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The SITS Girls

The Secret to Success is Support

How to Create a Knock Out Media Kit For Your Blog

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Have you been considering reaching out to the media to provide more exposure for your blog? Have you been getting requests from the media looking for more information about your blog, but you’re not sure how to package it for them in the most effective way?

Enter the media kit: once a traditional staple of public relations and marketing, the media kit has evolved in a new era of blogging and social media to become a powerful tool in your blogging strategy.

When my blog garnered international attention overnight in April 2011, I realized I desperately needed a knockout media kit to help my blog more effectively tell my story. When I rebranded in March of this year, my media kit was essential in establishing my new brand identity.

what is a media kit

What is a media kit?

Sometimes referred to as a press kit, your media kit consists of promotional materials about you, your blog and your brand. Your media kit is contained in one neat package that can be used to bolster your pitches to media outlets or accompany important announcements and newsworthy items about your blog or brand.

Why do I need a media kit?

As a blogger, there are key pieces of information about your blog you want to make sure you share with prospective media partners. Sometimes media outlets want to get to know a little more about you before they approach you to see if you’re a good fit for their story needs. Having a media kit ready to go right on your blog makes your blog that much more friendly to journalists and producers.

You should also consider your media kit as a helpful tool for interested brands who seek to work with or advertise on your blog, giving them insights on your readership. I consider the following items in the next section essential in any media kit I create, either for myself or other clients.

Media Kit Must-Haves

  • Current headshot: Media partners and prospective advertisers want to see the face behind the blog. You don’t have to have your headshot professionally done; just make sure your face is clearly visible and you are well lit in your photo.
  • Your bio: Your media kit is your personal introduction to media outlets. Web, print and TV journalists are on the lookout for compelling stories, so really take the time to tell prospective members of the media exactly who you are and what your blog is all about. Wrap it all together in a concise bio that sells the uniqueness of you and your blog.
  • Website traffic statistics: You are running Google Analytics or some kind of website traffic monitoring on your blog, right? You’ll want to pull key stats such as overall lifetime visits to your blog, monthly unique visitors, and new versus returning visitors.
  • Social media presence: Are you on Pinterest or Facebook? How about Twitter? If you’ve been racking up the fans and followers for years, your media kit is the perfect place to let those fan numbers shine. Don’t be afraid to brag: if you have 1,000+ followers on any social media platform, you absolutely have the right to toot your own horn! This also helps media outlets evaluate your credibility and determine if you have the social media influence to spread the word about their forthcoming story.
  • Readership demographics: Who’s reading your blog? Again, using data from Google Analytics, let media outlets know from where your blog readers are coming. It’s also helpful to step back and take a look at both your domestic and international readers, as you never know what international outlet might be interested in your blog. It also helps to know your readers’ genders, ages groups, marital status and if they have children. Having your readership demographic information handy is absolutely vital to working with brands and advertisers.
  • Press clippings or media features: Have you already been featured in your local paper or TV station? Your media kit is THE place to demonstrate your media readiness. List any media outlets or stories in which you’ve already been featured; these only add clout to your reliability as a media source. If you don’t have any press clippings yet, don’t worry – everyone has to start somewhere.
  • Awards, honors and other testimonials: If you or your blog have been winning awards for the work that you’re doing, you should absolutely shout this from the mountaintops within your media kit. Having real testimonials from blog readers makes your blog a trustworthy, reputable resource.
  • Current, accurate contact information: When you’ve got a reporter on a deadline, they need to be able to get in touch with you. Your contact information including name, cell phone number, email and address should be on every page of your media kit. If you’ve not comfortable giving out your cell phone number or publishing it publicly on your blog, consider getting a free Google Voice number and have it forward to your cell phone.

Here are some examples from my media kit:

what is a media kit
A clear headshot with my bio.
media kit sample
Overview of website demographics.
creating a media kit
Overview of social media presence.
what is in a media kit
Media clippings.
media kit template
Testimonials.

How do I create a media kit?

Once you’ve gathered all of your knockout copy to sell the newsworthy high points of your blog, it’s time to put it all together in a sleek package that’s easy for media outlets to digest. No matter how you compile your media kit, the visual design should reflect your brand identity: stick to the same color families, fonts and overall visual design as your blog. Don’t forget to include your logo!

You can create your media kit in a variety of programs such as inDesign or Photoshop. I made my media kit for The Infertility Voice entirely in PowerPoint.

What can I do with my media kit?

Once you have it designed the way you like it, save it as a PDF file and upload it to your site. Link it somewhere prominent. If you’re pitching a media outlet for a story, make sure you attach your media kit in addition to your pitch. It’s a good rule of thumb to update your media kit quarterly so that you’re sending out the most current, accurate data about your blog.

Now that you’re ready to put all these elements together to tell your blog’s unique story, you’re on your way to creating a stellar, knockout media kit of your own!

About the Author
Keiko Zoll is a freelance writer and author of two eBooks at her blog, The Infertility Voice. You can find her latest eBook, THE YOU PROJECT at her social media marketing and design website, Words Empowered. Keiko and her blogs have been featured in REDBOOK Magazine, The Huffington Post, Metro News International, WBZ-TV Boston, The Toronto Sun and will be seen in a forthcoming episode of The Katie Show this October on ABC.

About Francesca

Francesca has an extensive background in content marketing, public relations, and social outreach. She oversees all Operations at Sway Group, including our robust metrics capabilities. Prior to joining the online world, Francesca oversaw viticulture and oenology at various wineries in both California and Italy, and managed regulatory affairs and facility approvals at the biotech company, Genentech. Francesca has been featured on CBS Sacramento and Food Blogger Pro’s podcast. She has also hosted an AMA webinar and spoken at Social Media World.

Reader Interactions

Comments

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  2. barb says

    Amazing post – great information!!! Thanks so much…now it’s time to go back and fix a few things on my own media kit. 🙂

  3. Carla Kennedy says

    Even with the instructions, I still don’t know the first place to start… and I need a quick media kit like yesterday and if I am to judge my stats by the example, my stats are dismal at best. But then I guess I have to start somewhere. HELP!

  4. Rachel says

    I made a media kit and was not sure if it was okay. It looks nothing like this.I may have to re do it. I interview a nascar driver too..shoudl I put that on there?

  6. Jessica says

    This is a great article! In addition to being a newbie blogger, I’m a Disney travel agent, and one of my travel agent courses suggested media kits to promote business. I just graduated college five years ago with a PR degree, and it’s amazing how much has changed with the boom in social media over the last few years. Glad to be able to start on an updated version of the media kit. Thanks, Keiko and SITS!!

  8. Karen Rapport says

    Great ideas and we have done many of them. Your reminders to keep the posts up to date is so true. In social media today there’s always something to do, post, read and learn. We constantly photo our events and keep them posted. Thanks again.

  9. Paulin says

    This is a great article! I would’ve never thought about including a head shot in my media kit since I always thought media kits were like resumes where it’s not necessary or recommended to add a pic.

  10. Vicki M. Taylor says

    Keiko! OMG, can I hire you to do this for my blog? I’m kidding of course, I could never afford you. But you have outlined perfectly what a good blogger must have for a media kit. Thank you for all the great advice.

  11. Philippa says

    Thanks for the breakdown. Realizing lately as our blog continues to grow along with our exposure how important this is. As for other who comment saying something along the lines of … if they need one … or one day they will come back … sucks for them that they don’t grasp how serious it is. They don’t take their blogging seriously yet or have no clue of their potential. Making one for our video game business/blog this weekend.

  15. When Pigs Fly says

    I had been wondering what to put in one of these. My stats aren’t good enough to approach brands and I’m not sure if it’s something I’d be interested in. Although, I suppose it helps to act as a kind of resume for freelance writing.
    I’m very good at creating things in InDesign. Anyone need help putting their kit together, let me know.

  20. Ginger Comstock says

    This was an excellent article. I’ve been hearing that bloggers should have a media kit and it really worried me, but you make it sound very easy to put together.

  21. Andrea says

    WoW! Thank you! Extremely helpful – especially the examples… and all in powerpoint! Of course! Great ideas …

  23. Kim @ Coffee Pot Chronicles says

    Actually, I’d argue that getting a professional headshot done is a lot better than a random snapshot a friend with no photography skills took. A photo with good lighting, backgrounds that aren’t distracting, and a proper pose can make the difference between being taken seriously and well, not so seriously. It is very possible to find a student or talented hobbyist who can take a quality photo for little money, sometimes free. I have my husband do mine since he is a pro photographer. Somehow I lucked out there.

    As for the rest, all great advice. I still don’t have a media kit and I’m still clueless about whether I need one right now. Maybe someday…

  25. Mimi says

    Thanks for these tips! I did my media kit a few weeks back and it’s already helped me tremendously with contacts.

    PS – So glad to see a full article posted on the SITS site and not linked to another blog.

  28. Kim says

    Great information…thank you!! I pinned it for future reference….future reference I hope will come sooner than later 😉

  30. Mollie Busby says

    I love these tips! I was literally thinking about a media kit last week and where to start… you’ve helped immensely!! —Mollie

  31. thedoseofreality says

    This is such a helpful post. I recently created a media kit, but after reading this I am inspired to make it so much better. Thank you for these tips! 🙂

    • Keiko Zoll says

      Hi Jen,

      There’s no reason this can’t be done virtually. I made a media kit for a client I never actually met in person: we Skyped, phoned and followed up through email. It’s totally doable! If you’re interested, check out my marketing/social media biz, http://www.wordsempowered.com: media kits are one of my specialties! Thanks for reading & commenting!

      ~Keiko

  34. MommieDaze says

    This is great timing! I’ve been blogging five years, and never made a media kit. Just decided this week to bit the bullet and do it. Thanks for the help!

  35. shelly says

    Wow. Yours is awesome sauce. I need to make one but I don’t think mine will be all that and a bag of chips. Do you HAVE to include a head shot? I don’t have good photos of myself. Ugh.

  37. wendiwinn says

    thank you so much for this post! and for the example pages. maybe one day my blog will grab enough attention to demand a media kit.

  39. Leigh Powell Hines @Hinessightblog says

    This is outstanding information, and so helpful. Thank you for taking the time to really get into the nitty-gritty, and even showing us the pages. I struggle with design, and software so I appreciate the tips on what you used. Great job.

  41. Angie Nelson says

    I had a media kit readily available in the past, but keeping it up-to-date was such a pain. Stats literally change daily.

    How do you deal with this, or how often do you suggest updating your kit?