Tips for preparing a media kit (for bloggers)

Now that I am in my fourth year of blogging I figured it is about time I got myself organised! You may not know but once upon a time I used to work as a lecturer in IT and social media. It is a topic I am passionate about sharing with people and in the 14 years I have worked in the IT industry, it has been interesting to see the growth and uptake of blogging during this time.

Lately I have been receiving requests from companies asking me for a media kit and so I pulled my socks up and created one for ish & chi. In case you aren't sure what I am talking about, a media kit is a package of information given to companies that are interested in working with you. Preparing my media kit was a good opportunity for me to have a strong think about my blog and I realised that not having one meant that I could be missing out on cool opportunities that I can share with you like giveaways and interesting projects that I can write about it. So I'm all "kitted" up now!

Are you a blogger and do you have a media kit? Or are you thinking of preparing one? You might find the following tips useful. If you have a media kit of your own, feel free to add your own tips in the comments below.

My quick tips for creating a media kit:

• The design of the media kit should fit with the branding / design of your blog. Advertisers potentially receive many media kits and you want yours to be easily identifiable, interesting and to reflect and explain who you are and what your blog is about.

• Include information about you, your blog and the benefit of working with you. Keep is short and simple.

• Add credibility. Has your blog been mentioned in the media / popular websites / other platforms? Don't be afraid to mention these as well as brands you have previously worked with.

• Your audience / readership statistics. If you use Google Analytics you can find your readership statistics in there (i.e. monthly visits, pageviews) and you can list it or provide snapshots. Don't forget to also include the number of RSS and email subscribers you have and feel free to mention subscriptions in other social media platforms related to your blog (i.e. facebook page, twitter etc) if you like.

• How can companies work with you? Do you offer advertising, sponsored giveaways or posts or are there guest opportunities on your blog? Are there other ways that companies can work with you? List your rates and terms and conditions (i.e. size of ads, position on the site, the terms of your giveaways or sponsored posts). Some bloggers also provide rate cards which is a brief table of your rates / one-page document so that people can see at a quick glance the opportunities that you offer.

• How can companies contact you? Most importantly don't forget to include all your contact information.

If you have any questions or want more information, feel free to ask in the comments below. If you are a brand representative is there something you would like to see in media kits?

And if you would like to see mine, please don't hesitate to ask me - I'm happy to share.