Ghostwriting in Professional Content Creation

Ghostwriting for executives is such an odd, unique experience. “You captured my voice so well!” is valuable feedback, and we love to hear it. But clarifying their highly specific subject matter expertise and turning it into punchy LinkedIn content is only a third of the battle. Three things need to happen to do LinkedIn content strategy effectively: -- 1. Take the time to understand the person on all levels, before writing. Their nuances, quirks, deeply held beliefs. This is necessary for continuity between their voice on social media, and in reality. There's no substitute for putting in the work to figure out how a person views the world, and writing from that perspective. One misconception about ghostwriting is that it’s inauthentic, but good ghostwriters aren’t putting words in your mouth. -- 2. Build the strategic narrative of the company and its value proposition, in depth. To do this, I prefer using the Challenger Sale process of: Credibility, Reframe, Rational Drowning, Emotional Impact, New Way, Your Solution. Personal branding content that lacks this is "fine", but it's not going to be nearly as impactful. You'll get far more Attention than you will Leads (although you'll get some leads, of course). -- 3. Integrate the person's own perspective and story seamlessly within the context of the strategic narrative. THIS is the part that most content strategists simply can't do. They can tell personal stories, or they can write sales posts, but they can't write thought leadership that weaves together a CEO's unique background, cleanly alongside elements of the broader narrative. It's a difficult, massively rewarding process. Ghostwriters are not necessarily telling your story better than you "could" per se; but if you’re already a great writer, they’re able to take your voice and easily create authentic content within that. (And if you’re not yet, their work will help you DEVELOP that voice) In other words, to create truly impactful content for your profile, we'll need to understand both your subject matter expertise *and* emotional composition. And package that together into a narrative that moves the market to want to work with you. It's the combination of what your team needs to hear, what’s going to generate leads, and what will inspire investors and partners to reach out. While staying on-brand. Threading the needle of what gets likes, and what earns leads that are actually interested. In 2023, the SaaS world started to take LinkedIn more seriously as significant pipeline was built organically, with minimal to no paid spend: purely on the basis of the CxOs’ social profiles. I have no doubt this trend will continue. And I'm glad for it. -- P.S. We have room for a few more Founders & SaaS execs who need a LinkedIn partner; get in touch with us if this is part of your 2024 plan.

“I’ve worked with three different ghostwriters and no one was able to get my voice.” I was meeting an executive for the first time and she wanted to know how I wrote content that actually felt authentic to my clients. I’m so glad she asked. It meant her brand was important to her. As a ghostwriter, I want to embrace who my clients are and the brands they’ve built — NOT replace that. So I told her my (at this point not-so-secret) approach… And towards the end of the call, she smiled and said: “None of those past ghostwriters had a process like yours. I’ll talk to the rest of the team tomorrow so we can start working together soon.” Here’s a peek into the secret sauce behind my process… → Going one step beyond regular interviews with my clients to come up with fresh content. These interviews are SO important — but I also have my clients add me to whatever form of communication they most regularly use (usually Slack or Whatsapp). I encourage them to share every idea that pops into their head WHEN it pops it into their head. Maybe that’s… → As they’re leaving a meeting → A voice memo when they’re commuting to the office → After they finish reading an article that has their brain buzzing The ideas don’t need to be polished. A simple “I want to write something about x” is perfect. My focus is on making sure those ideas get captured when inspiration strikes. This is my favorite way to get to know a client’s voice and how they think, build a real partnership without taking up hours of their time, and never run out of great content ideas. Do you have a process for capturing content ideas the moment they pop into your head — before they escape?

Our three-step lead-gen ghostwriting process for 7+ figure founders: 1. Educated Hypotheses A new client is a founder who provides financial consulting for high-end interior designers. As part of onboarding, we've had her fill in a form and submit all relevant collateral. Then we asked questions (18 in total) over Zoom like: - How do you currently acquire clients? - What companies do you target? - What role are you trying to get in front of? - What are their top three existential struggles, as they pertain to your services? - Who gives your industry a bad name and why? And created a strategy doc with: - Her aims (e.g. lead-gen) - Positioning - Voice/tone - Content pillars & angles In this case, the main content pillar is interior design finances, which we'll attack from different angles. For example: - Client stories - Actionable advice - Industry insights & analyses That means we’re making an educated guess on what’ll move the needle. Hint: it’s always the client's expertise as it intersects with their ICP's pain points. We then: - Present it for feedback & buy-in - Screenshare prompts/questions during interviews - Create content against pillars/angles (quick shoutout to Jason Vana, whose content has helped me grow as a strategist over the years) 2. Testing & Gathering Feedback We're in the business of truth-seeking, not complacency. So we test by: - Getting feedback from the client. Are they getting leads? Are people mentioning their content on calls? Can they help us correlate content to results? - Looking at analytics. That includes impressions, likes, comments, and demographics. - Clickthroughs. We're using Bitly to track how many clicks clients’ Calendly/landing pages get. We then use that information to understand trends and patterns. The problem is we're getting a flawed image here. For instance: - If a lead comes in outside of LinkedIn but says, "I loved your content!" How do we know how much our work helped? - It's hard to tie a conversion to a specific post or content pillar. Usually, it's multiple touchpoints. - Numbers can lie. A viral post can result in unnecessary noise, while the right 10-like post can lead to a 6-figure retainer. 3. Strategy Iteration Here, we go back to the strategy doc and adjust it. Let's say client stories get the most impressions and leads. We might decide to add more of those, cutting out posts from a different content pillar/angle. ___ In conclusion, we face the same problems other marketers do: - Complexity/many moving pieces - Not enough data - Deceptive data However, being strategic is 1,000 times better than what 9/10 "boastwriters" do, which is to: - Hop on a call with a client - Ask "What's on your mind?" - Pray to the Algorithm Gods that they'll get results ___ I'm curious: How do you approach your LinkedIn strategy? P.S. If you’re a 7+ figure founder who wants a strategic done-for-you ghostwriting service, scroll up and hit the “Book an appointment” button under my name.

“What’s a LinkedIn Ghostwriter?” 🤔 During networking events, I usually answer “I’m like a LinkedIn social media manager…” but… Working with me includes so much more. 🤷 I mean sure, I create content. But I really create trust so clients feel comfortable having natural conversations despite being recorded. And I ask strategic questions to draw out the best content that I then distill into meaningful multi-form posts so every post is 100% authentically my clients’ words. 🤷 And sure, I manage my clients’ LinkedIn accounts. But I really execute a multi-faceted web of strategies, including…  ▪️ Network-building to increase visibility and broaden reach  ▪️ Content to provide consistent, impactful, on-brand content  ▪️ Engagement to build meaningful relationships and support their community  ▪️ DMs to nurture conversations while my clients stay in their zone of genius  ▪️ High-level marketing to ensure LinkedIn is supporting their other marketing channels  ▪️ Performance analysis and optimization to ensure their content is getting the most juice from LinkedIn’s latest changes and features 🤷 Not to mention, I’m also a LinkedIn consultant/trainer/coach, whether I’m on a retainer or in a 1:1 consultation. Because clients ask about the whys and hows (and I really enjoy nerding out about LinkedIn 🤓). 💡 So as a LinkedIn ghostwriter, I’m a pro at LinkedIn, content creation, and strategy. But I’m also an expert in my clients, and I curate a top-tier client experience so they feel comfortable and confident handing off their LinkedIn brand presence. #linkedinghostwriter #ghostwriting #contentstrategist #growthstrategist #linkedinstrategist P.S. Explain what you do in as few words as possible 👇