There is one stumbling block that prevents many executives from ever being able to make an appearance on the social media scene – and that’s lack of time. Indeed, a question that’s asked over and over is: Where do you find the time? A very legitimate question. Time is sacred, fleeting, and hard to come by. Where is someone who barely has time to grab lunch going to start blogging, tweeting, facebooking and participating in social media? It’s a formidable venture to say the least.
Guy Kawasaki, managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, has managed to jump into social media marketing with both feet, while still keeping up with his many business ventures. If there is anyone who doesn’t have a lot of time in his day, it’s Guy Kawasaki, who is also founder of Alltop, a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine, and an author of nine books including his latest Reality Check. So where does he find the time?
Although he authors much of what he pushes out online, he’s also found a way to ensure his web presence remains strong even when time has escaped him. This is particularly important for Twitter, which is one social media platform that requires a whole lot of time. His solution? Use a ghostwriter.
Affectionately referred to as his ghosts, these are people who tweet for him. Though he’s caught some flack for these ghosts, in an interview with WebProNews.com, Kawasaki defends his Twitter strategy and actually makes some pretty valid points. One argument that struck a cord with me is: “At the end of the day, the ultimate test is not who tweeted it, as much as, is it interesting?” Why should it matter if a tweet was posted by Kawasaki or one of his ghosts? What’s important is that his followers find the tweet useful, engaging, interesting or whatever else they get from it. After all, simple, interesting and useful are the type of tweets that make Twitter so popular.
Tell
me what you think? Is having a ghost – or
a whole lot of them – a strategy for
you? Or does is it devalue your credibility in trying to build a strong web
presence. I’d like to know, so post your comments.

