I had an online conversation with a fellow blogger recently and we were discussing guest posts and whether or not they were worth doing. I mentioned that I did a lot of ghost writing which half caught his attention.
He had two hurdles he couldn’t get his brain around. The first, why write for someone else and not at least have a by-line. The second related to the dollars – funny how things all come down to the holly dollar!
.
Ghost writing for fame
To cover the first aspect. I have spent half my life writing for others with no by-line. I have written in house training materials, letter templates and, more recently, worked with the unemployed to write resume’s and job applications. I have never thought to have my name added to any of these documents – it was just work and I am sure there are millions of others out there who have done the same. 
photo credit: peasap
I have to admit there are times when I write what I feel is great post and would love to have my name attached to it – but as a ghost writer you can’t – that’s life. 
I know in the past I have written training materials that are still in use today – it would have been nice to have my name attached.
.
Ghost writing for dollars
As to the dollars – ghost writing doesn’t pay a fortune but that is in your own hands. I can type at around 40-50 words per minute. A 300 word post takes 6-10 minutes. If I can knock out around 4 posts an hour and make around $20 per hour (Australian $) then I am happy. That equates to an annual salary of $40k roughly and I am working from home, at my leisure, with no overheads. photo credit: hartboy
What about research? I subscribe to a lot of blogs and my subscriptions are always email based. If you don’t have an email subscription service then I don’t subscribe. I also prefer full post feeds. Each day I go through all those emails scan reading and absorbing what is important to me.
I like bloggers like Andy Beal and his Marketing Pilgrim blog. He may publish several posts in one day but only sends out the one email. I can scan read and if I find anything of interest – it gets stored away in the brain and comes to the surface when I need it. Subscribing to these emails is also a good way to find what is important – what other bloggers are talking about – it’s all research. As I surf the net, even in leisure, the back of my mind is always on the lookout for useful bits and pieces.
.
Ghost writing because I can
What is important for me is that I am doing something that I am reasonably good at – and that I enjoy. Allen Taylor on his post - Why You Need A Ghost Writer – makes a really good point – I am not a motor mechanic! In fact, with 
the fancy engines in use today, I open the hood and I am lucky to find where the water and oil goes. I leave the motor repairs to the experts.
The same can be said for the online world. Business people are busy running their businesses – they may just be that mechanic. They use a professional ghost writer to keep their blogs up to date the same as I use a professional mechanic to keep my car running.
Yes, I am a ghost writer and I am proud of the work I do. I may not be able to show you what I do – but then, I have my own blogs for you to judge on that. As a footnote – if your looking for a ghost writer, let me know. You would be surprised at the range of niche’s I can cover. photo credit: maistora
.
You have a very interesting job and good money from it. The most important is that you are satisfied with the work. I think that is very important to love what you’re doing and to have good money from this job.
Pingback: Articles about Internet Marketing Experts as of April 6, 2009 | The Lessnau Lounge
Personally, I don’t like Ghost writing because we are not recognized but money is the big deal. In past years, I have worked as ghost write but now I am involved many other activities which are much more rewarding. I’ll be contacting you soon for a few writing projects.
I just discovered your blog, and think I might like it quite well!
I’m actually a ghost editor for someone. I’m a desktop publisher/technical writer at work, and do some freelance typesetting and web design. The person whose blog I edit is a long-time customer, and is much more of an “idea guy” than a grammarian. He can’t spell, either, and he tends to leave words out of sentences. I edit it for him because I don’t want him to look like an idiot. He pays me a little bit, and we’re all happy.
Great information about the economy, I enjoy your blog and look forward to more information.
I admire you for your entrepreneurial ambition. It takes a lot of control and self motivation to be able to pull it off. But as I read I couldn’t help but notice you said you were writing resumes. How much do you charge unemployed people for their resumes? And do you ask for the money upfront or afterwards?
Cheers
Hi Whitey
Thanks for your comment – at the time I was doing resumes at no cost – it was part of my job. These days I charge $35 up front for a resume with a further $15 for application letters. I also write up responses to selection criteria – the cost depends on how many items are in the selection criteria – the basic fee is $20 – so for a complete application I charge around the $70. I don’t get a lot of work – it’s not cheap but I can tell you at $20 per hour I spend more than three hours doing the work.
For this type of work – it is always charged upfront. I have been stung too many times in the past by people asking for written material then not paying.
cheers
les
I am a ghost writer and enjoyed doing it. Sometimes others have trouble getting their thoughts down or simply have no training or ability to write. So you interview them and then put their thoughts down. It’s happened for thousands of years. It’s completely ethical.
As long as you keep earning me my craft money, I don’t mind about the by line. You have your best works on your site and through helium, where you have your by line, and that’s what matters.
Was that earning craft money or crafty money? I don’t mind the by line either – who wants to be famous!