Free Assessment: How does your sales & marketing measure up?

Get Started
Close

Free Assessment:

How does your sales & marketing measure up?
Take this free, 5-minute assessment and learn what you can start doing today to boost traffic, leads, and sales.
Get Started
Inbound Marketing  |   Content Marketing  |   Content Managers

How to Ghostwrite Content for a Subject Matter Expert

John Becker

By John Becker

Mar 20, 2023

How to Ghostwrite Content for a Subject Matter Expert

As a content marketer, it’s your responsibility to share the knowledge, insights, opinions, and expertise of your company with your audience — typically through blog articles, but also podcasts, videos, and so on. 

You stand as a primary ambassador for your brand, guaranteeing that the content published checks all the boxes.

  • Answering customer questions
  • Building trust
  • Optimizing for search

To do this, you need to be the creator who harnesses the knowledge of busy subject matter experts and catapults it into the world.  

In many cases, this means writing content in their voice. 

So, how do you do it?

Writing as others

One of the most challenging parts of your job will likely be ghostwriting as a team member. To do so, you need to consciously not sound like yourself, which is weird and liberating at the same time. 

ghostwriting

When I need to do this, I follow the seven steps I lay out below.

1. Agree on a topic and clear up logistics

Just like with any interview, ghostwriting begins with making the subject feel comfortable with the whole process.

The subject should know the process and trust you.

Start by setting up a pre-meeting or phone call — or at least an email or Slack conversation — to set the parameters.

Assure them that they will have final say over any content published under their name and that they can be as involved in every step of the process as they’d like.

In most cases, the subject is likely exceedingly busy and, thus, will be appreciative of your help. However, wariness is not uncommon. It is the responsibility of the writer (meaning you) to put the subject at ease before any writing begins. 

Other pre-writing logistics involve setting a time for an interview and agreeing on a topic, which might be something chosen by the marketing team or suggested by the subject themselves. 

2. Create a 'style guide'

When writing as someone else, I create a style guide before I begin.

I know it sounds like a pain, but your future self will thank you, I promise.  

Start by doing some research.

Ideally, you would have some of their written work to go by, maybe previous blog posts or articles. Even a few emails can suffice. 

If your subject is a company leader, perhaps you have heard them speak at meetings or other events. 

Either way, before you even write questions, start a blank document with an outline of how the person sounds, and what their writing looks like.

Here’s an example:

SME-style-guide-john-becker-impact

I try to get down general ideas about how the person sounds — style, tone, and phrases — as well as some common phrasings

This helps in two ways.

  • First off, the process of creating it forces you to scrutinize the subject's work and articulate what makes it different from someone else’s.
  • Second, the guide is a quick reference that you can read over before drafting or while revising. 

The small details that I’ve accumulated in my guide can be used to drop in a phrase or tweak a sentence. 

3. Write questions (which will also serve as an outline)

When you’ve decided on a topic, write a series of questions for your subject. I say questions, but these are really more prompts. 

You want to establish a trajectory that you think the eventual article might follow, but leave room for exploration. Do the necessary research to gain an understanding of the topic at hand, but be prepared for potential diversions.

Once you reach this point, prepare much the same way you would for an interview, only with more structure. 

After you write your questions, run them by the subject. However, when ghostwriting, put the questions into an outline under headings that will become H2s in the final piece. 

For example: 

Screenshot 2023-02-07 at 3.49.54 PM

You can see I've laid out my topics and the order — as well as some notes. 

In general, we'll both keep this document open while we’re talking and it becomes a sort of road map that we can each check as needed.

4. Conduct the interview

I’ve written elsewhere about the skills necessary to complete great interviews. The same rules apply here, but the interview itself feels a bit looser. 

When interviewing for a ghostwritten piece, try to feel more comfortable following tangents. A standard interview demands cogent, well-crafted questions, but an interview for a ghostwritten piece can be more like a discussion. 

In turn, the subject tends to feel more at ease — and the process will feel more collaborative.

When I interview for ghostwriting, I will frequently jump in to ask for clarification, push the discussion in a direction that feels essential, or keep us from running too long.

Honestly, the shorter the better.

ghostwriting-process

In order to prevent biting off more than you can chew, I recommend not doing more than a 30-minute interview. A shorter interview keeps the topic manageable.

I always record the interview and use a service (like Rev) to prepare a transcript.

5. Write a rough draft

After you’ve assembled your style guide, your transcript, and any other information you need, you should begin drafting.

My earnest advice for drafting a ghostwritten piece is this: Don’t over-plan. Don’t overthink. Let the magic happen.

Keep your subject in mind as you pursue your topic, but don’t impede the writing process with relentless analysis.

Ghostwriting-advice

Don’t confuse writing as someone else with producing a forgery. Although you have been asked to produce something that imitates their voice, you were given this task because of your writing ability. 

Your skill should blend with their subject matter expertise in a collaboration. Sprinkle in elements that mimic the subject’s style, but remember that it is your job to help deliver their knowledge in the most effective way possible. Trust your ability.

6. Ask for feedback

It is critical that your subject have frequent opportunities for input. Once you’ve drafted and edited, share the document . Allow your subject to make suggestions and edits. 

In my experience, subjects are so glad to have the onus of article writing removed from their busy schedule they will be tremendously appreciative of your hard work. Very rarely will you encounter a subject interested in micromanagement or trivialities.

If you have a particular section you struggled with, leave comments in the document (I recommend Google Docs for this) to help guide the feedback process. 

7. Take the article over the finish line

You have been asked to write as someone else. This means your company trusts you and your voice. It is critical that you allow your subject to provide feedback on the draft, but don’t feel the need to involve them in minutiae. 

Once you’ve had them approve the overall direction of the piece, you don’t need to contact them again to permit you to make minor changes, tweak formatting, add links, or amend a header.

ghostwriting-editing

Polish the piece to your company’s standards and get it ready for publication. 

Taking the fright out of ghostwriting

No matter the reason, writing for someone else is a responsibility that requires both your skill and your judgment. 

If you try to internalize some of their linguistic mannerisms and convey the information you’ve garnered from your interview, the product will naturally be a fair representation of their content and style. 

It doesn't have to be scary. Trust your instincts. 

As long as you write with your subject’s voice in your head, trust your own ability to structure, pace, and organize your article.

Then, when it comes time to finalize the piece and you get the go-ahead from your subject, slap his or her name on there. Your subject’s voice and expertise will be broadcast, and you will have taken a time-consuming task off of someone’s plate.

No one will be the wiser and you will have done a great service to your team. 

Free Assessment:

How does your sales & marketing measure up?
Take this free, 5-minute assessment and learn what you can start doing today to boost traffic, leads, and sales.

Related Articles

How to Humanize Your Content While Using AI

September 11, 2023
Mandy York Mandy York

What is the Inbound Marketing Funnel? (+ Examples)

July 27, 2023
Anj Bourgeois Anj Bourgeois

Inbound Marketing vs. Content Marketing: What's the Difference? 

July 3, 2023
Brian Casey Brian Casey

Word-of-Mouth is Fragile; Here's How to Build Market Durability

May 10, 2023
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

9 Best Customer Feedback Tools for Businesses of Every Size

March 27, 2023
John Becker John Becker

How to Ghostwrite Content for a Subject Matter Expert

March 20, 2023
John Becker John Becker

What Happens When You Don't Have Buy-in for Your Inbound Strategy?

March 9, 2023
John Becker John Becker

Content Marketing in 2023: Principles, Platforms, and Content Distribution

January 4, 2023
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

How To Set Content Marketing Goals for Growth

December 29, 2022
Brian Casey Brian Casey

Inbound Marketing for Logistics Companies (Transportation and Warehousing)

December 8, 2022
John Becker John Becker

How Much Does Inbound Marketing Cost in 2023?

November 28, 2022
John Becker John Becker

How To Grow Your Email List: 13 Savvy Tips To Try in 2023

November 22, 2022
John Becker John Becker

7 Inbound Marketing Strategy Mistakes that Will Cost You in 2023

October 19, 2022
John Becker John Becker

Inbound Marketing for Construction Companies

June 11, 2022
John Becker John Becker

What is the Inbound Marketing Methodology?

June 8, 2022
Allison Melnik Allison Melnik

Inbound Marketing for Staffing Agencies

May 28, 2022
John Becker John Becker

Green Energy Inbound Marketing Strategy: The DIY Approach to Getting More Customers

May 7, 2022
John Becker John Becker

IMPACT+ for Business vs. the They Ask, You Answer Mastery Program

April 15, 2022
John Becker John Becker

Inbound Marketing for Franchises: Attracting Your Audience

March 25, 2022
Carolyn Edgecomb Carolyn Edgecomb

3 Surefire Signs Your Content Is Hitting the Wrong Audience

March 18, 2022
John Becker John Becker

Inbound Marketing for Higher Education

March 11, 2022
John Becker John Becker

Starting a Business Blog? Features and Best Practices for Success in 2022

March 10, 2022
John Becker John Becker

11 Books Every Black Sales and Marketing Professional Should Read in 2022

March 5, 2022
John Becker John Becker

Commercial Real Estate Inbound Marketing Strategy: The Simple Way to Get More Customers

March 4, 2022
John Becker John Becker

Inbound Marketing for Financial Services Providers and Financial Advisors (+ examples)

February 19, 2022
John Becker John Becker