Press Kits????????

[beebidollz]

hey you guys! i was wondering about press kits?

how do u go about making one?  what should be in it? who can you send it to? magazines? local stores? 
can someone tell me all the info , who has done this before successfully?

can someone maybe take a pic of there press kit and post it here? or maybe even send me one to take a look?
but pics or a nice detailed description is good enough

[looopy]

i'm a graphic designer, and press kits we usually make (photos of which i am not at liberty to publish) include a c ouple of things:

1) a cover letter/press release announcing your product, telling a creative story about how you got started that gets them to really look at you & your crafts. try to take a unique approach that will pique interest.
2) product samples, which you usually DO NOT get back, so be careful what you send but try to send more than one.
3) LOTS of contact information. send extra business cards or whatever you have that drives them to your website. even if they don't print a piece about you, they may hand them out to their friends when people ask them where they got "insert whatever your sample was here".
4) funky packaging. let your kit reflect the personality of your products. also, make sure it's something that stands out in the mail — and not in a scary way!

make sure your website is up & running before sending anything out, and that you can be easily reached with the contact info you give. chances are, if they can't get ahold of you right away, they may not try again.  hope this helps!

[beebidollz]

Thanx! its a help so far. But i really wanna get a better idea of how it looks like when you put it together.. i was hoping someone can make a "mock" press kit to post here.. so i may see another with other craftsters!

but your post sure did help me some!

[Aunt Beep]

I'm in the process of creating a press kit for my business, as well as for one of the artists I represent.  My husband has a Microoft Publisher format for 'tiered' pages.  If you don't have an immediate need for tons all at once, I know Kinkos (who I usually don't reccommend) or any good print store will be able to produce a mulit-tiered press packet on nice glossy paper to place in a folder with a slot for your business card.  If I actually get one done this week, I'll take a pic and post it.  Once you get your format down, you can print them out as you need them...
Mainly, you just need a press release to announce your biz, and any other press releases announcing upcoming events; one or two pages with examples of your merchandise; a contact info page; possibly your wholesale agreement, or pricing/ordering info; and then a fun page with eye-catching stuff like customer comments, notable buyers of your merch, details of truly unique item specifics, etc.

Hope this helps!

[dippychick]

I just created a press release for my new business today, for the local papers. Most papers now let you email them! Press kits would be different though. I need to work on those next.
Good luck. Thanks for the advice everyone!

Chris in NH

[Jenguin]

In addition to looopy's advice...

You might want to create a few press kits but don't send them out without contacting who you are sending it to.

I work at a PR agency and our practice usually goes like this;

Develop your list - magazines, local papers, etc = whoever you are trying to reach.
Verify you have the right people (many times websites are outdated and editors/writers have already moved on)
Send out your press release to your list.
Followup (later in the day or the next day) with your core group (or all if you feel the need) of people on your list.
If you get a response back or if someone sounds interested - then offer the kit.

This way you do not spend extra time/money on creating and sending out kits on people who might not be interested at all. Verifying your contact list is also a time saver if the contact has moved on - you wont' have to waste time tracking down your kit.

Happy pitching!