The Trials and Tribulations of Hiring a Ghost Writer - A Guide
By Bill Platt
CROSSING THE BRIDGE OF THE DECISION
For a lot of people, knowing that these two methods are as
effective as they are leads to the decision to get started. Once
the decision to get started has been made, the only decision left
to make is to decide on a topic that will gain the webmaster the
best results for his or her time. Once this marketing decision
has been made, the webmaster will sit down and get to work
creating articles or their newsletter.
For other people, deciding on the topic is only the beginning of
the agony in the process.
DO YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO WRITE YOUR OWN MATERIALS?
I have heard the arguments many times before... "I am not a
writer. I cannot do that. It is not an option for me."
My brother used to tell me that he could not be a writer... That
was many years ago when I first started my own online business.
I always told him what I had always told everyone else. I told
him that if he can have a conversation with another human being,
then he could write. I told him that he should write as he
speaks. And, when he was finished with his story, he should use
Microsoft Word to spellcheck his work. MS Word can serve as a
steady crutch for most people who don't have good grammar or
spelling skills.
I have always said that most people do not lack the skills to
become a decent writer. What they lack is the confidence in their
own ability to communicate well with others.
SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE!
Three years down the road, I was talking to my mom on the phone
and she mentioned that my brother was ghost writing for other
people. Imagine my shock in learning that I could not talk him
into writing for profit, and then he came to do it on his own.
In fact, it turns out that he used ghost writing to pay for his
living expenses while he went back to college to finish his
master's degree.
DECIDING ON A GHOST WRITER
For those people who just cannot believe in their own skills, or
those who simply do not have the time to write for themselves,
many look to a ghost writer to help produce materials for the
promotion of their businesses.
Many challenges face those who make the decision to pursue
employing a ghost writer.
* Price of Service
Too many clients lose the battle of selecting a good ghost
writer by putting too much emphasis on the cost of the
service being provided.
Let's face it, different writer's demand different prices.
More often than not, the price of the service is a strong
indicator of the value of the work being provided.
* Writing Skills and Commitment of Writer
Just because they tell you they are a professional writer,
does not mean that they will do professional work when you
pay for them to do so.
Even I have hired other writers to help me to fill client
orders. And from personal experience, I can share with you
that getting "writing samples" from writers is not always a
good indicator of the skills or commitment of the writer
who wants your job.
When I hire a writer to do a job because I don't have the
time to do it myself, and then I spend more time editing
the work than I would have spent creating the work, there
is a problem. I have taken losses on several jobs because
the writers I had hired to help me had done such crappy
work.
* Ability of Writer to Match Client Needs
A skilled ghost writer can match the needs of any client,
on any topic. A skilled ghost writer is also a skilled
researcher. When they do not know the topic that they have
been employed to write about, they will do the necessary
research to learn the topic and to turn out a good product.
* Good Communication Between Client and Writer
The ability of both the client and writer to communicate with
one another is vital. The client must clearly communicate to
the writer their needs and desires for the finished product.
A skilled ghost writer is not necessarily a mind reader, and
he or she should not be expected to be one.
If you want to hire a ghost writer who does not want to
speak with you about what you actually want in your ghost
written work, then move on to a writer who will take the
time to communicate with you. The writer should know in
advance what message you want to communicate with your
readers and any quirks or considerations you want to use
in those communications.
Your ghost writer is your mouthpiece, so your ghost writer
should know as much about you as possible, and they should
know how you would like to see your information communicated.
* Editing Process
Since the ghost writer you hire is your "paid mouthpiece",
they should be able to communicate your message in a way
that you believe they should. If you have communicated with
your writer well, editing will be a quick and painless
process. Your writer will send you the final edit, and you
will sign off on it or ask for a couple of minor fixes.
If you have not communicated your ideas with the writer well,
or you have simply selected the wrong ghost writer to handle
your job, then the editing process can become very painful.
The writer's commitment to task is determined sometimes by
the level of pay that you are offering to the writer, and
more often, it is indicative of the writer's integrity. Keep
in mind that if you have forced the writer to accept a pay
level inconsistent with what they believe their skills are
worth, you will pay for that decision in the quality of work
you receive from them and in the process of bringing the
final product to the level of professionalism you wish to
convey to your readers.
If you find that you have to hire someone else to edit the
final product to taste, then either you will have failed to
pay your writer well, you will have failed to communicate
with your writer well, or you will have done a terrible job
in selecting the most appropriate writer for your job.
When all is said and done, there are literally thousands of
people out there who try to pass themselves off as professional
writers, and then there are thousands more who are exceptional
writers who will be good for your tasks.
PRE-WRITTEN ARTICLES ARE ANOTHER GOOD OPTION
If you shop around, you can find companies that offer pre-written
articles that you can purchase full- or partial- rights to use
for your purposes. Some companies will sell the same pre-written
article to dozens of people, and some companies will sell one
article to only one person.
The primary advantage in buying a pre-written article is that you
will not have to suffer the process of selecting and employing
the right ghost writer for your task. With a pre-written article
catalog, you can go in and look at articles that have already
been written, and if you like it, you can buy it on the spot.
Most often, pre-written articles are a lower cost option than
having articles custom written for you.
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