Just because you can string words together doesn’t mean you can write. Writing, like any other craft, requires constant practice and development before it is worthy of public appreciation.
Startups also require solid content marketing to put their product or service in front of customers and investors.
More specifically, search engines crawl your site all day long, seeking valuable content to promote so searchers can find you.
Now, you don’t have to be a guru at writing SEO-friendly articles for your website. Even if there’s no skilled writer on your team, trained professionals can write your blogs or social media posts while you take the credit.
These people are ghostwriters, like myself.
In this piece, I’ll explain why you need to hire a ghostwriter, where to find one, and the pros and cons of outsourcing writing projects.
What is a ghostwriter?
A ghostwriter is someone who writes for other people without taking credit for the work. They work in the background: ideating, developing outlines, and writing the first draft.
Entrepreneurs, business execs, government officials, and small business owners leverage ghostwriting services to turn their personal or business branding dreams into reality.Â
Bound by strict NDAs, these writers create speeches, books, essays, and web content according to the specific writing needs of a client.
The ghostwriter turns abstract information into words, presenting them in ways that are engaging and accessible to an audience.
They attempt to mimic your writing style or voice or develop an entirely new voice for the client while clearly communicating your ideas, which is essential for marketing success.
In the end, the idea is still yours, and whoever wrote it remains anonymous.
Ghostwriting is an in-demand skill amounting to a multimillion-dollar market despite the advent of AI bots and text humanizers.Â
What kind of content can a ghostwriter create?
To help discern the type of content your brand needs, hire a ghostwriter with experience in that niche.
I’ve been ghostwriting with RoninPoint for three years now, and I’ve written 200+ articles offering content development to SaaS companies, including Undetectable AI and several Edutech companies.
During this time, I’ve worked with brands to provide a variety of content, including
- Articles
- Case studies
- Product descriptions
- White papers
- Ebooks
- Blog posts (how-to guides, listicles, etc),
Where can you find ghostwriters?
Some companies hire ghostwriters directly, either from LinkedIn or job boards like Upwork. Others seek marketing firms that manage these writers.
Content marketing firms, like RoninPoint, provide full coverage to businesses that need compelling, relevant, and fully searchable content.
For instance, you can find ghostwriters in Nigeria or the United States by narrowing the search parameters to that specific location.
In general, only hire ghostwriters with a proven track record of delivering high-quality, SEO-optimized, plagiarism-free work.
6 things to consider when hiring ghostwriters
Here are essential considerations to make when selecting a ghostwriter for your projects.
Contract
A contract (e.g., nondisclosure agreement) should be created and signed by both parties before the project begins.
A ghostwriter must relinquish all authorship rights for the written work to the client and must abide by the guidelines stated in the service agreement.
All parties must be aware of their rights and responsibilities, as well as penalties for breach of contract.
Expertise
Be sure to check out the writer’s portfolio and be convinced they can handle your project before you begin.
A writer’s portfolio should contain samples of their work, such as articles, blogs, or case studies written for brands.
In most cases, choosing a ghostwriter who has written extensively on your subject matter will help you narrow your search for experienced personnel.
A software developer is better positioned to deliver in-depth articles about programming and software development.Â
In other words, hire specialists.
Writing style
Study their writing style or voice. Does it align with your brand’s persona?
Some writers write with a sense of humor, while others prefer to dish information without distraction.
If their writing style doesn’t suit your needs, provide them with written samples that demonstrate your requests.
Deadlines
Many ghostwriters work on several projects simultaneously. If you’re hiring a ghostwriter, they likely write for other clients, too.
So, ensure they understand your deadlines and delivery schedules before the project commences.
How many blog posts do you need in a week? What are the timelines for revisions or resolving edits?
Discuss and be clear on these intricacies before you agree to work with them.
Pricing
Generally, ghostwriters are affordable compared to keeping a marketing consultant on a retainer.
They may send you their rate card during discussions so you can negotiate. However, be sure to commit only to what you can pay at the end of the project.
Depending on the niche, the services of ghostwriters cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand per project.
Personality
Remember that ghostwriters are human. You may be spending long hours with the writer, so you must be comfortable with their personality.
Ask for recommendations or reviews from previous clients. Working with an affable professional makes the writing project much less arduous.
What are the benefits of a ghostwriter?
If you lack the time or resources to write yourself, you should commission an expert who does. Many entrepreneurs start out writing blogs themselves until they realize they have no time to create quality content anymore.
Moreover, SEO demands are constantly evolving, and you need to churn out the correct information to stay in business. People even hire ghostwriters to craft LinkedIn posts.
Here are the top benefits of using a ghostwriter.
Save time
Writing is a lonely practice that consumes time. Ghostwriting experts have to put in hours to produce excellent quality—the art of research, content planning, writing, and editing.
Hiring a ghostwriter means delegating writing tasks to someone else who has time and makes a living out of writing. This gives you time to focus on other aspects of your business or career while getting all the credit for your work.
Improve brand awareness
Staying on top of your marketing game requires consistency with content development. You need to publish quality stories and articles more often to establish yourself as an authority in the field.
When you provide the skeletal framework, ghostwriters will do the writing. They’ll use different storytelling techniques to make your brand relatable.
Ghostwriters help companies and business execs to establish social media branding.
Adopting a unique voice, they can promote a company’s service or product via diverse content offerings, increasing the chances of gaining more leads or customers.
Improve your business’ SEO
In addition to helping to communicate your brand’s purpose clearly, skilled ghostwriters create content with SEO in mind. This is important for both on-site and third-party blogging anywhere on the internet.
Search engine optimization increases the chances of putting your content in front of the right audience.
Simply put, the more relevant keywords your post can rank for, the higher the chances it fulfills search intent and edges towards Google’s first page.
However, SEO is more than infusing keywords or backlinks. You need a ghostwriter trained to write quality responses that satisfy search intent and meet Google’s ever-changing SEO standards.
Reduce expenses
Yes, you pay money to hire writers. So how do you reduce expenses?
Imagine spending hours on YouTube struggling to put together an idea or money on writing aids that you don’t use all the time.
Even worse, there’s no guarantee you’ll get the best results from doing the writing yourself.
Ghostwriters also have writing tools and resources to aid their writing projects. Rather than paying for these tools, you can spend relatively less on professional writing services.
Create content at scale
Let’s face it. You must maintain a solid online presence to thrive in a competitive digital market. If you don’t have time, a ghostwriter can promptly deliver authentic and quality content.
If you need five well-written articles on your site every week, that’s my job description. It almost feels like automating your content creation.
Delegating your writing tasks will speed up the content development process, thus increasing traffic to your website.
What are the potential drawbacks of hiring a ghostwriter?
Outsourcing any tasks presents some downsides. However, it’s not peculiar to ghostwriting alone. Let’s take a look at a few disadvantages.
Misrepresentation
Many people still frown at the concept of ghostwriting and believe it’s not a credible route to content generation. There’s also the debate of professional integrity and deciding what should be ghostwritten and what cannot.
Businesses should consider their brand goals and values when hiring a ghostwriter. Since ghostwriters are not part of your team, you need to bring them up to speed on your core values and positioning.
You can decide to give the writer a byline in the publication or list them as contributors when the content goes live.
Content authorship
A ghostwriter typically exchanges content ownership rights for payment. To avoid unforeseen circumstances\, this condition must be clearly stated in the NDA.
Some established websites may allow writers to retain ownership of the content for a lesser fee. There are all sorts of ghostwriting arrangements, and these terms must be outlined in the contract.
Content quality
Ghostwriting involves trusting someone else with your writing projects. Factors like time constraints, insufficient communication, and poor writing skills can contribute to crappy content.
Getting a qualified individual to produce clean, optimized, and valuable content will be worth your dollar rather than settle for mediocre content that can hurt you as a profit-oriented brand, hire a freelance writer with years of experience under their belt.
How much should I pay ghostwriters?
The final cost depends on the complexity of the project, the writer’s experience, and deadlines. Most ghostwriters like myself will present their rates and are open to bargain.
A senior-level ghostwriter can charge up to six figures for a single deal. It’s essential to seek out a strong writer who can deliver quality within your budget.
Hiring a marketing firm like RoninPoint to handle your content development can be way cheaper than seeking independent freelancers.
Can I use an AI ghostwriter?
The writing business is now more automated than ever. Companies are replacing in-house writers with AI tools to cut costs.
The real question remains: how productive is AI ghostwriting over a human writer?
Writing still has nuances that these tools need to master. Many AI tools churn out robotic, single-styled pieces that need more individuality and coherence.
For instance, I’ve used Copyleaks to analyze AI-generated blog posts for their humanness, and it gave different results in several instances.
ChatGPT’s ability to produce content from fresh perspectives is highly overrated. The only option is to use an AI text humanizer.
There is no way to measure the effectiveness of AI-driven content; however, their relevance cannot be denied.Â
From a professional standpoint, marketers should combine quality tools with their human oversight for increased productivity.
Hire professional ghostwriters at RoninPoint
RoninPoint offers a squad of qualified writers specialized in diverse industries, including technology, software development, healthcare, and eLearning.Â
Our writers are skilled in deploying SEO marketing strategies within content to improve your brand’s visibility online.
As a team, we reduce the hassle of content marketing for individuals and businesses. If you’re tired of recycled, boring ChatGPT content and seeking a fresh voice, let us write for you.
Watch your thoughts flow freely on the page, just how you expect them to appear. Your word, your voice.
Who wrote this?
Iruoma Chukwuemeka is a serial writer. She creates engaging content with best SEO practices for clients who need reliable hands on their writing projects. She's also got an appetite for information and books.
