UPDATE!
Want to see a gallery of blogger media kits? Click here!
When I presented at Fitbloggin’ and followed up with an online webinar, both on branding, the thing that seemed to elicit the most “ahhhhhhh” moments from bloggers was my contention that all bloggers should have a media kit and resume ready to go in case of:
- Interview opportunities (you never know when a journalist might need you as a source)
- Sponsorship opportunities
- Job interviews
- Speaking/presentation opportunities
Jess and I knew that this is something most bloggers don’t have, so we asked people to raise their hands if they used a resume for their work life. 90% of the hands went up. We asked the same group to keep their hands up if they use a resume for their blogging life. About three hands stayed up.
So here are my tips for how to create a media kit and resume of your own (as well as some templates included at the bottom).
Resume
This is your opportunity to get in the right mindset, especially if you hope to make more money, find new writing opportunities, increase your reach or just be taken more seriously as a blogger. Write this exactly the way you would if you were, say, applying to be a banker or a waitress.
- Short summary of your blog, including some strong keywords that characterize your skills and/or niche
- Examples: Writing, Social Media, Marketing, Nutrition, Health, Fitness
- Years in business (when did you start blogging?)
- Press Coverage
- If you’ve been featured on any other websites, magazines, have done prominent guest posts, etc., consider listing that here
- Testimonials
- Ask your readers or a few select people to send you a sentence or two, describing why they like reading your blog. Think of these as referrals in a more traditional resume.
- Analytics/Statistics
- These do need to be accurate and updated, so you don’t necessarily need to list them on the resume — but certainly be ready to provide some information to journalists or sponsors about your reach.
- Ad Rates
- Obviously this only applies if you’re trying to sell advertising, but having your ad sizes and rates ready to go will make a huge difference — don’t wait until someone asks for them to come up with an answer!
- Contact Information
Media Kit
Like the resume, the media kit should include some basic information about your blog, but this is a more visually appealing piece of collateral. Think of it as a flyer for your blog — like an ad, soliciting whatever opportunities you’re most interested in. Obviously, if you’re looking for a sponsor, this media kit may look different than if you’re trying to be a source for a journalist. But some things to consider including:
- Short summary of your blog
- Relevant social networking icons/contact information
- Current photo OR logo/graphics (you want the person seeing this to remember you!)
- Your name and blog names in large font
- Visually appealing (think bullet points, borders, special font effects) lists of information like:
- Statistics
- Services Offered
- Benefits
- Press or Associations With Brands (if you are in an ad network or work with/for other clients)
- Ad sizes/rates
- Contact information
(You can download a no-numbers .pdf version of my media kit here)
You want to constantly review and update both documents, so you may want to post information on your site, letting people know that both are available upon request. Or, you can keep copies on your website and just change them out every month or so.
I strongly suggest that for the media kit, you work with someone who can integrate your existing graphics into a slick, clear .pdf or .doc — I do my own work (in this case, I used a Mac program called Pages but I have also created versions in Photoshop Elements) but for the next version, I’ll most likely get some help since my skills pretty much start and end with the automatic functions.
If you create either of these documents — let me know! I’d love to feature them as a resource for other bloggers! And if you think there’s something that should be included that I didn’t mention, make a suggestion and I’ll add it to this post.
About Katy
I’ve started my media kit because of your webinar this week! I did borrow your format to start with, just so I could get started. I’ll let you know when I’m done!
Thanks again for sharing this kind of information!
I’m happy to help! I like sharing on information that I wish someone had shared with me
I do the work so others don’t have to…
You are so full of win. Per usual.
I’ll consider that a testimonial for my Media Kit
wow this is awesome thanks katy!
Awesome post, Katy! Tons of great information. I need to get working on mine.
This is indeed awesome. Love it!!!
As always, an amazingly helpful post, Katylicious! (Yeah. That just happened. Haha!)
So much revising to do…
This is on my list of things to do! Thanks for the expanded post about it!
just came back to this post to comment and let you know that i will be creating my media kit today based solely on this post! thanks, katy! you’re a gem.
Great info! I just created my own media kit a couple days ago, but I’ll be incorporating some of your tips when I update it.
Katy,
I just discovered your site through Peanut Butter Fingers and found this post. This type of info is great for a newer bloggers such as myself (I’ve been blogging for 9 months). Thanks, girl!
Alysha
I’m so glad you found me — I love my PB Fingers friend! I hope you find some more stuff to read through, and if you have any questions, please let me know. I probably have a post to give you some answers OR I will write one!
Thank you for the inspiration to think outside a word document for my Media Kit. I used pages also to create my very first media kit. I’d love to share mine as an example and get your input.
I would love to see it — kwidrick at gmail dot com.
I really appreciate your tips!!!! THANK you so much for sharing! This info was extremely helpful. I’m starting on my media kit as we speak : )
Awesome tips! A fellow blogger pal pointed me in your direction
I have Photoshop Elements but sadly have not taken time to learn it much…maybe this will motivate me!
Hey Katy,
I may have a stupid question but what platform or software program did you use to build your media kit? Is this something that can be done in Word or is Adobe or Publisher needed?
Thanks so much for posting this!
Hey Lauren!
Not stupid at all…I actually designed it using Pages, which is software for Mac. But you can definitely do it in Word or Publisher.
Love this post and the idea about bringing together your fellow bloggers for biz! As both a blogger and a strategist for brands I love seeing what fellow bloggers are bringing to the table.
I’ll echo Katy here…use graphics! Many bloggers have great sites and stats to back it, but there’s no personality to that media kit, so while someone like me will invest the time to research who YOU are…the person holding the money or opportunities might not. Make it as simple as possible.
I did mine last week
Still considering tweaking but I do have mine up at
http://www.taraburner.com/taraburner_media.pdf
Thanks for this post! I still haven’t done a media kit, but seeing posts like this inspire me to keep pushing to be a better blogger. Thanks for the always helpful and easy to understand info.
I found this post extremely helpful! I had no idea where to begin in designing a media kit. I incorporated all of your tips and my own styling through iPAGES (thanks for the suggestion). I would love to share it with you! Where can I send you my PDF for it?
Thank you so much!!!!!!!!
My “blog-baby” is only a week old, so I need all the help on this stuff that I can get.
What are your thoughts about building a virtual media kit? Working in higher-ed, I know that current college students are learning to use e-portfolios in conjunction with resumes. Maybe Linked-In would fit the bill? Are there any added benefits from your perspective? As a newbie, I’m not sure.
I’ll be bookmarking your site to reference. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Marya
Marya,
Well, welcome to the blog world!
I think that for many bloggers — especially those that claim to have social media or technical skills — a virtual media kit is a great idea. In addition to the fact that it showcases knowledge of basic coding and Web work, it can also be updated often, so the information is never outdated. LinkedIn is a great supplement to a media kit, but I don’t think it replaces it.
Keep me posted!
Awesome. Thanks, Katy!
THANK YOU TIMES 100! This post was shared with me from http://thehungryhousewife.com, but it was exactly what I needed. I have never heard of a media kit, nor knew what it should look like! Made up a quick one in Pages.
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this! I have some really great skills in indesign if anyone wants help building a pdf of their kit!
very interesting- thank you