In my business, I write for others – web content, marketing materials. Whatever it is, I’m writing up information to get the word out about my clients.
So, when someone else writes for you, how much disclosure do you need?
Most people don’t expect business owners to write all of their own website content or marketing material. Boilerplate templates, website designers and marketing people do that. But as a business owner, you are certainly responsible for the content that is on your site – whether it’s marketing material or not.
But what about your blog? If you have a blog are you required to write your own material? Or if you have a ghost blogger, do you need to disclose that to your readers?
As the fight for search engine ranking continues, blogs appear to be a great way to get there. So the idea of hiring others to write your business blog for you really isn’t much of a leap.
But what about our readers? Do blog readers actually expect that business owners write all of their own blog entries?
In a world that’s pretty much driven by marketing, it’s scary if you believe that people are that naive. But regardless of what readers believe, the ultimate burden of content needs to be on the blog owner. The material you provide should have value for your readers and it shouldn’t misrepresent what your business is capable of doing.
Copyright 2010 by I Write The Words
LinkedIn
Twitter
Facebook
Email