Hiring a Ghostwriter
In this module, you will learn what to do when you don’t have the time or desire to write your own content.
Your Responsibilities
Writing helps you develop your voice, build confidence in your expertise, and teach you a framework for your future content. While we believe that creating your own content is the best option, a lot of advisors get to the point where they don't want to write. If this sounds like you, you are in luck. You can hire a ghostwriter to write your content for you.
Just because you hire a ghostwriter doesn’t mean you have to do less planning for your content. In fact, you have to be more organized in your thought process at the front end to set your writer up for success. You will want to:
Create the editorial calendar. If you are using a ghostwriter for your blogs, you are still responsible for creating your editorial calendar and planning your topics. You are the one with insight into your clients, and so it should be you who determines which topics are most important to your niche. If you ask a writer to come up with topics, they will usually cover the basic topics they can find on the internet. And if they can easily find the topic on the internet, then it probably isn’t a topic that will help you stand out from the crowd.
Outline the content and develop key points. You need to outline the content and provide the key points you want to address. Every advisor has a different philosophy and perspective, and a writer cannot read your mind. You have to remember that your ghostwriter is probably not a CFP®, and even if they are, they aren’t an expert in your niche. Their job is to translate your knowledge and expertise into words. It is not to be an expert themselves. After you outline your content, you may even want to ask your writer to interview you so that they know exactly what you want to say. Then they can translate your ideas into written form.
Review drafts and work collaboratively. You are responsible for reviewing the drafts the ghostwriter sends you and providing feedback. You may also need to insert a higher level of expertise into the piece through your comments and feedback.
At the beginning of your relationship, you may have to provide significant feedback to your ghostwriter before they really understand your tone and your style. It’s important to be patient -- your writer can’t read your mind. You must also remember you are the expert, not them, so you will need to educate them when their knowledge falls short.
Hiring a ghostwriter should be a long-term relationship if you expect it to be successful.
How Much Does a Ghostwriter Cost?
Like anything, there is a range in cost for a ghostwriter. Having worked with dozens of different writers over the years, we can tell you that you get what you pay for.
The cheapest way to go is through general writing services that are not industry specific. You can get writers through content writing services, which will cost you less money, but they are usually inexperienced writers or often they are located overseas. Our experience has been that working with these writers takes us more time to edit and give feedback than if we had just written the content ourselves.
We recommend you use someone with financial services industry experience. You should expect to pay around $350 for a 750-word article and around $1,000 for a 2,500-word ebook. This will be even more if the writer has extensive expertise in an area like investments. You might be able to find an up-and-coming writer who is just getting started freelancing and doesn’t know their value yet. But if the writer is any good, they’ll jack up their rates quickly because they will have too much demand.
Whatever you do, do not start using canned content that you can purchase through a subscription service. If you wanted to sound like everyone else, you wouldn’t be in our program. Using canned content is a surefire way of not making progress with your niche.
How to Select a Writer
When you are ready to hire a freelancer, follow these tips:
Look for financial services industry experience. You want to hire a writer with previous financial planning and investment writing experience. Writers with a background in banking don’t usually have the expertise you need, and you may find yourself coaching the writer on basic topics like the difference between a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA.
Look for SEO experience. If you are hiring a ghostwriter for your blogs, find someone who has experience optimizing a blog for search engines. They don’t have to be SEO experts, but they should have a general understanding of best practices.
Review previous work. Ask to see samples of their previous work on financial topics, specifically blogs or ebooks. Their samples will give you an idea of their knowledge level and writing style. Some writers are better at adopting different voices than others, so we recommend you like the writing style in their samples before hiring them.
Read their ratings and reviews. If you are hiring a writer from a freelancer marketplace like Upwork, look at their ratings and reviews. We find that most people are very generous with their ratings on Upwork, so you should try to find someone with a 100% success rate.
Work with the same writer. When you find a writer you like, work with that same person each time. On Upwork, some people claim to be a freelancer, but they are actually outsourcing the writing to overseas writers, which leads to inconsistent quality. You should ask who you will be working with.
Even though you now know what to look for in a ghostwriter, we still recommend you create your own original content. It will help build your own confidence and expertise working with your niche. Plus, hiring a ghostwriter doesn’t always mean you will save time.
Financial Ghostwriters
We have provided a list of potential ghostwriters below who we’ve either worked with or have a good reputation. We are also providing a link to Upwork, which is a website where you can search for a variety of freelancers.