Ah, the life of a freelancer – a balanced blend of freedom and, let’s be honest, moments of scrambling to secure the next project. Whether you’re in the business of social media, designing, or consulting, the hustle for visibility and credibility is a shared chapter in our freelance tales. And here, amidst the pages of strategies and tools, a well-curated media kit distinctly marks its territory, doesn’t it?
I know I am biased as in our student community we have a variety of people who benefit from a media kit.
Traditionally, a media kit is a documen that gives prospective sponsors and collaborators everything they need to know about sponsorship with you.
As a personal brand looking to sell yourself and your services, working on a media kit is essential.
Nowadays, a media kit comes in different forms, depending on the outcomes and goals you are looking to achieve. Speakers, professionals and creators alike work hard to create a summary of how they can provide value to potential partners.
Traditional PDF Media Kit
Digital magazines and publications still use media kits for sponsorship opportunities and festivals and trade events. Some creators also use media kits to give their vibe and experience a better flair – yes, a bit like a CV.
- Pros of conventional media kits: overall, a PDF media kit can be excellent if you have a variety of offers for sponsorships and key work opportunities.
- Cons of conventional media kits: updating a PDF media kit can be incredibly time-consuming, especially when it comes to rates and stats, especially as now creatives can sign up to a platform that can pull all of that data for them.
Online Portfolio
I believe a case study or a simple page on your website, combined with a clear email template, can be a great way to tap into a potential partner or client.
Whether you sell a particular skill or type of content, personal brand-defining your list services is essential to create an online portfolio that works specifically for you.
If you are a visual creator or professional, interactive, graphic portfolios are best.
You can also create a case study based on a specific client outlining the different ways you supported them. For speakers and teachers (a bit like me), it is common to have clips of speaking gigs, as well as testimonials and a timeline of some critical speaking engagements.
If the online portfolio is strong enough, you need to suggest what service would work best for a specific partnership and let the portfolio do the talking.
- Pros of online portfolios: they can be visually stunning, interactive, and easy to access. You can have portfolios accessible for everyone to browse or send to potential partners only.
- Cons of online portfolios: if you are not comfortable with editing, designing and creating websites, portfolios may become time-consuming and look a bit amateurish (and automatically turn into an expensive endeavour).
Email Proposal
A proposal is usually a two-three step solution. Regardless of your overall personal brand, you do NOT need a standard media kit. In fact, you can use the same content and copy for an email template.
An email template works quite similarly to a PDF kit, as it can be easier to update as you go along. Yet, you always want to make sure you get information from potential partners first to tailor every proposal.
I always recommend you have a few more pieces of information to share when a potential partner shows interest.
Afterwards, you can send your best link, more copy related to yourself, your services, key stats and anything that can help you secure a partnership.
You can have a series of notes with a specific copy for specific questions or areas of your proposal ready to send accordingly.
- Pros of email proposals: minimal groundwork required. The written copy is what truly shines here.
- Cons of email proposals: email proposals on their own, without a clear visual pitch of you and your brand, may not look as professional as a visual portfolio or PDF media kit.
What Should I Add to My Media Kit?
About You and Your Work
Who are you? You want to make sure your bio fully represents you and your brand. Therefore, you want to convey your tone and style in your bio copy and show your personality, interests, and passion projects.
People buy from people, remember? It does not have to belong, yet it needs to be memorable.
Your services
Services will vary from individual to individual.
- If you want to monetise your writing, you should include your website statistics, collaboration options, and notable articles.
- Creatives focusing on visual content should let their pictures speak really.
- Instagram-driven personal brands will want to dive deep into analytics. It is essential for making a good impression and landing more (and higher-paying) collaborations.
- Speakers will provide examples of their past work and topic ideas.
Your Audience
Include information about your audience demographic; this is how brands will determine if your audience is the type of customers they want to be reaching.
When a brand is looking to partner with someone, they will want to understand as much as they can about your niche or target audience. For example, stats like geographic distribution, age breakdown (how old they are), gender, language, approximate income are essential.
Data
Analytics and data are essential to get potential partners’ attention. More than ever, people are looking to get the highest return of investment for any collaboration.
For personal brands, these stats would include:
- Pageviews per month (from Google Analytics)
- Average page views (in the last three months)
- Unique visitors per month
- Audience insights
- Subscribers: Instagram, Mailing list, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
- Engagement rate (especially for Instagram)
Case studies
I heavily discuss this when talking about portfolios and case studies. Alternatively, anything from visual examples to social proof in the form of testimonials (written or video). Reassure potential partners that you know how to work with other people and provide value to them.
Bonus: previous features and media
Especially if you are using your media kit to get press opportunities and new partners, adding previous features and media (also known as the as seen in section) shows social proof and authority.
The Benefits of Media Kits
Media kits, just like a press release, add a certain feeling to your personal brand. They show you invested time in pitching yourself to the right people.
The truth is, you want to make sure your media kit includes a great introduction. Your media kit clarifies what they can expect from you. Ideally, whatever format you choose should list various things, and it all depends on what you are trying to attract more of.
Reflect on this as not the end, but a new chapter in your freelance saga. With your media kit in tow, you will attract the right people.
After all, media kits are as much about you as they are about the partners and clients you are looking to attract. Focus on the value you can bring to their business, and the rest will follow.
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