Creating content fast doesn’t mean drowning in fluff. If you’re on a small team, you’ve got to do more with less. That’s where editorial operations—aka “Editorial Ops”—come in. They help small teams scale without going gray from stress.
Let’s make it easy, fun, and fluff-free. Buckle up, we’re going to talk about how to build a lean, mean content machine.
What is Content Velocity (and Why Should You Care)?
Content velocity is the speed at which your team creates and publishes content. Think of it like a production line, but for blogs, videos, and social posts.
The faster you can publish quality content, the more chances you get to rank, resonate, and win traffic.
But here’s the catch: most teams try to go faster by adding more people or rushing writers. That leads to junk content or team burnout.
The goal? More content without losing quality—or your sanity.
Editorial Ops: Your Secret Weapon
Editorial operations are the systems and workflows that help you plan, create, and publish great content consistently.
They’re like your content factory manager. Making sure everything runs smooth and nothing falls through the cracks.
Lean teams can’t afford chaos. Editorial Ops beat chaos with process.
The Pillars of Lean Editorial Ops
Here’s what you really need to win at content velocity—even without a big team or fancy budget.
- Editorial Calendar: One place to track content ideas, deadlines, and publishing dates. Simple tools like Google Sheets or Trello work just fine.
- Templates: Reusable formats for briefs, drafts, and social copy stop you from reinventing the wheel every time.
- Content Playbook: Document your style, tone, formatting rules, SEO checklist, etc. This saves time and keeps everyone aligned.
- Defined Roles: Even if it’s just you and one writer, clarify who writes, who edits, who publishes.
Editorial Ops aren’t extra work—they remove confusion and save time every week.
Planning Smarter, Not Harder
Lean teams shouldn’t wing it. A tight content plan helps you move with purpose.
Try this simple process:
- Start with goals: What do you want from your content? More sign-ups, traffic, backlinks?
- Map topics to goals: Plan what content drives the results you care about.
- Audit first: Reuse what you’ve already published. Don’t write it again if you can refresh it.
- Prioritize: Don’t try to cover every topic. Focus on what moves the needle.
When you plan with purpose, content velocity becomes more than speed—it’s strategy.
Create a “Lite” Approval System
Endless reviews kill momentum. On lean teams, every edit cycle slows you down.
Build a lite approval system that focuses on:
- One editor, one pass: One person should own editing to avoid too many cooks in the kitchen.
- Quick feedback windows: Set a one- or two-day window for review. Move on after that.
- Don’t chase perfection: A well-written, 90% polished post that goes live on time is better than a “perfect” draft stuck in limbo.
Use comments and checklists to keep feedback short and direct. Because every unnecessary edit is a delay in disguise.
Automate the Boring Stuff
Lean content teams don’t have time to copy-paste things between tools all day.
Automate whatever you can, especially the repetitive tasks:
- Set up Zapier to move ideas from form submissions to your content board
- Use Grammarly or Hemingway for initial grammar checks
- Build a Google Docs template for every content type to save setup time
Every automation you set up is a few more hours you can spend actually writing—or sipping coffee.
Repurposing: Turn One Post Into Ten
Repurposing = instant velocity boost. You already did the hard work writing the thing—why let it live on just one platform?
Here’s how to stretch every piece further:
- Break your blog into LinkedIn posts
- Turn stats into infographics
- Record your post as an audio snippet
- Use quotes for Twitter threads
- Turn multiple posts into an ebook or guide
Think of every post you write as a content tree—with branches going every direction.
Use Data, Not Your Gut
Lean teams can’t afford to guess. You don’t have time (or budget) to waste on content that doesn’t perform.
Set up a simple dashboard. You can use:
- Google Analytics for traffic
- Search Console for keyword performance
- Simple spreadsheet to track conversions or engagement
Use this data weekly to decide what to keep doing, stop doing, or tweak. No drama—just data-driven decisions.
Create Once, Publish Everywhere (COPE)
This philosophy will change your workflow forever. COPE means creating a killer piece of content once and adapting it for every relevant channel.
For example:
- Write a deep blog post
- Record a video discussing the same points
- Strip audio for a podcast
- Use key takeaways for newsletters and social media
One piece can fuel a week—or even a month—of content with the right planning.
It’s not lazy. It’s strategic recycling.
Keep a Backlog and a Bank
A content backlog is your idea warehouse. A content bank is a stash of already-written pieces waiting to be published.
- Backlog: Keep it stocked with title ideas, outlines, influencer quotes, and spark notes.
- Bank: Aim to finish content ahead of schedule, so you’re never scrambling.
Both help you stay consistent when life (or the CEO) throws a wrench in your flow.
Lean Editorial Ops in Action
Let’s say it’s just you and one freelance writer. Here’s how lean operations could work:
- Monday: Pull ideas from the backlog, finalize priorities
- Tuesday: Writer drafts from templates, submits for review
- Wednesday: You edit and approve
- Thursday: Content formats into CMS from template
- Friday: Schedule for publish, use snippets for social
Fast. Clear. Zero chaos.
Final Thought: Systems Set You Free
Editorial Ops aren’t about making things complicated. They’re about turning vague chaos into clean, repeatable steps.
When you streamline your process, you free up brain space to focus on actual content.
And that’s where the magic happens—when lean teams create powerful, high-velocity content that actually gets results.
So go forth, polish your workflows, and publish like a pro—even if it’s just you and a laptop.