Becoming an Entrepreneurial Writer: Building a Media Kit

When you’re first starting out with your blog, website, or online magazine, a media kit may seem unnecessary. But as I mentioned last week, a media kit is a great way to have all the information about your website in one place. This makes everything someone would need to know about your website easily accessible to advertisers and other companies you may want to partner with for sponsorships or giveaways. Having a media kit will make you seem more professional when you approach potential advertisers in addition to giving them all the information they could need (mission statement, about your blog, advertising rates, as well as your logo) all in one easy to find place.

What Software Should I Use?

Personally, I’m a big fan of InDesign. It’s pretty easy to work with, even if you don’t have great designing skills (mine are a little lacking, honestly). They have a lot of tutorials online available directly from Adobe and there’s some great ones on Lynda.com as well (there’s a fee, but I have free access from my university).  It makes it incredibly easy to add text to your layout using columns and grids as well as add pictures. It’s also great for it’s ability to make PDFs quick and easy with, making it extremely easy to proofread and edit your work. Photoshop would be another option if you’ve got better design skills. If you haven’t already, you can grab a free trial of InDesign (although it’s only good for 30 days and therefore will make updating your media kit more difficult because it will expire).

You can also use a word processor like Microsoft Word or a slide set up such as Microsoft Powerpoint, but your ability to do more design work and manipulate your text and photo placement will be limited. However, you can still turn it into a PDF for easy online viewing from Microsoft directly (Word 2013 makes it easy with an export option when you hit File) or using an online PDF converter if you have an older version of Word without this option.

What Information Goes Into a Media Kit?

The Blog Maven has some great tips for what your media kit should include:

Start with an introduction about who you are and what you blog is about.  I like to include my mission statement which states what my blog’s purpose is in about a sentence. Don’t be afraid to tweak your mission statement as time goes on. Mine has definitely changed from when I started my blog, it has grown  over the past few months. You should also include information about yourself (background, hobbies, interests)–especially if your blog has any type of personal aspect at all.

Add your statistics such as unique visitors per month, page views, and subscribers (find these using Google Analytics, or if you’re on WordPress.com, your WordPress stats).  You can also include some of your social media statistics (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any others you find significant). Feel free to leave out any that are lower or insignificant (especially when it comes to social media). Reader demographics are another good thing to include and you can get them for free from Quantcast,

Include some photos. Add your logo and/or your blog header to your media kit to spice it up a bit as well as a photo of yourself near your about me section.

Create some sponsorship outlines. Here’s where you’ll outline your advertising sizes and costs as well as other sponsorship opportunities such as sponsored posts, giveaways, and reviews. Larger ads with better placement should be priced higher. Taylor Davies on International Fashion Bloggers says you should also include information about previous sponsors and brands you’ve worked with.

Add other relevant information. I like to include any awards my blog has won as well as any awards I personally have won as a writer that are significant. For example, I run a ballet website, so therefore I’ve included my dance critique award in my media kit. I also like to include some of the blogging organizations I belong to since they show how I have connections with the blogging community and because they extend my reach. My fellow Sweat Pink bloggers help share my links on their own social networks. I’ve also included a short example of one of my best blog posts, “Why You Should Do Ballet as An Adult” because it clearly defines what my blog is about. You may want to gather testimonials to include from some of your readers says the Blog Maven. I’d personally contact those who comment and interact with me the most for a few sentences of why my blog is important/awesome.

If you’re a new blogger, one or two pages will probably do it, since you’ll only have a few sponsorship details. If you’ve got a lot more to include, Davies recommends using Powerpoint (or doing a similar slide-by-slide breakdown using other software) of all your information so that it is easy to get to the information you need.

Where Should I Post It?

I like to link to a PDF version of mine on my about page. You can either directly update your PDF to your site or use a viewer like Issu.com. I like Issu.com because I can easily track the statistics of who clicks on my PDF using their site. Davies also says you can list in your about or contact page that your media kit is available on request (although some advertisers or sponsors may be deterred by the fact they cannot easily access your info). I also include a link to my media kit in any e-mail I send to a sponsor.

How Often Should I Update It?

If your site/social media networks are constantly growing, I’d say update every 1-3 months or anytime you see a steady rise in statistics. Also, update any time your blog or website goes under any major new renovation (change in mission, header, change in information provided)–I’d provide an update to your media kit as soon as possible.

What information do you think media companies should include in their media kits?