Edit Before Publishing - Real Estate and Technology News for Agents, Broker

Edit Before Publishing

What exactly are you publishing when you hit the "send" button? We live in a new world of publishing, where everyone is an author every day. But what about content?

"The ratio of content creators to content editors has become entirely out of whack." writes Gahlord Dewald for Inman News. "This is why so much miserable content gums up the tubes of the Internet. And all of us who continue to blissfully make more content to shove in the Internet hole are not always helping."

In the real estate world, we publish multiple times a day. Whether it's the blog on your website, Facebook, or in the MLS, we push content out to the web at record speed.

A good editor would improve that content. "Whether it's a simple blog post about some interesting aspect of your community or (especially!) the description of a house being added to the MLS, having a second set of critical eyes on the content will make the result better." he says. Dewald challenges you to write a story to convey the meaning of each and every house you list.

How does your content reflect you and your business? Are you putting your best foot forward each and every time you publish?Have a person you trust, look over your content and give you a review of how you are represented. An editor can review and sharpen your work.

How do you justify the expense? "Just as we've come to accept that "publish" is just a button on a website, we may mistakenly think that "edit" is merely a cursor and some bold or italic buttons along the top of a piece of software." writes Dewald. "If our process continues to sidestep any sort of editorial contribution with excuses about expense, or timeliness, or lack of faith, then we will miss out just as surely as the people who are forced to consume our half-baked, all-caps, poorly punctuated content."

Dewald suggests finding a way to include "editing" within your individual publishing world.

"If we are to be making the best content about our topic -- whether it's business or consulting or real estate -- then we fall short if we don't identify some way for editorial participation in our work."

Read the full story at Inman News.

photo credit: C x 2