“I’ve worked with three different ghostwriters and no one was able to get my voice.” I was meeting an executive for the first time and she wanted to know how I wrote content that actually felt authentic to my clients. I’m so glad she asked. It meant her brand was important to her. As a ghostwriter, I want to embrace who my clients are and the brands they’ve built — NOT replace that. So I told her my (at this point not-so-secret) approach… And towards the end of the call, she smiled and said: “None of those past ghostwriters had a process like yours. I’ll talk to the rest of the team tomorrow so we can start working together soon.” Here’s a peek into the secret sauce behind my process… → Going one step beyond regular interviews with my clients to come up with fresh content. These interviews are SO important — but I also have my clients add me to whatever form of communication they most regularly use (usually Slack or Whatsapp). I encourage them to share every idea that pops into their head WHEN it pops it into their head. Maybe that’s… → As they’re leaving a meeting → A voice memo when they’re commuting to the office → After they finish reading an article that has their brain buzzing The ideas don’t need to be polished. A simple “I want to write something about x” is perfect. My focus is on making sure those ideas get captured when inspiration strikes. This is my favorite way to get to know a client’s voice and how they think, build a real partnership without taking up hours of their time, and never run out of great content ideas. Do you have a process for capturing content ideas the moment they pop into your head — before they escape?
Ghostwriting for Career Advancement
Explore top LinkedIn content from expert professionals.
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As a business writer with a large portfolio of published articles, I wondered whether “Behind the Sheets: Turn Your Passion for Writing Into a Six-Figure Ghostwriting Career" would teach me anything new. The answer is "Yes." I garnered helpful tips from the author, Jeffrey A. Mangus, an experienced ghostwriter and mutual member of the #AssociationofGhostwriters. I think fledgling writers will also benefit from this how-to primer about the important and growing field of #ghostwriting. In twenty-six chapters, Jeffrey explains what ghostwriting is, the role of a ghostwriter, how to collaborate with clients, how to write in a client's voice, how to construct a mutually beneficial contract, and so much more. I highly recommend this easy-to-read book if you are ready to expand into the exciting world of ghostwriting. Jeffrey A. Mangus Dr. Marcia Layton Turner #writing
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Ghostwriting for executives is such an odd, unique experience. “You captured my voice so well!” is valuable feedback, and we love to hear it. But clarifying their highly specific subject matter expertise and turning it into punchy LinkedIn content is only a third of the battle. Three things need to happen to do LinkedIn content strategy effectively: -- 1. Take the time to understand the person on all levels, before writing. Their nuances, quirks, deeply held beliefs. This is necessary for continuity between their voice on social media, and in reality. There's no substitute for putting in the work to figure out how a person views the world, and writing from that perspective. One misconception about ghostwriting is that it’s inauthentic, but good ghostwriters aren’t putting words in your mouth. -- 2. Build the strategic narrative of the company and its value proposition, in depth. To do this, I prefer using the Challenger Sale process of: Credibility, Reframe, Rational Drowning, Emotional Impact, New Way, Your Solution. Personal branding content that lacks this is "fine", but it's not going to be nearly as impactful. You'll get far more Attention than you will Leads (although you'll get some leads, of course). -- 3. Integrate the person's own perspective and story seamlessly within the context of the strategic narrative. THIS is the part that most content strategists simply can't do. They can tell personal stories, or they can write sales posts, but they can't write thought leadership that weaves together a CEO's unique background, cleanly alongside elements of the broader narrative. It's a difficult, massively rewarding process. Ghostwriters are not necessarily telling your story better than you "could" per se; but if you’re already a great writer, they’re able to take your voice and easily create authentic content within that. (And if you’re not yet, their work will help you DEVELOP that voice) In other words, to create truly impactful content for your profile, we'll need to understand both your subject matter expertise *and* emotional composition. And package that together into a narrative that moves the market to want to work with you. It's the combination of what your team needs to hear, what’s going to generate leads, and what will inspire investors and partners to reach out. While staying on-brand. Threading the needle of what gets likes, and what earns leads that are actually interested. In 2023, the SaaS world started to take LinkedIn more seriously as significant pipeline was built organically, with minimal to no paid spend: purely on the basis of the CxOs’ social profiles. I have no doubt this trend will continue. And I'm glad for it. -- P.S. We have room for a few more Founders & SaaS execs who need a LinkedIn partner; get in touch with us if this is part of your 2024 plan.
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What a high-end ghostwriter really does It’s the dirty little secret that’s not dirty and it’s no longer secret: Most high-powered people don’t write their own books. I should know. I’ve written a number of them. At Alembic Partners, I ghostwrite books for CEOs, tech founders, politicians, and hedge fund investors. Here’s what most people don’t understand about how it all works: It’s like hiring a pilot to fly your jet. You could do it yourself, if you love flying. But it’s faster, safer, and more certain to succeed to hire a professional to help you. When clients contact me, I ask them questions to figure out where they want to go, and I advise them on the best way to get there. When you’re running a company, it’s hard to stay focused on the controls, the flight map, the environmental conditions. Unless you’re already an experienced writer, you’ll have a hard time figuring out what matters to your readers and turning it into a 200-page manuscript. As your ghostwriter, my job is to get to know you more than almost anyone else. I am your closest confidante. I hold the mirror back to you, force you to examine yourself, and then extract your greatest stories for your book. All that must happen before a single word has been written on the page. Ghostwriting task 1: You must define your genre before you get started. And it’s harder than you think. Aspiring authors often find themselves in this predicament: “I have plenty of material. But I can’t define my book. I want it to be a little of everything for everyone: A little memoir, a little self-help, some business writing, a pinch of narrative nonfiction.” But that won’t fly in the publishing world. Your genre—the category that determines your audience, sales potential, and whether your book will sit at the front or back of Barnes & Noble—is your starting point. A book without a well-defined genre is a vanity project. Imagine you’re sitting around a campfire eager to hear a good story, and the storyteller instead rattles off every detail about themselves for the next hour, just because they think they’re awesome. Would you want to stick around? When a client struggles to choose their genre, it’s often a symptom of a deeper struggle: They don’t know themselves or what they want. This is more common than you’d think. Writing a book is a monumental act of self-excavation, of diving into yourself and sorting out what you really want to say. Your decision of one, clear genre will make the whole project far easier for you, because it will demarcate the boundaries of what you can tell your readers in 200 pages. No genre, no book. Of course, that’s only one step to working with a ghostwriter. I’ll keep posting insights here in the coming weeks. If you found this helpful, I’ve teamed up with Alembic Partners. We ghostwrite high-end books and thought leadership campaigns for CEOs, business leaders, founders, and investors. Check us out at http://alembicpartners.com.
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Our three-step lead-gen ghostwriting process for 7+ figure founders: 1. Educated Hypotheses A new client is a founder who provides financial consulting for high-end interior designers. As part of onboarding, we've had her fill in a form and submit all relevant collateral. Then we asked questions (18 in total) over Zoom like: - How do you currently acquire clients? - What companies do you target? - What role are you trying to get in front of? - What are their top three existential struggles, as they pertain to your services? - Who gives your industry a bad name and why? And created a strategy doc with: - Her aims (e.g. lead-gen) - Positioning - Voice/tone - Content pillars & angles In this case, the main content pillar is interior design finances, which we'll attack from different angles. For example: - Client stories - Actionable advice - Industry insights & analyses That means we’re making an educated guess on what’ll move the needle. Hint: it’s always the client's expertise as it intersects with their ICP's pain points. We then: - Present it for feedback & buy-in - Screenshare prompts/questions during interviews - Create content against pillars/angles (quick shoutout to Jason Vana, whose content has helped me grow as a strategist over the years) 2. Testing & Gathering Feedback We're in the business of truth-seeking, not complacency. So we test by: - Getting feedback from the client. Are they getting leads? Are people mentioning their content on calls? Can they help us correlate content to results? - Looking at analytics. That includes impressions, likes, comments, and demographics. - Clickthroughs. We're using Bitly to track how many clicks clients’ Calendly/landing pages get. We then use that information to understand trends and patterns. The problem is we're getting a flawed image here. For instance: - If a lead comes in outside of LinkedIn but says, "I loved your content!" How do we know how much our work helped? - It's hard to tie a conversion to a specific post or content pillar. Usually, it's multiple touchpoints. - Numbers can lie. A viral post can result in unnecessary noise, while the right 10-like post can lead to a 6-figure retainer. 3. Strategy Iteration Here, we go back to the strategy doc and adjust it. Let's say client stories get the most impressions and leads. We might decide to add more of those, cutting out posts from a different content pillar/angle. ___ In conclusion, we face the same problems other marketers do: - Complexity/many moving pieces - Not enough data - Deceptive data However, being strategic is 1,000 times better than what 9/10 "boastwriters" do, which is to: - Hop on a call with a client - Ask "What's on your mind?" - Pray to the Algorithm Gods that they'll get results ___ I'm curious: How do you approach your LinkedIn strategy? P.S. If you’re a 7+ figure founder who wants a strategic done-for-you ghostwriting service, scroll up and hit the “Book an appointment” button under my name.
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“What’s a LinkedIn Ghostwriter?” 🤔 During networking events, I usually answer “I’m like a LinkedIn social media manager…” but… Working with me includes so much more. 🤷 I mean sure, I create content. But I really create trust so clients feel comfortable having natural conversations despite being recorded. And I ask strategic questions to draw out the best content that I then distill into meaningful multi-form posts so every post is 100% authentically my clients’ words. 🤷 And sure, I manage my clients’ LinkedIn accounts. But I really execute a multi-faceted web of strategies, including… ▪️ Network-building to increase visibility and broaden reach ▪️ Content to provide consistent, impactful, on-brand content ▪️ Engagement to build meaningful relationships and support their community ▪️ DMs to nurture conversations while my clients stay in their zone of genius ▪️ High-level marketing to ensure LinkedIn is supporting their other marketing channels ▪️ Performance analysis and optimization to ensure their content is getting the most juice from LinkedIn’s latest changes and features 🤷 Not to mention, I’m also a LinkedIn consultant/trainer/coach, whether I’m on a retainer or in a 1:1 consultation. Because clients ask about the whys and hows (and I really enjoy nerding out about LinkedIn 🤓). 💡 So as a LinkedIn ghostwriter, I’m a pro at LinkedIn, content creation, and strategy. But I’m also an expert in my clients, and I curate a top-tier client experience so they feel comfortable and confident handing off their LinkedIn brand presence. #linkedinghostwriter #ghostwriting #contentstrategist #growthstrategist #linkedinstrategist P.S. Explain what you do in as few words as possible 👇
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As a ghostwriter, I'm listening. Hard: -To what you're saying -To what you're NOT saying (should I prod? How to do so delicately?) -To when you get excited (then I know to amp up that passage/idea in the text) -To when you get agitated (that's great, too--emotion is good. A good rant is good fun) -To your specific turns of phrases -To the curse words you selectively deploy -To analogies you use (sports? pop culture? faith-based?) -To your colloquialisms -To the version of yourself you WANT to present + the one who's right in front of me. That way the end product sounds like YOU: the you-est version. The person you are and the person you're trying to live into--melded into one indelible portrait. When you listen hard, it's amazing what you hear. #ghostwriter #nonfiction
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Not every ghostwriter follows the same process—and that's ok. But if you're looking to hire one, make sure they HAVE a process, and that it aligns with how you want to work. For instance, when I ghostwrite a book, Before I write Word One, I make sure the expert is 100% on board with our Table of (Expected) Contents and approves of the structure we're working with. Then, I send chapters or major sections as they are written. The expert understands that we are working on the book as a whole. Once we iterate and edit one chapter, it is shelved until we have done the same with every other chapter. This keeps us from spinning our wheels and spiraling into editorial soup in one section and never getting to the others. When the whole book has been gone over in this piecemeal way, it's usually ready for an in-depth edit. This approach has worked for me and my clients for 20 years. Some 👻 ✍ do it differently: Some write the whole manuscript before sending it to the client for review. Some have their workspace open to the client, who can see every element of creation in real time, if they wish. There is no One Way to write a book. (To quote "The Princess Bride's" Westley: "Anyone who says differently is selling something.") As the author, you have final say in who you choose to work with. Find someone whose approach to the project makes the most sense to you. **** How do you prefer to collaborate with a professional on a major project? 🔚 Do you like to turn them loose and wait to see the end result? 👀 Do you want to stand and look over their shoulder as they create? 👄 Or do you work best in bite-sized pieces, building the project together? Let me know in the comments below. #ghostwriting #collaboration #process #communication
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Discernment. Life experience. What are these worth? Like many writers these days, I've taken in a good deal of chatter and information on ChatGPT. It's all been interesting and informative, helping me to better understand the role I'll play in my clients' books over the next ten years. The value proposition of a ghostwriter, to me, is the spark between two people. Ghost and author. It comes down not only to your collaborator's writing skills...but to their thinking, experiences, and the chemistry you have with them. Those are the qualities that will draw out the most meaningful stories and impactful takeaways of your life, work, and overall wisdom. To put a finer point on this idea, let me say that I would not have been a very effective book ghostwriter in my twenties. I had a lot of energy and enthusiasm then, sure, but I lacked a certain mellowness. Good judgment. The gravitas that comes from simply having lived two more decades -- with all that entails, both good and bad. I bring my whole self to the table when I collaborate on a book. And that's valuable. To whom will you tell your story when it is still raw? Where will it land when it has not yet been given a shape, a framework, a context? I hope it is with someone kind. Calm. Measured. Smart. That receiver should be an experienced human ghostwriter. Perhaps it's me. #ghostwriter #ghostwriting #bookcollaboration #lifelessons #discernment #wisdom #collaboration #books #publishing #chatgpt #artificialintelligence