CREATE A MEDIA KIT FOR YOUR BLOG + START COLLABORATING WITH BRANDS
What is a blog media kit and what does it do?
A blog media kit is a document that explains the background of your blog, including all the specific stats and information that someone might be interested in finding out. A media kit is usually used by a blogger when considering working with a brand or company for a collaboration of some kind. It helps the brand see how the blog aligns with their target market, and if the blog will likely reach and resonate with their audience. At one quick glance at the media kit they can tell how well the blog matches up with their brand and if it makes sense to work together.
Bloggers feature their media kit on their site, or have them on hand to email to a company when they inquire about a possible collaboration. Having it right on the blog is usually most useful, especially if you have pretty good stats that are worth showing off, because some companies will appreciate being able to access the information right away in order to know if your blog is a potential fit, without having to complete the extra step of reaching out to you first.
How to create a media kit for your blog
It’s important to think about who exactly will be looking for and at your media kit while you put it together. Don’t think about what you would like, think about what will impress the interns and assistant account managers at a big PR firm looking for influencers, because those are who will be doing the initial research. Or think about the owner of a company with a nationally distributed product looking for a reputable blogger to distribute the message of their product. They’re thinking business. They want numbers and stats. They want just enough personality to see your brand, but still get the sense that you’re professional.
The first thing to do when you start to create a media kit is to compile all the information about your blog. You want to put it together in a visually appealing, branded, way, so that someone can look at it really quickly and get a feel for your blog and social media personality.
The main components to create a media kit include:
- Blog name + URL
- Logo
- Headshot
- About You
- Statistics + Numbers (below)
- Monthly Unique Visitors
- Monthly Page Views
- Social media followers
- Whatever other stats you feel provide an important representation of your blog, ie Timespent on blog, Demographics, Number of Subscribers, etc)
- Services
- Fee structure
- Examples
- Contact Info
BONUS FREE TEMPLATE
I have taken all the hard work when it comes to design. When you sit down to create a media kit, you can use this Bloggers Media Kit Template 🙂
You can edit them as you please and change around fonts and colours until you find the look you like and matches your brand.
What to do with the media kit
Once you have your media kit created, include it on your website. You can create a separate page for it with a navigation tab at the top of the site, or include it under the About Me section. As long as it’s easy to find, you can really do whatever works the best with your site.
Many people just put the media kit up and leave it there for when someone might come to them with inquiries. That is totally and completely fine. You can also be more proactive about it and use your media kit as a tool to try to actually find opportunities yourself.
You can find brands you would like to work with and send a short introductory email with the media kit included, mentioning that you would like to partner with them. You might be surprised by how many say yes if you just ask. Remember to review and update your media kit on a regular basis, because all the stats change pretty frequently.
Why not be proactive about it? You already are writing your blog and providing amazing content, you might as well go after some brands you love and see if you can help promote them through collaboration!
Next steps:
1| Be proactive! Make a list of ten brands that you already use and love that you would like to collaborate with in some way.
2| Draft a short email explaining who you are, and why you want to work with them. You’ll tweak the email slightly for each brand with specific reasons, once you get to actually sending the emails, but having a basic template helps you feel prepared.
3| Find the contact info for at least 3 of the brands on your list, this week.
4| Send out the intro email and your media kit to these 3 brands and see what happens!
5| Next week do at least 3 more.
Work with Tracy