People ask me all the time: How can I encourage marketers and PR reps to consider me for some great opportunities? My first piece of advice is write a great About Me page and make sure you include your contact information; a close second is have a media kit. Since we've already talked about your About Me page, today I'll give you tips on putting together a media kit for your blog.

A media kit is a summary of how your blog reaches an audience and how you can help someone reach that audience. I think everyone needs a media kit--especially as your blog grows. Every PR rep or marketing company I have worked with has asked for a media kit with my advertising rates, traffic statistics, and, if available, my demographics. Your media kit is the document you can send to PR and marketing reps, potential advertisers or vendors, and anyone else who may be interested in working with you. It's your opportunity to tell people why they should work with you.

So what should you include in your media kit? The key is to include information that is relevant to whomever you're corresponding with. It's not a bad idea to tweak your media kit for specific contacts, just like you'd personalize a cover letter when applying for a job.

I like to include the following items in my general media kit:

• Branding. Your media kit should reflect your blog's brand. You can use the same color scheme and any graphics that emphasize that brand. If someone is familiar with your blog (and even if they aren't) they should be able to tell this media kit came from you and your blog.
• Contact information. This may seem obvious, but you wouldn't believe how many times bloggers assume we know how to contact them. Your contact information should be front and center.
• Elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a short explanation of what you do. For example, my elevator pitch for Blogging Basics 101 is I write tips and instructions for beginning and intermediate bloggers. It tells you what the site is about, but it leaves me room to expand if I want to.
• Explanation of your blog's topic or niche. After you've stated your elevator pitch, you can expand the explanation of your blog's niche, why you are an important part of that niche, and why you are a good fit with a potential vendor or PR representative. This is a great place to explain why you'll add value to a specific campaign.
• Statistics. When discussing your traffic statistics, include unique visitors, feed subscribers, total page views, and total visitors. If you have particularly good Google Page Rank or Technorati and Alexa page rankings, definitely include that information here. You may want to include your Twitter and Facebook followers if those accounts are part of your reach and are places where you'll share a campaign.
• Influence. If you don't feel like you have high enough numbers, focus instead on your influence and how you reach a specific audience. Remember that your influence isn't just online. Are you active with in the PTA at your child's school? Do you volunteer? What groups are you involved in that look to you for advice? Share that information here. Also include awards or accolades you've received (if they're relevant). Do you regularly speak at conferences (local or national)? That lends credibility, so tell people about it.
• Demographics. If you haven't already, you should take a demographic survey of your readers. You can use a free service like SurveyMonkey.com to set it up. Marketers are usually interested in whether you're reaching males or females, what the family's income is, their education, their marital status, etc. I have found that when I ask my readers to complete a survey, they are more than happy to help me out, especially if the survey is anonymous and I explain exactly how I'm using the information (i.e., to gauge who my audience is so I can cater my posts to their interests and as part of my media kit). Be sure to remind your audience that you will not sell or give away their personal information and that you'll be presenting your findings as a percentages of a whole, not as individual responses.
• Advertising sizes/options, rates, and guidelines. What size(s) of advertising will you offer (e.g., 125x125, 120x600)? How much does each type of ad cost for a week? A month? Consider whether you'll give discounts for clients who book several weeks of advertising and explain that policy here. This is also the place to discuss whether you'll accept animated advertising or ads that do not relate to your audience, and whether you'll issue refunds for certain situations.

Do you have a media kit? What's in it? Throw out some ideas of what's important and what's not. Tell me what's worked for you and what hasn't. If you're a marketer, what are you looking for? Have you ever received a media kit that knocked your socks off? What made it so great? Let's get this discussion started.

More ideas for your media kit:

• How to Create a Media Advertising Kit for Your Blog via Blog Coach
• Mom Bloggers' Tools for Writing a Media Kit via The Write Gal
• What's the Blogger PR Secret? via Mom It Forward

Melanie Nelson writes tips and instructions for beginning and intermediate bloggers at Blogging Basics 101. She has a media kit, but she doesn't make money from her blog. Go figure.