Press Kit, Media Kit :
How-To Create An Online Media Kit

Press Kit or media kit ... A media kit is an essential part of most businesses. With people turning to the Internet as often as they turn on lights, should you take your media kit online? Here are some reasons why you should.

Why Go Online

• Instant Information. Familiar with Murphy's Law? The prospect you've been trying to get on the phone for weeks calls to request a media kit - but you're on vacation and don't get the message for two weeks. If they had been able to get the kit online, you might be closing the sale when you get back from vacation instead of playing more phone tag. Or what if an overseas investor is thinking about investing, but they want to see a media kit? Overseas packages are expensive and delay the process. Having your company information online help eliminate geography as a stumbling block.

• Be On The Cutting Edge. An Internet presence is now a commonplace marketing tactic for some of the most successful companies - including your competitors. Being online projects a modern image. More and more, potential clients and investors are looking for information about companies online first - before any contact has been made. You probably want to be there to greet them. 

• Provide Current Information. Having your marketing materials online makes it easier to provide the most up to date information to your customers. If you need to change a price, a product name, location information, etc., you can update it instantly on the Internet instead of having to re-print hard copies or send new versions to customers. Because of this, consumers typically assume that the information they read on the Internet is more current than print materials. 

• Cut Down on Printing Costs. You won't have to print as many kits in bulk. Instead of sending media kits to prospects, direct them to your website. You will also save on mailing costs and faxing. 

• Save Time. Cut down on time spent faxing pages to customers, printing out new media kit materials, or organizing mass-mailings.

• Create Customer and Prospect Databases. When a potential customer visits your site, have them fill out their name, contact information and company or lifestyle information. You can build a prospect list easily and inexpensively this way, as well as monitor how people are using your site and what gets their attention.

• It's A Two-Way Street. The Internet is interactive. Consumers can do more than just read about you online. If you include your e-mail address, consumers can get in touch with you directly and you can respond quickly and with ease. 

The Internet should not replace your other marketing materials and media outlets. But it can expand your presence in the market, increase your customer base, and enhance your overall image.

Create an Online Media Kit

Are you convinced? Now you need to create it. Putting your media kit online is much like designing a print media kit in terms of items to include. But the design and delivery of an online media kit is different. 

Online media kits should include much of the same material as printed ones. But online, you have more options for space and creativity for less money. Following are some tips and considerations in adapting your media kit for the online world.

• Expand Print Information. The Internet is a much more flexible platform than print. You can include more information about your company because you don't have as many space limitations. People seek out media kits for information, so provide as much as you can. But remember to be concise. People have a shorter attention span for the Internet than for other media. It's all about quality over quantity. 

• Break Information Into Small Pieces. Even if you provide more information online than on paper, break it down and organize it into smaller sections. People don't have as much patience with long documents online. In a study by Useit.com, 79% of website readers scanned pages rather than reading them, while only 16% read the whole thing. 

• Organize. Take advantage of the expanded format options on the Net. Create a table of contents by category with live links that will click to that category. This will help users navigate your site more easily.

• Provide Contact Information. Create a link that connects directly to the appropriate e-mail, mailing address or phone numbers. Have different contact links for different departments in the company.

• Minimize Graphics. They may be attention-getting, but they also take a long time to download and may prevent some people from fully accessing your site. Use graphics where you really need them, but keep them small and limit animation. 

• Make Personal Information Optional. If you decide to gather personal or lifestyle data, consider making it optional. The explosion of marketing through web user data has made web users very wary of giving this information out. Explain why you are asking for this information, and let the user decide. They will appreciate the option.

• Update Often. Take advantage of the biggest reason people turn to the web - convenience and instant information. Give them a reason to come back again and again. And make sure your media kit information is accurate, consistent and up to date. The Internet's advantages can also be its downfalls. 

Put it on the Web

Now that you know what will go online, how will it get there? You could have an internet marketing solution company such as MagazineData create the whole thing for you. But if you want to do it yourself, here's where to start:

• Program Text In HTML. Once you have your content, put it in HTML format. HTML is fairly simple to learn and use. But creating very sophisticated, professional websites usually requires a professional or at least a good web page authoring tool that will do the programming for you.

• Choose A Web Host Server. You need a space on the Internet to put your media kit, and someone to run the server. If you don't already have a website, contact your Internet Service Provider. They often provide free space to subscribers. Or contact a web hosting service to purchase space. 

• Upload Text To Web Host Server. Once you have chosen a web host, work with them to upload your text and you are on the Internet. 

• List Your Kit In A Directory. Once you're online, you want people to show up. Be one of the thousands of kits profiled on sites like www.sdrs.com, and get more people to see your kit.