If you think all those executives whose names you see on OpEds and contributed articles across the web all actually wrote the pieces their bylines appear on, it’s time to introduce you to the in-house ghostwriter. In this week’s #ContentChat we talked about the challenges of being an in-house ghostwriter with Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman).
Q1: For those not familiar with it, what is ghostwriting in a company setting? What kind of things are you writing, and for whom?
Ghostwriting is helping a subject matter expert express their ideas by pairing them with a professional writer.
A1 Ghostwriting is, basically, translating execs’/SMEs’ expertise and POV, and our company messaging, into blog posts, white papers and other external-facing content. I do that, and also ghostwrite social media posts and internal emails for our senior leaders. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
A1: Internal ghostwriting often comes in the form of supporting internal thought leaders. It can range from white papers to social media updates to internal talks about the direction of the company. This can be for sales people, HR leaders or CEOs… really anyone. #contentchat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) August 13, 2018
A1a: In a perfect world, being an in-house ghostwriter means you collaborate with company leaders to craft compelling content and communications. #ContentChat https://t.co/N926IP5uTv
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) August 13, 2018
A1b: In the less awesome cases, you are someone fielding requests such as “write me a blog post on Topic X and some Tweets” and crafting content from scratch that someone else’s name goes on. #ContentChat https://t.co/V3e000ywzG
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) August 13, 2018
A1 Yes, but I would add: writers “interpret” (give context) and/or “harmonize” thoughts of senior leaders (make them sound better). Not just in social media, but via speeches, etc. #contentchat https://t.co/CHOQWlWmQy
— Judy Gombita (@jgombita) August 13, 2018
Q2: When you are writing bylined content under an executive’s name, how do you get credit for your work internally? What metrics or milestones can/should you track?
As a ghostwriter, even my internal team doesn’t know what I do.
A2a TBH, I don’t often get credit for my ghostwriting work, other than from the person I wrote for and my manager. Even internally. The whole idea is to be behind the scenes and let the exec or SME get all the credit. That’s the job. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
A2a. For the most part you won’t…except from your direct boss (good job, but that is what you are paid to do, after all, so praise won’t be often or regular). #contentchat
— Judy Gombita (@jgombita) August 13, 2018
A2b. I remember the first long speech I wrote for a president. Spent so much time talking to her, researching, writing it/phrasing it…and when she was congratulated (again and again), no mention made of me.
Colleague said: But it was HER speech….. #realitybites #contentchat
— Judy Gombita (@jgombita) August 13, 2018
If you do a great job with a piece, word will get around internally.
A2: If you are worried about credit, ghosting…you may want to consider something else. The credit is always word-of-mouth internally. People ask (largely because they know the SME is either not that smart or way too busy.) #ContentChat
— Shawn Paul Wood (@ShawnPaulWood) August 13, 2018
A2: I always saw credit being given when we helped close sales. As long as we were seeing inbound traffic and potential goal conversions, we got the credit we were due! #contentchat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) August 13, 2018
If your objective is building thought leadership and goodwill for the bylined author, here are some metrics to track.
A2b Among the metrics I’ve tracked is how often I write for each person, so I don’t spend too much time promoting some people/topics over others. And also, of course, traffic and shares. Whose content is engaging our community. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
A2: Frequently, ghost duties come with watching the email box that replies are sent to. Make a copy of all the glowing reply emails, and save them in a folder. Also track clicks on links, social shares, and pageviews. #ContentChat https://t.co/XS5wLRZRgE
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) August 13, 2018
It can be difficult to get the ghostwritten authors to share “their” content.
A2c But metrics are tough, because most people I ghostwrite for here aren’t comfortable being self-promoters. So while they like my work, they’re not really sharing “their” content, which limits the exposure it gets and how effectiveness it is. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
Q3: At annual review time, how do you quantify the value your ghostwriting brought to the organization?
Build it into your attribution model.
A3: We used to use our attribution model to show how much traffic was driven by pieces out in the world, when sales use them to help customers get to the next “yes” and then how many times it is the last thing they see before they close. #contentchat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) August 13, 2018
When ghostwriting internal communications, track employee sentiment over time and in response to content.
A3: If you are ghostwriting sensitive internal comms, you can measure the number of replies and their sentiment or employee engagement metrics. For external content, benchmark the content against prior results. #ContentChat https://t.co/3ul6TGppyd
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) August 13, 2018
Ask your colleagues to help quantify the impact.
A3: If you write a speech for an executive, ask your event/PR lead to gather anecdotal audience feedback or survey responses. #contentchat
— Shelly Lucas (@pisarose) August 13, 2018
Q4: Do you find that once you start ghostwriting, you have fewer opportunities to write under your own byline for company publications? If so, how do you keep from permanently flying under the radar?
Once you are pegged as the internal ghostwriter, the internal bylines are hard to come by.
A4 Well, in 3.5 years of working here, I haven’t had a single (public) byline for this company. So I’d say yes. That is definitely a risk of taking on this kind of work. But I also haven’t been very aggressive in asking for any, so … there’s that too. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
A4: People know that executives aren’t all writing their own stuff. The important part is that it’s their own ideas and someone just helped them come to life. Hopefully that opens up the door for sharing. If not, NDA all the way, baby! #contentchat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) August 13, 2018
A4: In my in-house roles that were heavy on the ghostwriting, I almost never had my own bylines. That was one f the reasons I usually sought out freelance writing side projects. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) August 13, 2018
It can be easy to lose your voice from too much ghostwriting.
Too much ghosting, that is, and your own voice’ll vanish. You don’t want that, folks, no matter how much you get paid. #contentchat 👻
— Ken Gordon (@quickmuse) August 13, 2018
Despite their writing and research on a topic or industry, ghostwriters frequently don’t receive recognition as SMEs in their own right.
A4: It amazes me that leaders don’t consider writers subject matter experts, even if they’ve lived n the space they’ve been writing about for years. #ContentChat
— Shelly Lucas (@pisarose) August 13, 2018
Q5: You’ve spent weeks working on revision after revision on a piece of ghostwritten content, and then it gets killed. Now what? Do you reuse that content internally? Can you reuse it for yourself?
You can revisit the idea, as long as you rewrite the piece on your own time.
A5a Great question! We repurpose when we can. And actually, because of an acquisition & corporate reorg, most of the blog posts I’ve written are now dead. So I’ve thought about republishing some elsewhere, with my own byline. After a bit of revision, tho. Stay tuned. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
A5b You have to be careful with reusing content for yourself, because contractually, you’re often not able to reclaim do that, even if it’s inactive. Which is one reason I mentioned rewriting before republishing. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
A5c It’s one of the biggest frustrations of the job, TBH, because I know if I’d written something with my byline, and promoted it, it probably would have been seen by more people. So I’d like to take ownership of that content, if/when I can. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
If you were the source of the idea, it’s yours to run with.
A5: If you are the source of the ideas, there’s no reason you can’t use that content in other places. #contentchat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) August 13, 2018
It can’t hurt to ask if you can try to place a piece under your own byline.
A5: I’ve used an executive byline that killed for my own byline (with permission from the exec). #contentchat
— Shelly Lucas (@pisarose) August 13, 2018
A5: In my experience, as long as you have permission, you should be repurposing content that doesn’t get published. This depends on your internal processes obviously. #contentchat
— Jeff Previte (@jeffponthego) August 13, 2018
Q6: What are some ways to pull a solid story out of a busy executive so your ghostwritten content reflects their experience and voice, versus just being your voice and content with their name slapped on it?
Always start with a conversation with the SME, and record it if possible.
A6a I always try to conduct an interview with the exec before ghostwriting anything for them, and record it, so I can use the transcript as the foundation for whatever I write. Then I can incorporate the exec’s actual words into the content more easily. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
A6. I’ll meet with them and record a QnA. That way I can really encompass their voice when writing and even use actual soundbites. Next best thing is to email them the QnA and have them respond. Then let them review/edit before it gets published. #contentchat
— Amanda L (@AmandaJayeL) August 13, 2018
Do some research into your topic before you interview the SME so your questions can go beyond the surface.
A6b But the key is also to ask the right questions. Do your homework first so you can guide the exec to give you the information and (unique) insights you’ll need that will result in a compelling piece of content. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
Remember that your goal is to surface the SME’s unique point of view and experience and ask questions to get to those points.
A6c Remember: The exec is the SME. Let him/her give you *their* thoughts, so you’re not left to come up with your own, because you’ll get no credit for them. The job becomes more frustrating the more often you give someone else’s byline to your own ideas. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
A6: Ask them to relay a personal story related to the topic (or a facet of it). I do a lot of pre-interview thinking about this, and it really works. #ContentChat
— Shelly Lucas (@pisarose) August 13, 2018
Embrace the power of silence in your interview!
A6. Trying to remember where I recently saw an interview about how to get more info out of a person.
Ask a question. Let person answer. And then just wait…most times interview subject talks even more (detail and context). Only works F2F, though. Email not so much #ContentChat https://t.co/0qOhzuDZN7— Judy Gombita (@jgombita) August 13, 2018
Q7: Are there times when you’ve said no to ghostwriting something, or wish that you had?
If you don’t agree with the SME’s point of view, it’s best to decline the project.
A7a Oh, definitely. At a former job, I was asked to ghostwrite a book for the CEO about “engagement marketing.” But she and I had different philosophies on “engagement” (ie: she didn’t ever do it), and she was difficult to work with, so I said no. Happily. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
Don’t be afraid to say no to projects that are well outside of your job scope.
A7b And there are times these days when I push back and ask if an exec can write their own internal emails, and convey their own excitement with the team about something. Because my actual job is content and social manager, not ghostwriter. Alas. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
I’ve also said no to writing a book for an exec. “I’m sorry, but it really will not be possible for me to shadow the CEO for three months and write this book while also running the content marketing team + executing against our content strategy.” #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) August 13, 2018
When your SME doesn’t have a clear POV and doesn’t own what they’ve said, it’s time to bail out.
A7: OH YES. That time when the executive didn’t have any ideas of their own and kept coming back saying “this doesn’t really have an ah-ha moment…” and we’re all.. “ummmm…this all came from our interview with you…” #contentchat pic.twitter.com/FFIXVLqeQR
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) August 13, 2018
Q8: A lot of the thought leadership content we see online has been ghostwritten. What are some ways to feel ethically OK about ghostwriting this type of content?
A8. It’s important to bake things into the ghostwriting process like check-ins and interviews, esp for thought leadership. The ‘thoughts’ should come from the leader, the ghost writer should be tying everything together in a beautiful package. In an ideal world! #contentchat
— Amanda L (@AmandaJayeL) August 13, 2018
A8: I mentioned this earlier, but it’s ethically ok, if you’re helping an idea come to life.
OR
They pay you enough to giving up the rights to your thoughts and the residual benefits. #contentchat pic.twitter.com/MgoBJ20bIy
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) August 13, 2018
A8 Honestly, it’s not easy. And I still struggle with it. I think the key is knowing your role: You’re there to give an exec or SME a voice they don’t already have, and the comfort in sharing that voice. If you’re in it for the glory, you shouldn’t be ghostwriting. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 13, 2018
A8. Easy peasy. Make sure the THOUGHTS (if not the writing) really come from the LEADER(S)….. #ContentChat https://t.co/bFXJ1rLaeE
— Judy Gombita (@jgombita) August 13, 2018
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