Although I prefer writing books, I have done some ghost blogging for co-authors and clients. One of the main challenges I face in this area is developing unique content that is both relevant and compelling. After all, as many successful bloggers will tell you, “Content is king.”
When I co-author a book with a client, overcoming the challenge is much easier. The book functions as a valuable source of accurate, timely information. You don’t want to hurt sales of the book by giving away the content on your blog, but the book provides ideas for posts, and the posts can drive book sales rather than undercutting them.
Regardless of whether I have co-authored a book with a client, I prefer collaborating with clients to develop and vet the content for blog posts rather than doing pure ghost blogging. Prior to working clients, I let them know up front that I am not an expert in their field – they are. Sure, I can poke around on the Web to do some research and generate ideas for posts, but I am not qualified to judge whether what I am reading is timely or accurate. Nor am I qualified to provide creative insight on topics in their areas of expertise – for topic experts, this often comes easy, because their heads are in the game 24/7. My role is to…
- Assist in identifying ideas for posts
- Assist in extracting insight and information from the topic expert
- Present the insights and information in easily accessible, understandable, and compelling language for mere mortals to read and understand
After the content expert provides some starter material, I can run with it and produce a fairly final first draft. Having my client, the topic expert, perform one final review and sign off on the piece allows me to post it with confidence, knowing that the information is accurate and expressed in a way the client approves.
