By Geoff Kleinman Geoffkleinman com Geoff K http

By Geoff Kleinman Geoff@kleinman. com @Geoff. K http: //www. onpdx. com

It Can Be Done! DVDTalk. com ~60 Writers Neighborhood. Notes. com ~40 Writers

Your Job as Editor: Establish and maintain Editorial Voice Assemble The Team Communicate Cheerlead Give Good Feedback Keep Team Focused Resolve Conflicts

Secrets to Being A GREAT Editor Be Benevolent Work for the success of your staff Kill Your Ego Being Right isn't Being Successful Never Cherry Pick Give your top writers top opportunities Create VALUE for your writers Go out there and get review copies, interviews, etc on behalf of your team

Editorial Voice Many people can speak as one voice Decided what that voice is Break out by Topic/Category/Subject Can be Genre, Locale or even tone Bring on people to fill specific areas Don't have too much overlap Keep people focused on their topic

Create A Writer's Guidebook Define Editorial Tone Set expectations How many posts per week? Give examples of what you want to see Provide publishing & promotion how to Encourage Communication Define the rules of your site

Your Blog Team

Communication is Key! One to One Communication – Email, IM, Telephone One to Many Communication – Forum & Email Important to keep in regular communication with your staff Success includes getting your staff to communicate with eachother.

Tools For Communication

Give Your Writers Feedback Writers NEED feedback No News is Not Good News Email them kudos when they do well & tips when they are stumbling When a story gets a lot off traffic, don’t keep that to yourself TELL THEM

The Best Tool To Resolve Issues Don’t air issues with writers online or in comments Never criticize a writers work in public Editor/Publishers can’t take off that and be ‘regular commenters” Don’t have it out via email Pick up the damn phone

Keys to Happy Contributors Give contributors ownership of their work (pride of ownership) Don’t be possessive of your writers or their work Let writers make mistakes. Mistakes are where the learning comes in Show Your Appreciation Reward Hard work Empower them to become leaders

Q&A My Contact Info: Geoff Kleinman Geoff@kleinman. com @Geoff. K http: //www. onpdx. com