Media kits are the linchpin to nailing blog sponsorships! In this article, you’ll learn not only what needs to go in your blogger media kit but how to design a media kit with our FREE blogger media kit template!
When we look back at our almost decade-long journey of blogging, we’re instantly filled with so many emotions.
We cringe thinking about all of the horrendous design choices we’ve made with our blog thinking it actually looked good at the time. We can now laugh, a lot, knowing all of the mistakes we’ve made only helped us become better bloggers.
And we can smile from ear to ear thinking about all of our accomplishments, including our very first paycheck, thanks to our blogger media kit.
Ready to monetize your blog with sponsorships? Get our FREE blogger media kit template so you can have your own professionally designed media kit in just minutes!
When we finally got serious about blogging as a business by investing in the right tools and education, we were able to grow our pageviews to +10k our first month AND book our very first sponsored post for a whole $22!
One month later, we increased our pageviews to about 26k per month and landed our second sponsored post for $180.
Were we swimming in the money? Definitely not.
But it helped cover our blog’s monthly expenses, which meant we were heading in the right direction. Finally!
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Now, we just want to mention that there are plenty of ways you can make money with your blog aside from sponsorship opportunities.
In fact, we highly recommend diversifying your income streams to cover all of your bases. You can design and sell Canva templates, printables on something like Etsy, courses, workshops, and SO much more.
Other popular forms of blogging income are ad revenue, affiliate sales (especially during the holiday season), and providing client services.
WHAT IS A BLOGGER MEDIA KIT?
A Media Kit, or Press Kit as it’s sometimes referred to, is a quick overview of who you are, what your business is, who your audience is, and your blog’s stats.
The purpose of a blogger media kit is to give a brand a sense of your business so they can decide if working with you for sponsorships (and other opportunities) would be a good fit for them.
Brands look for commonalities amongst both audiences, including demographics.
What we mean is YOU may love a product and want to work with a specific brand. But if your audience is vastly different from theirs, they may politely decline.
That’s just one of the many things your blogger media kit would help determine when choosing brand ambassadors.
WHEN TO START ON YOUR MEDIA KIT
Chances are you’re probably thinking, “But my numbers are low! I’m nowhere near ready for a media kit. Am I?”
Media kits, in our humble opinion, are one of the first things you should set up after you’ve nailed down your avatar.
For Simplifying DIY Design, we knew exactly who our avatar was before we even launched our blog.
We researched, stalked Facebook groups, and surveyed for weeks, so we not only knew WHO we were writing to but WHAT to write; i.e., what they struggled with the most.
You can always update your numbers as your blog grows, which takes less than a minute if you’re using our FREE blogger media kit template. Just sayin’.
Here’s the thing. You don’t need big numbers.
What you DO need is a professional and clean-looking blogger media kit.
You also need to have confidence as you approach brands and be strategic about the brands you decide to pitch. But most importantly, you need to know your worth.
Our first sponsored post was well undervalued.
While our numbers may have been low, that post ended up being one of our top five posts for about two years! The amount of traffic that that $22 post brought in was unbelievably impressive.
Media kits are also needed for other opportunities, such as:
- Giveaways
- Product reviews
- Influencing a conference or event
- Brand ambassadorship
- Landing guest posts or podcast interviews
See why we recommend getting started on your media kit right away? We don’t want you to miss out on an incredible opportunity because you didn’t have your media kit complete in time.
And yes, it can happen!
HOW TO CREATE A FREE MEDIA KIT
Honestly, a one-page media kit is all that’s needed when you first start out, especially if you’re going after both compensated and non-compensated opportunities.
As you grow, you may want to expand to a more advanced multi-page media kit with a monetization package which we’ll cover in just a moment.
Here’s what to include in your blogger media kit:
- Logo
- Stats
- Elevator pitch
- “About me” blurb
- General idea of what services you’d like to offer (or use the examples in our media kit template)
Then, pick your color palette and gather your design elements. You’ll likely need icons for your blog stats and social media stats.
You can also include charts or graphics if you have a more advanced media kit (generally two or three pages).
SIDE NOTE: Use our FREE blogger media kit template to have all of the work done for you!
Other things to include in your media kit:
- Introduction (what your business is)
- About you (who you are, and why do you do what you do)
- Stats: audience (age and gender), pageviews, email list, and social media
- Services offered
- Contact information
- Professional headshot (optional but encouraged)
- Testimonials and social proof (optional but encouraged)
- Sponsorship/monetization package and information (optional but encouraged, especially if blogging as a business)
- Top traffic channels (optional)
- Top locations of an audience (optional)
Once our media kit was complete, we searched Instagram for newish businesses in our niche and made a list. Then, we picked two to start with and sent them emails with our media kit and post ideas.
As soon as we’d hear back from a brand, we’d send over our sponsorship package.
MONETIZATION OPTIONS
Creating a sponsorship package is a great way to start monetizing your blog. Start by deciding on what services you’d like to offer. Be sure to price them individually for extra clarification.
Then, create a number of different packages that include different combinations of your services at separate prices (think pricing tiers).
For example, if you offer sponsored blog posts, social media campaigns, newsletter campaigns, and ad space, you may consider creating three options:
- LITE OPTION: 1 blog post, 1 social share, and 1 newsletter mention
- MEDIUM OPTION: 1 blog post, 10 social shares over 2 weeks, 2 newsletter mentions
- ADVANCED OPTION: 2 blog posts, 20 social shares over 1 month, 2 newsletter mentions, and ad space for 30 days
We found that discounting packages versus purchasing at the individual service rate helped to sell more because even bigger brands love to save money.
If you can commit, we recommend offering longer-term sponsorship opportunities, like 3-6 month contracts. This would bring in recurring income for you and also provide more exposure for the brand you’re working with!
Don’t forget to check out the social media platform you’ll be using for guidelines on #ad content!
Whether you’re ready to make your very first paycheck or want to level up your monetization strategy, now’s the time to do it.
Save loads of design time using our FREE blogger media kit template. Just swap out the colors, add your brand info, and download as a PDF. That’s it! You’ll be landing blog sponsorships in no time!
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:
- How to Sell Canva Templates
- How to Make Printables to Sell
- Top-Selling Digital Products You Need to Make
- Leverage the Holiday Traffic Using Gift Guides
Don’t forget to grab our FREE blogger media kit template made in Canva! You’ll have a professionally designed media kit in just minutes that’ll be ready to share with top brands!
TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS
Start your FREE Canva Pro trial today and unlock ALL of their incredible time-saving features that cut your design time to just minutes.
To be honest? It’s the best $12.99/mo OR $119/yr we spend on our business because that time we save with every design is put back into making MORE money in our business!
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Kim says
What a great resource! Thank you so much for the free template.
karafidd says
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Leslie Price says
Really excellent tips, especially the monetization options. I’ve had a media kit for quite a while but I have struggled with putting together sponsorship packages. Thanks for giving me a kick to get that done!