For years many B2B publishers have sought editorial benchmarks that would allow more accurate measurement of editorial staff performance. And despite good intentions, many such efforts have misfired. So one wonders—do benchmarks have a place in our field? Is a yardstick such as “pages written per editor per month” a valid measuring tool? Here’s the…
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Does your company send a monthly newsletter to key consumer press contacts summarizing the hottest stuff you’ve just published? Do you also have a newsletter reaching your promotion list that is a lively combination of “commercials” and editorial material? For multi-publication firms, the PR newsletter focuses on one authoritative item per magazine—usually statistical—up to a…
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If your enterprise reporting effort surpasses competitors, a new calculation—Enterprise Reporting Prominence (ERP)—can support your claim. ERP indicates the percentage of total e-news content in a current ten-article review that incorporates visibly measurable enterprise reporting. ERP applications were a featured topic in January’s tweets. According to the latest scoring data from my 8th annual 50-site…
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Should B2B editors rush to establish a strong competitive lead in enterprise reporting? And do they have sufficient resources to get there? These are just two of the questions suggested by results of the 8th annual B2B e-news study now being conducted by Editorial Solutions, Inc. (ESI). At the half-way point in this 50-site review,…
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Halfway through my 8th annual B2B e-news study, common basic editing flaws have clearly revealed themselves. Of 250 articles scored, 89 reflect various headline-deck misfires. Another 92 exceed Fog Index limits; 76 are burdened by run-on opening sentences. Specific oversights are described in this extra long report. As I begin the second half of my…
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Heavy-hitter e-news managers regularly use eight or more editorial enhancements in every posted article. Unfortunately, according to early results of my 8th annual e-news study, many B2B sites clearly are less than the best. For instance, of 220 articles scored so far, 173, or 79%, earned “low or lower” enterprise ratings. My new 60% enterprise…
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Several common editing snafus I found while reviewing web sites for my 8th annual B2B e-news study made up the bulk of my November Tweets. Of 200 articles examined so far, 79 are packed with foggy prose, 75 include headline/deck misfires, and 68 are burdened by run-on opening sentences. Evidence of enterprise reporting is scarce.…
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Did you take time out yet to apply my latest B2B study methodology to your current e-news performance? If not, don’t delay. For most publications, the need for improvement is crystal clear, especially where enterprise reporting is concerned. Here’s some background explaining how you might proceed. In my ongoing study of 50 online news sites,…
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You’re probably familiar with the overworked expression, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” But how about the spin-off version: “If it’s already broke, can you save it somehow?” The latter dilemma confronts me every year when it comes time to summarize findings of my annual B2B e-news delivery summary. The 11 sites scored as…
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Starting entry-level editorial recruits off on the right foot requires nonstop effort. Providing hour-a-day training from day one is a best bet. The approach described here works with even the smallest crew. I first employed it at a B2B magazine where staff was just two of us: the editor-in-chief (me) and a single assistant. The…
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