How + Why You Need to Create a Media Kit for Your Blog (plus a free template!)

One of my favorite parts of blogging is collaboration. I’ve gotten to meet a lot of amazing brands and bloggers thanks to And Possibly Dinosaurs, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.

But how do you set up these collaborations? Lots of ways. I’ve used social media, cold emails, and even some advertising sites.

But one thing is pretty common when it comes to collaboration: the brand or blogger you’re reaching out to is going to want to know why they should work with you. And that’s where a media kit comes in.

Why create a media kit?

Quite a few times, I’ve been approached by smaller brands with a proposition to work together. They’ve seen my blog and think we’d be a good fit, but they want to be sure. So, they ask for my media kit.

Think of your media kit like your blog’s resume. The goal of your media kit is to tell other people why they should collaborate with you. It’s going to give them a glimpse into your blog and help them get to know you better. Sure, they might have seen your website already. But what can you tell them that’s below the surface? What is your mission, and how does collaboration fit in with that?

Your media kit should answer these questions.

What should you include in your media kit?

Depending on your goals with your blog, your media kit is going to include different things. However, some things should be on there no matter what.

Should be on your media kit:

• Your blog’s name
• Your blog’s logo
• Your blog’s URL
• A quick write-up about your blog’s mission / purpose
• Your name
• Your photo
• Contact info (typically just an email address)
• A short bio
• Monthly pageview / user stats
• Social media subscribers (if you don’t have a ton, just lump them into one number rather than dividing them up by site)

Can be on your media kit, but aren’t necessary:

• Services you offer
• More in-depth stats, like how many followers you have per social media site and how many email list subscribers you have
• Advertising rates
• Brands you’ve worked with in the past
• Links to popular posts
• Links to your social media profiles
• Stats about your audience
• What they can expect from you

I, for example, don’t have advertisements on my blog, so I don’t include advertising rates on my media kit. If you do offer advertisement opportunities, though, feel free to include those.

How to create your media kit

If you’ve been reading And Possibly Dinosaurs for a while, you know my love affair with Adobe InDesign, so that’s what this tutorial will be based on. You can, however, easily create a media kit with Photoshop, Canva, or Picmonkey as well.

I prefer to create my media kit in InDesign because of the extra pizzazz I can give it. For example, I make things like my blog’s URL, my email address, and my popular posts links to the actual pages, so the person reading doesn’t have the scour my archives looking for them.

Can’t remember how to create links in a PDF in InDesign? I’ve got you covered!

I typically like to look around the internet for inspiration before diving into a project. Just remember: there’s a difference between using something for inspiration and shamelessly ripping something off. So be careful!

Once I’ve found the inspiration I need, I’ll draw out a loose outline on a piece of paper. I want to make sure I leave room for everything I need. You don’t want to create a beautiful media kit, and then realize you haven’t got a spot for your monthly pageview stats.

Next, I pull up the necessary statistics. Depending on what you want to include, you’ll need to access things like your social media accounts, Google Analytics, etc.

Once I’ve got all of the necessary information, I open up my And Possibly Dinosaurs style guide in InDesign so I can easily copy and paste things like my logo and my brand colors. I want to make sure everything matches my brand perfectly. After all, this is a big representation of my brand.

Typically, I start by creating all of the shapes I’m going to need. If I want different parts sectioned off with different colored blocks, I’ll create those. Start with the shapes, then add the text later.

Once I’ve got the basic outline in InDesign, I’ll start filling in my text and make small adjustments to the outline as needed.

Then, after everything looks good and is on brand, I go through and add my links. And, because people typically don’t assume there are links in a PDF, I add a note that the text is clickable. Plus, it’s a fun way to add my personality into it!

Once I’m happy with my media kit, I not only save it as an InDesign file to edit later, I also export it as an interactive PDF. The interactive part is crucial; if I export it as a print-ready PDF, the links won’t work. And that just makes my little “psssst… they’re links!” note look a bit foolish.

Then I make sure I save it in an easy-to-find spot on my computer, and voila! Done! I also like to keep an Archive folder available so I can see old versions of my media kit in case I ever need to go back.

Now, what if you don’t want to spend a ton of time creating a media kit from scratch? Well, you’re in luck, love! I’ve got a free media kit template just for you.

Using InDesign for your media kit

Interested in learning more about the ins and outs of Adobe InDesign? Well, you’re in luck! Presale has officially begun for my e-course, the InDesign Adventure Guide.

I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about InDesign, even if you’ve never opened the program before.

We’ll make a style guide for your blog, a worksheet to use to grow your email list, and an e-book that you can sell for passive income. That’s right; you’re leaving the class with actual tools you can use to grow your blog or business.

Plus, once you’re done with the course, you’ll know exactly what you need to do to create your very own media kit and continue to grow your blog.

Sound good? Then what are you waiting for? Enroll in the InDesign Adventure Guide now! The course begins in February.

Get the InDesign Adventure Guide for Only $247!