How to manage a group blog: Financial advisor edition
I imagine a group blog run by financial advisors would face several challenges in producing interesting, high quality blog posts on a regular schedule.
Image: HikingArtist.com
These include the following:
- Coming up with mutually agreeable topics for blog posts
- Setting a schedule for publishing blog posts
- Getting posts written, edited, and approved
I have ideas about how to tackle the challenges.
Brainstorm as a group
Need topics that will satisfy your group as a whole? Try brainstorming topics in a meeting with the other blog contributors.
By the way, I’m assuming you need to satisfy the group because you’re blogging with other employees of your firm. If not, agreement may not be necessary, but group discussion is still a spur to creativity.
Create an editorial calendar
It’s easier for your team’s writers to contribute regularly if they have a schedule.
Here’s a sample editorial calendar for a group blog:
| MONTHLY EDITORIAL CALENDAR | |
| WEEK NUMBER | TOPIC |
| 1 | Children |
| 2 | Career |
| 3 | Retirement |
| 4 | Estate planning |
| 5 |
|
Notice how subject areas repeat on a regular schedule, making it easy for writers to know when their posts will run. Once they know that, they should be able to calculate dates by which their first drafts are due.
Create a process
You don’t want contributors to turn in their posts at the last minute. This is why you need a well-defined process with due dates. The process might include the following steps.
- Submission of first draft for content review and proofreading
- Rewriting, if necessary
- Compliance review
- Rewriting, if necessary
- Publication on blog
- Monitoring and responding to comments
Other tips for group blogs?
Please share your best tips for managing group blogs. I also welcome your questions.
2015 update: In a LinkedIn discussion, Stephanie Sammons of WiredAdvisor mentioned CoSchedule as a useful tool for group blogs.
Like the comment! and i like the website, quite useful info here
The conversation, as all good conversations do, got me thinking about some of the goals I’d like to work toward this year. I figured I’d share because I thought they might strike a chord with many of you.