22 comments

Bigger, Better, Bolder: Build Your Media Kit

IFB » Content and Writing » Bigger, Better, Bolder: Build Your Media Kit

This is the next in a very exciting series we’re bringing to you on IFB in anticipation of the upcoming #IFBcon. Each day, we’ll have a different post designed to help your blog become – you guessed it – bigger, better and bolder!

Putting together a media kit for your blog can sound like quite a daunting task. Media… kit? What is that? What's in it? Unless you've worked in media, marketing, PR or publishing, this might be a relatively unfamiliar term. Confession? I hadn't really thought that bloggers needed a media kit until I witnessed Ari Goldberg of StyleCaster trumpet their importance at IFBcon in September of 2011 (and Ashe wrote an amazing follow-up post).

I will sheepishly admit that I do not (yet) have a media kit pulled together for my blog, despite how much I could probably benefit from having one. For that reason, I had to turn to IFB's marketing professional-in-residence, Amanda, as well as my dear friend, Google.com. Not only did I learn how important a media kit really is, but how not-that-painful it is to create one.

Why should you create a media kit for your blog?

On the most superficial level, it's good to have a media kit because it makes you and your blog look credible. It's an instant indication that you take your blog seriously and as a professional endeavor (even if it's a hobby or a side-project). A media kit is helpful to send (or make available) to anyone who may be interested in partnering with you, whether it be a publication looking for contributors, an advertising partner, or a brand looking to involve you with a promotional project or giveaway.

If one of these entities is reaching out to you, you can infer that they already like your aesthetic, your content and have noticed that you have great engagement with your audience. They think you're a potential match – which is great! Next, they're usually going to ask for some information and statistics that aren't readily visible on your site. Instead of creating a new email response that lists these stats each time you reply, take the time to create a media kit you can attach (that can be updated as needed).

What goes into a blogger's media kit?

A media kit is all about selling yourself, and putting some hard facts out there that solidify why (or unfortunately, why not) you would be a great match for this brand, retailer or publication. (Better to put all the information out there, so neither you nor the brand waste your time, money and effort on a partnership that doesn't make sense!) There's some give-and-take on what should be included in a blogger's media kit, but after consulting a few sources like BlogHer, 5 Minutes For Mom, here are a few key components I deciphered most bloggers should have:

About & Information
- You can pull the best of your “About” page for this part, and just give a brief summary of who you are and what your blog is about.
Site Stats
- Time to spend some QT with your analytics, friends! Review your numbers from the past three months to get an accurate composite of how your site is doing. Get out your calculator, and get ready to do a little math to find your averages. Include:
  - Visits
  - Unique Visitors
  - Pageviews
  - Demographics of your audience
  - A summary of your main traffic sources
  - A short summary of your top posts (were they outfits, product reviews, beauty tutorials, etc)
Social Media Stats
- Social media influence and reach is becoming and increasingly important component of your marketing strategy, especially for giveaways and contests. Here's a sampling of the kinds of stats you may want to include, depending on which channels you use:
  - Facebook likes
  - Twitter: followers
  - Pinterest followers
  - Instagram followers
Past Partnerships
- Get your brag on! If you've worked with brands or advertisers in the past, list them out here. (If there are a lot, choose the most successful or most visible brands to highlight.) If your media history is more developed, you may consider including visuals here.
List of Services
- Here's where you can lay out for any potential partners just exactly how they can work with you, and in what capacity. Your “services” can range from banner ads to sponsored posts, gifted product, videos, giveaways, dedicated emails and more.

*Note that how meaty your media kit is will depend on how long you've been blogging, how big your numbers are, and how much past experience you have with brands, etc. For this reason, some bloggers might want to create a whole PowerPoint with a slide-by-slide breakdown, and some may just need a “one-sheeter” PDF document.

Who should see your media kit, and when?

There are a couple of ways you can handle the availability of your media kit. Either on your “About” or “Contact” page, you can add a note that says that you are more than happy to provide a media kit upon email request, or you can make it available as a downloadable PDF right from your site. Some brands or advertisers may find it a turn-off not to have your stats readily available, but in most cases it's fine to have an upon-request policy.

22 Responses

Sheyla Concepción August 13, 2012

What tips do you have for WordPress bloggers that aren’t self hosted?

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Michelle August 13, 2012

Does anyone have advice on what would be best to include for a new blog, when you don’t have big numbers yet?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, or links!

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- taylordavies August 14, 2012
  
  Hi Michelle! Don’t worry, you don’t necessarily need big numbers to create a media kit. No matter your size, it’s handy to create one just to have your stats available. Skip the parts that don’t apply yet – it’s not a big deal! Brands don’t only want to work with big bloggers with big numbers, and having a professional approach from the get-go is never a bad idea.
  
  Thanks, Taylor
  
  Reply
  - Michelle August 14, 2012
    
    Thanks, Taylor! 🙂
  - Katie Cadamatre January 26, 2013
    
    Thanks Taylor & Alicia for addressing this!
    
    I was wondering the same thing since my blog’s only a few months old and I average only 1000 hits per month.
    
    Do you think something as simple as a one-page printout is acceptable?
Alicia August 13, 2012

Fashion Press Pass is new and does not have a large following. Does a brand new blog need media kit? How big should you be to make one??

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- taylordavies August 14, 2012
  
  Hi Alicia – there’s no hard-and-fast rule for when you should develop a media kit. If you create one now, it may start out very small, and grow as your blog grows. Also, if you’re JUST getting started – you might not yet have stats to pull from on Google Analytics or another source. One idea might be to wait until you’ve had your blog up and running for a few months, so you can look for some consistancy (and growth) in your traffic and social media followings. Hope that helps!
  
  Reply
Travelle McFarland August 13, 2012

I’m weird. This is one part of blogging that I find exciting!

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Cynthia August 13, 2012

For me, media kits are available upon request. 🙂

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TheAsiaMonique August 14, 2012

Excellent! I honestly never really thought of the importance of the media kit but this is excellent. Thank you!

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Chimmy August 15, 2012

I’ve just started a new blog amd traffic is so slow, it’s kinda depressing! Should I wait until I have better stats before I create a media kit?

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Maria V August 15, 2012

Great post, yes definitely having a media kit adds credibility to your blog.

I actually wrote a detailed guide on HOW to create a media kit for your blog with visual examples and screen shots of how the media kit looks like.

Here it is: http://crashingred.com/blogging/how-to-create-a-press-kit-that-works/

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Lynnette August 17, 2012

I think this is probably the most helpful article I’ve read on IFB. I had no clue about media kits until now, and I think it’s something that could be really useful for me! Thanks for the lesson, and for sharing those links…I’ve got a project to work on this weekend 🙂

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Safiya November 19, 2012

Hey guys, First I want to say that I love this sight!! It has helped me so much since I’ve started blogging and this post just did it again!:) I’ve been blogging for a few months now and my viewers have been growing consistently, I have quite a few loyal followers, and I’ve been approached by a major brand to be added to their ‘media list’ (which I’m not exactly sure what they mean by that so if you could help me out with that one too I would really appreciate it!:)) so this information is really helpful for me right now … I have one more question though … Do you need to include prices in the list of services, and if so, how do you determine them? Thanks again for this awesome post!!:) Xo!

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Lindsey Walker December 21, 2012

I would love to assist with creating your media kit if you still need one. Feel free to email me 🙂

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samwow January 1, 2013

Cool! I can’t wait til my blog is big enough to need a media kit! xxx
http://lesimplyclassy.blogspot.com.au/

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Caroline January 3, 2013

Love this post – will make this one of new year’s resolutions 🙂

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ebey04 February 11, 2013

I’m trying to create my media kit, but I’m not sure what “pageviews” are compared to views and unique visitors? I couldn’t find any stats that said “pageviews” on my wordpress stats besides the views and unique visitors, help?

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Dulcie February 20, 2013

How do I find out my demographic and individual visitors etc.?
Thanks! x

http://la-dulcie-vita.blogspot.com

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Linda Dulani November 21, 2013

Great tips as usual. How did l cope before l found you?!

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Kelsey Pugh March 1, 2014

This was great! Thank you so much for this wonderful advice!

xoxo

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Nyah October 3, 2014

I ‘m in the process of creating a media kit now. After transferring to a self-hosted WordPress site, I have my traffic increasing, not huge numbers, but some pretty okay ones. The good thing is that every month it gets better.
The media kit is definitely helpful. It shows brands you’re truly open to collaborations and press. Especially if you’re an up and coming blogger, people with want to work with you while you’re still small, so they can be the first to “discover” you.
xostylestalker.com

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