Why You Need a Ghostwriter
When you’re first getting started with internet business, it’s easy enough to do your own web writing – whether it’s a 100-word product description for your e-commerce store or a longer article for directory submission. Unlike more complicated skills such as web design or internet programming, almost anyone can throw together enough coherent senteces to fill a web page. However, as your business begins to grow past its introductory stages, it’s time to think about adding a professional ghostwriter to your team.
Many people struggle with this step – after all, if you’re perfectly capable of writing your own content, why should you pay someone else to do it for you? For many internet business owners, the decision comes down to time. Yes, you can write your own website text, but how long does it take you to generate that single page of content? And what could you do with your business if that time were suddenly freed up? Most online business owners find that the additional income they earn as the result of the increased productivity they’re able to achieve with a ghostwriter far outweighs the cost of these services.
However, beyond the simple time-versus-money equation, working with a ghostwriter offers another significant advantage. Writing for the web is different than writing for traditional media outlets, so finding a professional ghostwriter who has experience with web content is crucial. A good web ghostwriter should be aware of the following rules:
Good web writing speaks to the lowest common denominator
Writing for the intended audience is important in any situation – you wouldn’t submit a highly-technical, jargon-filled journal piece to a popular magazine, just as you wouldn’t submit a simple report to a complex medical journal. However, writing for the web is a little more complicated in that you can never be sure who’s visiting your site. Sure, you can conduct in-depth market research to determine which demographic ranges your visitor most likely falls in, but you’ll never really know who’s on your site. Therefore, a good web writer understands how to write in a simple, yet sophisticated style that’s easily read and understood by all possible visitors to your site.
Good web writing takes on a conversational tone
Formal grammar and syntax are great for academic writing, but web content is all about the conversational tone! Therefore, web writing tends to use dashes, contractions and fragment sentences more often than traditional writing rules allow. For example, the sentence, “A word of caution, though,” is technically considered to be a fragment, even if it’s something we’d say naturally in real life. Good web writing attempts to mimic these natural speech patterns in order to form a connection with the reader – which brings us to our next point:
Good web writing builds a relationship
One of the challenges facing internet businesses is that we – unlike our brick-and-mortar relatives – rely on the language and images on our sites to create a sense of professionalism. Although people are slowly becoming more comfortable with e-commerce, the natural inclination is still to be distrustful of online sellers. And quite frankly, this makes sense – it takes a lot to trust someone you’ll never meet with your credit card information! Good writing can help bridge that gap by helping you connect to your visitor through the text on your site, eventually leading to more sales.
As I’m sure you know, there are literally thousands of professional ghostwriters working online today. Just do a search at Guru.com or Elance.com and you’ll turn up hundreds of names for both qualified and unqualified writers. But if I may make a brief plug, I highly recommend that you check out New Arbor Enterprise. Sarah, the owner, works with a small team of writers from around the world to produce some of the best quality content you can buy today. With over 500 articles published online – as well as several longer reports – she has the talent and experience to take on any writing project you need, regardless of the topic.
I’ve used her for a ton of my articles and she always goes out of her way to write informative, high quality content. For more information on her services, check out her site at www.NewArborEnterprise.com.
Tags: article marketing, ghostwriter
Nice article. One of other benefits of ghost writers is that it brings another perspective or opinion to your blog.
Great way for flipping blogs “quick” as well.
Leverage, baby, leverage.
I’ve used Elance alot, but not Guru…..I’ll go check them out.
Ghostwriters are very useful once your business grows past a certain level. Like what the article pointed out, the money-versus-time equation kicks in. You’ll have more time to do other productive things.
Thanks for the links. Going to check them out.
Roger Hamilton
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I think Mike might be confused between ghost writers and guest bloggers?
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I use ghost writers for one main reason, they can get things done faster than I can, and usually better than I can as well. It’s all about the LEVERAGE!
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I never used a ghostwriter nor guest blogger before, as most of my articles and blogposts were written by me.
By the way, it’s still a great tip to me
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Ghost writers definitely a plus if you don’t have time or can’t write very well. Paying someone do to the job faster so you can focus doing something else.
However, if you’re just starting out and short on money, it’s kinda hard to hire someone
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I have not had to use any writers thus far, in actuality once you get practiced a good page of website content can be created quite quickly. All though I think the more sites I build the more outsourcing I will be doing.
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It get’s tough writing BLOG posts on top of other activities you have in front of you!
I always find it tough to sit down and write so I think a ghost writer would work well and can be found very cheaply online.
Thanks for the good post!
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I have thought about getting me a ghostwriter for quite some time but have been a bit worried about the quality of elance and guru. Good to get a kick in the rear, it is time to act.
I also liked your tips on good web writing.
I’m newbie here, maybe i must try to hire ghost writers for my site Info4shopping.com to increase traffic and convertion. Thanks for the idea.
I’ve written several ebooks and reports for my site all on my own and it has been very tedious. If you can afford a ghost writer I think it’s definitely an option to consider. Also for things like sales pages copywriters are a must and can drastically improve your earnings.
I would be concerned that theymight post something distastful, or against my ideas. Is there an easy and automated way to monitor what they are posting?
Great article and thanks for the link for a writer. It’s hard to find competent writers out there. People claim to be experts and they really aren’t. I’ll check out that company. Like your arthemia blog by the way. I have the same theme on one of mine.
I totally agree with you, a skilled ghost-writer will be needed sooner or later, as a network grows, or as a site gains publicity it’s hard to maintain it alone without working constantly.
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I really need to look at finding someone to write content. I really don’t like writing and would rather spend my time doing other things.
In the past, I have had a hard time finding people who I can count on long term to write for me. I guess it’s time to start searching again
so I can spend my time on doing things I enjoy, and doing things I am good at.
Mike
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I have also found ghostwriters handy partners for brainstorming.
I typically write the initial content for a project but after a few weeks or months I start to run out of things to say. By handing over to a new writer at that time who has similar standards to yourself, your site can get a new lease of life with plenty of new article ideas.
As for your other commenter’s concerns about quality – it can be a real issue. But look for writers with 100% satisfaction on their profile and ask for samples of writing before making a choice. Lastly be willing to pay top dollar for a top writer. You normally get what you pay for in my experience.
Hit the nail right on the head with this article. I was on the phone during the day trying to sell Internet Marketing, and then at night I would write all the content. It got to the point to where I just couldn’t keep up. Hired a writer, and now I’ve finally got some me time.
It’s hard to let go of the style of writing that you want for your site, but it makes sense that in order to grow, you need to delegate the more time consuming tasks. Thanks for a fresh outlook.
I have quite a few writers that help me out and sincerely believe that this is crucial if you want to run your online business like a business. It honestly takes so much time to write all of the content that has to be written and getting help is the only way to stay on top of it.
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People who only have little time on their hands using ghostwriters is certinaly a good idea. But if you can’t afford them or are worried about losing control one might as well pick out ezine-articles that are about your subjects. It’s prefectly ok as long as the signature of the author stays intact with its self-serving links. Depending on what these are that might be less desirable of course.
I have been using freelance writers for my online business for about a year. It is one of the best moves I’ve made. It frees up my time and allows me to focus on my strengths. If I was still trying to do all of the writing myself, I probably would’ve given up and quit by now. Freelance writers consistently provide me with content at a reasonable price. Just be careful hiring any very low priced writers. I did not find it worthwhile using these kinds of writers as it required too much editing on my part.
We simply don’t have time to write, optimize, publish and do PR for a website on our own. Using a ghost writer to generate good content for users, is essential if we want to have time to concentrate on other important online marketing tasks, whether SEO related or not.
I agree and in the past have found it hard to ‘let go’ – I know my my site and how I want it represented. but once you find some decent ghost writers who are professional they can do a much better job than I can as I am too close to my subject – nice post!
We normally write all our own content but recently have been looking for a good writer to help out with our blog. It is a very time consuming necessity and if its not you core business, you’re better off outsourcing to a ghostwriter.
Outsourcing content creation is critical for time management purposes. Writing your own material is like the CEO of Mobil pumping the customers gas for them.
very insightful article on the importance of good copywriting and how it helps businesses. Coming from a technical background, I find it sometimes difficult to write good copy. So i will definitely check my campaigns nand hire a copywriter if needed.
Thx