How to Make Money as a Ghoswriter: The 7 Steps Strategy

In a world where busy professionals are increasingly finding it difficult to create time to write books, build thought leaderships or grow their brand, you could make money as a ghostwriter by offering them ghostwriting services that will get them to achieve these goals, at your own convenience.

A lot of writers like you have already taken on the journey to earn a living as a ghostwriter so you’ll never be alone if you were to start today but to make a mark in this industry; you have to understand how it works and then create a strategy that will deliver your success.

As a onetime ghostwriter who still ghostwrites once in a while, I’ll be sharing with you in this guide, the key insights, strategies and steps you can build a solid brand and start earning as a ghostwriter, a decent income from scratch.

What is Ghostwriting All About?

Ghostwriting is the process of writing for other people without taking credit for the work. The writing you will be doing as a writer could be anything from a blog post, articles, books, songs, pitchdeck etc.

What makes ghostwriting stand out is that as a ghostwriter, you’ll have to understand the perspective of your client and be able to write like they would or mirror their personality, thoughts, and sentiments etc. through the work you create for them.

Is Ghostwriting Legal?

Ghostwriting is a legal and honorable profession. As long as there is a clear cut agreement between you the writer and your client that is followed through to the letter, you don’t have anything to be worried about.

Steps to Earn a Living as a Ghost Writer

Now that we’ve cleared the introductory part, in the following paragraphs I’ll be sharing with you, the clear steps you can take to make money as a ghostwriter from scratch:

Find a Niche

A lot of experts will tell you things like to make money as a ghostwriter from scratch, write for anyone. Yes, you can find that all over the web. But, that’s not necessarily the best way to get started. In fact, you will struggle if you start out this way.

So what you want to do is to identify a niche that aligns with your experience, expertise or something you’re interested in learning about.

Starting in any of the niches listed above gives you a leverage that could get you grounded on your journey to success.

Take for example; if you want to be ghostwriting for brands in the tech industry because you already have an experience as a tech person, it becomes easy for you to pitch your experience as part of your unique selling point, when you’re approaching a client.

Asides making it easier for you to get the job, compared to a complete greenhorn, it also makes the writing process quite seamless because you’re writing in a familiar terrain. And this will improve the quality of your work, alongside your efficiency.

Another thing choosing a you’re familiar with does is that it give you an idea about censored topics, subject matters etc. and other things you have to avoid writing about in that industry.

This is because certain industries do have specific rules and regulations on certain subject matters like Law, Medicine, Fintech etc. so, you have to understand these industries through and through, if you want to build a successful ghostwriting career in any of them.

After choosing a niche, as you continue to grow in that niche, it becomes easier for you to build on your experience and successes, expand your client base and then launch onto other similar or outside niches.

Starting with a niche that does not align with your experience, skills or interest can take you a longer time to build a sustainable client base.

Create a Brand

It’s okay to have a niche but even after finding the right industry, to attract quality brands, you have to build a brand they can resonate with.

Remember your goal is to make money as a ghostwriter. And to do this, you have to work with top tier professionals so, you yourself has to be well positioned as a professional capable of delivering on the job. That’s why you have to fix your brand.

Considering that you already know your target audience. Find out, what kind of brands appeal to these kind of clients?

Let’s say you’re targeting tech leaders for example, and then you have to evolve a ghostwriting brand that is tech leaning. If you’re targeting clients in top tier professional industries like finance, medicine, law etc., you’ll also optimize your brand to appeal to this audience.

This means you’ll pay attention to things like your choice of social media platforms, preferred profile images on those platforms and online generally, your bio description and qualification presentation etc.

Done well, the right branding can get you in front of some of the top tier jobs out there.

Start Creating Content

If you were not writing before, this is when you’ll have to start writing. Write on your social media handles, websites, blogs and everywhere you can.

This is very important because you cannot make money as a ghostwriter without writing. It doesn’t matter if you’re ghostwriting music or writing songs for artiste, you have to start writing those songs.

If you’re in the general ghostwriting industry, write and share content that covers topics in the specific niche or industry you’re targeting.

Outside helping you to hone your writing skills, this also goes a long way in showcasing your work while also positioning you as someone with a track record in the industry.

Now, I’m not just asking you to write here, create content. Create strategic content, targeted at delivering on a specific outcome or solving a particular problem your audience is having.

To get the best out of this, you have to identify your audience first, figure out the kind of content they are looking for and then take steps to deliver that kind of content to them.

I want to add that this is also the stage where you get to write your own book, if you’re targeting authors. If your goal is to ghostwrite songs for artistes, here’s where you start writing your own songs.

Build a Portfolio

To make money as a ghostwriter, you need a solid portfolio that will showcase your expertise, experience and skills. This is the truth.

Agreed you may not necessarily have what it takes to build a portfolio as soon as you get started, but you can always start from somewhere. Yes.

So, start with getting yourself a website. Using your brand as already created in step two above, get a domain name and build a website that reflects exactly that brand, indicates your services, showcases your content.

If you’re just getting started without a number of past works to display on your portfolio, start with your content. Write solid content around your subject matter area and have them displayed on your website.

As soon as you’ve gotten this figured out, start writing your own books, songs, essays, white papers etc.

Whatever it is you’re aiming to offer as ghostwriting services you can earn from, showcase your experience in creating those services on your website. This is very important.

Where you can’t do this, you can offer free or voluntary ghostwriting services that can serve as a part of your portfolio especially in your early days.

Optimize for Visibility

Outside existing competition, to make money as a ghostwriter, you have to take adequate steps to optimize your brand for visibility.

You can start this with optimizing your website for the search engine, using the right keywords that align with the needs of your target audience.

Get the website all set up for visibility by optimizing all web pages, paying attention to on page, off page and technical search engine optimization strategies while also building back links to the website.

For the social media, understand the hashtags and content themes that appeals to your audience and then use this as part of your social media marketing setup.

Furthermore, you want to go ahead to create a content marketing strategy and then create and share content with your target audience using that strategy.

Using storytelling as part of your content marketing effort, you want to tell compelling stories that will get your audience to know you, like your brand and of course, trust your expertise.

Doing this gets you all set up for prime visibility on your website and across social media platforms.

Offer your Services

Now that you have a website with your portfolio all set up, it’s time to offer your ghostwriting services to clients and let the world know about what you offer because you truly can’t make money as a ghostwriter without offering your services.

Now to get started, you want to create a detailed service page on your website. Listing out the kind of ghost writing services you offer on your website on how you offer them.

Another way you’ll further do this is on your website’s home page where you’ll create compelling content with short, catchy phrases and captivating images to draw the attention of your audience.

Furthermore, you’ll create an “About Page” on your website which will captivatingly describe your brand, goals, experience and why clients should work with you.

You can also extend this to your social media handles. Create content that introduces you to your audience as a ghost writer and then follow up with content about your niche and other subjects that will benefit your audience in that industry.

All of this is aimed at positioning you as a ghostwriter that should be preferred over others.

Promote your Services

After creating your brand and website, the next step you want to take to make money as a ghostwriter is to promote your services.

Without promoting your services, it might be really difficult to attract an audience. In fact, no matter how good you are, people may not be able to patronize you unless they get to see you.

There are different ways to promote your services. This can be either by using free promotion options or going for paid promotions.

The free promotion options include options like using search engine optimization strategies, guest posting options, collaborations with other creators, social media marketing etc.

Using these strategies, you can promote your services and get them in front of potential clients around the world, free.

The good thing about the free promotion is the fact that it is fee. You’ll pay nothing in return for the visibility it brings. And the results is oftentimes more sustainable in the long term however it takes a long time coming in some cases.

So, you’ll have to put in a lot of work up front with the free promotional options.

Paid promotion on the other hand offers you the chance to promote your services at a cost, using advertising services from brands like Google PPC advertising, Social Media Advertising, third party website advertising, sponsored posts etc.

The advantage of using paid advertising is that it comes at a cost however the results can come in almost immediately. So, paid advertising options can give you a head start on the first few days if you have the money to spend on it. However it is more profitable to use it alongside organic promotion options so you can save cost in the long run.

Final Words

I’m glad you’ve finally learned what it takes and you’re about to earn a living as a ghostwriter but I want you to also keep in mind that it takes time to grow a successful career in any field so you must put in the work while waiting for the results of your effort to trickle in.

Also, you want to evaluate your strategy and outcomes from time to time. Find out how much of your expected outcomes are getting delivered and also, identify what is not working so you can re-strategize.

And when you’re not sure of your next steps, you can always reach out to experts for guidance.

Now, it’s over to you. What are your challenges when it comes to making a living as a ghostwriter? Drop your comments below.