Boo! on Business Blog Ghostwriting
Lots of conversation going on about "ghostblogging" or ghostwriting on company blogs. I'm not a fan - and you shouldn't be either.
Company blogs - businesses that have a blog - should not employ full ghostwriting services. Copyediting? Sure thing. Transcribing? Great idea (and a time-saver for the CEO). But not ghostwriting.
It's a lie. And the truth will bubble up. Especially in small business.
Let's say I'm a landscaper. Problem is, I can't write worth a mound of leaves. I see the value of blogging and, wanting to make my business more findable, I decide to have my blog ghostwritten. Eventually, someone will hire my company based on what they read in the blog - but I didn't write it.
The prospect asks about a post that was written. I don't have time to write it, you think I have time to read it? I stab at a guess - and even get it right. Yet, the customer says that I sound nothing like my blog. Goodbye integrity.
This may play out differently in a large corporation, but the principles are the same.
I offer blog transcribing as a solution. Drop your thoughts into a voice mail for your blogger. Have the blogger clean it up, strategically link out and post.
Here's how I see it, four choices:
- Have a company blog, but give the actual writer the byline
- Copyediting - you write it, someone else cleans it up and posts
- Transcribing - you say it (voicemail?), someone writes, links, tags, etc.
- Stick with the (cob)web site - don't blog
The Technorati Tags below will guide you to more of the conversation, but here are some posts worth reading:
- Is it OK to Ghostwrite a CEO Blog? (Debbie Weil)
- Is That a Ghost on Your Blog? (Jeffrey Treem)
- Ghost Writing Blogs: An Oxymoron (BL Ochman)
- Who Do You Call? Ghost Bloggers (Steven Warren) (tip to Josh)
- Is There a Market for Blog Ghost-Writing? (Amy Gahran)
- Ghostwriting for Law Blogs? (Kevin O'Keefe)
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