Ghostwriters in the sky!

There are more than politicians that use ghost writers. I’ve recently read two books by military men that wrote their personal story, Bill O’Reilly’s book on Lincoln that used ghost writers and there are many more. They are using the best possible talent in hopes of having a best seller and make some money. Personally, nothing I have written would qualify or be accepted by a publisher. They need a product that can make money too. Not even my PH.D thesis would qualify even though it probably took more research and time to produce than some of these books.

We write our own blogs in hopes it will drive business to our website and ultimately drive revenue to our business. Another benefit is that it’s better therapy than late night TV. If one can hire a writer that works in the realm of excellence and can accomplish the goals mentioned, and it makes since when it comes to your ROI, then I say go for it. Is it misleading – No. This is the business world and as the owner, one takes responsibility for all the work products associated with their business. That means as the owner one needs to understand the work product and approve it before it goes public.

You only need to look at real estate business owners that are being sued to understand who has the ultimate responsibility. It make no difference if the owner, employee, or subcontractor produced the work product. The responsibility is with the business owner and that’s the name that is going to be on the legal documents. It’s just business, but it’s all about how you conduct your business. That’s why we have those that perform in the realm of excellence and the good, bad, and ugly.

Hi Richard - As someone who write about 99% of my Realtor clients' blogs, I might be a little prejudiced. Since Realtors are working hard with the sales portion of their business, they often find it difficult to do the online marketing and other administrative duties they need to do to stay in front of the pack.  A good ghostwriter will never speak as though they are the Realtor.  The articles should speak more to hyper-local and other real estate news.  The blogs get posted, search engines find them, the Realtor benefits.  

To run a smart business, you have to leverage your time and this is just another way to do that.  great post.

This is a good point.  I know business owners do have people work on their social medical but they should not pass it off as if they authored it themselves

I disagree.  You can certainly be knowledgeable without be adept at writing. Some people just don't want to. 

There are several things going on here.  First of all I do all my own.  I think one post here out of thousands was written by someone else.  However, hiring someone to put my thoughts into writing is different than buying a pre-written post.  The 2nd one should attribute the actual writer; if the first one is your thoughts edited I don't see a need to.  

The other issue is if it is a "Company" branded site I don't see why there is a need to show the writer at all, no matter who it is.  "Personal" branded site - clarify.

I agree 100%. I wish I had the time to send out to my email list as often as I wish! However, I will not publish the words of someone else.

While I've been enjoying comments on this post, a wonderful thing happened.  One of my clients forwarded 3 comments that Active Rainers made to her post today - one that my company had ghostwritten - using original content, of course.  Love it!  

Nothing wrong with it in my opinion as long as you put your own stamp of approval on it before it gets published.

Hi Richard, I agree.  Everyone of my posts are generated by myself, or someone from our team.

Richard,  Totally agree. No problem using other people as long as you disclose the sources. Great post thanks.

This topic seems always to draw a lot of controversy -- honestly not so sure why -- people hire others to handle all sorts of things in their life -- not every agent makes their own graphics, makes their own flyers, does their own press releases, makes their own ads, or the many, many other things that go into operating a business --- when someone else makes a flyer for an agent, there is not necessarily a footer that goes on the bottom that says "made by xxxx" to indicate the agent did not laboriously make the flyer themselves -- and same for all the other things that are hired out. One must wonder why there is always a flap it seems when someone suggests they are going to hire a ghost writer for handling blogs, or that if they do hire someone, then there needs to be full disclosure. Busy professionals of any profession do not have the time, nor the skill sets to do everything in their business themselves -- they hire others to do what they either do not have the skill for, nor the time to handle -- our 2 cents.

@benjaminrealty - Well said.

I write my own posts- now. I've been thinking about hiring someone to write market conditions. My blogging time has become limited because of the business I've gotten from blogging. I don't want to slow down the blogging but don't want to pass up the business. I see no problem with hiring a ghost writer. We're real estate agents- not writers.

General Washington carted around 2 scholars during the Revolutionary War to re-write his journals. I don't think those journals credit the ghost writers.

As a newbie around these parts I’m astounded by all the responses to this post! It’s been a kick reading all of them.

I completely understand those that say that a ghostwriter can’t possibly capture their voice and if that’s important to you, then by all means, you should write your own.

Someone way up toward the top of this thread asked for a ghostwriter’s viewpoint and asked: “Wouldn’t they rather get credit?” While I've lurked A.R. blogs for quite some time I've never participated. To do so feels a bit spammy since I sell my writing services to real estate agents. But, since she asked. . .

I don’t know about the few of my colleagues I see posting here, but a ghostwriter, by her very nature is a “ghost.” We aren’t supposed to get credit. And that’s just fine with me. I get credit in the newspaper real estate sections I’m published in – via a byline. So, no, at least this writer, when she ghostwrites for agents, doesn’t expect or want credit.

That said, I don’t ghostwrite a lot of blog postings for clients as I find most of them either have given up on blogging or, like so many of the agents in this thread, they choose to blog in their own words. Most of the agents I work with want content for their sites, press releases, E-books, marketing materials and the like. Is that type of “ghostwriting” considered dishonest?

I interview top-producing agents for a weekly column I write for a national real estate website. One of the questions I ask is: “When did you hire your first assistant?” Then I ask if their production increased after hiring. All of them say yes – production exploded. Whether it's an assistant, a transaction coordinator or a writer, freeing up time to do what you do best -- list and sell real estate -- is a smart business move and leads to increased productivity.

I completely understand that a lot of agents feel a blog is personal and a way for clients to get to know them and there may be a lot of truth in that.

Richard, thanks for the provacative post and for providing some enjoyable reading.

Wow! Richard, I love your passion and conviction and I couldn't agree more. Greeeaaattt Post! A THOUSAND :)'s

Richard, I love your posts because they are always direct and from the heart.  I also write all of my own blogs.  The only time I can understand the use of a service is in those newsletters that are used to just keep in touch with a huge database.  I agree that your own blogs are what endear you to your clients or keep them away.  I never want a buyer or seller to meet me and feel that they were reading the words of an entirely different person.  Also, the deception can result in people thinking you have expertise in areas that you know nothing about.  Great post.