The desire among corporate executives to post online in general and LinkedIn in particular has spawned a growing industry of ghostwriters, including my own company Principals Media.

There’s a good article explaining the dynamics that was published today by reporter Jemima McEvoy, a reporter for The Information. (Link in comments.)

The article makes these observations:

–LinkedIn now reaches almost a third of U.S. adults, making it more widely used than platforms such as Snapchat, Reddit, or X.

–Its function has expanded beyond job searches into a communication platform read by employees, investors, customers, and prospective hires.

–For founders, CEOs, and senior executives – particularly in tech and finance – the platform has become a way to share observations and updates.

–A growing number of executives work with outside writers or agencies to craft stories or manage their posts.

–Executive strategies emphasize consistency more than reach, with the goal of building familiarity versus chasing short-term virality.

–Executives tend to be interviewed on a regular basis, with the conversations used to surface concrete examples of decisions, and experiences that can be translated into short-form posts.

–The shift reflects a broader trend: people want to hear from executives directly instead of via articles in the mainstream media or press releases or corporate announcements.

I was quoted in the article. Jemima included this context about my business:

“Ted Merz started posting on LinkedIn around three years ago after losing his job as global head of news product at Bloomberg, where his position was eliminated after he spent more than three decades at the company. At first, Merz just considered LinkedIn a creative outlet, but as his posts started gaining traction, he started getting direct messages from others asking for help boosting their profiles.”

“As a former journo, Merz is perhaps somewhat biased when he says former reporters and editors make natural ghostwriters, since they “have a sense of what could make a good story,” he said. So he hires journalists who have worked for outlets like Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations as freelancers at his Principals Media—and he tries to pair them up with clients who come from the industry the journalists have covered.”

“Merz will interview his clients, many of whom are executives from Series A startups early in the process of building a brand, anywhere from once a month to a few times a month depending on their availability. (He declined to share how much these services cost.) He advises them to post at least once a week, with 80% of the content about work, while they reserve the other 20% to talk about more personal topics.”