Managed blogs big and small; SEJ has about 1m page views monthly, my own sites have 4-5k monthly

Contributed to several outlets*

Since I’ve been managing editor and help shape SEJ’s editorial guidelines, page views have increased 35% and visits have increased 45%

Creative Writing/English degree; background in Journalism

Basics for Editors

Why Branding

Matters

Editorial

Guidelines

Guest Writers

Engagement

Building

• WordPress or CMS knowledge

• HTML/PHP for text-based editing, formatting, and SEO

• Good sense of organization/project management: • ToDoist• Asana• Basecamp

And finally….

Basic Editor Necessities

Who is my target audience?

What does my target audience want to

read about?

Where am I going to share and promote

my posts when they are published?

Why should people care?

What’s a concrete milestone I can set now

for my blog?

To create a mini business plan,

answer these questions:

Think of all the logos you instantly recognize…

• Blog on your own for 6+ months before expecting or recruiting guest contributors

• Good bloggers are in all corners of your company

• Keep a running brainstorm list of ideas:

Help & support forums

Industry questions you have

Q&A sites like Quora

Creating a Base of Content

Blog Topic Idea Generators

Poll Question

In your opinion, what is most important when starting your blog?

A base of high quality content

Great design and navigation

Knowing goals ahead of time

• Your blog reputation is shaped on what you do and don’t expect out of your writers.

• People usually try to push the envelope– set boundaries*.

• Know what your audience expects out of you

• Read all the competitors you can: BlogLovin’, Feedly

Start Shaping Your

Editorial Guidelines

Grammar/Spelling

Photo Attribution

SEO Best Practices

• ALT Tags, HTML formatting, WP Tags,

Headers

Linking Practices• Set a self promotional linking policy

• Require links to back up argumentative

posts

SEJ’s Editorial Guidelines: http://goo.gl/b7Ynjm

Make your process well-known to increase transparency and easier for writers to access.

Outlining the Editorial Process

They say they require a link up front

They say anything about “trading links”

Their grammar/spelling is terrible

Their industry doesn’t match

They don’t have any applicable writing samples

They look fake*

Extra Hardcore: Their website and social media is terrible

Example of a Fake Email

They look like a real person in their photo and on social media

They pitch you applicable ideas

They already attach an article that is well-written and doesn’t contain any shady links

They seem genuinely interested in growing themselves but contributing to the industry, not just getting a link

Extra hardcore: They address you by name*

Poll Question

In your opinion, what is the most important quality when it comes to accepting a new guest contributor?

Experience

Writing Skills

Enthusiasm

Set deadlines or story assignments

Get writers to agree to a weekly or monthly post to keep commitment high

Motivate writers with rewards*

Give thoughtful feedback*: if writers know you spent the time, they will too

Build them up: Comment, share, and interact on social media

Providing Writer

Motivation & Engagement

Know when to hire editors and writers

Branding is just as important as content

Build a base of content before focusing on anything else

Shape your Editorial Guidelines to keep everyone on the same page

Build engagement with writers- make them more than just content

Key Takeaways