Second Lesson – Ghostwriting Made Easy

Hello Fellow Readers & Knowledge Seekers,

It’s time for your second lesson in the Ghostwriting Made Easy Crash Course. I’m glad you’re still with me after the last lesson, because I know that when you think of all the daily tasks that come along with a ghostwriting career it can seem a bit daunting, but the freedom to work on your own time makes it well worth it.

Now that you have a pretty good idea of what clients will expect from you it’s time to think more about how you will find and manage jobs, so that you can start making money as a ghostwriter.

Basically you have two choices. You can manage everything yourself or you can join a freelance marketplace. Which is what we’re going to go over in this lesson, because they are the easiest places to find and manage clients.

A freelance marketplace is simply an online platform where you can post a profile so that people who need work done can find and hire you. There are many benefits to using one especially when you’re first getting started.

When you make a profile on a freelance site, it’s visible to anyone who is in search of your specific skills. These sites are often the first place that people in search of qualified writers go when they need work done. This gives you access to many more potential clients than you would normally have. You’ll also have the ability to bid for the projects that you would like to work on. This gives you much more control over the type of work you prefer to do. 

Along with those benefits most of these sites have built in tools for managing all aspects of your business, from setting milestones and communicating with clients to invoicing and collecting payments. Because in most cases clients are required to deposit funds into an escrow account before a project can begin, you can rest assured that they are serious and have the means to pay you for your services. Which makes the whole process much smoother and more secure for both of you.

There is also an extra layer of protection should a problem arise regarding payment because everything will be well documented and many of these sites have mediators available to help resolve issues.  

When it comes to joining a freelance site you have and abundance to choose from. It all really comes down to your personal preferences and desired features. Here is a quick list of some of the more popular ones for you to check out:

Freelancer.com – It is one of the largest and most recognized sites. It allows potential employers to post jobs that freelancers can then bid to complete. It’s relatively easy to use with built in communication features and the ability to manage multiple projects from one place.

Upwork.com – Is fast becoming one of the most popular freelance marketplaces online. It makes it easy to connect with clients and manage projects by providing you with an online workspace that is shared by you and your clients.

Fiverr.com – As the name suggests, is a site where you will post small jobs that you are willing to do for $5. For example a 200 word FaceBook post. The main benefit for using this site is to get leads for higher priced projects. Of course there are many more, including ones that are specifically geared towards   ghostwriters like Reedsy and Writezillas.com. All of them work from the same basic principle. You create a profile, post your bio along with some samples and the site helps you find clients. They usually charge a percentage of each job completed in order to use the platform, which is a small price to pay in return for all of the benefits and clients you’ll have access to.

No matter which freelance site you decide to use, always do your research before joining and read the rules before you begin bidding on jobs. Knowing what to expect will make the process much easier.

That’s it for today. In lesson 3, we will be going over a few things that will help you become a successful ghostwriter.

Until tomorrow,

Don Dousharm (Book Shop Digital) admin@bookshopdigital.com