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:

1. Have a company blog, but give the actual writer the byline
2. Copyediting – you write it, someone else cleans it up and posts
3. Transcribing – you say it (voicemail?), someone writes, links, tags, etc.
4. 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)

We can hum along to Battles Hymn of the Blogger all we want, it doesn’t answer the question, does it?

Not everyone is a business writer, that’s why we hire copywriters. But we don’t hire copywriters to script our conversations with customers, do we?

Remember in school…some of us wouldn’t want to raise our hands to ask a question because we thought it was a dumb question? Then, another kid would be brave enough to ask the question. Phew!

Take the questions or situations you see your customers talking about regularly. Generalize it to speak to your whole audience – there’s your post. Use hypothesis, analogies, metaphors….stories.

In fact, what you’re reading now is an example of this very thing. I had three different people ask me about this yesterday. I picture their faces while writing this post. I’m talking with them via my blog.

Within 15 minutes and 150 words, I’ve got a post for my blog. What are your customers talking with you about?

Related Prescriptions Elsewhere:
- Overcoming the Fear of Corporate Blogging by Mark White
- 5 Tips to Overcome Your Fear of Blogging by Debbie Weil

Other Fears Found Here:
- Fears of Blogging: Time
- Fears of Blogging: Control
- Fears of Blogging: Work
- Fears of Blogging: Prose

"What’s a Trackback?"

This is a question often asked. I’ll explain the techno-stuff towards the end, but let’s get to real question: When Should I Use a Trackback?

A trackback is a way to elaborate or expand upon a blog post from someone else’s blog. A perfect example of a trackback can be found on my previous post here: Synchronize Your Communications.

Alan Hoffler of MillsWyck Communications offered a trackback to the post, pointing back to his own article, How Accessible Are You? Here’s why this is a great example:

• Rather than just repeating what I said, Alan goes into depth about expectations in communication – elaborating on what I wrote
• Both posts are introduced to our respective audiences, and each audience benefits
• Each has it’s own message, though they are connected because of the subject matter

When is a trackback not such a good idea? When you’re simply repeating what the original author said in their post – it’s probably not wise to trackback. I call this a "loopback" since all you’re doing is sending the original audience back to where they started – with little, if any, new thought.

Of course, some blogs allow only trackbacks, but no comments. Same principle applies. If you’re adding to the idea, trackback. If not, just a simple link out from your blog will do nicely:-)

Now, to the techno-stuff (I’ll cut to the quick).

A trackback (definition) is essentially a "ping" that gets delivered to the original article. When a trackback is used, most blogware is set-up to communicate this "ping" and note it just above the comments – if the author accepts trackbacks.

Here’s how to send a trackback in TypePad. Blogger has a similar feature called Backlinks. If you’re looking for the trackback in WordPress blogs, you’ll most likely find it on the individual article page (click the headline).

In June, I wrote that Long Comments Should be Posts. I’ll stand by that thought, and suggest that it’s in those cases – and Alan’s example above – that a trackback makes sense.

Note: I did NOT use the trackback feature from this post back to Alan’s post. First, it goes off on a different subject. Second, it would end up being a loop.