If you’ve ever looked into advertising in just about any medium, chances are you received a media kit. These packages usually fulfill the three -ensives: intensive, comprehensive, and expensive. The media kit is essentially the business card for the particular medium, so publishers of all kinds spare no cost in ensuring that their kit is impressive and portrays every possible benefit to the advertiser. As a podcaster you’re no different than the TV-station or the print magazine as an advertising medium, so if you don’t have a media kit yet you should drop everything that you’re doing and get to working on one right now!

The ten basics of any effective podcast media kit include:

1. The elevator pitch. Start off your media kit with a very short summary about what your podcast is all about. If you find yourself going over one sentence you’re getting too verbose.
2. The stats. Most advertisers and sponsors are primarily interested in your traffic statistics. After all, the highest quality, incisive and intelligent podcast in the world isn’t worth a plugged nickel if its audience is limited to the podcaster’s cousins.
3. The rates. Welcome to the world of CPM (cost per mille or per thousand)! Every advertising medium is judged on the cost per thousand individuals in its audience, and if you’re not falling into the $20 to $50 CPM range for an average “spot” you’re either selling your podcast too expensively or too cheaply.
4. The options. Perhaps you have regular breaks in your podcast a la radio where you deliver your commercial spots, or maybe you are selling sponsorships for each podcast, series of podcasts, or even segments within a podcast. Be sure to explain thoroughly what advertising and sponsorship options your podcast is open to.
5. The contacts. I once went through a magazine media kit which must have cost the publisher over $10,000 to produce and nowhere in it was any way to contact them, not even an address or a phone number! Don’t commit the same mistake and make sure that you include full contact info. And don’t just plunk in an email address you’re going to drop in a few months!
6. The links. Podcasting is all about social media so you not only have to be literally everywhere on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, and just about every other major network, but you have to have all those links clearly specified in your media kit.
7. The history. What brands have you covered, dealt with, or been sponsored by in the past? Where you’ve been is a clear indication to advertisers as to where you’re going and many can be significantly motivated by a podcast which has been supported by a competitor.
8. The kudos. Are you a premier podcaster in reality or only in your own mind? Prove that you’re a real force in the podcasting industry by listing all the awards and honors you’ve received, excerpts from all the major press mentions of your podcast, and any testimonials especially from industry luminaries.
9. The policies. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces regulations which apply to all podcasters and your potential advertiser is going to want to know how your content policies obey those laws. They certainly don’t want to get caught up in a legal action taken by the government against any podcaster who has violated FTC regulations.
10. The printability. Many podcast media kits are designed to be viewed online but when it comes to anyone actually wanting to print one, it ends up looking like a dog’s breakfast. You can either have your entire media kit in PDF format only (yes, it can include live links) or set it up as a web/mobile page with a link to a printable PDF.

You may consider your media kit as your podcast’s resume, summary, or informational package, but no matter how you look at it you can be assured that it is the one aspect which will differentiate your podcast from its competition in the eyes of the advertiser or sponsor. You can’t go wrong with a great kit!