A very lucrative and in-demand freelance business to start is ghostwriting. A ghostwriter can work in many different areas, from fiction to nonfiction to writing novels and books and blog posts for websites. Ghostwriters usually use the ideas and research from the person who hires them to turn the ideas into a finished product.
Some ghostwriters, especially content ghostwriters, often do everything from A to Z apart from taking credit for the work with a byline. There is a lot of work for a good ghostwriter in any genre, but the rules are different depending on the specialty.
For example, publishing houses hire ghostwriters often for many of their series, but so do website owners who don’t have time to publish enough content on their own. A publishing house is going to have their own rules while an individual who works with you may have theirs or be fine working under your rules.
Skills Needed
It depends on the type of writing you want to do but of course you need to know how to do whatever it is you want to make money doing. If you want to earn money ghostwriting fiction, you need to know how to write fiction based on the description or outline that is provided. If you want to write blog posts for someone, you need to know how to research the topic and write about it in a way that serves the client’s intent.
What the Work is Like
When you’re a ghostwriter, you spend a lot of time writing on a computer. It helps if you can type fast and think fast so that you can do more work in less time. You’ll need to ensure that you have a place to focus on writing and that your technology is in working order so that nothing interrupts your schedule. But you can work from home, a coffee shop, or any place that you can take your laptop. In many cases, you don’t always even need the internet to do it, although you will need it to market and get paid.
Avoiding Burnout![burnout]()
The biggest issue for writers is burn out. It takes a lot of brainpower to come up with new ways of writing the same old thing. For example, for one client, you might write 20 articles that seem like they’re about the exact same topic while making them easy to read and interesting too, and for another client, you might have to write about something else. But you will be spending hours a day writing. Ensure you have the right set up so that you’re comfortable and that you give yourself breaks.
Niches to Investigate
Popular writing niches right now include blog post writing for “Mommy” Bloggers. For example, writing about organizing, cooking, budgeting, family, vacations, travel, and so forth are all good niches. But what you should do is investigate the things that interest you. For example, if you already know a lot about a topic due to your profession or education, that is a niche you should investigate.
Getting Paid
Getting paid for online ghostwriting work is easier than ever. You should accept payment via Stripe.com, Paypal.com, and other online payment systems that people trust. If you don’t offer what your customers need, you will end up with fewer sales. People don’t want to mail checks or pay you via direct deposit because they want it to be easy for them. Make it easy for them and set your prices to account for the added fees of these payment processors.
Ghostwriting is one of the steadiest freelance businesses you can start because all businesses need content, and many people are trying to earn money online today via self-publishing. Even if all they have are the ideas, with your skill, you and they can make a good living.
