Everything You Need To Know About Ghostwriting
Everything You Need To Know About Ghostwriting
What if you were considered the financial expert in your local area? What if referrals and prospects came to you, instead of having to spend most of your waking hours searching for them? What if you had a tool in your marketing arsenal that increased positive word-of-mouth around your business and was rarely discarded but instead, frequently passed onto other potential clients?
Financial advisor nirvana you say? That may be true but achievable nevertheless. Writing a book can accomplish all of these things and much more. Think about it. When we see a nonfiction book on the shelf, we automatically assume that the author is an authority in their field. Only a serious expert would ever attempt such an undertaking. And, if you discover that someone you actually know has written a book, usually your opinion of them levels up rather substantially.
Besides being perceived as an expert in your field, when you write a book, you can expect some or all of the following benefits to you and your business:
Clarity in your business. To write a book, you must first clarify and refine your ideas about what you do and how you do it before you can begin to articulate them through the written word. Your ability to inform and persuade from a distance becomes increasingly more important as you begin to scale your business.
Multiply and enhance your marketing. When attending important marketing events, you can use your book in lieu of a business card for significantly more impact. While many business cards end up in the trash, that rarely happens with a book and often a book is recycled to other potential clients.
New networking and speaking engagements. Your book can be your ticket to more and better networking and speaking opportunities. Organizations that may not have given you the time of day before, suddenly begin to seek you out.
An increase in signups to your email list. In your book, you can provide links to additional resources on your website and drive more quality prospects there. Once on your email list, you can begin to move them through your marketing funnel.
More unsolicited publicity. When you’re an author, you often become somewhat of a celebrity in your area. Local news channels and newspapers often want to do a feature story on local authors which means more eyes on you and your business.
Access to Amazon users. In 2019, there were 103 million Amazon Prime members just in the United States alone. When you’re in a business of intangibles, one of your only options for getting in front of Amazon users is with a book or video. An author page linking back to your website can not only improve your SEO, but it can also help you reach potential clients you would not have had access to previously.
All of these benefits translate into increased exposure and credibility. As a financial advisor, your reputation is everything and your reputation is the foundation of your professional brand. Because a book essentially establishes you as an expert, it can be one of the most powerful tools you have for building your brand.
Once you’ve decided that a book is the way you want to move your business forward to the next level, you have to decide what your book is going to be about. There are many different components and nuances in your business and the industry. What aspect of your business are you most passionate about? What have you learned and how can you help people with your knowledge and experience? Writing a book is work and requires a strong commitment on your part. If you’re not passionate about your subject matter, chances are you’ll never follow-through and see it to completion.
Is Using a Ghostwriter Cheating?
What if you believe in the power of a book to build your business but, you hate to write or don’t write well? If it takes you 20 minutes to write a 100-word email, the thought of writing a 100-page book may seem completely overwhelming. Before you throw in the towel on using a book as a primary marketing tool in your business, you may want to consider hiring a ghostwriter.
Publishing industry professionals estimate that more than 60% of nonfiction books are written by ghostwriters and not the author you see on the cover. Michael Phelps, Donald Trump, Michelle Obama and Ashley Judd are just a few who have utilized the services of a ghostwriter to get the job done.
Even John F. Kennedy’s famous book, Profiles in Courage was written by a ghostwriter. Steve Jobs used one to write his famous Stanford commencement speech which has had over 22 million views on YouTube and is still quoted today. These people, like you didn’t have the time or experience necessary to write a quality book so they teamed up with a professional ghostwriter to get their books written.
If your roof was leaking and needed repair, would you grab a ladder, watch a video and climb on the roof to do it yourself or would you hire a professional? Ghostwriting functions the same way. These writers are professionals who write for a living. Not only will they finish your book much faster than you could on your own, but you will likely end up with a much better book.
Time
Let’s face it - time is your most valuable asset – not your clients or your staff or even your money. All of these are replaceable. Time is not. It’s also the number one reason people never write a book or finish one they’ve started.
As a financial advisor, your time is best spent on high level activities. This means more time spent on clients, service and sales. A ghostwriter can not only save you many hours of time,but they can take your ideas, even if they seem scattered and craft them into a cohesive, well-written book that’s a true reflection of you as a professional.
Brand Awareness
Your brand is sacred. It’s what allows you to compete and land higher net worth clients in a highly competitive marketplace. A good ghostwriter can strengthen your brand throughout your book. They can build your brand directly and even subliminally through the words they choose and the tone they set.
It’s important that you have open and honest discussions with your ghostwriter. Make sure that they understand the larger vision that you have for your brand as well as your longer-term goals as a thought leader and influencer. This helps them to think strategically about how to best approach your project relative to your goals.
Ghostwriters also have the ability to reinforce the authenticity of your brand. They know how to capture your voice and thoughts and present them professionally and eloquently throughout your book. They use sentence structure and word choice to make the content feel genuine and relatable.
What a Ghostwriter Must Know About You
From the very beginning and throughout the relationship, it’s important that you think of your ghostwriter as part of your team. Plan on communicating with them often. The better the communication, the more insight they will have into you and what’s important to you and your business.
Both you and your ghostwriter should have crystal clear clarity on the following:
Why are you writing the book? People write books for a multitude of different reasons. If your goal for the book is to drive clients to your business, your ghostwriter will approach it much differently than if you were writing a memoir.
Who is your target market for the book? The better the ghostwriter understands who you’re writing the book for, the better they can gear the book toward that specific reader profile.
What is the best way to communicate with you? As with most everything in life, communication is key. Discuss and agree upon both frequency of communication and preferred methods – phone, Zoom, text and email.
What materials and resources will you provide to the ghostwriter? Share all the resources you’ve gathered including notes, references, research, outlines and any writing you’ve done on the book yourself.
What is your publication schedule? If you would like the book before for a scheduled event or within a certain time frame, communicate that to your ghostwriter to ensure that your timeframe is realistic.
What You Must Know About Your Ghostwriter
Not every ghostwriter is a good fit for every book. You’ll want to find a ghostwriter that specializes in your genre. Obviously, you wouldn’t want to hire someone who writes romantic novels to write your business book.
Look for the following in the ghostwriter you choose:
Find a good personality fit. The relationship between a ghostwriter and their client is usually a fairly intimate one. You’re working very closely with this person so it’s important that your personalities mesh and mesh well. The last thing you want or need is a personality conflict! Make sure this is someone you can work with!
They should be able to clearly articulate their strategies for completing the manuscript. They should provide you with a reasonable timeline for getting the book finished. This will vary depending on the complexity of the project and how involved you wish to be in the process.
Total costs and a payment schedule should be clear. Ghostwriter costs may be calculated on a per-word basis, a per-page basis or on a project basis. General costs for a ghostwriter can range from several thousand dollars to six figures depending on the experience of the ghostwriter, length of the project, complexity and your degree of involvement. There should also be a clear payment schedule with payments made at certain strategic points during the process.
Look for experience in your genre. The better a ghostwriter understands your business, the better your book will be. Due to the complexity of the business and the many industry terms used in financial services, it’s a good idea to find a ghostwriter with experience writing in the business or finance genres.
It is said that everyone has at least one book in them and most people have considered writing a book at some point in their life. Writing a book to use as a primary marketing tool in your business doesn’t have to be a pipe dream. Don’t abandon the dream because you feel you don’t have the time or experience, you don’t like to write or aren’t a good writer.
A book is a great way to establish credibility, expertise and build your brand. Using your book strategically to build your business is one of the best ways there is to begin driving clients to you instead of always struggling to find your ideal client in our highly competitive market.
