Who is going to check your blog posts?

Several of my clients are getting serious about blogging and tweeting, and the question arises: who is going to do it, and who is going to approve it?

If it's tacked on to someone's existing responsibilities, what are the chances of being successful? Why do people in business say, "Let's get some content," and expect it to drop down from heaven?

If someone does have the time, and the skill, to write for a company in a fast-paced or time-sensitive environment like a blog or Twitter, who will approve what is said? Does everything have to go through the top guy?

Mark Nichol, editor of DailyWritingTipsand a former editing instructor for UC Berkeley’s Extension program, explains how he managed it.

What’s the ideal solution? Every business publishes information (and, believe it or not, clients and customers notice poor and careless writing, even if they don’t recognize specific errors). So, treat your business like a publishing company, and institute an editorial process. 

At my last job before I began the current freelancing phase of my editing and writing career, I was responsible for the presentation of all content on the website of a prestigious educational foundation. Therefore, I considered it of paramount importance that the content be of outstanding quality. 

In addition to editing the journalistic content, I insisted on editing all marketing and advertising copy, I vetted job postings, I even pored through the site’s terms of use. Eventually, this comprehensive quality control became onerous and I delegated some responsibilities, but visitors had to work hard to find errors on that site. 

If you work at a sizeable company and you have responsibility for or are otherwise involved in the generation of business-to-business, business-to-client/customer, or even internal content, I urge you to consider or recommend designating the resident grammar geek, or a hiring a staff or contract editor, to serve as the conduit for at least the most significant communications or correspondence.

It's going to depend on the size of the company, the inclinations of the boss, and the boss' own skill on communicating. When I first go into this business CEOs weren't even reading email: their secretaries printed it out. I think things have change a bit, but whether they're into Twitter is questionable.