Here at The Editing Company, I wear many hats: editor, proofreader, layout designer, and social media editor. The last one links up to an initiative that senior editor Beth and I recently took on: working with inbound marketing firm HubSpot. Beth became interested in HubSpot because the company's software offers a number of tools (along with a vast amount of learning resources) that can help us build our marketing skills and improve our outreach in new and imaginative ways.

Marketing: 1990 to 2014

Recently, our team editor Melissa posted a blog about technological advances that were challenging editors 25 years ago, writing that “editors of the 1990s were … faced with many new and unfamiliar hurdles.”

In the '90s, editors were working in the Internet Age’s infancy—they might have considered marketing methods like faxing ads or being listed in directories like the Yellow Pages. The first ever search engine (“Archie”) had only just been invented in 1990. It could tell you listings of files available on public FTP servers, but it didn’t bother indexing them. There was so little data available, it just wasn’t necessary. Imagine: how on earth would you get your name out there?

Well, editors today, especially freelancers and those who work for small businesses (like The Editing Company), have technological options available to them that editors of the 1990s couldn’t imagine.

Now, we have so much information to work with—SEO, the advent of inbound marketing, metrics, “leads,” analytics, and more. As editors, attracting clients is very important, but it can be intimidating to begin using these technologies. Editors of the 1990s had to adapt to using word processing programs and grammar-checking software. Today, these things are commonplace, and the real challenge is getting your name out there in the vast internet world. Taking the step to learn some of these new technologies can help you do just that.

HubSpot Technology   

Here at TEC, we believe staying at the forefront of emerging technology is worth it, as is taking chances on new ways of doing things. A year ago, we signed on with iContact in order to develop our monthly eNewsletter. When we signed on with HubSpot a few months ago, we knew it would help us take our marketing skills to the next level.

Our most recent effort has been using HubSpot tools in the creation of our inaugural “call-to-action,” or CTA.  The idea we went with was a neat little eBook (designed by yours truly) that compiles all the grammar tips from our eNewsletters of the past several months. This handy resource is a great guide for writers and authors, and it promotes our services to both existing and potential clients. You can download your free copy of Tips from Editors: Grammar and Usage Guide here.  

We’ve got a few more ideas for great CTAs up our sleeves, so be sure to stay tuned!

Keeping Up with the New

The editing worlds of 1990 and 2014 couldn’t possibly be more different. Now there is the expectation that editors will keep up with the new. Editors today are often expected to know software like InDesign (and often the entire Adobe Suite) and to be social media savvy, as well as keep up on their editing knowledge and practices. PLUS, they have to figure out ways to break through the noise to be noticed.

Luckily, just as in 1990, there are some great new emerging technologies that can make our jobs a little easier, even as our responsibilities grow more expansive.

Melissa’s thought still applies, as it likely will for years to come: embrace new ways of doing things (in all aspects of your job), and you’ll likely be rewarded for your efforts.