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Volume Five

Guide to Systems and Processes

A practical handbook showing workflows and systems that I have implemented.

Illustrated book cover for Guide to Systems and Processes.

Travel Blog Content Management

Managing content for a travel blog meant optimising the existing structure and team. Through a defined process I was able to scale up content production, reduce bottlenecks and create a system that ensured nothing slipped through the cracks.

Goal
A defined content production system that could optimise the content creation process, allowing transparency across teams as well as clarity regarding responsibility and process.
Starting Point
A strong and capable team stuck at the same output for months, unable to ramp up and meet the goals set by management. The system had numerous bottlenecks, confusion that delayed publication and poor communication across departments.
Approach
Create transparency across departments, improve accountability, centralise company knowledge, bridge the gaps between different areas and create a clear pipeline to allow increased output in a way that felt manageable. The content manager holds final call on topics and assigns any that go unclaimed.
Outcome
A logical system without bottlenecks that led to increased content output without sacrificing quality. The team had clear points of contact, an understanding of who was responsible for what and access to a central knowledge base with everything they needed.
01

Content Planning

Topics are decided using data collection — most frequently Ahrefs keyword research, Google Search Console data and topics relevant to writers. Briefed topics are split each month between optimisations of existing content and new post creation.

02

Topic Assignment & Deadlines

A set number of posts are briefed into a master Google Sheet; writers put their names down for posts they have direct knowledge of or interest in. With this in mind, the content manager assigns all posts for the month, setting clear deadlines in Google Sheets and Asana.

03

Brief Creation

Each topic gets a brief — a rough outline, Surfer SEO files, keyword research phrases and 5–8 questions from phrase.io — with a Google Doc copy of the old post for optimisations, all linked in the Google Sheet and Asana.

04

Outline Submission

For each post, writers submit a revised outline for approval before writing commences.

05

Writing

The post is written or optimised according to the approved brief, with outdated images flagged where no longer relevant or a suitable replacement exists.

06

Editing & QA

Once written, the post is edited, revised and approved.

07

Publication

The post is uploaded to WordPress — images, SEO details, Pinterest covers and the featured image added — then reviewed and approved by the content manager before publishing.

08

Tracking & Distribution

The post is added to the data tracker and submitted to Google Search Console, with the live link added to Google Sheets and Asana; a YouTube video may also be created and linked back to the article once approved.

09

Performance Review

Post data is monitored and the process is adapted based on results.

Tools Used

Google Workspace

Asana

Phrase.io

Ahrefs

SurferSEO

Slack

Perplexity

Reddit

YouTube Video Production Pipeline

This channel's video production pipeline didn't exist — tone of voice, freelancers, scripts and a publishing process all had to be built from nothing to support weekly content creation and regular uploads.

Goal
A video production pipeline built from nothing that could support weekly content creation and regular uploads for an SEO-driven, B2B YouTube channel.
Starting Point
A blank canvas. No pipeline, no tone of voice, no team, so everything was built from scratch.
Approach
Built a tone of voice from scratch, onboarded and managed freelancers, wrote all scripts, reviewed every stage of production and oversaw publishing — creating a repeatable end-to-end process from concept through to a live video.
Outcome
Built a functional content production pipeline with minimal bottlenecks, a capable team and over 30 published videos.
Video Lifecycle
01Topics for the month are found and selected through ideation, keyword research and YouTube research, then briefed and scheduled for scripting.
Concept & Topic Ideation
02A brief is created for each script — internal content sourcing, a rough outline and suggested research sources — before the script is written, edited, revised and approved for shooting.
Scripting
03Shot list, locations, equipment and schedule are locked in ahead of the shoot.
Pre-Production Planning
04Footage is captured according to the shot list and script, with three different takes done to ensure ample content for editing.
Filming
05Raw footage is backed up, labelled and organised ready for the edit. An editing brief is created, including a list of required visuals.
Ingest & Organize Footage
06Footage is edited according to the script and editing brief; audio is mixed and the footage colour graded for a consistent look.
Editing
07Thumbnail, title, description and tags are prepared to support discoverability.
Thumbnail & Metadata
08Video goes live and is shared across channels; performance data feeds back into the next concept.
Publish & Promote

Publish & Promote (08) loops back into Concept & Topic Ideation (01) — view and retention data from what's live informs the next video's concept.

  1. Concept & Topic Ideation — Topics for the month are found and selected through ideation, keyword research and YouTube research, then briefed and scheduled for scripting.
  2. Scripting — A brief is created for each script — internal content sourcing, a rough outline and suggested research sources — before the script is written, edited, revised and approved for shooting.
  3. Pre-Production Planning — Shot list, locations, equipment and schedule are locked in ahead of the shoot.
  4. Filming — Footage is captured according to the shot list and script, with three different takes done to ensure ample content for editing.
  5. Ingest & Organize Footage — Raw footage is backed up, labelled and organised ready for the edit. An editing brief is created, including a list of required visuals.
  6. Editing — Footage is edited according to the script and editing brief; audio is mixed and the footage colour graded for a consistent look.
  7. Thumbnail & Metadata — Thumbnail, title, description and tags are prepared to support discoverability.
  8. Publish & Promote — Video goes live and is shared across channels; performance data feeds back into the next concept.

Tools Used

VEED.io

Claude

Opus Clip

Frame.io

YouTube

ChatGPT

ClickUp

Figma

Notion

Slack

Google Workspace

Content Creation Notion

For the video production pipeline, I created a Notion containing all of the resources the content creation team would need to continue to effectively produce content.

Vol. V — Guide to Systems and Processes End of Volume