Why You Need a Media Kit (and What Should Go On It!) | “So You Wanna Start a Blog?” Series

In case you missed the previous posts in this “Blog” series, you can check them out here:

• The 5 W’S You Need to Ask Yourself Before You Start
• Which Blog Host is Right for Me?
• The Importance of the First Impression
• Planning Your Content & Editorial Calendar
• Growing Your Blog Through Social Media

Today’s topic is the ever important piece to your “blog puzzle” – and that is the MEDIA KIT. So many times I hear bloggers say, “Oh, I don’t need a media kit… I’m not a big enough blog to have a media kit.” Or something to the effect of, “Why would I need a media kit? Seems unnecessary to me.” 

Wrong!

It doesn’t matter if you have 10 readers or 10 million readers – a media kit is SO important if you want to work or collaborate with businesses or brands.

But why?

The reasons that a media kit is important are three fold:

1. It gives you a sense of legitimacy
   • When a brand contacts you looking to work with you, the moment you send a media kit you are telling that brand that you know what you’re doing and you’ve done this before (even if you haven’t! haha! Fake it ’till you make it!)
2. It shows you take yourself as a blogger seriously
   • If you’ve gone through the process of creating a media kit, creating collaboration options and opportunities, and putting the thought into the “business” side of your blog – it tells a potential brand or business that you take yourself seriously and that you want to work with them!
3. It gives a clear picture of who you are and what you offer to your potential client (it takes the guessing game out!)
   • When a brand contacts you looking to “get more information” about working with you, there can be this awkward dance of “what do you charge?” “what do your stats look like?” “what collaboration opportunities do you offer?” Once that media kit gets sent, it takes all that guess work out and lays out exactly what you do and what you offer and what you charge, etc.

So, let’s take a look at the most important pieces of a media kit… What information should be included?

I’m going to show y’all what my media kit looks like (I took the specific stats and other numbers out for the purposes of this post and just showing the different parts). 

I’ve numbered (in the large pink numbers) each portion and I’ll break it down below!

1 – Logo & Photo

The first thing you should see when looking at your media kit is a bright, clear photo of your smiling face! Who is this person behind the blog? We should be able to see that clearly! A great headshot is so important… make sure it’s not a selfie. Do better. 🙂 Haha! I chose a silly picture of me because, well, that’s me! That’s my personality.

I’m not a super serious person… so I wanted to include a photo with my media kit that shows who I am.

Also include a logo. It should be obvious who’s blog this media kit represents… and your logo is the exact representation of that!

2 – Contact Information & Social Media Links

It’s also important to include any and all pertinent contact information. For me, my email address and blog URL are most important as far as how someone can get in touch with me. I don’t think including your phone number is necessary – only if you WANT to include it. It’s up to you!

Also have a list of where you can be found on social media. What accounts are you active on? What is your username or handle? For me, I’m @stillbeingmolly on ALL social media networks… so it’s SUPER easy to find me, no matter what social media network you’re using. And make sure you keep it updated regularly!

(haha, and now that I’m looking at this, I am realizing that I need to update that portion because I no longer use Pose, but I do use Periscope! See? Gotta update it!!)

3 – Web & Social Stats

This is where you can be choosy on what you share. Again, it doesn’t matter what your numbers are! If you have GREAT pageviews but no-so-strong unique visits… then show your pageviews but leave out your unique visits (or vice versa).

Another awesome thing you could include is reader engagement. Maybe you have lower numbers but your readers are SUPER engaged and you get a lot of comments… that’s something you should ABSOLUTELY include! Share percentage of engagement!

A social media stat that I recently added is “reach.” Networks like Twitter and Facebook share this data on your backend. Simply go to your analytics and you can see your overall audience reach. So, maybe your followers are a little on the low side, but they SHARE your stuff regularly – that increases your REACH. Share that number! Your reach can often be 3-5x LARGER than your followers. Brands should know that!

Other stats that you can include are things like Google Page Rank and Klout Score. Again, share those things if they’re strong!

Find your strengths and highlight them!

4 – Collaboration Opportunities & Pricing

Here’s where you include EXACTLY what kind of collaboration opportunities you offer and HOW MUCH they cost. If they’re FREE, that’s cool, too! Include that. And don’t sell yourself short. You’re running a business and you should be treated as such.

Now, this isn’t written in stone… you can be flexible on pricing when you actually get down to the nitty gritty… feel free to be flexible and waive fees if it’s a brand you really want to work with! I do this all the time! 🙂 Just use your discretion. But, this is definitely the section where you lay it out clearly what options there are for working with you.

I used to offer like 50 different things and that just got to be too much. So, now I keep it simple. Product reviews, giveaways, social media collaborations, speaking opportunities, etc. Now, if a brand wants to do something with me that isn’t necessarily on the list, that’s okay, too! This list just gives a strong starting point.

4(b) – Stipulations or Conditions

This is an important piece if you need to add any “conditions” or “stipulations” to your collaboration opportunities.

I learned this lesson the hard way… I had received a product for review and I ended up HATING it. I told the brand that I did not like the product and that I did not feel comfortable writing about it or sharing it on my blog – otherwise I’d be writing a pretty scathing review. Nothing personal, it was just how I felt about that product. Well, they wanted me to ship the product back and PAY for the shipping myself. To me, that was unfair. Sure, I could send it back, but to pay for the shipping myself was not something I felt I should have to do.

Well, needless to say, when it was all said and done, I added a stipulation that products sent for review would not be returned. Period. Just makes it easier on everyone and takes the guesswork out. Now, if a brand specifically asks for the product back if I don’t like it, we work that out IN ADVANCE. So no surprises down the road…

And don’t worry, just for your information as a reader… if I don’t like a product I receive, I either tell y’all exactly that or I donate the item / give it away to someone who can use it.

5 – Testimonials or Feedback

This is a great section to help you SHINE. If you have a reader that LOVES you, have them write a little testimonial or review of your blog and share that!

If you have a brand that you’ve worked with that you know loves you, have them write up a testimonial sharing what it was like to work with you.

If you worked with a brand and helped them grow their social following, get sales, etc. something tangible, share that! This is a great section to show potential clients what you can do and WHY you’re awesome.

6 – About You, Previous Clients (and/or) Any Accolades

This should be a little, SHORT, 2-3 sentence section ABOUT YOU. WHO are you? What kind of blog are you? How long have you been blogging? Keep it short and simple… but include the important stuff.

This is also a great place to include any big name brands you’ve worked with, awards you’ve won, or major accolades. This is the “show off” section! 🙂

So what do you think?

There are things that you can add, but I think keeping it to one page and keeping it simple is most important. Did you learn anything? Anything that YOU would add? I hope this is helpful!

Got any questions? Leave them in the comments or shoot me an email! 🙂