At some point in your writing career, you might be asked to ghostwrite for an executive or subject-matter expert. While it’s amazing to be able to interact with an expert or company executive (not to mention the networking opportunities this provides), our goal as ghostwriters is to represent our customer’s brand, while capturing their personality.
In essence, ghostwriting is all about representing your customer. Some experts and executives will have strong opinions about the best way to approach the assignment and even which words to use to convey a really particular thought. After all, your customers understand that words are hard, if not impossible, to forget once they are published. Following are four steps to add the most value in your next ghostwriting assignment.
The 4 Steps
Be a Perfect Student: Do Your Homework
Be Strategic: Think About the Big Picture
Be Bold: Don’t Shy Away From Giving Advice
Be Resourceful: Identify (Future) Solutions
Be a Perfect Student: Do Your Homework
Time is money. To an executive or subject-matter expert, any time devoted to a work effort has to add value in a measurable way. They will expect the same from the assignment and, especially, every minute they spend with you.
I cannot emphasize how important it is for you to research your new customer and the company they represent. A simple Google or LinkedIn search to read their latest accomplishments will not be enough. For instance:
Try reading previously published works under their name.
What about going to Glassdoor to read reviews about them and the company?
If they are members of a LinkedIn group, what topics are they discussing?
In other words, you should approach the ghostwriting assignment the same way you would a school research report or a job interview. You need to gather as much information as possible and come prepared to ask, and possibly answer, questions. Learning as much as you can about them will also provide you with insight about how they view themselves and how others perceive them.
Be Strategic: Think About the Big Picture
Ghostwriting is not just about completing a task — you have to carefully listen to what your customers are trying to convey and then execute in a manner that properly aligns to their brand. To do so, you must think about the big picture or, rather, their big picture.
However, just because you’ve been hired as their go-to ghostwriter doesn’t mean they are going to share their deepest secrets with you. In addition to asking questions about the topic under discussion, you might need to don your detective hat and read between the lines:
Is there something taking place at work that might be keeping them up at night (e.g., rumors of a merger or an upcoming, and less than perfect, quarterly financial report)?
Did you notice some hesitation when answering a particular question?
Did they seem passionate when talking about the topic for the assignment?
If this is the first time you are writing for this person, it is essential that you understand your customer's vision and what they wish to accomplish. Use your first or second encounter with them to get to know their concerns, plans and goals. Ultimately, your goal is to best represent their spoken words in writing.
Be Bold: Don’t Shy Away From Giving Advice
Just because you might be ghostwriting doesn’t mean you are not allowed to provide your opinion on the assignment during the planning stages. Sometimes your customers might want to cover a topic that might not be suitable for the audience they are trying to reach, or the tone they would like to use might not be the most appropriate.
As guardian of their written persona (at least for the duration of the assignment), it is your responsibility to provide advice on why their approach or topic might not work. However, you need to go a step beyond and provide an alternative or solution that will work. Remember, these individuals are extremely busy and may not have had the time to properly research their audience, the publication they are trying to reach or other aspects of the assignment that will impact how readers engage with the piece.
Be Resourceful: Identify (Future) Solutions
Being resourceful is going a step beyond providing valuable advice. Once you’ve completed an assignment or two for this person, you might be able to suggest ways to improve their or their company’s brand in other ways. Often, the freelance writers I hire forget that I’m looking for someone who can help me accomplish my goals. This means going beyond completing the assignment. For example:
If the topic being covered is too broad, how about suggesting a series of articles?
Have you thought about researching relevant topics for a potential writing assignment (i.e., making a project pitch)?
If your customer is active on social media, how about pitching a series of posts that will help to promote the piece you're about to complete?
Have you reached out to their public relations or public affairs contact? Are there ways that you can help them better serve your customer?
These are simple, yet effective, ways to become a value-added resource to your customer. You never know what type of assistance they might need beyond this particular assignment.
In Short
Every ghostwriting project presents its unique set of opportunities and challenges. Approaching the assignment in the most professional way possible will ensure your success. Researching as much as you can about the company, person and subject is a must, as well as reading behind the lines for any clues that might help you best represent your customers in writing. In addition, don’t forget to provide advice if you truly believe the direction provided will not yield the best results and think about possible ways to add value beyond the current project.
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