You can be a GREAT writer and still be a broke ghostwriter.
Trust me, I know…
I spent years writing for tech companies, including NVIDIA.
And despite working with some pretty impressive clients, I still couldn’t afford to move out of my parents’ retirement home in Ghana.
Mind you, I was working ridiculous hours each week.
My parents started worrying if I’d ever get a girlfriend because I was always working.
I couldn’t understand how other writers were making $10,000/month while working a fraction of the time.
But ever since I started making $10,000+/month, I realized my writing skills were never the problem in the first place.
I just didn’t know how to run a business.
Specifcially, I didn’t know how to:
Position my services
And those mistakes cost me YEARS.
Eventually, I figured things out and built a six-figure ghostwriting business.
But looking back, there were so many things I could’ve done differently.
So in this article, I’m going to share 10 mistakes I see new ghostwriters make (many of which I’ve made myself).
1. Trying to write for everyone
When I decided I was going all in on ghostwriting after struggling to make ends meet as a content writer, I had no idea who I wanted to write for.
Well, I thought I did…
I said, “Founders.”
But there are tons of founders.
Tech founders.
Agency owners
Consultants.
Coaches.
They all come in different shapes and sizes (figuratively and literally lol).
And they all wanted to achieve different things.
This made positioning my offer a nightmare.
You CANNOT create an offer that appeals to people who have completely different problems.
At least, not without making it so generic.
The problem with this is that you’ll have to compete with every single ghostwriter on the planet.
And with no significant edge, you’re bound to lose.
The fix:
Eventually, I realized I needed to narrow my focus…
So I started targeting AI practitioners who sell high-ticket courses since I already had a deep understanding of AI (I was a machine learning engineer).
This allowed me to develop a simple unique selling proposition:
“I help AI experts sell more high-ticket courses through LinkedIn content.”
This made everything easier.
I knew:
Who I was speaking to
What they were struggling with
What they wanted to achieve
Where to find them
More importantly, I could build a specific offer designed to help them get there.
So here’s my advice…
Pick a specific group of people with a specific problem you’re confident you can solve.
Then build your offer around solving that problem.
It’s 100x easier to become known for solving one specific problem for one specific type of person than trying to be everything to everyone.
2. Selling writing instead of outcomes
For the first four years of my writing career, I worked with some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
NVIDIA. DataCamp. Neptune.ai, who later got acquired by OpenAI. And several others.
Despite having these big names in my portfolio, I still couldn’t afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment in London.
Because I was a commodity.
These companies weren’t paying me to solve a business problem...
My job was simply to write.
Everything else was already taken care of.
Keyword research.
SEO optimization.
Content strategy.
Article outlines.
Content structure.
Well, in the case of NVIDIA, I did that myself.
But for the others, by the time an assignment reached me, someone else had already figured out what needed to be written and why.
My job was simply to turn their instructions into a finished article.
And while I was pretty good at it, I was easily replaceable.
If a client thought my rates were too expensive, they could simply find another writer willing to do the same job for less.
And there were PLENTY of them.
This meant there was a ceiling on how much I could charge.
From the client’s perspective, I was just another expense on their content marketing budget.
It didn’t matter how good my writing was.
They just wanted someone who could produce something “good enough,” so I had very little leverage.
Fortunately, I figured this out before I pivoted to ghostwriting, but many don’t.
The fix:
Don’t position yourself as someone who simply writes content.
Instead, position yourself as someone who helps clients achieve a specific outcome.
For example, let’s say you’re a LinkedIn ghostwriter…
Do you think people wake up saying, “God, I just wish I could have 7 ghostwriting posts written for me?”
Of course not!
They might want:
Authority
Qualified leads
Paying customers
Time
Etc.
And they recognize content on LinkedIn as a vehicle to achieve that objective.
In other words, the posts are just a means to an end.
So rather than building your offer around what you deliver, figure out what your ideal clients are struggling to achieve.
… Then position your ghostwriting services as a vehicle to get them there.
For example, instead of saying:
“I write LinkedIn posts for AI founders.”
You could say:
“I help AI course creators attract qualified students and sell more courses through LinkedIn content.”
One positions you as someone who produces content.
The other positions you as someone who helps solve a business problem.
But you actually need to be able to help them achieve that outcome.
This is why I’m a big advocate for being your first customer.
Before I ever sold my services, I did it for myself and got results first, so I was never afraid to ask someone to pay me to do it for them.
3. Bad pricing models
One of the biggest mistakes I made as a writer was using the wrong pricing model.
I’ve tried:
Per word.
Per hour.
Per project.
And quite frankly, they all sucked.
Why?
Because they tied how much I could earn to how much work I had to do.
When I charged $0.10 per word, I had to write 10,000 words just to make $1,000.
When I charged $20 per hour, I’d have to work 50 hours to make the same amount.
… and I was punished for finishing my work fast.
When I charged $350 per article, I had to complete almost three articles to make $1,000.
Long story short, earning more always meant working more.
But you can only do so much work before you run out of time.
This doesn’t make sense when you’re ghostwriting because you’re not just responsible for writing.
If you don't account for everything you have to do, you could end up working ridiculous hours for very little money.
The fix:
Stop charging based purely on how much work you produce.
Instead, figure out what it costs to deliver your entire service, account for your business expenses and profit margin, and consider the value you’re helping your clients create.
There’s a HUGE difference between what your service costs to deliver and what it’s worth to the person buying it.
And your pricing should reflect both.
I’ve written an entire article breaking down the pricing models I used, why they failed me, and the framework I eventually developed to charge thousands of dollars for my ghostwriting services.
You can read it here: How I Price My High-Ticket Ghostwriting Offers.
4. Spending too much time “building a portfolio”
I recently met a guy who told me he was struggling to find ghostwriting clients, so he decided he was going to stop searching so he could build his portfolio.
And I couldn’t help but think…
How is this going to solve your problem?
Fortunately, I met him just before he embarked on this ridiculous mission and helped him out.
He landed a ghostwriting client in 4 weeks.
But I see beginner ghostwriters making this mistake all the time...
They convince themselves they need a better portfolio before they can start selling their services.
They spend weeks writing samples.
Then weeks improving those samples.
Before they know it, months pass without a single sales conversation.
And this is because a portfolio doesn’t magically bring you clients.
It may convince someone you can do the work.
But first, you need someone to convince.
The fix:
Be your first customer.
If you’re selling LinkedIn ghostwriting, use your own LinkedIn profile to demonstrate what you can do.
This way, you’re building a portfolio AND putting yourself in front of potential clients.
A few pieces that demonstrate you can deliver on what you offer are enough.
Spend the remainder of your time getting in front of potential buyers, and use feedback from those conversations to improve your portfolio.
I say this because your portfolio isn’t always the problem.
With most people I’ve worked with, the problem is usually that they just aren't having enough conversations with people who could pay them.
5. Waiting for clients to come to you
I relied almost entirely on referrals and inbound leads to find clients for the first 4 years of my writing business.
And when they came, life was great.
Heavy emphasis on “when they came,” because they didn’t always come.
This meant I had no control over when I’d get a new client.
And it made running my business stressful.
I was constantly anxious about losing clients because I had no idea how I’d replace them.
This fear also began influencing how I ran my business.
I put up with clients I should’ve walked away from.
I agreed to work outside our original agreement.
I let clients push my boundaries because I was terrified of losing their business.
Scope creep became a recurring problem because I was too scared to say no.
I was desperate.
And that’s a dangerous position to be in.
The fix:
Don’t base your entire client acquisition strategy on referrals and inbound leads.
There’s nothing wrong with either.
In fact, they’re GREAT ways to land clients.
But they shouldn’t be your only ways.
You need a repeatable process for finding potential clients and starting conversations with them.
And don’t wait until you’ve lost a client to start doing this.
Client acquisition should be an ongoing part of running your business.
Because when you know how to generate new opportunities, you stop treating every existing client like they’re your last.
You become more comfortable setting boundaries.
You stop accepting work you shouldn’t.
And you’re no longer terrified of walking away from a bad client.
You enter a state of abundance.
6. Offering too many services
“The more services I offer, the more opportunities I’ll have to make money.”
It sounds logical, but it’s a terrible idea.
The more things you offer, the harder it becomes for people to understand what you do.
And if people don’t understand what you do, they’re less likely to hire you.
But let’s say you DO manage to land clients...
Delivering all those services becomes your new problem.
Juggling a bunch of different tasks and expectations is hard because you’re going to have some who pay less than others.
But these are usually the ones who demand significantly more of your time.
Over time, you will begin to resent them because you’ve created a situation where you’re doing more work than you’re being paid for.
Again, I’ve made this mistake too.
The fix:
You don’t need to be everything to people.
Just start with one clear offer that solves one expensive problem for one specific audience.
Then build your offer around achieving that outcome.
Include everything needed to achieve the outcome you’ve agreed to deliver.
This makes it easier to:
Standardize your processes
Set clear expectations
Delegate parts of the work
And when someone asks for something outside your offer?
You can say no.
Or charge separately for it.
7. Taking on any client willing to pay
A client with money isn’t necessarily a good client.
Some will drain your time, ignore your boundaries, and make you regret ever signing the contract.
This is another lesson I learned the hard way...
Earlier this year, someone reached out to me after seeing the work I’d been doing for someone he knew.
He liked the results and wanted me to do something similar for him.
I signed him on and almost immediately regretted it.
He missed deadlines.
Ignored my feedback.
Took forever to return edits.
And he insisted on doing things his way, even when my experience told me it wasn’t the best approach.
Now, I’m all for clients having a say in how their business is marketed.
It’s their business, after all.
But there’s a difference between collaborating with someone and paying an expert only to ignore their expertise.
And this guy was doing the latter.
The worst part?
I could feel myself starting to question my own abilities.
I knew exactly where things were heading.
I’d eventually become frustrated, resentful, and feel completely useless.
All while being paid to do work I didn’t believe in.
So I fired him.
Because no amount of money is worth sacrificing my peace of mind.
And that’s something I wish I’d learned much earlier in my business.
The fix:
Qualify your clients just as much as they’re qualifying you.
Before signing anyone, pay attention to how they behave during the sales process.
Do they respect your time?
Are they open to your recommendations?
Do they communicate clearly?
Do they have realistic expectations?
Are they coachable?
And most importantly…
Are they someone you WANT to work with?
The red flags you ignore before signing a contract rarely disappear afterward.
If anything, they usually get worse.
So establish your boundaries early, make sure expectations are aligned, and don’t be afraid to walk away when something feels off.
Even if they’re offering you a lot of money.
I’ve learned that the hard way.
A bad client can cost you far more than they’ll ever pay you.
8. Failing to define the scope of work
Until last year, I never had a clearly defined scope of work for my clients.
BIG mistake.
I assumed that once we’d agreed on what I was going to deliver, that was enough.
Well, it wasn’t.
I had one client who constantly asked me to do things that weren’t part of our original agreement.
At first, I didn’t mind.
It was just one extra task here and there.
And he was my only client at the time.
Then I started landing other clients.
But those little requests kept adding up.
Before I knew it, I was spending more time working for this guy than any of my other clients.
Here’s the kicker…
He was paying me the LEAST.
To make matters worse, he was also a micromanager.
He wanted to have a say in EVERYTHING.
Which meant more back-and-forth, more revisions, and more time spent doing work I wasn’t being paid for.
Eventually, I got fed up.
Not just with him...
But with myself for allowing it to happen.
So I introduced a formal scope of work.
I allowed him to keep the boundaries he had already breached.
But I put stiff penalties on anything else that fell outside of them.
This meant I had something to point to whenever he asked for more.
What started as a way to protect myself from scope creep also became a way to keep his micromanagement in check.
The fix:
Before you start working with a client, put EVERYTHING in writing.
At a minimum, your agreement should clearly define:
Deliverables: Exactly what you’re responsible for producing.
Revision limits: How many rounds of edits are included.
Communication expectations: How often you’ll meet, where you’ll communicate, and expected response times.
Timelines: When work will be delivered and when the client needs to provide feedback.
Payment terms: How much you’re charging, when payments are due, and what happens if they’re late.
And most importantly…
Specify what happens when a client requests work outside the agreed scope.
Some clients will keep asking for more as long as you keep saying yes.
That doesn’t necessarily make them bad clients.
But it does mean YOU need to establish boundaries.
A clearly defined scope of work protects both parties.
Your client knows exactly what they’re paying for.
And you know exactly what you’re responsible for delivering.
If it’s not in the scope, it’s not included in the price.
9. Not being your first customer
If you’re going to charge people to achieve a specific outcome, you should know how to achieve it yourself.
I know it sounds like common sense but not all sense is common.
I once spoke to a guy who wanted to offer SEO-optimized articles that would rank on Google and get discovered through AI search engines.
So I said to him, “That sounds great. Have you got examples of where you’ve done this before?”
He said, “No.”
“Have you ever actually done it?” I replied.
“No,” he said.
I was so confused.
How can you promise to help someone achieve something you’ve never done yourself?
You’re essentially asking people to pay you to experiment with their business.
And that’s a BIG problem.
Look…
I’m not saying you need to be the world’s leading expert before you start charging for your services.
But you should at least understand how to deliver the outcome you’re selling.
If you’re a LinkedIn ghostwriter, you should understand how the platform works.
What makes people stop scrolling.
What gets people to engage.
How to build authority.
You should know the platform you’re writing on better than the clients paying you to write on it.
And because platforms constantly change, you need to keep improving your skills.
The fix:
Be your first customer.
Before asking someone to pay you for a result, try achieving it yourself.
Want to help founders build authority on LinkedIn? Build your own.
Want to help businesses rank articles on Google? Start a website, publish articles, and learn how to get them ranking.
Want to help course creators generate leads through content? Build a lead magnet and figure out how to get people to sign up.
Experiment.
Make mistakes.
Study what works.
And document your results.
This way, when a prospect asks whether you can help them, you’re not relying on theory.
You have practical experience to draw from.
Of course, getting results for yourself doesn’t guarantee you’ll get the same results for a client.
But it gives you a much stronger foundation than simply watching a few YouTube videos and deciding you’re ready to sell a service.
Don’t use your clients’ money to learn something you haven’t even tried yourself.
10. Not learning how to sell
You could be the best writer in the world.
But if you don’t know how to sell, you’ll struggle to make money.
I know because I spent YEARS believing my writing would speak for itself.
I thought that if I could just get good enough, people would recognize my talent and pay me what I was worth.
But that’s not how business works.
Being good at what you do and being good at getting people to pay you for it are two completely different skills.
And unfortunately, most beginner ghostwriters only focus on the first.
They spend hours improving their writing.
Studying hooks.
Learning storytelling.
Perfecting their editing skills.
But when a potential client asks, “Why should I hire you?“
They freeze.
Or worse…
They start talking about how passionate they are about writing.
None of which explains why the client should give them their money.
Then when someone says, “It’s too expensive,” they immediately offer a discount.
Or when a prospect says, “Let me think about it,” they accept it without understanding what’s holding them back.
And wonder why nobody’s buying.
Don’t get me wrong, you should seek to improve your writing skills.
But understand that running a writing business requires a more than just your writing ability.
The fix:
Learn how to sell.
Become a master at understanding a specific person’s problems and communicating why your service is worth paying for.
Start by learning how to:
Run discovery calls: Ask questions that uncover what a prospect is struggling with.
Identify expensive problems: Understand what those problems are costing them.
Communicate value: Explain how your offer helps them achieve an outcome they care about.
Handle objections: Understand what’s stopping someone from buying instead of immediately lowering your price.
Ask for the sale: Confidently invite the prospect to take the next step.
And like any other skill, you get better through practice.
Don’t hide behind your writing.
Get on calls.
Make offers.
Get rejected.
Learn from those conversations.
The more you understand why people buy, the better you’ll become at selling your services.
Your writing skills will help you deliver the work.
But it’s your sales skills that will help you build the business around it.
Final thoughts
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this article, it’s this…
Being a great writer doesn’t automatically make you a great ghostwriter.
And being a great ghostwriter doesn’t automatically mean you’ll build a profitable business.
I learned most of these lessons the hard way…
And it was simply because I didn’t know how to run a business.
If you’re just getting started, don’t try to avoid all 10 mistakes starting today.
Identify the one that’s holding you back the most right now.
Then do something about it.
Thanks for reading!