In corporate publishing, there are rarely editors in the true sense of the word, who take business requirements and use them to direct writers. In corporations, business managers direct the writers, and it's not as effective, because, bless their souls, they don't understand what it takes to make great writing. So corporations usually publish mediocre, jargon-ridden, mealy-mouthed copy that doesn't sound like real humans sound. Corporate managers need to spend more money hiring editors because product managers, account managers, CRMs and the like can't speak the language of writers that is required to produce great writing. Corporations understand the need for creative directors in producing great visuals, but they don't understand the need for editors in producing great copy.

Corporations also need to devote more time, energy, and money to creating and maintaining processes. Workflows in professional publishing are much more involved than in corporations, and they produce better quality. At the newspaper I worked at, no one would even dream of skipping any of the steps, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard from a business manager, “We don't have time for wordsmithing.” What they're saying is, “We don't value excellence in writing enough to make the time for it.”

The bottom line is, you get what you pay for. I think the investment will pay off in increased page views, customer engagements, and ultimately sales. After culture, guidelines, training, hiring, and processes are in place, you can produce great writing in the same amount of time as mediocre writing. At the newspaper, we published a large amount of high-quality original content every single day by 10:30 p.m. It will cost more, but because it will pay off, it's ultimately not a matter of time or money but of values.

Hastings Hart
Oakland, Calif.