Creating a media kit for your blog does not need to be a difficult task. You can easily put together a blog media kit with a few simple ingredients.
A media kit for your blog really only needs three things: about you/your blog, the blog’s numbers, and the type of advertising you have available. All of this can fit on one page.
If you want to add a little more glamour, top the page with your blog header.
Basic Needs for a Blog Media Kit
Consider this quick video…
A video is embeded.
If creating a blog media kit intimidates you, stop here and complete all of the above before proceeding.
What Goes in a Blog Media Kit?
Now, if you are comfortable taking your blog’s media kit to the next level, here are a few things you can do to make it really shine, page by page.
First, unless you are a multimedia person with a big business plan, you only need two pages. Max.
Then, make it pretty and use your blog’s background and header as a theme with matching colors and fonts throughout your media kit.
Page One – Introduction
Open your media kit with a paragraph about you and your blog. Keep it short. This is not the place for your bio as much as a quick history of your blog, your main topic, and your vision.
You can then add a block quote, popular picture linked to the post, a list of links to your popular posts/series, profile picture with your contact information, and/or your blog’s tagline.
Finally, end this page with your blog’s reach. You can use Alexa.com or a blog survey to gather basic demographic information like the location, age, and gender of your readers. Then, break down the numbers to include:
- Monthly Unique Visitors
- Monthly Pageviews
- RSS Subscribers and/or Email Subscribers
- Social Media Followers
If you are unsure about how to find the traffic information from your blog, I recommend using Google Analytics as it appears to be the most trusted indicator of blog popularity by most of the companies with which I have worked. Be aware that some companies require a screenshot of your analytics so be honest.
Page Two – About your advertising
On page two, your primary focus should be the types of advertising you have available and what you charge for those spaces and services. Include any guidelines for advertisers such as:
- when payment is due and what types of payment are accepted (Paypal, check, money order).
- what constitutes a violation of your agreement (redirected links or a landing page with questionable content).
- whether or not the links will be NOFOLLOW.
- any rights you reserve for cancelling the contract.
If space allows, brag on yourself. Mention any former advertising relationships, awards, media appearances, or blog networks to which you belong.
Then, before you proofread (and proofread again), insert your contact information. Having your contact information on both pages is critical. Just think of it this way… if someone prints your media kit to hand off to the decision-maker in the company and one of the pages is misplaced, you still want them to have the information they need to contact you.
What to charge for ad space
Not sure what to charge? Fees vary from blog to blog but to get started, you should consider your number of pageviews and the sizes/locations of the ads. Typically, you can multiply the number of pageviews by $0.0005 (or $0.50 per every 10,000 pageviews) to find a good starting rate for a small sidebar ad. For larger blogs, that equation can change to as much as $2 per 10,000 pageviews.
If you are offering larger ads or premium spaces (such as above your blog’s header), you can charge more for these areas but use your small sidebar ad (which tends to be the most popular seller) as a foundation for choosing your other fees.
Edited to add:
A recent conversation in our Facebook group caused me to realize that bloggers with fewer pageviews need to recognize the value of the time it takes to negotiate, code, and maintain their sidebar. I personally recommend that small blogs do not sell their sidebar ad space for less than $10 a month.
How to deliver your media kit
My media kit is not available on my blog although many blogger do have a page dedicated to their advertising. My page is actually a synopsis of what is available and then I mention that prospective advertisers can request a copy of my media kit by contacting me. (Insert contact information here.)
Then, my media kit is saved as a PDF file so I can easily attach it to any email and it cannot be easily altered.
Any time I receive an email from someone inquiring about ad space, a product review, or guest post, I reply with “Thanks for reaching out. I’ve attached my media kit for your convenience.” If they are really interested in doing business with me, I hear from them again. If not, I have saved myself a ton of time.
Need help making a blog media kit?
If you want all of the equations for figuring out what to charge and the ease of a template made for you, purchase the DIY Blog Media Kit for only $14.99 from the Inspired Blogger University.
The DIY Blog Media Kit includes templates, canned responses for potential advertisers, and more to help you make money blogging.
Now… what about your blog media kit?
What do you think is an essential ingredient for a blog’s media kit? Where do you store it?
I don’t have any advice, but thank you so much for sharing this info! I’m now prepared and feel like I have a professional-looking media kit to present to potential advertisers.
That is wonderful, Jennifer! I am glad you found it helpful.
Do you think that it’s better to provide the media kit on a request basis or available to download immediately off your site? I have so many questions about media kits and am having a hard time finding the answers. This was the FIRST post I found that told me how to actually implement it on my blog after searching for about a week. I’m also unsure about what programs to use to create the media kit. My web site program (WebPlus x5) has a great photo editor + tools for creating my page, but other than that all I have is paint, word, and online photo editing sites. Would it be more realistic for me to create a page for my media kit? I’m in the process of moving to self hosted and trying to get all my ducks in a row before I launch.
I use Word to make my media kit but save it as a PDF. Typically, I will say, “My media kit is available by request,” and then if they ask, I attach it to an email. I personally do not think it is wise to have your media kit readily available online (or at least do not post your pricing) as so many bloggers are searching for prices.
This is the best thing ever! Thanks for encouraging me to make a media kit even though I’m a small blogger. This is the best blog advice I’ve gotten in a long time.
I think a lot depends on what your goals are. For example, I don’t sell ad space or do much in the way of sponsored posts, but I monetize with bigger brand deals/events, and for that, it’s helpful to have more demographic info. ex. age, location, gender, interests, etc. I also try don’t provide rates. I always try to get THEM to offer a number first. Then turn it over to my agent to negotiate so I can always play good cop 😉