Starting a Ghostwriting Business: Is It Worth It?

As a social media ghostwriter, I've made over $50,000 in one month. From the opportunities it's created for me, I've made $250,000 per month. And I've taught 120+ students how to make their own living.

The best part? It's all location-independent work.

So, yes. Starting a ghostwriting business is worth it.

In fact, it changed my life.

Evolution of ghostwriting services

A ghostwriter is a highly specialized type of freelance writer who creates content for others without receiving recognition or credit for their work. They write in their client's writing style, and the client publishes it as if it were their own.

This field has traditionally been reserved for fiction writing, memoirs, and celebrity autobiographies.

Now, self-publishing is all the rage. And today's 20-somethings are basically iPad kids.

Everyone's addicted to the internet, so that's where money changes hands in the modern world.

• Email newsletters
• Blog posts
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Course scripts
• Sales pages

For someone already running a business, spending time even thinking about these things is too much.

So when they find freelance writers who do it better than them, they're willing to pay good money.

Setting up your ghostwriting service

A ghostwriting company is the same as any other freelance writing business. You'll need to:

• Set up an LLC
• Create a basic logo and company name (or, use your own name)
• Build a simple, one-page website (Carrd is a good site to start with — it's $19 per year)
• Download tools for client delivery, project management, and invoicing
• Create a standard ghostwriting contract
• Build an offer ("You get X, Y, and Z for $3,000 per month")

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">5 copywriting tools I use to run my ghostwriting business: <a href="https://t.co/i13igDev8Y">pic.twitter.com/i13igDev8Y</a></p>&mdash; Dakota Robertson (@WrongsToWrite) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrongsToWrite/status/1659465816016814080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Once you've laid the groundwork, purge your social media profile. Make it look like you've been doing this for years.

• That "funny" tweet you made 3 years ago? Nobody's laughing anymore.
• That cool party you went to a few weeks ago? It can only make you look bad.

People who say "social media doesn't matter" aren't entrepreneurs. You have to clean up your (virtual) act so you can publish content and build the network that'll make you money.

Skills you need to start a ghostwriting business

Calling ghostwriting "writing services" is a bit misleading. In reality, there's a lot more to the ghostwriting process than that.

All successful ghostwriters have the following areas down to a tee:

• Platform-specific writing — for example, how to write Twitter threads, SEO-optimized blog posts, or LinkedIn carousels
• Growth algorithm expertise you'll use to publish optimized content and build an engaged audience
• Interpersonal skills, because you'll never convince business leaders and influencers to fork over thousands of dollars per month unless you're a cool guy or gal
• Active listening, which you'll use to understand their vision and dive into their writing style
• Creativity to translate that vision into awesome content they're happy to post
• Project management manage multiple clients at once and track KPIs
• Self-discipline to wake up and get work done every day, manage your time, and hold yourself accountable

You also have to be a well-rounded consultant. Your clients should be 10x smarter because they have you in their corner.

How do you find ghostwriting clients?

I have a whole article on how to find copywriting clients. It applies to you as a freelance ghostwriter.

There are three main places to find new clients:

• Cold email
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Email is more of a numbers game than social media.

If I were you, I'd publish content and start networking on LinkedIn and/or Twitter in tandem with launching your business (especially if your ghostwriting service revolves around one of these platforms).

The first step is to optimize your profile. To show you what I mean, let's dissect Chase Dimond's.

Everything about this Twitter profile is perfect for business.

Up top, his header is bright, eye-catching, and makes it clear what he does. It also includes social proof and contact information.

Below, every element of his bio is conversion-optimized. He reinforces his social proof, states in plain English what he actually does, and finishes with a clear CTA.

He even gets creative by setting his 'location' to a second CTA.

By the way, he does this for his LinkedIn profile, too (with ultimate consistency).

The rest is all cold outreach. When doing this, remember it’s is the first representation of your writing abilities.

Don't embarrass yourself like this:

Be simple, direct, casual, and personable. Not a bot who uses phrases like “quite active.”

And definitely do your research.

Growing your ghostwriting business from zero

All the best ghostwriting companies start somewhere. But cracking into the ghostwriting industry can feel like an impossible task.

Here's what you need to know about scaling your business:

• Hire a VA. Once you have systems in place, offload the admin stuff that has nothing to do with writing (sending invoices, setting up new clients in your project management, etc.)
• Always be prospecting. There's no such thing as 100% retention.
• Grow your own personal brand. This makes client acquisition 10x easier for most ghostwriters, and creates other opportunities for you (like selling a coaching program or ghostwriting course).

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