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Business of Blogging: Building A Media Kit

IFB » Content and Writing » Business of Blogging: Building A Media Kit

At the IFB Conference in New York, not only did Ari Goldberg from StyleCaster steal the show during the Balancing Act: Business and Blogging panel, he also gave bloggers a lot to think about when promoting themselves as a business. One of his greatest takeaway points: the media kit. Ari was so passionate about the media kit that he offered up StyleCaster Media Kit for the IFB community to use as a resource.

For a blogger wanting to attract sponsors and brand partnerships, a media kit is a useful tool for presenting all the information an advertiser could want. While StyleCaster has a flashy, interactive media kit, bloggers can create something engaging and effective in a PDF or Powerpoint presentation.

When creating a Media Kit, remember to be succinct, visual, and provide hard statistics when talking about your site. Companies want to see tangible evidence of what your site can do! It's recommend that your media kit contain the following information:

Your Mission: Who are you, what your site is about, and who your site is for? Keep this message clear, short, and sweet!
Statistics: How many people does your site reach? How many subscribers do you have? How many comments, on average, does your site receive per post? How many Facebook fans and Twitter followers have? What are the demographics of your site– the age of readers, income levels, gender, and buying potential? (You can find this information on a site like Quantcast.) All of this information will help give companies an idea of what your reach is and how engaged you are with your audience.
Available Opportunities: What kind of opportunities for advertisement do you provide? Banner ads, sponsored posts, integrated videos, reviews… the ways you can work with a company are endless. Provide them with opportunities to build a custom relationship with you and your readers.
Pricing: I'm personally leery of putting prices in a media kit. I think it's better off to keep a private list of your prices– this way you have flexibility to create something based on the company's desires. That being said, if you're just starting off with selling banner ads, you could easily list those prices in your media kit and keep rates for more advanced opportunities private.
Visuals: Give them visuals of where ads can be placed on your site. Create screencaps and provide links to previously done campaigns and examples of your work.
Feedback: It's great to be able to provide testimonies from readers AND previous advertisers on your site. Both are incredibly valuable when building up a relationship. You can also share any press that you've received– whether in print media, interviews, or blog features. This also helps show your level of engagement within the fashion community!

Examples & Extra Resources:

Dramatis Personae Media Kit (which is in dire need of an update! Look at it as an example of what can be done well and what can be very wrong.)
How to Create Your Media Kit at IFB
Create a Media Kit to Attract Advertisers to Your Blog from Problogger

Have you created a media kit for your site? Are there other tidbits of information you like to include in it? If you have one, share the link with us so we can all have more inspiration!

9 Responses

Sharon September 26, 2011

The first thing I did before I created my media kit was ask my readers to take a survey. The survey (questionnaire) was on the site for two weeks and all answers were recorded privately.
I did a mix of multiple choice questions and fill in your opinion. I asked about education, income, region, etc. That way when I put together my media kit I would be able to give advertisers accurate information about my readers. Yes, I still use online sites for information stats also, however, I wanted to hear from those who were stopping by. I did have other questions in the survey for my own personal use . .like what would they like to see more.

Unfortunately, I have not updated my media kit in years. I have just added the new year. I know it is important to update all information yearly. I am in the midst of doing so for the upcoming year (2012).

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Dawnvette September 26, 2011

This information was GREAT!!! I’m a GA based blogger w. a commentary site (Dawnavette.com) and a fashion/beauty Tumblr (EbonyChic). A press kit is essential to take it to the next level. Thanks a bunch, and love the site! 🙂

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Jaime September 26, 2011

Ashe, thank you so SO much for including the eBook – I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!

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lisa September 27, 2011

Great tips Ashe. I think it might be time to revisit and revamp my own media kit!

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Bun Bun Makeup Tips September 27, 2011

Very informative post! Thank you! I’m just starting out and a media kit is still quite foreign to me.

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Cammi Pham December 3, 2011

thanks heard about this at a conf and its a good idea to start a media kit soon.
thanks for sharing all the sample, they really helps a lot

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Terra August 23, 2013

I love this site, this is exactly what I needed 🙂

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hitokirihoshi September 22, 2013

Thank you for the info, i need to work on my ad rate as well.

I thought it’s easy, but I’m wrong. I need to consider so many things including loading time. hehehe

more power!

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Michelle October 25, 2015

Thanks for the tips. I just did my media kit and totally agree on not publishing full list of pricing.

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