Let’s face it. Not everyone is a great writer. People have their strengths and weaknesses and writing often falls into the latter category for many business professionals I know. And they’ll be the first to admit it.
As a trained professional copywriter, not only do I find myself writing ads, web content, and news releases, but also such mundane items as company announcements, LinkedIn in profiles, and even email notifications of office closings. I get comments from clients like, “Here’s the idea — go work your magic.”
To them, writing may seem like magic, but when we writers make it look easy, then we are doing our job. What seems like magic to me is someone’s ability in leading a sales team to achieve lofty goals or hold the attention of a room full of people during a presentation.
A copywriter’s job is to channel input from thought leaders like these into communications that bring in new business or connect with an audience. From in-depth white papers to social media sound bites, the professional writer must craft a tone and copy platform that exudes company vision and personality.
So it’s only natural then, that when executives have an opportunity to write blogs, articles, sales letters, books, or white papers, they can tap into to their agency’s writers. We already know the story. When we write general marketing content, we are called copywriters. When that content is written under a manager’s byline or over the president’s signature, we are called ghostwriters. There is really no difference.
But if you are going to put your name on something that you did not exactly write, then you want to make sure that you align with the right writer for your story. The best way to find a good ghostwriter is to look for these five common traits.
- They Check their Ego at the Door
Good ghostwriters turn down their own mind, lose sense of self, and allow their subject’s messages to flow through them. They become the medium through which the company and its management speak.
- They are Good Journalists
It is hard to produce content worthy of media consumption without asking smart questions. The writer must prod, probe, and dig deep to elicit juicy morsels of input necessary to write something of value, yet easy to digest.
- They are Creative
Ghostwriters do much more than transcribe your thoughts and make sentences out of them. They create hooks to attract attention, engage the reader to keep interest, and deliver important take-aways to inspire action.
- They Do their Homework
Before preparing questions to gain that valuable input, the ghostwriter needs to bone up on the subject matter at hand. What else has been written on the topic? Has the company’s competition addressed it in any way? How can this project help establish the author as the foremost authority on the topic?
- They are Versatile
They can write in the voice of anyone within your organization from the seasoned CEO to an up-and-coming marketing manager. Regardless of the author’s name at the top of the piece, your ghostwriter keeps everyone on company message, while allowing different voices to communicate it.
You may not prepare your own taxes, but it is your name at the top of the return. You earned the money after all. So when you want to keep communications flowing from your internal experts, don’t be afraid of a ghostwriter. He or she is just channeling what your company has already built.
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