Social Editing

It's all too easy to get stuck behind your desk as an editor dealing with a flood of emails which are usually not relevant to your ultimate goal of publishing great content for your readers. 

In fact, I have hundreds of emails which are either unread or which I have 'skimmed' and will return to at a later date. My colleague, genenrally, cannot understand why I have allow so emails to go 'unread'. In fact, it has become a bit of a joke in the office about me and my inbox. 

But, the best articles come from not being at my desk. They come from being sociable, from getting out and meeting experts in their field and talking with them about the challenges they come across in their working lives. 

If I cannot get away from my desk, then I make time to visit 'online communities' and to ask them questions or canvass their opinions on topics of interest in our sector. I awlays get great questions which I can pose to manufacturers who are promoting their products to me for inclusion in my publications. 

As a result, the content and articles which come from 'being sociable' are always the most read online or talked about. 

I could always read more emails and have a tidy inbox. But, the content would suffer if I was not being a sociable editor. 

Right now, I am in Norway for two days with some British engineers seeing some magnificent British engineering which is heating 6,000 homes and businesses by taking heat from a local fjord.