Getting client to spend the time writing article of authority

[BobGW]

Hi, I've got an issue that I'm sure many of you are good at dealing with. I'm working with an authority in my client's industry. There is the president, who is definitely an authority. There is his wife, who has a name in the field, is an author in the field, but her name is not near as big as the president.

I found a really, really good topic for content that is attracting links in the industry - one of the best content topics possible which really needed to be addressed on my client's website.

I let them know that it needed to be an article of authority, but they had their assistant write it. It's good, she's talented - it's informative, interesting, has 2 embedded videos of the president talking, and is 1650 words. We haven't made the videos yet.

The thing is, doesn't this need to be written by the authority - president. He's a slow writer with zero time, but I think it needs to be his voice with his name on it to attract links.

He's super super busy though.

Should I:

1. Suggest that the president do a thorough editing of the article and put his name on it.

or

2. Have his wife (who has more time) do a thorough editing of the article and put her name on it.

or

3. Leave it as is

or

4. Have the president rewrite the entire article when he has time, which he would be resistant to.

or

5. Have the president's wife rewrite the entire article, which she would be resistant to?

What do you guys think with the little information I've given you?

[BobGW]

EGOL,

I am once again surprised and thankful for your common sense and words of experience.

I will take all of your advice.

Thank you.

[JVRudnick]

<grin>What Egol said is gospel.</grin>

Course....I live by the sword so I'd a just used the CEO 's byline....but yes, as he said, this is another way to go too!

[EGOL]

First, you should give thanks that you got something. 

You told the CEO and his accomplished wife that this was important content and they decided to delegate.  That's their decision, not yours.  They must trust this person to do a good enough job that they can post her work on the website and not be ashamed of it.  If they have a great reputation in the industry they will be picky about what represents them on their website.  She could be the next big author in this field.  So, I think that you should read what she wrote and be happy with it and the only reason that you should make a fuss is if there are obvious problems with the article that you can recognize as a third party.

Second, you got the CEO to be a talkin' head in a couple of videos that will be posted on this page.  So, slap that video above the fold, show the CEOs face in the video window annotated with his name and you got the next best thing to him writing the article.  You can also make a separate page that includes these two videos and their transcripts and they might bring in traffic.

Getting it wrapped up....  I would call the CEO or his wife and thank them for the article.  Tell them that you are getting ready to post it on the website and ask if they want to add anything else such as a photo or a graph or something.... then ask what they liked about the article to gauge how pleased they are with it.

What next?   Get the article posted and once it starts pulling some traffic get back in touch with them and ask for another article... then another... then another.   You might have opened a steady stream of content and this author will soon become the most widely read person in the industry.   Maybe she will become the equivalent to the Whiteboard Friday of the industry if she produces a stead stream of good content.

[Sika22]

I would at least try to get him to review it and say you want his name on it. If he won't or cannot review it then put it out there with his name on it anyway

[JVRudnick]

Depending upon the channel - the 'name' on the content can count BIG time....so I get your slant on this.

Me? I'd just put the CEO's name on it, period. If his rep carries that much channel juice, then you should ALWAYS go for the most you can get...i.e. just put his name on it....the author obviously works for him so no problem...

[Ray-pp]

I think that the most important piece is the content itself, not the author.

If you think that the author's name will be a main attraction (i.e. if the president has his name as the author it will be more attractive to link to) then it may be worth editing it to their liking and publish it under their name.

However, I don't think that is the advantage. The advantage is putting out quality content around the topic you've found. If you have it edited for the president, make sure they are willing and knowingly speaking as the subject originator. If there is something controversial in the article, it will be viewed as the president's opinion - which can have greater negative effect than positive.