Just like sports have their substitute players and theatre has its understudies, what if you created a team of content creators that could pinch hit when youβd like to mix things up? Iβm talking about going beyond one-off contributor posts to create a roster of regular alternate contributors you can call on a few times a year.
At a school, the roster could include faculty and staff who commit to one post per semester. In an organization, they can be scheduled quarterly. The work becomes part of their personal profile development and thought leadership output. The communications team can lead them through the process of drafting, review, and revision. You might even want to go the interview route rather than having these internal experts spend their valuable time crafting the post.
A brief training session twice a year can solicit new contributors, explain the process and answer questions. People more likely to participate when they see the communications team is friendly and their work will be valued.
The program creates momentum. When staff see colleagues contributing, they’re more willing to get involved. The blog becomes something the organization does together.
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One fear that comes up in discussing multiple contributors is whether the blog will still maintain its voice consistency. No worries: this can be achieved in other ways, and the variety is worth the effort.
Editorial consistency can come from in structure and formatβsimilar post lengths, consistent section organization, standard bio formats. This creates visual and organizational cohesion. A style guide helps too.
Voices can vary within those parameters. The curator’s post sounds different from the policy analyst’s post. Not every post needs to sound identical.
I also share these blog posts on LinkedIn β visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbowness/ to connect with me there. Or hire me to help you build a contributor program for your blog!
