What to look for in a LinkedIn ghostwriter
Honesty and communication are key
With LinkedIn investing heavily within the last couple of years to become a premier content platform, many executives are now hiring ghostwriters to share their expertise and stand out amongst the crowd.
If you are an executive who is looking to hire a ghostwriter, then here are some traits that you should look for in your hire:
1) Honesty: you need your ghostwriter to be honest with you when it comes to determining if you should post something or not. After all, you don’t want to end up on the @stateoflinkedin Twitter account. Sometimes a topic may be too political or in other instances you might come across the wrong way. Your ghostwriter should be honest in communicating this with you. Furthermore, there are some instances where it may not make sense to work with a ghostwriter at all, such as if you are in a very narrow field that requires a lot of expertise and technical jargon. In this case, you would want a ghostwriter to inform you that you should be writing your own content due to it being too complex for a ghostwriter to comprehend.
2) Communication: A good LinkedIn ghostwriter will want to collaborate with you on posts. They will seek your feedback on topics that you are interested in and pick your brain with regard to your thoughts on said topics. Thus, your ghostwriter should be good at asking questions, asking follow-up questions to those questions, and elaborating on your thoughts. On your first call with a ghostwriter, evaluate their communication skills and see if they ask good questions and can summarize your points effectively.
3) Writing Acumen: At its core, an effective and thoughtful LinkedIn post comes down to writing. Thus, your LinkedIn ghostwriter should be an exceptional writer. You can get a gauge of this by checking out his or her’s sample work or reading their blog posts. You should never settle for a writer who you do not believe is good at their craft.
4) Availability: As we mentioned earlier, collaboration is an important part of the ghostwriting process. Thus, it is important that your ghostwriter can make him or herself available to speak with you. In your initial consultation with a ghostwriter, ask them about their schedule, as you want to make sure that they have time for a strategy call at least once a week, and possibly up to three times a week if you are looking to post based on trending topics (we advise that you should not post on LinkedIn more than three times a week).
5) Reputation: When it is all said and done, you want a writer with an upstanding reputation. After all, you are entrusting this writer to be the voice of your own personal brand. Should you decide to part ways with your writer, you would not want them to trash you on LinkedIn or other platforms. You would also not want them to write about things that would damage one’s reputation. When hiring a ghostwriter, conduct a search of their social media and Google results to verify that they are a person you would want to work with (note: never give a ghostwriter the login credentials to your LinkedIn account).
If you are in the market for a LinkedIn ghostwriter, then please feel free to message me on LinkedIn, and we can see if we are a good fit to work together.
As a former journalist, marketer and English teacher, I have refined my writing over numerous years of hard work, and believe that I can offer a service that is right on par with the top ghostwriters in the country.
You can also reach me via email at petercady at gmail dot com.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day.
