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Corporate blog – editorial or style guide? (7 posts)

Tiffany Hsu said
10 months ago:
Hi everyone - My company (marketing technology & services – B2B audience) is launching our corporate blog soon and I’m looking for some resources to help with creating an editorial or style guide. Anyone know where I might find something to help with this?
Thanks!
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Erik Deckers said
10 months ago:
When it comes to an editorial style guide, I always recommend the AP Stylebook. For one reason, a lot of bloggers are citizen journalists, so it makes sense to use the journalists handbook. For another, it’s very short, and doesn’t spend a lot of time on all kinds of publication possibilities, unlike the APA Style Guide or Chicago Manual of Style. Finally, because most everyone is familiar with newspaper writing, the style is the most unobtrusive and its idiosyncrasies often escape notice.
The one exception to the AP’s rules is the Oxford comma. AP says not to use it, but I love the Oxford comma, so on this issue, they are wrong.
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Kristi Hines said
10 months ago:
@hsutiffany These are two great posts to start with:
- http://www.blueglass.com/blog/how-to-enhance-brand-identity-with-an-editorial-style-guide-2/
- http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/08/30/the-importance-of-consistency-using-editorial-calendars-and-style-guides/
Plus, I found some examples of some actual editorial guidelines…
- http://idaconcpts.com/wp-content/uploads/Groupon-Editorial-Manual.pdf
- http://blog.shareaholic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Shareaholic-Editorial-Guidelines-June-20121.pdf
Hope these help! :)
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Ruth Lowes said
10 months ago:
Thank you, Kristi for sharing the posts. Great reference material!
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Kathy Bernard said
10 months ago:
Tiffany, I can send you a pdf of the Style Guide and Standards Manual that I created for a past company. It would likely provide you with a good start for your guide. If interested, send me your email address.
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Tiffany Hsu said
9 months, 3 weeks ago:
Thank you Kristi!
Kathy – sorry for the late reply, but definitely interested. Can you email me at tiffany.hsu(at)acxiom(dot)com? Thanks!
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Tiffany Hsu said
5 months ago:
Thanks again all for the responses! Had a few follow-up questions related to this…
We’ll have several writers, so would like to start creating an “editorial guide” to help shape the style & tone.Blog content will be focused on thought leadership, industry insights, etc.

Some initial things we’re considering:
- Tone – casual, informal?
- First person voice – more relatable, shows personality
- Active voice, present tense

Also, on a related note – as we look for contract writers, what type of background should we be looking for? A reporter, blogging specialist, marcom person, or other?

Appreciate any feedback or resources. Thanks again!
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