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What to Ask When Hiring a Ghostwriter

September 1, 2020 by Cathy Stucker

Hiring a ghostwriter for your business is the easiest way to gain more time in your busy schedule so you can focus on coaching your clients, attracting new clients, or creating that signature program you’ve been longing to complete for years. However, finding the right ghostwriter for your needs can be a time-consuming journey, one which requires you to ask a lot of questions and be clear on what tasks you need completed.

Here are 5 key questions you should ask when hiring a ghostwriter:

1. What experience do you have?

Anyone can put a website online and claim to be a ghostwriter so you need to play detective here and decipher if this candidate truly has the experience or if they’re a scam artist. Any professional writer should be willing to supply references and samples of their work. At the very least, check out their blog and read a few posts. Are the thoughts clear? Are the grammar and syntax correct? You can even go so far as to copy and paste part of the blog post into Google or Copyscape to check for plagiarism (which, obviously, is a big no no in the online and real life world).

2. Do you have a specialty genre?

In general, writers can write on a variety of topics, from traveling with toddlers to deep sea fishing, but ultimately you want a ghostwriter who truly knows your business inside and out and who can convey your professional voice through every word of copy. Do you really want to train a travel writer about the ins and outs of a coaching business? Do you want give a fashion writer the assignment of writing follow up emails to your clients? Chances are these specialty writers wouldn’t apply for this type of project anyway but it never hurts to ask. Otherwise, you may get charged for many hours of research when a writer who has small business or coaching experience could write off the tops of their heads.

3. Is English your native language?

This question is not meant to discriminate in the least; it’s simply meant to qualify candidates. After all, if this ghostwriter is meant to portray your voice throughout the website copy or in your signature program, it stands to reason the writer should have an expertise in your native tongue, right? You’re outsourcing the writing for a reason…to save you time. If you choose a writer who is fluent in another language, you run the risk of having to do a lot of editing so the copy sounds like you instead of someone who is still trying to master the nuances of the English language. There are certainly bilingual and multilingual writers who can write well in English but the question is worth asking so there are no surprises. That being said, I have worked with some really good writers who English was not their first language. So, ask, and then test them out.

4. What is your fee?

This question can be tricky simply because ghostwriting fees vary tremendously! To prepare for this question, it benefits you to know what tasks you’re looking to outsource right away. The fees to write individual blog posts will differ considerably compared with ghostwriting a specialty program. The same for ghostwriting an ebook versus rewriting your website copy. Do your own research ahead of time and determine a budget for each of the tasks so you can also approach this question from a project fee and see who’s willing to work for that fee. A word of warning, however: you get what you pay for. Don’t simply go for the cheapest ghostwriter you can find. You’ll likely get lots of mistakes or need to hold their hand while they run everything by you for approval.

5. What is your turnaround time?

Keep in mind that ghostwriters have multiple clients, much like you have multiple coaching clients, so it’s unfair and unreasonable to expect assignments to be completed in 24 hours. Another question to ask here is do they have a rush fee if you do need something turned around faster. This is another time when having a calendar of tasks will benefit you because you can then discuss your first deadline with the candidates and ask who is able to complete it by then.

Your Personal Ghostwriting Team

If you find a personal ghostwriter is out of your budget at the moment or it’s just too darned much hassle, take advantage of the personal ghostwriting team at CoachGlue.com and all of the done-for-you content they create. ALL of the content you purchase from CoachGlue can be edited, your name put on it, your website and contact info added, your personal case studies added…it’s all yours to do what you wish. They offer many packages to suit your needs and this is a great way to experiment with outsourcing your writing. They’re available to help you move ahead in your business! From done-for-you blog posts to entire workshops, they’ve got you covered.

Filed Under: Productivity and Time Management, Running Your Business, Writing and Publishing Tagged With: building a team, delegating, ghostwriter, ghostwriting

How to Write Every Day

September 4, 2015 by Cathy Stucker

write-everydayWrite more and you will become a better writer, more proficient and more productive. But the benefits of writing every day go beyond honing your writing skills.

I know that I think better, and I function better, when I write regularly.

Writing clarifies my thinking. Taking the random bits that are floating around my head and putting them on the page is incredibly helpful.

When you write a lot, you have to come up with ideas to write about. That causes you to pay more attention to what is happening around you. Suddenly, everything you see, hear and experience becomes something you can write about.

Writing every day creates discipline. Doing anything every day will cause you to become more disciplined, but writing is especially powerful.

There are lots of ways to get in the writing habit. Here are some things that work for me, and that might work for you, too.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Writing and Publishing Tagged With: good habits, writing

Should You Hire a Ghostwriter?

June 1, 2015 by Cathy Stucker

need-a-ghostwriterWe are definitely in the information age. With the Internet and self-publishing at an all-time high, more people are interested in looking into the possibility of hiring a ghostwriter. The more content you can produce online, the better chance you have of making a substantial income using the Internet. Hiring a ghostwriter might be the best thing for you, or it might not be necessary at all. How do you know whether you need to hire a ghostwriter?

One of the main reasons why you might want to hire a ghostwriter is if you’re not a good writer. Not everyone is a good writer, so don’t try to make yourself into one if you’re not. If you absolutely abhor the thought of having to sit down and write a book or even an article, you would benefit from the services of a trained ghostwriter. If you have terrible spelling skills and you don’t know much about grammar, this is another reason why you might want to hire a ghostwriter.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Writing and Publishing Tagged With: ghostwriter

Easy Content Idea Generator

February 10, 2014 by Cathy Stucker

Sometimes the hardest part of writing an article, blog post or report is coming up with the topic and title. However, there is a free online tool that can help you the next time you need to write something and you are fresh out of ideas.

Watch this video to see how it works: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blogging, Writing and Publishing Tagged With: blog post ideas, content ideas, idea generator, online tools, titles

Where Can I Hire Good Writers?

July 5, 2013 by Cathy Stucker

find-writersA recent post about ghostwriters caused some readers to ask where they could find people to write for them. Here are some tips and resources to help you hire writers.

Creating enough content to keep your blog current, post to social media and create new products can be hard, especially if you are trying to do it all yourself. If you are finding it hard to keep up, maybe it is time to hire some writers.

It’s hard to find people who can write, especially if you want people to write in your voice. That can be darn near impossible. But here are some suggestions on where you might be able to find some people to do some writing for you at different price points.

If you want really, really cheap writers, yes, you can get really, really cheap writers. They’re not necessarily going to be good and reliable. So consider that part of what is going to determine the quality of the writing you get is how much you pay.

Paying a lot doesn’t guarantee that you get good writing, but paying very little almost guarantees you’re not going to get very good writing.

Let’s look at some places where you can find writers. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Writing and Publishing Tagged With: ghostwriters, hiring

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