was compensated (product, payment, etc).

Your product should fit with my philosophy. Wherever possible, it should be: environmentally friendly, healthy, and generally a “good thing”. Local products and services are great! The review will be in my own words as it will contain my own opinion. The review will appear my blog. The focus of this blog isn’t to get free stuff. I only write about products that I really, truly, love and think will be useful for my readers. This means I’m selective about the products and services I’ll review.

I do host giveaways. Giveaways are great! But make sure that it adheres to the guidelines above (and below).

I am also amenable to social media campaigns that fit into these guidelines.

If you would like to hire me to write an article for you, please e-mail me. Keep in mind, I don’t work for free and will not “pass on this great deal” to my readers in a blog post.

I am most excited about products to do with:

• Special events, especially kid-friendly ones in the Vancouver/West Fraser Valley area. I can do non-local events but only if you’re willing to pay transportation, meals and lodging, at least for me. If it’s a lengthy thing, it has to include my family.
• Family-friendly vacation destinations
• Home decor, home furnishings
• Great gear for families/kids
• Some charitable causes
• Various gadgets and geekery
• Film screenings/theatre events
• Books. Please note that the time for reviews is dependent on the length of the book. If the book is available as an e-book, that’s even better.
• Healthy living, healthy initiatives; healthy, real food (no fast-food); local products and services
• Relevant websites/services to me and my readers (tricky, I know, but there it is!)

Your pitch will be deleted if it contains any or all of the following:

• requests to “pass this information about our company onto your readers”
• junk/fast food items and unhealthy things, including chemical cleaners.
• events in far-away places (unless you are willing to pay transportation, meals and lodging)
• anything that starts with “Dear Blogger” or some variant of it.

Any questions? Please e-mail me. rtissues (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thanks to Karen and Andrea for providing the outline for this.