What you need to know about a press kit
Journalists, brands, venues, agents
A press kit is a web page and printable document, created by you, that can be used by:
Journalists, podcasters and bloggers who want to feature or interview you
Brands who are considering partnering with you to create sponsored content
Venues and organisations considering engaging you for speaking events
Curators, editors and agents who may want to add you to their client-lists
Your press kit makes it easy for them to feature you, because they don’t have to go digging for information or assets - it’s all laid out for them neatly, and easy to access. They can immediately see the value you bring.
Electronic and print
You’re going to need to create two versions of your press kit. The first will be a simple web page to include on your website. Don’t link to it in the main navigation, simply have a tab in your footer (or maybe under your Contact page) that says “Press” or “Media” so that journalists can find it.
If you don’t have a website yet, talk to me and we can come up with a solution for you.
The reason you need a website version of your press kit is because you’ll be providing links and downloads in the kit, and you want to make it as easy as possible for brands and journalists (etc) to just click to access them.
In addition, you’re going to create a printable (pdf) version of the kit that you can hand out at events, and that media can print out and share with one another.
What to include
In today’s activity, we are going to draw together all the resources you have been creating during the past two months, and put them together to create your press kit.
There are some not-negotiables that should be included in every press kit, no matter what you do or what stage you are at in your work.
Then there are some “nice to haves,” depending on what you do, and what kind of coverage or work you want to do.
You’ll include different information, for example, if you are seeking partnerships with brands, compared to if you are seeking media coverage. In each section, I’ll highlight what the information is for, and you can decide whether it’s worth including or not.
Not-negotiales (every press-kit should have these):
-
1. Introduce yourself
This is where you introduce what you do, why you do it, and how you do it (your values). Include:
* Your bio (Workbook 2, page 16)
* Your self portrait (Week 6), if this is about you, your work, or if you’re the founder/owner (eg. if you use the word “I” in any of your content)
* Your Values Manifesto (Workbook 1, page 9)
* Some lovely brand images (choose from the photographs you took in Week 7) -
2. Contact details
Make it very clear and easy for them to contact you. Include:
* Your email address
* Your ‘phone number (if appropriate)
* Your website URL
* The @URL of your social media(Note: only include social media profiles that are relevant to your brand - skip Facebook if it’s just for family, or Instagram if it’s just your lunch)
-
3. Story & audience
Help journalists visualise what you do and the way it impacts on people’s lives. Include:
* A (short!) overview of you or your business’s background: what got you here?
* Relevant notes from your About page (Workbook 2, page 17)
* Who you serve / your target audience (draw relevant notes from Workbook 1, pages 14-20), focusing on basic demographics but also touching on values -
4. Basic facts
Just the absolute basics, so they can easily picture you in their heads. Include:
* Where you’re located
* A top-level list of your product/service range
* People on your team (if relevant) including brief bios and photos -
5. Assets
This is where you create a repository of resources that journalists can easily access if they want to feature you or link to you. Include:
* High-res version of your logo (if you have one)
* High-res bio photos of you (your self portraits from Week 6)
* High-res maker shots of you doing the thing you do (Week 7)
* High-res product shots (both emotive and descriptive) if you sell or feature products (Week 7)Use a file-sharing platform, like Dropbox, and link to it in your press kit so journalists can download these assets without having to chase you for them.
Nice to have (these will help give your press kit a little extra oomph)
-
1. Statistics
If you want to work with brands, providing numbers will be very important. The sorts of numbers you can include are:
* Website traffic
* Newsletter / blog subscribers
* Social media followers
* Customers served / units sold -
2. Social proof
As with numbers, this is very helpful if you want to work with brands, as it shows that your audience is engaged. Even if you’re not working with brands, testimonials provide valuable social proof. Things to consider including are:
* Testimonials / feedback on your work
* Positive comments/thanks/testimonials in your social media
* Relevant awards / recognition you’ve received
* Past speaking engagements -
3. Past media
If you’ve been interviewed, featured or otherwise visible in the media in the past, share this here. The more known/prestigious the publication, highlight it at the top, but if you’re just starting out, any coverage reinforces that you are worth talking about:
* Interviews with you
* Magazine and newspaper articles
* Newsletter mentions
* Podcast mentions / interviews
* Radio interviews / mentions
* Mentions or quotes in blogs and websites -
4. Charity work
If you support any charities - whether through volunteering, donating or advocacy - and it’s relevant to your work or brand, share this here. Sharing your charity work helps to reinforce your values.
The point is not to say “I am a good person because I give to charity.” Instead, write something like, “I / This Brand actively supports XYZ Charity because [and then touch on how it aligns with your values].” Then link to the charity.
The idea is to align yourself with that charity in journalists’ minds because you and the charity have shared values. It helps them know you better.
-
5. Canned quotes
If you want to be interviewed, quoted or sought as an expert voice in the media, it may be helpful for you to create a resource of “canned quotes”.
This is simply a list of quotes that journalists can then pick up, use, and attribute to you.
Write some short, pithy comments that you genuinely stand by, and that either share your unique insights into a topic or showcase your expertise.
Save the quotes to a Word (or similar) document, and add them to the “Assets” folder you created above.
-
6. Samples of your work
This is particularly useful if you are hoping to be picked up by editors, curators, or agents. Make it easy for them to find examples of your work. Things you might want to link to include: .
* Relevant, specific pages on your website
* Your blog, including links to specific, relevant posts
* Your newsletter archive (so they can read back issues)
* Any essays, books or e-books you’ve written
* Music or videos you’re in or have made
* Online galleries of art you’ve created
* Videos of you speaking or performing
* An offer to post physical products, if you want to give out product samples
Make it look good
Allow space:
Don’t be stingy on the images or space with your press-kit. Take the time and pages you need to make it look and feel beautiful, and on-brand. Also be aware of allowing white space, so there are areas on the screen or page for the eye to rest. Don’t cram your content in and assault the eyes.
Use brand colours and images:
Look to your style-guide for a colour palette to use, and if it’s useful, factor in some general brand imagery as well as specific product or action photography.
Use sub-headings and dot-points:
Break up long blocks of text with sub-headings or dot-point lists, and be sure to create new paragraphs, text boxes or other areas for new information. Large headings will help journalists and brands (etc) quickly navigate through to the information they need.
Highlight important information
If you have something extra-important to say or show off, make this stand out with a larger font, or by creating pull-quotes (quotes that are pulled from the text and made to stand out)
On your website:
Keep all the information to one page, but break sections up with lines and large headings. Consider creating a “bookmark menu” at the top of the page, so that people can jump to exactly the section they want (a bit like an FAQs menu)
On print:
Be willing to spread your content out over multiple pages to allow enough room for imagery and white space. Consider a menu on the front page, something that says “Inside” and points to the relevant page, so your readers can quickly get to the information they want.
Free layout platforms (like Canva) will have templates you might be able to use. Search “press kit” or “media kit” or even “presentation” to see if there’s one you like, that you could customise.
Ensure your logo and/or contact details are on the footer of every page. That way if one page becomes separated from the rest of the document, they can still contact you.