Ready to turn your writing into cash? let’s ghostwrite!
Ghostwriting is one of the most flexible and well-paying writing jobs because it lets you work with a wide range of clients, produce useful content, and make a standard living while staying out of sight.
Starting a ghostwriting business may appear daunting to those new to the industry, but with the correct attitude, tools, and methods, you can develop a successful profession.
In this comprehensiveblog post, I’ll cover everything you need to know about how to start a ghostwriting business as a beginner—from acquiring key writing abilities to finding your first clients and setting the groundwork for long-term success.
What is Ghostwriting?
Ghostwriting is the process of authoring work that is credited to another person. The voice and style of the client are used by ghostwriters when they write blog posts, articles, books, and speeches. In this arrangement, the client gets credit for the content and the ghostwriter writes without getting credit for their work.
A lot of different types of businesses use ghostwriting services. Public personalities, professionals, entrepreneurs, and influencers frequently hire a ghostwriter to assist them with content development. Ghostwriters often write things like blog posts, speeches, books, marketing materials, and social media posts.
Autobiographies of famous people, political writings, and even best-selling books like Nancy Drew are all examples of well-known works that were ghostwritten. If you want to start a ghostwriting business, you’ll help clients put their thoughts into words, tell their stories, and write content for different platforms.
Why Start a Ghostwriting Business?
There are many reasons to start a ghostwriting business, especially for writers who want to make a decent living and have some freedom with their schedules:
- High Demand: People and companies need excellent content all the time but don’t have the time or skills to write it themselves. This creates a significant demand for ghostwriter services.
- Lucrative Income: As you get more experience and take on more difficult jobs like writing books for business leaders or famous people, ghostwriting can be a very profitable job.
- Flexibility: You can choose your own clients, work from anywhere, and make your own plan when you ghostwrite.
- Diverse Opportunities: As a freelance ghostwriter, you will be able to work on a variety of projects, ranging from blog posts and articles to long-form writing such as books and speeches.
Step 1: Hone Your Writing Skills
Making sure you’re good at writing is important before you start working with clients. Ghostwriting necessitates adaptability—the ability to write in several voices and generate high-quality content in a variety of formats.
Here’s how you can enhance your writing talents while starting your ghostwriting business:
- Write Every Day: The most important thing is to keep at it. Regularly writing blog posts, articles, or short stories will help you improve your style.
- Learn How Different People Write: Since ghostwriting often means writing in the client’s style, learn how famous people, bloggers, and authors write. Find out how they write and how they keep people interested.
- Take Writing Courses: Sites like Coursera and Udemy offer online courses that can help you improve your writing and rewriting skills.
- Get Feedback: Share your work with peers or mentors to receive constructive feedback that will help you develop your craft.
Step 2: Build a Portfolio
When you first start out, your resume is one of the most important parts of your ghostwriting business. It shows how good a writer you are and how well you can write in different ways and styles. To make an exceptional portfolio, do these things:
- Create Sample Work: If you haven’t done this before, make sample pieces that show how flexible you are. Show case your skills by writing blog posts, papers, or short stories.
- Offer Free or Low-Cost Services: To build your portfolio, you could offer discounted services to small businesses or people. When you’re just starting out, client comments and testimonials are very helpful.
- Highlight Strengths: Don’t worry about what you’re not good at, like writing blog posts, long papers, or ghostwriting books.
- Set Up an Online Portfolio: You can use Hostinger, Clippings.me or Wix to make an online portfolio of your work that possible clients can look at.
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Step 3: Set Your Rates
When you first start your ghostwriting business, it’s important to set rates that are competitive. As a freelancer, you want to get clients and get paid fairly for your job. Here’s how to set the price of your services:
- Research Market Rates: Check out how much other ghostwriters charge. Fiverr and Upwork are good places to start to find out how much people charge to ghostwrite blog posts and books.
- Models for pricing:
- a. Hourly Rate: Most short jobs are done on an hourly rate. Based on how much work they have to do, beginners usually charge $15 to $50 an hour.
- b. Per Word: These prices are per word, and they work best for longer pieces like books and stories. Beginners can expect to pay between 0.05 and 30 cents per word.
- c. Project-Based Rate: Costs depend on the project’s complexity. If you’re writing a book as someone else, you should charge a flat fee. For instance, your price could range from $1,000 to $10,000, based on how many books the client wants and their needs.
- Factor in Complexity: Take complexity into account. Because they require more study and skill, more difficult projects, like writing a technical whitepaper or a business book, should command higher rates.
- Be Open to Negotiation: When you first start out, be open with your prices. You could give savings to people who work with you again or on long-term projects.
Step 4: Find Ghostwriting Clients
One of the hardest things about starting a ghostwriting business is getting clients. But if you do things the right way, you can get a lot of clients. Look in these places:
Platforms for freelancers:
- Fiverr: If you want to start your own business writing blog posts, articles, and short files, Fiverr is a great place to do it.
- Upwork: You can send proposals that are tailored to the needs of the client to apply for freelance ghostwriting jobs on Upwork.
- Job Boards: Websites like ProBlogger and PeoplePerHour often list writing and editing jobs. Look for jobs that fit your hobbies and skills.
- Networking: For networking, join writing boards or groups on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. Making connections with other writers and content makers can help you get work as a ghostwriter and get leads.
- Cold Pitching: Look into small businesses, entrepreneurs, and leaders who might need help making content, and send them personalized pitches about your services.
- Ask for Referrals: Don’t be afraid to ask happy clients for referrals after a job is done. Word-of-mouth advertising is a great way to get new customers.
Step 5: Setting Up Your Ghostwriting Business
There’s more to starting a ghostwriter business than just writing. You’ll have to be professional with contracts, billing, and talking to clients. To be successful, do these things:
- Choose a Structure for Your Business: Choose whether to run your business as a sole owner or form an LLC. By keeping your personal and work assets separate, an LLC gives you more security.
- Use Contracts: Outline the work to be done, how it will be paid for, and when it needs to be done in a contract. It’s good for both you and your business to have contracts.
- Invoicing: To send business bills, use billing software like FreshBooks. Make sure the services, payment terms, and due dates are all clear.
- Project Management Tools: As your business grows, use Trello or Asana to keep track of all your clients and goals.
Step 6: Marketing Your Ghostwriting Business
You need to sell your ghostwriting services well if you want to get clients. To help you stand out, here are some ideas:
- Make a website: Your website is one of the most important ways to show case your work and get possible clients. Build a professional website with tools like Hostinger, WordPress or Wix that show case your skills and make it easy for clients to get in touch with you. Get a 20% discount on Hostinger plans! Get 20% off Hostinger when you use my referral link. Start building your website right away!
- Leverage Social Media: To get people to know about your ghostwriting business, use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Spread blog posts, writing tips, and success stories from clients to get more people to trust you.
- Blogs: Writing blog posts about ghostwriting, making content, and writing techniques can help you become known as an expert and get clients.
- SEO: To get more people to see your website and blog on search engines, use relevant SEO terms like “hire a ghostwriter,” “ghostwriting services,” and “freelance ghostwriter.”
The Final Thoghts: Start Your Ghostwriting Business Today
Starting a ghostwriting business from scratch can be a fun and profitable way to make a living. You can get freelance writing jobs on sites like Fiverr and Upwork, improve your writing skills, make a resume, set fair rates, and start getting clients right away. Don’t forget to use a website and social media to sell your services well. You can build a successful ghostwriting business if you don’t give up and work hard.