Ghostblogging is the solution for any busy CEO
Calling yourself a “thought leader” is the equivalent of marking yourself with a scarlet “A” (the “A” stands for “Ass” in this case). But let’s face it, no matter what term is used to describe your expertise as a CEO, that’s what you are. You’re an expert. And not only that, you’re the expert when it comes to your business, and your industry. You’ve gotten to where you are because of your skills, actions, and hard work. If you run a business, despite your title or not, give yourself a pat on the back for the road you’ve traveled. Okay, the sucking up ends now.
You know the job is never over. You’re in it. You’re buried alive in it. You’re busy. Everybody is busy. Hopefully you like it!
Busy is another word everybody loves to hate now (is there any word people don’t love to hate anymore?). But despite how many hours you work in the day, if your business is getting into content marketing, the truth is this:
Your blog needs you.You’re the leader. Your voice is the most important one on the blog.
Don’t cringe yet, though. That’s where ghostblogging comes in. We ghostblog for CEOs every day so believe me: you don’t need to do the writing for a good writer to interpret and develop your blogging voice.
When done right, complete with SEO and a solid social promotion strategy, the return on your investment is high:
A ghostblogger might charge you $250 for an 800 word post (we charge slightly less for our retainer clients)
How much does your product cost? Let’s say it costs $30.
If a single blog post drives 10,000 unique search visitors per year at a conversion rate of even 1%, you’ve made 100 sales that year from one post.
$2750 is a pretty darn good ROI, right? On one post.
Now multiply that by 100, because you can easily publish 100 posts in a year (or more).
That’s $25,000 for $275,000, which ain’t too shabby.
What’s better, is that when optimized for search, these posts can drive traffic and revenue for years and years. Our clients have done it – they’ve even landed millions of dollars from investors based on our work.
But let’s be real – the most valuable and immediate return will be your time – your most valuable resource.
But wait, there’s more!
The return on your investment for hiring a ghostblogger (other than publishing a better blog!)
Ghostblogging is more popular than you think. In fact, in our experience most CEOs don’t blog for themselves. They have worlds to conquer, you know? Here are three additional benefits available immediately from the start:
1. You can spend your time in other ways.
We know CEOs are busy, constantly working on building the organization. Although there is a lot of value in publishing great content, the CEO’s time may be better spent developing partnerships, raising funding, or establishing new client relationships.
A CEO’s time should be spent running the business instead of worrying about upcoming blog posts. In our experience, nailing down a CEO to write blog posts just never works out. You’ve got good intentions and all, but it never happens. A good ghostblogger will develop a content calendar, stay the course, and work with you (or other staff members) to schedule content meetings.
2. More content can be produced with a professional writer on hand.
Companies typically hire or outsource when needs aren’t being met properly. Some CEOs may be great with numbers, sales, or management, but are rotten at stringing sentences together in an enjoyable manner. If you’re a CEO with poor writing skills, it’s absolutely worth your money to hire someone with ghostblogging experience.
Even if you’re a CEO who likes to write, it stands that more content can be produced and published with extra writers. The addition of more high-quality content – preferably from trained SEO and promotional writers – means the likelihood of more website traffic, more loyal readers (and email subscribers if you’re building a list), and the potential for more sales.
3. Money!
Oh, did I mention MONEY? You don’t work this hard for free, do you? The biggest mistake some companies make is that they blog for fun, thinking it’s just something “everyone is doing,” but that’s just not the case. Blog because it adds new pages to your site that you can optimize for search and add a subtle call to action to. What’s better – a 5 page website or a 105 page website? With a blog, you can run a 105+ page website and every page can convert readers into buyers. In our experience, companies who blog increase sales within the first month, even high-end B2B blogs where price points are $1,000 or more. Chew on that for a bit!
Before you hire, this is what will still be required of you:
Hire the right kind of writer. Journalists and copywriters are best suited for ghostblogging, although any skilled writer can do it.
Prepare for interviews. Any writer can slap your byline on an article, but a good ghostblogger will prepare to interview you in order to get a feel for your voice.
Prepare jargon: If you’re in an industry with jargon, communicate the most complex topics to your ghostblogger, or hire one within your industry that already knows it. When this isn’t possible, as it often isn’t, be assured that a good writer will learn. Copywriters especially have a knack for this, although not all copywriters are blog writers.
Determine your focus: Again, ghostbloggers will work with you to create an editorial calendar, but if there’s a specific direction you want each piece to have, communicate that. It’s your voice, so tell them the message you want to send beforehand.
Over time this process will become very simple as you develop a relationship with your ghostblogger and they learn how to write in your voice naturally and without your guidance. Hiring a ghostblogger? Hire us!
