Growing Your Blog’s Editorial Team

Blogging can be quite a huge task to undertake if you’re doing things alone. Earlier this week I listed some of the ways in which the blog publishing process can become a time-consuming task, outlining the fact that most bloggers (especially newcomers) are required to wear multiple hats.

Research, writing, editing, formatting and syndicating a single article can take up a great deal of time, even for the most efficient people out there. Having to be every member of an editorial team means that a blogger is taking on multiple jobs But what happens when that blogger has reached a point where they’re ready to begin adding new members to the team?

For many, reaching that point means that they are ready to take their blog from a mere website filled with content to a validated online publication that generates revenue. This is when the business aspects of being a blogger really kick in. Here are some things bloggers can consider when thinking about growing their editorial team:

Personal Strengths

A blogger looking to expand their own team should consider their own personal strengths first. Is it the writing process or the syndication process? Perhaps it’s another aspect of the publishing process, such as editing or formatting. This could include seeking intriguing and quality media to include in your blog posts, among other things.

Once you’ve determined your own personal strengths you can continue to develop those with a new business perspective in mind, leveraging them to further the growth of your blog. Seeking additional tools to help you manage these strenths will also become a necessary time saver as you move forward with your blog.

Others’ Professional Strengths

As you seek out additional team members, you’ll want to find those that have professional strengths in areas where yours are lagging. If you rock at the syndication aspect of the publishing process, then finding a person that can help out on the writing end of things would be a good place to start.

Determining others’ professional strengths can be a time-consuming process in and of itself, but anyone willing and able to join your blogging team is likely to have blog content of their own. See what other publications they have contributed to, and check out the way in which they added to that blog’s presence. Now you can determine which type of team member you need to add first, as well as the type of work you can expect them to do.

Letting Go

Now that you have picked a person or two to join your blog team, it’s time for you to let go of certain aspects of your publishing process. If you’re focusing on the business side of things, then let your new writer focus on their writing. Sure, you still need to write for your own blog. It’s yours, you’ve built up a presence for yourself and your audience will still expect to read content from you. But a portion of the writing process needs to be given to your new team member so you can free up time time and brain energy on your personal an professional strengths–growing the business.

It’s often difficult to find the right mixture of people for a blog’s editorial team, but it’s a fun learning process all the same. Utilize communication and tracking tools such as Basecamp and Google Docs so you can see how your blog growth is progressing. Maintain an open communication stream with the members of your blog’s editorial team, and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Written by Kristen Nicole from Kristen Nicole
Posted on December 23rd, 2009 and filed under Blogging, Productivity
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