Media kits, not WeTransfer links: presenting a yacht like it matters

Consider what actually happens when a broker sends a prospective buyer a file transfer link. The email arrives with a cheerful subject line. Inside is a link to a folder of 140 images with names like IMG_4471, a PDF of unknown vintage and a note saying the link works for seven days. The yacht may be the finest thing the buyer will see all year. The package looks like a holiday album.

Presentation is part of the sale. It is also part of the charter booking, the press feature and the co-broker conversation. Here is how to do it with some care.

Who receives it, and what they need

Before building anything, ask who it is for.

• A buyer wants a few excellent images, a layout, the specification and a sense of condition. They will look at it several times over several weeks.
• A charter agent or broker wants to select images quickly, check the layout and pass material on to their own client.
• A journalist or event organiser wants high-resolution images with captions and credits, and clarity on what they may use.
• A surveyor or lender wants documents: certificates, plans, records. Not lifestyle photography.

One bulk folder serves none of them. A curated package for each audience serves all of them, and takes less effort than you might think once the material is organised.

What goes in a good media kit

A short, ordered selection of photographs. Not everything you have. Open with the image that makes people want to read on, and sequence the rest so that the story makes sense: exterior, deck, saloon, cabins, engine room, detail. Fifteen to twenty good images beat a hundred average ones.

Captions that say something. "Sun deck" is fine. "Sun deck with dining for ten and a sunpad forward" is helpful. Captions also help accessibility and search.

The essential documents. General arrangement plan, specification sheet, and whatever else is appropriate for the stage of the conversation. Sensitive documents such as survey reports or ownership papers belong behind a stricter gate and a later stage.

Credits and usage terms. Say who took the photographs and what the recipient may do with them. This avoids awkward emails after the article has been printed.

Current information. A media kit with last season's equipment list is worse than none. Date it, and update it when the yacht changes.

Why a link that disappears is a problem

Temporary file links are convenient for the sender and awkward for everyone else.

• They expire, usually just as the buyer returns from a trip.
• They tell you nothing about whether anyone looked.
• They cannot be revoked or changed once sent; the old version circulates indefinitely.
• They are often blocked by corporate email filters, or flagged as suspicious.
• They carry no branding at all.

A proper shared page fixes each of these. It stays live for as long as you decide, shows your name and brand, can be protected with a code or a password, and can be updated in one place so everyone sees the latest version.

Control without making it hard

Protection is a balance. Too little and your owner's private documents are all over the internet. Too much and a buyer gives up.

A sensible pattern:

1. Public-facing kit with photographs and the basic specification, shared freely.
2. Protected kit with an access code or password for fuller documents, sent to qualified buyers.
3. An expiry date where the material is time-sensitive, such as during a show or a particular negotiation.
4. Withdrawal when a yacht is sold or taken off the market.

It is also useful to know whether the kit was opened. Not to pester anyone, but to time a follow-up sensibly: a call the day after a buyer has looked through the package is a better call than one made blind.

Housekeeping that saves embarrassment

• Name files properly and keep one master folder per yacht.
• Check metadata. Remove location data from images where the yacht's position is sensitive.
• Make sure crew and guests in photographs have agreed to their use.
• Keep the owner informed about what is being shared and with whom.
• Check every kit on a phone. Many first views happen there.

Where Yachtbase fits

Yachtbase builds media kits from the yacht's own record: you choose and order the photographs, add captions and documents, and share the kit with an access code, an optional password and an expiry date. You can see views and downloads. It is a small feature that mostly replaces an awkward habit.

In short

• Different audiences need different packages; one bulk folder suits nobody.
• Choose fewer, better photographs and write captions that say something.
• Keep sensitive documents behind a code or password, and release them in stages.
• Avoid links that expire, cannot be updated and show nothing about who looked.
• Date your material and keep it current.
• Check on a phone, and check the metadata.