A website is not enough. You need SEO, too. Busy areas have competitive SEO markets where you may need our services like a ghostwriter in NYC. Last week, I wrote about how the best way to find a ghostwriter is to find a ghostwriter’s website. This week, I’m going to twist things around and address this…
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Scripts are out. Spontaneous is in. I recently came across a column by Ted Gioia, who calls himself The Honest Broker. He wrote that the recent presidential election showed that giving speeches from a teleprompter isn’t effective anymore and ”The word ‘scripted’ is now an insult. Plainspoken dialogue is considered more trustworthy.” Gioia then goes…
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I recently introduced a new feature into my contracts: the escape clause. It arose because I had a prospect who insisted on it, and because my business advisor recommended it after I told him about this prospect. But first things first. Escape clauses (sometimes called “out clauses”) let a party leave the contract before the…
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To paraphrase James Carville, not only is it the story, stupid, it’s also the emotion. Plenty of studies have shown that storytelling matters. Here’s one example. One critical aspect of good storytelling is including emotion. Adding details that trigger your brain’s amygdala (the emotional processing center) automatically makes the story better. A story with emotion invests,…
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Occasionally, when I first talk to a ghostwriting prospect, I get asked a version of this question: “Can you help me get my book published?” My standard response has been, “My specialty is writing. I know people in the publishing world that I’m happy to introduce you to, but I focus on making the manuscript…
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Last week, I detailed three lessons I learned as a ghostwriter. Here are two more lessons. A ghostwriter doesn’t need to be an expert in every subject. I have a client who’s a Pennsylvania-based personal injury lawyer. He hired me to ghostwrite some chapters into an already existing book about depositions. In our early conversations,…
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Almost whenever I research ghostwriting topics for my next post, my search engine spits out subjects I’m not asking for. Most common are the ethics of ghostwriting. I’ve written before about how ghostwriting is here to stay and how it’s ethically acceptable to hire somebody to write words for you. Here are some other ethics-related…
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Last week, I wrote about two things a ghostwriter can do to help build a brand. Here are four more: Develop a professional website. A ghostwriter can write the copy on the website, giving prospects a solid first look at your writing ability (and, yes, I wrote my website). Not only that, but your website…
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Before COVID, client and ghostwriter met face to face much more often. Now, thanks to that pesky, annoying virus, there are many more electronic and distant ways for ghostwriters to interact with clients and do the important job of telling their compelling stories. I get 99% of my job leads from search engine optimization (SEO),…
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I recently was reminded that I am a ghostwriter. You might think, Well, no shit, Sherlock! I prefer to look at it like the old aftershave commercials from the 1970s, “Thanks, I needed that.” And I have my business advisor to thank. I have many standard fee requests in my contracts. Besides the dollar amount,…
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