Whether you’re brand new to blogging or if you’ve worked with brands before, chances are you will be or have been asked about sending along a “media kit” for collaboration purposes. Essentially a media kit is a digital portfolio that shows what your blog & yourself are all about and allows the inquiring brand to determine if a partnership would be a good fit or not. Within this digital portfolio lies a statistical amount of information that you compile together to demonstrate your blog’s strengths, in terms of physical numbers and also in content quality.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve just started out and don’t have a certain amount of followers to your name just yet; having a media kit is just as important for a new blog than it is for an established one. At the end of the day, this digital portfolio represents you and serves as a great menu for a brand to select from when or if they decide to work with you.

WHY YOU SHOULD CREATE A MEDIA KIT:

 1) SHOWS PROFESSIONALISM

Anytime you pass along your media kit, you provide the inquirer with a portfolio designed to represent your blog and what it has to offer. When you send such a presentation together in an organized and informative manner, your reputation will rise due to delivering it. A brand is more likely to remember a blog that provided a media kit rather than one they have to refer back to email responses from to gather certain information.

2) EVERYTHING IS DELIVERED UP-FRONT

Say goodbye to answering those awkward emails about pricing and opportunity availability. It’s much easier to answer a brand inquiry email by passing along your media kit that’s designed to answer all the questions for you. Personally I figure the brands that are serious about working with me will respond and the others will not – it saves me a lot of time determining what collaboration is worth going forward with and which others I can avoid beating around the bush with. Sadly, I don’t have time these days to email back and forth to figure out if a brand is interested or not. A media kit allows for a straight answer of yes or no as a result to working with a brand.

3) YOUR BLOG’S RESUME

Like our own personal resumes, a media kit acts as one for your blog. It displays all your past successes, press highlights, previous work experience and other factors that enhance your candidacy when working with/for certain brands. On top of your blog’s best assets a media kit allows for you to show a brand a glimpse of what you can offer them and how you’ll deliver the collaboration you both agree to work on. Like showing your professional side, a brand will remember a blogger who provides a media kit for reference rather than a blogger who doesn’t. Think of it like showing up to an interview without your resume; the chances of the interviewer remembering who you are are slim to none. It’s important to see your media kit in the same light and treat it as such.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR MEDIA KIT:

YOUR BLOG LOGO

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR BLOG

A PICTURE OF YOURSELF & A BRIEF “ABOUT ME” PARAGRAPH

SITE TRAFFIC NUMBERS – PAGE VIEWS & UNIQUE VISITORS

SOCIAL MEDIA NUMBERS – INCLUDE INDIVIDUAL HANDLES IF SOME VARY

EMAIL ADDRESS & WEBSITE URL

PRESS HIGHLIGHTS – FEATURES & PUBLICATIONS

IMAGERY SCATTERED THROUGHOUT –

NO ONE LIKES A PRESENTATION FULL OF WORDS, SHOW SOME OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS & PUT THOSE INSTAGRAM PICTURES TO GOOD USE.

SPONSORED OPPORTUNITIES –

INCLUDE WHAT KIND OF POSTS YOU OFFER AND HOW MUCH EACH COST; THINK PRODUCT REVIEW, WRITTEN REVIEW AND SOCIAL MEDIA MENTIONS AS (3) SEPARATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR A BRAND TO CHOOSE FROM WHEN WORKING WITH YOU.

* PLEASE NOTE: I don’t suggest making your media kit “public” by making it easily available for anyone to view via your site; sometimes this can deter brands from working with you if all the information is readily available without request. I’ve found some of my favorite collaboration opportunities came from a brand simply reaching out to work with me and not know what to expect. When your media kit is only available upon request, you rid of any bias that could be directed your way otherwise.

BE SURE TO SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER SO YOU CAN RECEIVE TODAY’S EXCLUSIVE CONTENT:

LIST OF MY FAVORITE MEDIA KIT TEMPLATES AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD