Wang - A Beauty Bloggers Media Kit

A BEAUTY BLOGGERS MEDIA KIT

Published by: Christine Wang

Written by: Christine Wang
Headshot photographs: Yishan Chan Photography

Version 2.0 Copyright 2015 Beautyholics Anonymous

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

The information contained in this book is based on the authors experience, knowledge and opinions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

I still remember the day I received my very first beauty product from a brand. I was still living in Malaysia and at the time, there was no such thing as working with brands. Back then, brands have probably never even heard of the term "blog" let alone work with someone behind that blog.
It was a small bottle of body lotion that sent to me by a brand in the US and all I could think of was " wow, someone in the US actually knows my blog! . I've since used up the entire product but I kept that bottle till today to remind me how far I have come.
It was only about 3 years ago that I even heard of the term "media kit". Brands have started to notice bloggers and the power and influence they have over their audience that they started to reach out to bloggers in hopes of working with them. All of a sudden, I was asked for a media kit. Screenshots of your web analytics were no longer sufficient. I had to Google what the heck a media kit was and only a small handful of beauty bloggers actually displayed their media kit on their websites. At one point, I even had to send a rather sheepish email to one of the brands asking Erm, whats a media kit?
After a lot of trial and error, I finally came up with a media kit that works. It gives an introduction to my blog, Beautyholics Anonymous, and states all the facts and statistics of my blog. When I started my popular series, Bloggie Wednesdays, on the blog, I received a lot of questions from fellow bloggers on how to create a media kit. Soon, there were questions on how to create a rate card for bloggers who are looking to monetise their blogs.
This book was written to address those questions and more.
Do not just read the book cover to cover (although I hope you do!). Feel free to jump to chapters that are useful to you. Print it out, write on it, bookmark it do what suits you best. There are printable checklists towards the end of the book that will help you make sure youve included most if not all of the important information needed in a media kit and rate card.

To all of the bloggers who asked me all those questions about media kits and rate cards and to all of you readers who have supported my blog, this book wouldn't have happened without you.

Thank you.

WHAT IS A MEDIA KIT?

A media kit is your blogs rsum . Just like you would give a potential employer your rsum for review, you would give potential brands and advertisers you want to work with your blog rsum .

Your media kit will contain information about your blog, what it is about, who it is targeted to, blog statistics, accolades and so on.

WHY DO YOU NEED A MEDIA KIT?

If youve been blogging for a while, and would like to take your blog to the next level (i.e. renting blog space out for advertisements, doing sponsored posts, approaching brands and PRs to introduce yourself, etc.), a media kit would help you tremendously.

If you are reading this, brands, chances are that PRs and/or potential advertisers have begun approaching you to work with you and your blog. Congratulations! Its good to know that your blog has reached a certain amount of readership to attract brands and advertisers. Its also a great method of introducing your blog when you are reaching out to brands you are passionate about and would like to work with.

Before the brand starts working with you, they might request for your blogs web statistics. They will most likely also request for screenshots of these figures from web statistics sites like Google Analytics.

Instead of capturing screenshots and gathering the figures every time you receive a request, its easier and more convenient to have all this information in one file your media kit.

WHAT IS IN A MEDIA KIT?

Here is some essential information that you will need for your media kit. Some points will be elaborated in the next few sections.

Name
You would be surprised that for such an obvious thing, this is often forgotten.

Name of blog and link
S how it off proudly!

Contact details
Another often forgotten detail

A photo of you
A small one would do. It doesnt have to be one of those photos for the passport or drivers license (goodness knows how flattering they are), but keep it clean and professional. This is, after all, your blogs rsum . No cleavage shots please. If you can get a portrait of you professionally done (maybe it's time for that photographer friend of yours to return a favour?), this would be excellent for your media kit. You can be slightly cheeky and pose with your makeup collection (again, keep it professional and tidy). You are a beauty blogger, after all!

Blog description
What is your blog about? What is your tagline? Do you mainly do reviews and/or tutorials? Is your blog predominantly about makeup, skincare or both? Do you mainly write about drugstore or high-products, or both? Do you do video tutorials? Be specific.

Demographics
Who is your blog catered to? Do not just state women in general. Any females from 16 to 100 are women. Your age would normally indicate the demographic of women youre writing for, plus/minus 5 to 10 years. If youre a spring chicken (lucky you) and do not use rich, anti-aging products, then you would not be catering to mature women. You get the gist.

Blog statistics
This data is easily obtained from web statistics analysis tools like Google Analytics, StatCounter, etc. If your blog does not use a web statistics analysis tool, get one now. It is an essential tool for any serious blogger. Include a screenshot of your blog statistics.

Social media
Social media networks you are on and the number of people following you. Remember to add the links too.

Services you provide
Product reviews, sponsored posts, ad space, etc.

CONTACT DETAILS

Believe it or not, this is an often forgotten detail in media kits. We get so wrapped in web statistics that we forget the most vital piece of information of all our contact details.
Name
If you use a nom de plume on your blog, do provide your real name as well.
Address
This is where I highly recommend services of a PO box. A PO box is not very expensive, and it gives you privacy from having to reveal your home or work address. Only provide a mailing address you're comfortable with revealing. Some bloggers put their work address in their media kit so that their home address is not given out.
Personally, I'm not keen on this because you might get in trouble with work if you haven't gotten your workplace's permission for providing their address for your blog's purposes in the first place. Most workplaces would be all right with it but the very conservative ones may not. This is why I recommend using a PO box or a Locked Box instead. It's an ideal way to keep your work and blog separate.