6 Steps to 6-Figure Social Media Ghostwriter
Build a $100K side hustle writing for founders on social media.
Hey Friends!
I’m on a mini summer vacation from my digital writing business.
The best part is that it continues to grow while I’m OOO thanks to an awesome team and systems we’ve built in 2024.
Today I’m sharing a repost of my most popular Substack from a year ago for the 2,000+ new readers who have subscribed since the original date I published this.
Enjoy!
“I make $20,000 a month writing Tweets.”
Shut the f*ck up. That’s impossible.
I was on a Zoom call with a Twitter influencer who barely looked 20 years old.
No way he makes that kind of money writing Tweets.
I was wrong.
Today he’s making a lot more as a social media ghostwriter.
I followed his exact framework after leaving my 9-5 to become a Solopreneur.
Here are 6 steps that helped me earn $100K in my first five months as a LinkedIn ghostwriter.
If you’re wondering “What the hell is a ghostwriter?” read this article first.
In short: they write for founders who want to grow on social media but don’t have hours to create content every week.
1. Write for Free
I’m not a fan of working for free.
But to become a 6-figure writer, you need to write for yourself first.
You’ll be paid $0.00 to write daily LinkedIn posts or Tweet under your own account for the first 3 months.
But here’s what it will lead to:
Figuring out social media
Meeting other online writers
Attracting ghostwriting clients
It’s impossible to skip this step.
But you’ll learn the most and improve as a writer because of it.
2. Choose a Niche
“Riches are in the niches”
To charge the highest prices possible, you need a niche.
What are 2-3 topics you could talk about for hours?
What kind of content do you love consuming?
What topic do you know better than 99% of people?
My skills and interests aligned at:
Finance
Entrepreneurship
Personal development
Now I write for founders in finance and real estate.
I’m able to charge 4-5x more than average ghostwriters who write for any ol’ founder.
Choose your niche wisely.
3. Study Top Writers
You will feel like an imposter in the beginning.
Writing for successful founders
Managing their online brand
Not wanting to screw it up
There’s no way around this. Growth is uncomfortable.
But you can learn and improve fast.
My favorite way: study top writers in your niche.
To become a social media ghostwriter, I studied:
Highly recommend you do the same.
4. Talk to Your ICP Daily
It’s not enough to post content.
To attract your first ghostwriting client, you’ll need to have daily conversations in the DMs and comments with your ideal clients.
Don’t “pitch slap” them
Be genuinely curious
Ask them questions
Get on Zoom calls
Present solutions
Don’t overthink social selling.
It happens by being human (and not a sales pitching robot) in the DMs.
5. Create a Simple Offer
In the beginning, I tried working with everyone.
My service included 4 different tiers with 12 ways to customize.
By appealing to everyone, I appealed to no one.
I quickly learned that offers are the key to selling your services.
Offer = How You Present Your Service
Bad offer:
“I’ll ghostwrite for you for $3,000 a month.”
Better offer:
“I’ll increase your sales by $5k per month. If I don’t achieve this, I’ll work for free until I do.”
This is simplified, but it includes expected results, ROI on my fee, and a risk reversal.
6. Get Results, Raise Prices
The people most likely to be your first client:
Co-workers
Friends
Family
Don’t charge a lot.
The point of your first client is not to make money.
The point is to get results that you’ll use to sign up your second, third, fourth, and fifth client.
It’s proof of concept.
Once you’ve gotten results for your first few clients, you can slowly raise your prices with each new client until you feel resistance.
This will also teach you the art of win-win negotiation.
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Ready to monetize your online brand?
I ghostwrite for entrepreneurs who want to grow their brands and revenue on LinkedIn. Apply at CREdigital.io
Build your brand and create content faster with my favorite social media tools Taplio (LinkedIn) and TweetHunter (Twitter)
This is great post. I'm a brand-new digital writer. I'm still learning how to write effectively.
Gold!