So, You Want to be a Web Editor? Know These 11 Things

Running a digital presence isn’t for the faint of heart.

But it seems like everyone and their brother’s brand is dipping their toes into the content hustling game.

Competition for audience share is heating up in every niche and only the strong will survive.

Before you throw your hat into the ring, here are 11 things to consider if you’d like to come out on top: 

1. The words business is a numbers game

Not necessarily the highest numbers, but the brand in every niche with the best numbers usually wins the battle of market share and gets the largest slice of revenue pie.

Make sure your work helps make the business you’re supporting work. Or, as Stephanie Schaefer put it, “numbers are important, but it’s words that create those numbers. Headlines drive traffic. Slogans increase sales.”

That doesn’t mean you have to sell your soul for pageviews, but it does mean you need to take into account the fact that you’re responsible for how much your content resonates with readers. Ian Lurie does an incredible job explaining how web editors can do this in “writing for leads,” a must-read slide deck.

2. Going digital doesn’t mean you need to burn your books

The era of real-time communication has birthed the erroneous notion that print is dead and reading (anything but status updates) is for luddites.

Truth be told, to be good at digital content, you must first understand traditional content. What has worked since the dawn of the written word still works: People like a good story. Get ready to tell one. A picture paints a thousand words. Paint one.

(Hailey Reissman makes a similar case in “Why Literature Still Matters (Despite What Those Last 50 Million Tweets Told You).”)

3. You must not be afraid … of hearing your own voice

Every singer who has ever pressed “RECORD” knows the fear of hearing your own voice for the first time. The owner of the voice usually thinks it sounds terrible.

And unless they’re a virtuoso or an egomaniac, they’re probably right.

The same holds true for web editors. You’ve got to face the fear of seeing your own digital ink. You might truly be terrible at first, but the only way to get better is to keep at it. And before you keep at it, you’ve just gotta start.

(Daniel Ford offers his advice on this topic in “How Writers Can Stop Being Scared of Their Own Voices.“)

4. Channel your inner-Shakespeare

A great poem makes a great story makes a great headline makes a great Tweet makes a great ad makes a great email subject line makes a great reason for a reader to read your stuff.

Don’t let poetry be a dead art. Incorporate it into everything you do online. (Note: I know the paragraph above does not qualify as poetry.)

5. Get ready to grind it out

You’re probably not an heir to a fortune or a recent lottery winner (and if you are, I certainly take donations).

In digital content marketing, success is not going to come overnight. Forget about the glamour and focus on the grindstone and most importantly, don’t hold your breath waiting for a social media parade in your honor.

Cause it ain’t coming. Not any time soon, anyway.

6. Seriously, get ready to grind it out

I can’t emphasize this point enough, so I gave it two slots on this list: digital content marketing is a marathon and it moves at sprint pace. Joe Pulizzi calls it a war of attrition. Daniel Ford says being a web editor is an art.

They’re both right.

7. Develop thick skin quickly

No matter who you are and what you do, there are people who are out that there won’t like it or appreciate it. If you’re going to be controversial, expect controversy. And don’t expect trolls to be fair.

8. Don’t confuse a crowd with an audience

An audience wants to be there, a crowd just happens to be there. Don’t assume that people on a given social network, or forum, or networking event, or blind date will want to hear what you have to say just because you’re here and have to say it. Be a human, be polite, and earn your way into the conversation.

9. Be ready to be public

Being online means being transparent. And I don’t mean that in the touchy-feely sense of the word where you hold yourself to a higher standard and disclose affiliations and all that stuff (but hey, do that, too!)

What I mean is you’ve got to be comfortable with the idea that by the very nature of publishing (on a blog, on Twitter, on a message board, or wherever) you’ve waived your right to privacy. (And don’t confuse “privacy” with “temporarily hidden.”)

We are in the era of the profersonal, where people are not just a person and not just a professional, they’re both at all times. If you’re typing with branded gloves on, you’re leaving branded fingerprints on everything you do online. You’ve got to accept that before setting fourth on your journey.

10. Accept that less is more

If you can say it in less than 140 characters, do that.

11. You’re allowed to have fun

Oh great, a throwaway tip at the end of the list, right? Not entirely.

While you’re probably publishing with the point of achieving goals for someone (like your boss, a client, or your self), it’s important to have a content marketing playground where you can experiment, try things out, and not get in trouble if you melt your small corner of the internet.

You can learn a lot from reading about best practices, but truthfully, practice is the best practice and there is no better educator than experience.

Still interested? Awesome. I knew you would be. If you really want to be a pal, share your tips for being a web editor in the comments below and I’ll Tweet ‘em out.

[Image: LosAnheles]