When you’re producing content for more than 15,000 clients every month, consistency is just as important as speed. Every article has to meet editorial standards, move efficiently through production and reach clients on schedule. Small workflow problems quickly become large operational problems.
At Thryv, I managed two internal content specialists and a network of more than 200 freelance writers and editors responsible for producing content at that scale. Along with overseeing editorial quality and daily workflow, I authored style guides, user manuals and other internal documentation that helped contributors work more consistently across the organization.
As I became more familiar with the production process, I identified opportunities to improve the content management system itself. I developed business cases for CMS enhancements that streamlined production, reduced unnecessary manual work and made it possible to reuse content across a large-scale publishing environment.
Those improvements reduced average turnaround time from five days to one, enabled content reuse throughout the production system and generated an estimated $90,000 to $100,000 in monthly savings.
The experience reinforced something I still believe today: clear documentation and thoughtful editorial processes don’t just improve content. They make entire organizations more effective.
Chris Irby | Writer, Editor, Nerd 