Ghost Writing for a Business Blogging Client: Writing Style Tips

Starting your own blog is an excellent way to showcase your own writing style, independent from work that has been commissioned by clients. It’s your own space on the Internet where you are free to write as yourself and not in the parameters ordered by someone else. There is certainly something freeing in working on your own projects for a change, and this is also a good way to promote your writing business and attract new clients who may be interested in hiring you for some business blogging.

This type of writing can be lucrative, and business clients need to have their blogs updated regularly. Once you attract some of these types of clients, you have the potential to have steady work. Ghost writing for a business client’s blog is not the same as updating your personal blog, though; the two types of blog writing require different styles.

Writing Style Tips for Business Blogs

1. Visit the client’s website and review it in detail.

Before you start to write anything for a new business blogging client, you need to get to know who you will be writing for. When you are writing for a company’s blog, you are acting as the “voice” for the company and you need to make sure that your posts have the right tone. Pay special attention to the “About Us” page; this is where you will find the details of what makes this business different from the other ones operating in the marketplace.

2. Check out previous blog to get an idea of overall post style.

Unless you are creating the blog and writing the introductory post, review the previous posts.

• Are all posts approximately the same length?
• Do all of them include a distinct call to action, or does it depend on the subject of the post?
• How many subheadings does the client prefer for the blog posts?
• Do a quick title review to see whether there are certain words or phrases that come up repeatedly – you may want to ask whether these are topics that you should be focusing on for the blog.
• Look to see whether you can pick out any obvious areas that have not been covered that should have been, and diplomatically bring it to your client’s attention. “On conducting an initial review of your website, I noticed that you don’t seem to have a lot of content on “X” yet, shall I add it to my list of topics to focus on for you?”

3. Choose a “voice” for your business blog writing.

Your next step is to determine the right voice when you are writing for your client. It needs to be appropriate for the type of business you are writing for. This means more than making sure that you use appropriate terminology for the industry you will be writing about; you also need to write as if you are a representative of the company.

What are customers/clients looking for from you? How can you give them the information they need to solve a problem they are having or help them make a decision that will bring them closer to buying from the company? Write from the company owner or an employee’s point of view; not someone sitting outside the company and looking in – I find it helpful when blogging to picture myself having a conversation with someone in the same room, no matter which client I happen to be working with at the time. This strategy helps me to keep blogging separate from article writing, which I find to be a bit more removed from the reader and less likely to be written in a conversational tone.

4. Consider your reader’s needs when writing your blog posts.

When you choose topics and write blog posts for your business clients, you also need to switch sides in the conversation and put yourself in the place of the person who will be reading your posts. If you are blogging for a car dealership, you’ll want to consider the specific needs of someone who is looking to buy a new or used vehicle.

• What information would they need to make a decision about a car?
• How do they know that a particular dealership is reputable?
• Does a driver’s age make a difference in the type of car they are looking for?
• What new safety features are manufacturers developing that drivers may be interested in?
  …and more

Blogging for a personal injury lawyer may require a different tone to your posts. You would have to keep in mind that people browsing that type of site are under they are likely in pain and may not know the full extent of their injuries, and they are more than likely experiencing a high level of personal and financial stress following their accident. These potential clients want to be reassured that they will have someone who can look at their case, be on their side and offer them help.

While any blog posts cannot offer legal advice, they would have to have a calm, reassuring tone that potential clients can relate to so that they will contact the attorney to get their case reviewed. In each instance, you need to figure out what the reader is looking for when visiting the blog, and then writing in the right tone as if that person were sitting in the room opposite you.

If you ever get bogged down when blogging for business clients, just ask yourself two questions:

What makes this company different?
What do its customers want?

The answers will help you get back on track.

Image Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net