Tag Archives: Ghostblogging

January 31, 2020 · 10:24 am

What is a Ghostblogger? And Should I Hire One?

Have you ever had something you really wanted to say, but felt unsure of how to put it into words?

It’s a common feeling in life, whether in the field of relationships, parenting, or business. It’s precisely when you feel strongly about something, when you know in your heart that it matters, that you begin to feel inarticulate; as if, in trying to communicate what’s on your mind, you just wind up tripping over your own words.

For example, business owners often have a particular set of points they’d like to convey about their product, service, or industry; but, whether rightly or wrongly, they fret that they aren’t natural-born writers, and are daunted by the blank page. And it’s not a phenomenon that’s unique to business owners; even authors and in-demand thought leaders sometimes need a hand in shaping their original ideas into legible packages.

A ghostblogger can provide just that kind of help. But what is a ghostblogger, exactly? Our simple definition is that a ghostblogger is someone who’s there to listen to your ideas, to help you shape them into coherent narratives, and to provide whatever wordsmithing assistance you need in turning your thoughts or ideas into compelling digital content.

Why Hire a Ghostblogger?

There are a number of reasons why you might consider hiring a ghostblogger, including the one we’ve mentioned already: You may have much you want to say, but be unsure of how best to say it. The ghostblogger’s primary skill set is taking what seems nebulous or “unsayable” and distilling it into something sharp, persuasive, and valuable.

But there are other reasons why you might benefit from working with a ghostblogger. One reason why a lot of entrepreneurs struggle in content creation is not that they don’t know their field well enough, but that they know it too well; that they are too close to their subject matter, and have a hard time separating the peripheral details from the real crux of the matter. A good ghostblogger can be invaluable in translating something very technical into accessible language or taking all the minutiae of your business and sorting out the big picture.

A ghostblogger is first and foremost a writer, but in some cases working with a ghostblogger may feel like interacting with a confessor, a therapist, or a sparring partner; it all depends on the kind of relationship you’re looking to have. Certainly, a ghostblogger is someone with whom you can talk things through, working together to shape and sculpt fuzzy or half-baked ideas until they become totally clear. Along the same lines, ghostbloggers can be invaluable in helping you identify when a topic may work well as a full content series, or when one really big idea would be better split into a few separate blog entries.

Ghostblogging Offers Clear Copy and a Convenient Process

Indeed, one important thing to note about working with a ghostblogger is that the relationship can be as hands-on or as hands-off as you want it to be. At Grammar Chic, we have ghostblogging clients with whom we spend a lot of time on the phone hashing out ideas together. We have others who simply send us a topic and perhaps a bullet point or two and then give us space to do our thing. It’s really up to the client, and our goal is not only to provide you with excellent copy, but to make the process as convenient and efficient as can be.

As you think about articulating your ideas into a blog format, consider the benefits of hiring a skilled writer to provide your concepts with form, purpose, and shape. Consider hiring a ghostblogger. Learn more by reaching out to Grammar Chic, Inc. today, either at www.grammarchic.net or at 803-831-7444.

5 Ways to Make Your Blog Readers Stick Around

Are you familiar with the term bounce rate? It’s an SEO/Web analytics term that basically denotes the people who come to your website or blog, take one look at it, and immediately navigate to another page. Imagine these readers saying: “Nope! Not what I was looking for!”

Bounce rate is an important concept to think about, even beyond looking at your actual numbers. From an SEO standpoint, a high bounce rate can drag down your Google clout. More generally and more obviously, though, if people are finding your site and then leaving it immediately, your content obviously isn’t working. It’s not even having a chance to work.

The Blogger’s Dilemma

This has long been the blogger’s dilemma: How do you get people to not only click on your blog post, but actually read it? There’s no magic solution here. To a large extent it requires you to find an interesting topic and connect with curious readers—no small feat!

More basically and more generally, though, there are a few simple steps you can take to make your blogs more engaging—more readable. Consider the following:

Keep your posts short. It’s simple math, right? The shorter your post, the more likely it is people will take the time to read it. Now, don’t go too short; much below 400 words could be a problem for your SEO. But somewhere in the 400-500 range is usually good for simpler topics, 800 words or so for complex topics.

Keep your posts focused. Don’t have a blog post that addresses two distinct topics. Focus on one topic, and save the other for a second blog post. Maintain your reader’s attention by being thematically consistent and coherent.

Use formatting that lends itself to readability. You should have plenty of white space surrounding your text, and each line of text should be fairly brief—maybe 75-80 words or so. Don’t pick a blog format that detracts from readability.

Keep paragraphs short. As far as readability goes, short, 3-4 sentence paragraphs are always better than epic chunks of text. This is also why lists and bullet points can be useful.

Don’t let SEO get in the way. Have you ever come across a blog post that used a phrase like “best North Carolina oral surgeon” 15 times in the span of 500 words? That’s SEO keyword stuffing, and in addition to being a poor technical strategy, it’s also a great way to make your posts completely unreadable.

It really goes without saying, but: You need people to read your posts—not just click on the headlines and then immediately click away. Without actual readers, your content isn’t doing you much good. For help constructing really gripping, readable posts, contact Grammar Chic at 803-831-7444, or www.grammarchic.net.

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Filed under Blog Writing, Content Marketing

Tagged as Blog writing advice, Blog Writing Tip, Blogging Help, Blogging. Blog Writing, content marketing, Content Marketing Tips, Content Writing Advice, Ghostblogging, Social media content marketing

June 24, 2015 · 3:56 pm

5 Benefits to Hiring a Ghostblogger

By now, you’ve surely seen the statistics: More than 80 percent of consumers say they’re more likely to do business with a company that’s in the content production game. That’s not so surprising, when you think about it: A commitment to content creation proves your passion to assist customers. It exhibits thought leadership. It offers authority but also extends helpful service—a winning combo that your small business can’t afford to ignore.

There are different ways to create content, but blogging is the most direct and most value-adding of them all—yes, we would argue, even more than video or infographics. And there’s more than one way to arrive at compelling blog content. You can write it yourself, or you can outsource to a ghostblogger.

Working with a Ghostblogger

But what does it mean, to work with a ghostblogger? You’ve surely heard of ghostwriters, whose work tends to encompass more than half of the New York Times Bestsellers list at any given moment! Ghostbloggers work similarly: A ghostblogger will spend time speaking with you and getting to know your business, your audience, your values. You are welcome to direct your ghostblogger to your buyer personas, and in fact we recommend it. The ghostblogger, in turn, may furnish you with some blog topics to choose from, then create a draft that’s written from your point of view and conveys the values and vision of your brand.

This may be something of a new experience for some of you, but it’s an experience that can yield many benefits.

Why Work with a Ghostblogger?

In fact, we’ll list five huge reasons to work with a ghostblogger:

Quality. You may be an expert in entrepreneurship, in accounting, in manufacturing, or in a wide number of things—but you may not be an expert in writing. Ghostbloggers, like those employed here on the Grammar Chic team, are trained and equipped to write compelling, persuasive, and engaging content—reflecting well on your brand and engaging your audience. Are you worried that the blogs you’re writing yourself are suboptimal quality? Then you need a ghostblogger.

Vision. A good ghostblogger will understand that the blog is just one part of your company’s marketing machinery—and will work to ensure that the blog works in tandem with your social media and other online assets, ultimately holding up the voice and values of your company.

SEO. Blogging alone will not guarantee SEO success, yet a quality post, written with judicious keywords, can certainly provide some meaningful search engine fodder. A ghostblogger may not guarantee search engine success—nor should she—but it is very often a nice side effect!

Time. The obvious one: If you’ve got a ghostblogger doing your company’s content creation, you have time freed up to focus on other aspects of growing your business!

Engagement. Ghostbloggers worth their salt will understand that your blog copy needs to end with a rousing call to action—that audience participation is the whole point of business blogging!

Get a ghostblogger working for you today, and start reaping these benefits. Contact us at www.grammarchic.net, or 803-831-7444.

3 Comments

Filed under Content Marketing, Ghostwriting

Tagged as Benefits of a Ghostblogger, Content Marketing Advice, Content Marketing Tips, Content Writing, Content Writing Advice, Content Writing Tips, Ghostblogging, Hiring a Ghostblogger, professional writing services, Social Media Content Management, Social Media Content writing, What is a Ghostblogger

February 16, 2015 · 1:13 pm

Essential Traits for Highly Successful Bloggers

Business owners, do you ever wonder if you truly have what it takes to develop a successful blog—one that garners traffic and increases conversions for your company website? It’s only natural to wonder and perhaps even to doubt; throughout literary history, great authors have struggled with questions about their own worthiness, and while business blogging is different from writing War and Peace, the same principle applies.

Today, we want to offer some reassurance:

First, know that all businesses are capable of developing effective business blogs; there’s no topic too boring, no industry too bland!
Even if you’re not a trained writer, you still have much insight to offer your customers and clients.
If blogging is something that completely eludes you, or if you don’t have the time you need to invest in really getting it right, there is always ghostblogging and content marketing agencies.

With all that said, it’s worth pausing for a moment to take stock of your own blogging propensities, and to evaluate whether you have the skills and characteristics needed to be great at blogging. If you have all of the traits listed below, then we would encourage you to try business blogging; if not, then we’d recommend either working to develop them, or outsourcing to us!

Great bloggers are attentive. They keep tabs on what their readers like and don’t; what they respond to and what they are indifferent toward. Blogging means constantly monitoring your efforts and tweaking as needed.
Great bloggers are confident in who they are and what they do; they are able to write authentically and passionately about the benefits they can offer to readers and to customers.
Great bloggers can be dramatic, too—they know how to create headlines and titles that immediately attract attention.
Great bloggers are organized, and can lay out their points in a way that makes sense and is easy to follow.
Great bloggers are tenacious, willing to consistently post new content on a daily or weekly basis.
Great bloggers are ultimately service-oriented, and know that what they do needs to provide something truly helpful to readers; mere self-promotion will never do.

How do you stack up? Do you have these critical blogging skills mastered, or is there still room for improvement? We’re happy to help however we can; just contact the Grammar Chic team today to learn more!

5 Ways to Get New Blog Topics

Blogger’s block. It’s very real, especially for small business owners who have to think up new things to say about their business or industry every week—or even every day!

No matter how regularly you blog, you’re going to get stuck for ideas from time to time. You know that your blogs need to be engaging and varied; they can’t simply be self-promotional or extoll the virtues of your company, because frankly, nobody wants to read that kind of thing.

Even when you work in an industry that’s vast and encompasses a lot—home improvement or finance or marketing—you will have days when you draw a blank. You will have days when you fumble for a new blog idea but can’t arrive at one.

Here are a few fallbacks for you, when those days come:

Make sure you have some Google News alerts set up for a few industry keywords. When something new or noteworthy happens in your industry, that’s very possibly blog fodder. Maybe you want to comment on a new trend. Maybe you want to rebut a new opinion piece. Keeping in the loop about your industry is always good for those who blog.
Speaking of Google, don’t forget to use it for keyword research. Type a keyword related to your industry into the search bar and see what the Suggested Search terms are; some of them might point you down new avenues for blogging. You can even sign into Google AdWords and use the Keyword Research tools to come up with new topics for blogging.
Go to your blog comments section and your Facebook page. See what other people are saying. Pay attention to the things your readers care about. Not only will this provide you with some content angles, but you know they’re content angles your readers care about!
Head to some of your competitors’ blogs! See what they blog about. Avoid just copying them, though; try to use their ideas to springboard to something new. Take their topics in new angles or come at them from different directions.
Finally, don’t forget to recycle old content! You can find a popular older blog post and repurpose it, perhaps rewriting it as an FAQ or as a list, or writing a “sequel” or follow-up post.

If you’re really stuck, you might want to consider a ghostblogger—and of course, that’s where we come in. To learn more about ghostblogging, don’t hesitate to contact Grammar Chic today at www.grammarchic.net, or 803-831-7444.

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