Archive for category: the Say It For You blog

An avid reader of James Patterson’s novels for as long as I can remember, I find every one of his mysteries a page-turner.  Now that I’ve made a career out of professional ghost blogging, I’m interested in James Patterson for another reason as well.  Back in 2005, the New York Times carried a feature story highlighting the fact that Patterson has created an entire studio of co-authors and ghost authors.  Patterson offers a very matter-of-fact explanation for his “ghosts”: He’s more proficient, he says, at creating the story line than at executing it. “I found that it is rare that you get a craftsman and an idea person in the same body”, Mr. Patterson was quoted in the article, adding that he wants the final say before any book goes to press.

When, last year, Sarah Weinman wrote in the Los Angeles Times (April 15, 2007), “Commercial fiction has always had its share of ghostwriters toiling in the shadows”, she used James Patterson as a prime example, “Just look at the writers who have worked with James Patterson, brand name extraordinaire,” she gushes, adding “One need only check the copyright page for confirmation that he is the author of his novels,” (I was paying particular attention to this part), “no matter who may have written the actual words.”

Weinman sums up her own view of the Patterson system for mass-producing novels as follows: “His modus operandi may be mocked by the literati, but his ability to think like a packager brings in millions of dollars a year.”

In my earlier blog  Who Really Writes The Songs That Make The Young Girls Cry, I quoted writer Elaine Glusac: “Writing is generally acknowledged to be an individual sport.  But in Nashville’s culture, they work as a team.”  That is an exact parallel, I pointed out, to the way a business uses a ghost blogger to bring its message and tell its story to as many customers and clients as possible, using the power of the Internet.  Whether it’s country music song, novels, or blogs, marketing a business or practice involves spreading the word.  Since so many professionals and business owners lack the time or the inclination to compose blogs, that’s where a professional ghost blogger handles what Patterson calls the “execution phase”. No mystery, higher search engine rankings.

I love making presentations, and am always reading the latest tips in the field of professional speaking.  But even if public speaking is last on your list of favorite things to do, Speaker Magazine’s November issue has some very valuable advice for business owners. Mike Rayburn warns speakers to stop being so busy and to start achieving, explaining that the secret of super-productivity is not doing more; it is doing less!

Here’s the crux of what Rayburn tells business owners to do: “Identify what you are good at and what energizes you the most, and then do more of those tasks.”  By focusing your time, attention, and energy on your strengths, he teaches, you will see your business take off.

The topic of which tasks must be done by the business owner him/herself, and which can be delegated, comes up quite often when I’m discussing blogging for business. As I brought out in one of my very first Say It For You blogs (see Ghost Blogging Gets The Girl), many celebrities and public figures used, in fact still do use, professional ghost writers for one simple reason: Despite having subject matter knowledge and valuable opinions to share with fans, readers, clients, customers, or colleagues, these VIPs are not confident in their own writing abilities.

When it comes to business owners, it’s often true that, even if they are competent writers, and even if they understand the value of business blogging for “winning search” and attracting online traffic to their business website, blogging is not what energizes them.

For many business owners, blogging’s a “minor thing” and they simply don’t want to major in it! The thing is, though, blogging has come very far from being a minor thing.  Piper Jaffray reports that the Internet has surpassed print yellow pages and newspapers combined as the primary local resource for consumers looking for services!

Blogging’s simply become too important an aspect of business marketing to ignore.  Enter the ghost blogger, devoting time and energy to the “minor” things that can have such a major impact on business.