100% Authentic
Mark Bennett has gone on the warpath against the practice of ghostblogging. His criticism of the "social media" is nothing new - he even started a blog devoted to it at Social Media Tyro. I must admit -until last week I ddn't even know there was such a thing as ghostblogging. I was quite surprised - for a number of reasons.
Since it seems to be a fairly common practice, I wanted to make sure everyone (all 4-5 of you) know that I write this myself. I probably don't need to say anything - you probably already figured out no one would pay for this. But I'l go ahead and claim the credit - everything on here is mine.
What surprises me about ghostblogging is why anyone would do it. I'll admit that when I first started blogging I was hopening to get marketing benefit from it. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't like to write and share information. For the same reason I write articles and lecture at CLE programs. I can't say that I've seen much benefit from a marketing standpoint - probably because I haven't made that a focus. I have enjoyed doing it though - and I think it's been a benefit to me. If I hadn't started blogging I may have never even heard of Mark Bennett.
What I don't understand is how ghostblogging jibes with the whole theory of social media. From what I have read, the idea of blogging is to give clients an opportunity to see how you think and what you know. Aren't you misrepresenting yourself when you use a ghostblogger? You may think you are reading the thoughts of a brilliant lawyer, when in fact they are bumbling idiot. It reminds me of the stories of people who put up someone's else picture on dating sites - big surprise when they actually meet. Imagine the client reading the work product of a lawyer who has used a ghostblogger.
So I quess we now have one more way to decieve potential clients. I love the internet and all the information available to us - but at the same time, you have to be careful what you believe. All I can do is assure is that here you are getting my thoughts - for whatever they are worth.
