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What The Heck Is A "Ghost Editor" And Why Do I Need One?

As a small business owner, I understand the time, dedication, and passion required to establish and operate a successful enterprise. I know how challenging it can be to write or curate meaningful content for your blog or website. Read this short article to learn how a ghost editor can help your small business.

YOUR BOOKISH WAYS BUSINESSWRITING

KJL

3 min read

person in a white sheet dressed as a ghost in a field
person in a white sheet dressed as a ghost in a field

Have you ever handed out a business card and been asked, "Do you have a website?" If your answer is "No," consider that customers might question whether your business truly exists.

A prospective customer may ask this because they want to learn more about you and what you do, too - and gauge whether or not they can trust your business. Trust is a precious commodity, so creating a user-friendly website with helpful information is like rolling out the red carpet for a potential customer. Think of your business website as a welcome sign; it's a customer's first impression of your business and of you as an owner. A website requires regular content to remain relevant and appeal to consumers. This includes creating new long-form blog articles and promoting them with engaging social media posts to increase your website's visibility and attract new customers.

Or perhaps you have a website but still find it challenging to market and expand its reach? If so, you're not alone. One of the biggest obstacles for all small businesses is gaining visibility in a market dominated by powerful brands that hold the top spots in Google searches. The competition is tough, but the good news is that this cloak of invisibility can be overcome simply and cheaply by creating meaningful online content. Consistently.

Communicating your business's uniqueness through your website, blog, and social media content is critical. Doing so establishes you as a trusted industry expert and builds a loyal customer base. Your "who" and "why" will ultimately set you apart from a sea of online businesses and authors.

On average, websites with a blog receive 55% more visits than websites without one.

Wait. You aren't consistently publishing fresh, quality content on your website and sharing it on social media? Say it isn't so! Did you know you are missing out on a valuable opportunity to boost your online presence and improve your website's search engine ranking? The quality of the content you publish on your website should be equitable to the worth of your product, book or service and monitored with analytics to ensure the desired outcome. Well-researched, relevant and entertaining information is like...gold!

"But Kim, I have no time!" you say.

Translation: "I understand the importance of having an optimized website. I like to write but don't have the time to manage content."

Or maybe, "Eww, please don't make me write."

Queue the trumpets: the savvy ghost editor has entered the room!

Why would you need a "ghost editor?"

Customers do notice and care whether a business uses proper grammar and spelling:

96.5% of respondents said that grammar mistakes influence the image of a person

97.2% said grammar mistakes influence the image of a company

94% of US respondents claim to be attentive to grammar

Poorly written content is worse than no content at all. It can damage your business's credibility. So, unless you're sure your customers are part of the 2.8% who don't mind grammar mistakes, it's best to avoid them altogether, which is why you need a handy-dandy ghost editor!

Curating content for your website or blog is an excellent option for providing valuable customer information.

Content curation (aggregation) can also be an effective way for small business owners to add much-needed content to their websites and blogs without creating it themselves from scratch. Incorporating this methodology into your overall marketing strategy will add variety to your content while helping you build relationships with other businesses.

The caveat is that while curating original content will save you time in the creation process, researching and curating can be a tedious, time-consuming prospect. Content curation is not as simple as randomly choosing a few posts from another site and sharing them occasionally. Effective curation requires a plan: first, you must identify your target audience and a content type it will find interesting. Then, you have to locate and study content from reliable sources within your specific industry.

Consistency is important here, so scheduling blog or social media curation is highly advantageous. When "borrowing" content, it's crucial to credit the original content creator (s) by linking the source to its origin and providing proper attribution (giving credit where credit is due). In doing this, you will avoid a claim of plagiarism and build solid relationships with other brands and influencers within your respective industry.

These ghost editors sound almost magical, so where can I find one?

I collaborate with small business owners and entrepreneurs to enhance their online presence by crafting and editing content for their websites, blogs, and social media. You provide the ideas; I'll transform them into engaging content while you take all the credit. Your business can thrive despite the dinosaurs parked at the top of the Google Search algorithm, and you will have more time as a business owner to do what you're most passionate about (but currently have no time for): running your business.

And that is priceless.