So you’ve hacked your way to submitting a dozen orders to your Love List writers. Now, these orders have been completed and are sitting in your Pending Approval pile. You want to approve them, but the thought of the task is overwhelming. What you need is another hack, this time one that will help you approve all of your content in an orderly, timely manner.
Approve in Bulk
Good news! WriterAccess lets you approve orders at a bulk rate with just a few clicks on your dashboard. Literally, in seconds you can approve everything your writers have sent your way. But what happens if you approve all of your content only to find out after the fact that there were mistakes or that the writers misinterpreted your instructions? Before you tap that mouse on Approve, try this hack.
Quick Reviews
Create a Style Guide that is used by all members of your editorial team. This should include examples of the voice you want for your content. You also need to dictate the style for each type of content, such as blog posts and press releases. Also, include any industry-specific words or phrases that are preferred for use. You can save the Style Guide into your order template so that each order includes this information. Submit this Style Guide to your writers so every single team player is working from the same playbook.
Then when you are quickly reviewing each of your orders, use the Style Guide to check off those boxes of style, voice, and industry specifics. Again, since your writers have been using the guide as well, the content should be on point, which will reduce issues and aid in a speedy review process.
Requesting a Revision
OK, so you’ve quickly reviewed the orders, but wait! Before you bulk approve, there is an order that isn’t quite what you are looking for. You need to request a revision. If you are nervous about revision requests, here are some tips. For many new writer-client relationships, it often takes a few revisions to get both players on the same side. But how can you proceed with a revision request without delaying the order approval any longer?
For starters, understand the writer wants to get the order approved as fast as possible, too. So they are looking for any information you can provide regarding the revision. Avoid generic, “Please revise content,” type requests as these only begat more questions from the writer. Be specific and tell the writer exactly where you are having concerns, i.e., the first paragraph needs to include more industry-specific verbiage or the conclusion needs a call-to-action.
Give examples of existing content or share sample sentences that you feel will help steer the writer in the right direction to speed up the process even more.
Save a Rule Set
A final tip in this helpful hack is to utilize the Rule Set feature in the template when you place orders. You make the rules here. Examples could be to include a bulleted list, use short paragraphs, include sources, etc. When included with the order instructions, this Rule Set looks like a final checklist for the writer to go by. The writer is required to tick off the boxes for each rule before they can submit content. This ensures the writer has read through each rule and is positive they have met your expectations.
Whew! That was a lot of hacking that will hopefully help you make the most of your completed content. If you would like to learn more about the order approval process, give me a call. It’s Byron White, CEO at WriterAccess, here in your content corner.
