By Alice Bloom

 

Media Kit… Two very important words, yet not many bloggers know what it actually is! As a newbie blogger, when you started your blog, your main goal was probably to just document your interests, write about your passion and share your enthusiasm about a particular topic, with others. But if you want to grow your blog, doing what you’re doing, just won’t cut it. This is something I soon figured out myself. Making your blog your career involves getting attention from sponsors and collaborating with brands. A Media Kit helps you do just that; making you stand out from the thousands of bloggers in the vast blogosphere, convincing brands, that your blog or you as a person are the right investment for their advertising.

 

 

What is a Media Kit?

It’s a blogosphere business card or a cyberspace CV! A media kit is a document which outlines key facts about you, your blog, social media and audience. It provides a snapshot of your blog and your personality too. It’s where brands and PR agencies look, to decide whether or not they want to collaborate with you.

 

 

Why you need one

It’s a must for all bloggers

You wouldn’t apply for a job without a CV so how do you expect to make money as a blogger if you have nothing to show for yourself. Brands and sponsors are very busy, they need to know that all the information about you and your blog is easy to find and in one set place. Everything, from what you are about to your engagement levels with your audience.

 

Saves valuable time

A media kit is the best way to get your foot in the door. It beats sending unsolicited, lengthy, time consuming  emails to all and sundry. It saves both you and brands time. Brands want all the information about you to be easily accessible in order to reject or accept a collaboration with you. Similarly, you want to receive attention, only from brands who understand what you’re about and what you do.

 

It’s the only way, brands will even consider you

This point doesn’t need much explaining. It’s simple, if you don’t have a media kit, brands are likely to not bother with you and that’s definitely something you don’t want to happen.

 

 

What you should include

Images: a photo of you, your logo, and photos from your social media or blog. A screenshot of your blog’s homepage and your advertising space.

 

Features: Subjects and topics you write about.

 

Statistics: Your most read post, most liked picture, number of page views per month, average page views, traffic and engagement, reader demographics, number of followers and subscribers on your blog and social media. Your statistics need to be up to date. When it comes to social media, a lot can happen in the space of a month, week or even a day, and you and I have both witnessed it (#damndaniel)!

 

An Introduction about you: Begin by making a good first impression. Just as you would when meeting someone for the first time. This first section needs to be about you, it should be relatable, friendly, inviting, interesting and captivating. Brands want to know the person behind the blog; statistics will speak for themselves and will say a lot about your followers and how successful your blog is, but very little about you. This is where you distinguish yourself from your blog and other similar blogs, helping prospective brands connect with you!

 

Blog Description: What your blog is about, the areas and topics you cover, your writing style and theme of your overall blog. This should help brands decide if you’re compatible; how well their products fit with your content.

 

Your policies: Outline what you feel is acceptable for a collaboration, what you want in return. For example, an Instagram picture with a brand’s product in exchange for a freebie, or a written review in exchange for paid fee.

 

Contact information: It’s one of the most important sections of your media kit. It’s how you would seal the deal. Help brands take the next step by including your contact information or that of your agent at the bottom.

 

Make it your own: Make it stylish, make it represent you, so brands can understand the style of your blog at one glance. Add your colour to the background, and lay it out in a way which looks pretty! Make it visually appealing, but keep it professional.

 

Share it: Once you’ve created your media kit, it’s time to share it. Send it to potential brands you feel are compatible with and would respond well your blog.

 

 

Getting started

Having to screenshot your blog whenever it changes, and continually update your statistics is frustrating. I’m not even going to mention how overwhelming it is to come up with the perfect layout and style for your media kit. Making a media kit, is quite effortful and time consuming to say the least, however as I’ve explained it’s essential and worthwhile.

 

In the past I’ve used, and filled in printable templates, but that’s old school. I have something better for you… Zine’s media kit!

 

Zine has made media kit making, easy. I created mine with Zine and was surprised at the results how quick, simple and effective it actually was. Trust me when I say it definitely beats those painstaking hours you put in, to make a traditional media kit, and the results are remarkable! All you have to do is sign up, select your blog topics, write up a few words about yourself, connect your social media, blog and any collaborations with brands you’ve already been involved in, and select your policies.

 

Zine makes it simple, you don’t have to update your statistics, as all your statistics update automatically, from Google Analytics. And of course you can personalise your media kit by choosing your own background colour and images. You will be identifiable by brands on the platform, but you also have your own individual link to your media kit which you can share with brands. Making a media kit with Zine is your best bet to becoming a successful blogger!