Hiring a Ghost Blogger | How-to Guides for running your business from Business.com

The boom in so-called Web 2.0 technologies, led by easy-to-use Web publishing tools like blogs, has created a bind for executives and business owners. Customers and partners expect them to be front-and-center nearly all the time via the Web. It can turn into a trap, one perhaps best fixed by farming out much of the work.

But hiring out company blog or site content to a pro is a risk. Knowing who -- and if -- to hire it out is a matter of understanding what you want. Only by deciding audience, timing, content and style in advance will a virtual you be able to step into your shoes online.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Be honest about what you need

Many executives start a blog in part because it's alarmingly easy to do so, even simpler than opening an e-mail account. Perhaps, though, what your company site needs more is an old-fashioned copywriter, someone to populate your Web site with fresh, relevant marketing text on a regular basis.

I recommend: Take a look at CopyBlogger (yes, it's a blog) on copywrighting basics. If what you see there feels like what your site really needs, run away from the idea of a blogger and get thee to a good advertising and marketing agency instead. Find one through AMIN Worldwide, AgencyFinder or MarketingPower.

Find a blogger looking for steady work

The idea of major media done inside out -- that is, talented, intelligent writers working per article for the highest bidder -- isn't new. But it's starting to catch fire thanks to search engine Google. Suddenly, every site wants narrow, relevant and timely content, the faster the better.

I recommend: No surprisingly, job boards just for bloggers have sprung up, like Problogger. More traditional listings such as Mediabistro or JournalismJobs are inexpensive and heavily read by working media.

Consider taking syndicated feeds instead

Using automated technology known as RSS, for Really Simple Syndication, it has become quite easy to carry links to other blogs on your site. If you sell wine, for instance, your site could carry a wine critic's ongoing notes.

I recommend: Upside: No work. Downside: No control. The feed will be whatever that blogger is writing, even if it's about his new baby, not wine. Yet some professionalism is setting in: Blogger syndicators include Blogburst, b5media, Federated Media and Pajamas Media. Just remember: You get what you pay for, right?

If credibility is not so important...

You could always pay bloggers by the post to write about your company or product. Such paid placement, while controversial, is nevertheless taking on a life of its own. It's a variation of the "puff piece" scam journalists have always fought against, yes, but potentially effective, too.

I recommend: PayPerPost, ReviewMe and SponsoredReviews are developing this market, designed to connect willing bloggers with companies seeking Web mentions that might drive traffic to their Web site.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

Who should blog? Venture capitalists, engineers, academics, technicians -- many report that the time spent is paid back many times over in professional contacts and just "getting it out" of their heads. If it's a struggle every day to post, this is not for you.
A ghost blogger should bring at least some credentials, but the best evidence is an existing blog already about your key subject. Read blogs religiously until you find talent, then make an offer: Keep doing it, only on my site, please.
Bloggers lose steam eventually. If you hire one and begin to see slack or repetitive copy, fire him or her and move on. Money will not be a motivator here. They either wake every day excited about writing, or they don't.

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