Is Your Design Business Ready for a Ghost Blogger?

Today I’m giving you the inside scoop on what this “ghost blogging” thing is all about. If you’ve been wondering whether it’s real, yes, my friend, it is. And it’s FAR more popular than you might think… as the CEO and Principal of your design firm, you simply can’t do everything yourself or be in 132,392 places at once!

Ghost blogging could be the answer you’ve been waiting for. Keep reading for 7 signs your business might be ready!

 

What is a Ghost Blogger?

Simply put, a ghost blogger is someone who writes your blog posts as if they were you. Though their fingers typed up the words, the point is that thoughts are yours, the voice is yours (if done well), and it’s your name that goes in the byline.

 

Will Ghost-Written Blog Posts Actually Sound Like You?

I can’t vouch for every ghost blogger out there, but I can tell you that if you find a good one, your posts will sound like you. They will present your views, speak directly to your target clients, and include lingo you would normally use.

To get this kind of success, we take the same approach you might take when designing an authentic space for a client — there’s a process for getting to know each other, soliciting concept feedback, and creatively iterating to perfection.

For example, we’ll talk to you on the phone at least twice before we ever write a post (Discovery Call, followed by Content Strategy Session). We ask for short notes from you on each blog post topic. We study your website and social media copy. And we get your feedback and final stamp of approval before ever pressing publish. That’s how to get authenticity.

 

Do Business Owners Actually Use Ghost Bloggers?

Ohhhh yeah. And more often than you think. It is simply impossible for business owners to do everything themselves. If you think of your favorite blogger, I can almost guarantee he or she is not writing every single post themselves, especially if they’re an interior designer with employees, a full roster of clients, and a family at home. No way.

These days having a ghost blogger is normal, and in many cases, necessary, to advance your business’s goals. So if you’ve been thinking, “Okay, I could be into this ghost blogging thing,” keep reading for 7 signs that you could be ready…

 

1. You Know Your Dream Client Really Well

Part of what makes blogging so effective is being able to speak clearly and personally to that person you love to serve most. If you don’t know who that person is, your ghost blogger will not only have a very difficult time writing for a target audience, you are also less likely to see the results you want.

If you’re considering outsourcing your blog, make sure to define your target client first.

 

2. You Have Active Social Media Platforms

In order for a blog to truly contribute to your marketing efforts, you need to have the platforms in place to share your fabulous new content. If you are already sharing posts on social media, using appropriate hashtags, interacting with others, and even creating stories, sharing your blog posts on these platforms will be seamless and effective.

 

3. You Have a Lead Magnet (or Want One) & Send Monthly Newsletters

Like a social media strategy, your blog posts, freebie, and newsletters work together as part of a marketing strategy. But unlike social media, newsletters/freebies aren’t part of new clients discovering your blog — they’re part of turning those new readers into warm leads on your mailing list.

In other words, your ghost blogger will use the blog posts to invite readers to download your freebie. If you don’t have this in place yet, your blog will be less able to convert new potential clients into the kind that pay for your amazing services — and you may not see as much success from your ghost blogging experience as you’d like.

 

4. You Are Working Toward Defined Business Goals

A good blog shares valuable information, draws in your target clients, and is beautiful to look at. A great blog does all of the above — while pushing your business goals forward.

When we work with clients, we always start with a 2-hour Strategy Session to come up with content that checks all these boxes. For example, if you want to open an online store in the future, yes, we can use your blog to prime readers for the store launch and create excitement in advance. If you want to focus solely on full-service clients, we can do that too.

Though you always have the flexibility to change your mind and direction, having your business goals well-defined will help you and your ghost blogger come up with content that truly makes an impact on your bottom line.

 

5. You’re Ready to Elevate Your Marketing

If you feel that you’ve hit a wall with your marketing and you just aren’t seeing the results you want, blogging is one way to level things up. In fact, Hubspot (a huge marketing software company) recently reported blogging as 13x more likely to see ROI than other digital marketing. WOW — even I was shocked to see that number so high!

My only suggestion is to find a ghost blogger who knows your industry. Any savvy copywriter should be able to do a decent job, but inside knowledge into this complex and nuanced industry will create more authentic and effective blog posts.

 

6. You’re Ready to Get Something Off Your Plate

Aside from blogging’s marketing power, the biggest benefit of hiring a ghost blogger is, hands down, the time it frees up for you. And not just on a day-to-day basis…

When you have a professional strategically blogging for you, you are more likely to attract your dream clients. And the more dream clients that walk through the door, the more resources you have to hire, outsource, feel in control, and even create more freedom for yourself — at work and at home.

In fact, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that 70% or more of O&B’s ghost blogging clients are CEOs and mothers with kids at home. If you have to choose between Johnny’s baseball game and writing a blog post, well… I suppose that depends how much you like baseball. 😉

 

7. You Can Commit 1-2 Hours to Your Blog Per Month

Depending on the ghost blogger you choose, your level of involvement may differ. Here at O&B, we limit your involvement as much as possible, but we also have some “checks and balances” in place to make sure we’re expressing your views and personality authentically.

In addition to our 2-hour Content Strategy Session, you’ll have your hands on…

• writing out a short list of notes for each blog post (we’ll send you some quick questions about the topic in advance)
• reviewing the draft for edits and/or approval (the longer we work together, the fewer the edits… down to nearly zero, in most cases)

That’s it. If you’re a long-term client, we’ll also have quick 15- to 30-minute check-in calls every few months to make sure we’re keeping the content aligned with your evolving business goals, ongoing projects, etc.

So yes, there’s time involved, but compared to the DAYS (not hours) it would take to blog on your own — it’s a breeze.

If you said a resounding YES to these 7 things, I would love to invite you to work with us. You can contact us here for a discovery call to see if we’ll be a good fit for each other.

If you’re still not sure whether blogging is the answer you’ve been looking for, sign up for a discovery call anyway. I’d be happy to hear your goals and weigh in on whether blogging can help you reach them.

Until next time,
Jaquilyn