I think that anyone who went to this design camp, will agree with me if I say that Media Kits that Shine led by Meg Keene, was one of the very best. These were two hours well spent! Here are the highlights:
– Don’t focus on monetizing, focus on content. Content is key, no content, no readers, no monetization.
– Sell what you have, and consider that bigger is not necessarily better. Don’t forget to tailor rates by pitch, and price advertisers according to how big they are.
– A successful media kit is one that reflects that you know who you are, your brand, your readers and what they want.
– Major brands want a quick overview, independent businesses want enough info to dig into your audience, and the media is not interested in ad rates, so don’t tell them about your blog business model.
– What goes in it?
Traffic / Engagement and online reach / info about readership / a feel of the brand / press mentions (any!) / Advertising rates
– Important stuff to include:
Pageviews per month (is going to be higher) / absolute unique visitors (is going to be lower) / time on site ( less than 3 minutes is the average, anything above is really good) / RSS suscriptions
– Make it easy to identify what sets you apart from others and be as visual as humanly possible (show rather than tell)
– Do market research and learn what your competitors* are charging.
– Remember that you’re selling your content and good content = good reader = something to sell.
And lastly, something that I really liked:
– Don’t accommodate to your readers, you want your readers to love you, and if they don’t, then it is ok to repel them. You wouldn’t want to work with someone who doesn’t get you anyway.
*I hate the word competitors, I would like to say “fellow bloggers” instead 😉