Most new ghostwriters overcomplicate becoming a LinkedIn Ghostwriter and landing their first client.

They think they need:

• A portfolio.
• Customer testimonials.
• And tons of writing experience.

But in reality, becoming a LinkedIn ghostwriter and helping others build their personal brand on the platform is simple.

Anyone can follow the 5 steps I’m about to outline and start making money for themselves as a LinkedIn ghostwriter. Plus, these exact frameworks can be used for any other ghostwriting service: writing on 𝕏, creating Educational Email Courses, writing on Medium, etc.

Let’s dive in!

And if you prefer to watch a version of this post on YouTube, here you go:

Step 1: “I ghostwrite {asset} for {target client}.”

How do you become a LinkedIn ghostwriter?

You declare it in your bio! This is so simple, but you'd be shocked by how many writers don't do this. Instead, writers try to be “clever” with their bio. They think having “Writer & Marvel fanatic who likes to read high-grade literature with my cat” in their bio is going to land them a ton of new clients.

Newsflash: it won’t.

If people can’t understand what you do in the first 5 seconds of discovering your bio, they’re not going to hire you.

Instead, you want to get specific about what you ghostwrite and who you do it for by using this template:

“I ghostwrite {asset} for {target client}.”

Let’s break this down:

• Niching down by Asset. When you specialize in an asset, that immediately increases your perceived value. This is much better than saying, “I’m a freelance writer who charges by the hour—let me know what you need.” Doing this is putting the burden on the client for them to figure out what they need. Which is unhelpful! Being clear on what you offer makes it easier for the client to know if you’re for them.
• Niching down by Target Client. When you name the industry, or you name the type of client you work with, it does two important things. First, you attract the right people—calling them out will make it easier for someone to know if you are for them. Secondly, those keywords are now attached to your profile, which means they have the potential to show up in searches.

Just by doing this first step you’ll attract more clients.

Step 2: Be Your Own Case Study

New ghostwriters are obsessed with collecting testimonials.

But when I was building my ghostwriting agency, Digital Press, I worked with over 300 different clients. I generated millions of dollars in revenue. And I did not use a single testimonial to land a client. Ever.

We just didn’t need it. This was for two reasons:

1. We educated the client on the problem they had and how we could help them solve it (this is Sales 101).
2. I was my own case study.

For Step 2, we’re going to focus on the second reason.

“How do I know this is going to work for me?”

Whenever someone would ask this question, I would point to myself.

I was writing on Quora at the time and I seeing the benefit of writing and publishing answers (or mini-articles) online. The vast majority of the time, before a call, a client would look me up and see my writing on Quora. I could point to myself and say this is the ROI you get by working with us: a digital presence.

They’re not playing the game now, but with my help, they would be.

So when you have your own asset, you are living the benefits of the service that you are pitching to someone else.

• If you want to ghostwrite Educational Email Courses, you better have your own EEC.
• If you want to ghostwrite LinkedIn content, you should be actively writing on LinkedIn.
• If you want to ghostwrite weekly newsletters, you should be writing your own weekly newsletter.

But don’t think you need to be build an audience here.

“Building an audience” is just a shiny object—and you don’t need one to start landing high-ticket ghostwriting clients. No, being your own case study means you get to practice your writing skills on yourself and have something to point to when a client asks, “Will this work?”

I promise you—nothing is going to make the sales process easier than being your own case study.

Step 3: Make A List Of Leaks & Faucets

To land your first client, tap into your network.

There are two different types of people that you can reach out to that will help you get clients:

• Leaks. This is someone that you know who you can directly help. Your uncle who’s been struggling to start posting on LinkedIn to promote his business. A friend who’s just started an online business but doesn’t know how to grow on social media. You get the idea.
• Faucets. This is someone that might not need your help directly but knows other people who do need your help. This could be friends or family members who have business owners in their network.

And I know what you’re going to say next:

“But Cole, I really don’t know anyone who needs a ghostwriter.”

Yes, you do.

I guarantee there will be at least 1 or 2 people you know (or know through other people) who need a ghostwriter. Because who doesn’t want to build their presence on LinkedIn at the moment?

When I was first getting started ghostwriting, I got my first handful of clients by asking everyone I’d known since third grade:

• My friends
• Friends of their friends
• My former boss
• My former co-workers
• My family
• Family friends

You get the idea.

And all I’d ask was, “Hey, do you know anyone that's looking for a ghostwriter?”

One of my first clients I got was from an entrepreneurial friend who knew another entrepreneur, who also knew another person who was entrepreneurial, who had a client who needed a ghostwriter. I had to go through four different people before I found a person who needed my help.

The logical place to start is from where you are, not pitch the person with 1 million followers on LinkedIn who you’ve never met before.

But most writers still pitch the people they don’t know because that’s the safer option. You’re worried that if you land someone you know as a client you won’t be able to deliver and you’ll disappoint them.

But here’s the reality:

• Most people don't know how to write anything.
• Everyone starts at zero (and even I started at zero).
• Most of the world can't write above a 3rd-grade reading level.

If you can write on a platform like LinkedIn, congratulations, you're probably in the top 20% of writers.

And if you’re still worried, then work for free. Get your reps in, get some experience, and once you feel more confident, start to charge for your work.

Step 4: Pitch In Public

Once you’ve exhausted all your Leaks and Faucets, then you can start attracting clients by “Pitching In Public.”

To do this, find people on LinkedIn who are either a) not writing on LinkedIn but should be or b) are writing on LinkedIn but not doing it consistently:

• It’s the CEO who has a presence on X, but isn’t posting on LinkedIn.
• It’s the creator with a huge YouTube channel, but they aren’t posting anything on LinkedIn.
• It’s the sales executive who is writing on LinkedIn, but they aren’t doing it well or consistently.

Find a target like this for the specific industry you ghostwrite for (remember, we established this in Step 1).

Then, create a piece of content about them to post on LinkedIn. The post would be structured like this:

• “Here’s this great XYZ {e.g. personal trainer}.”
• “You have an awesome audience on YouTube.”
• “But you’re missing out on a huge opportunity by not posting on LinkedIn.”
• “So in this post, I'm going to walk through:
  • What topics they should be writing about on LinkedIn
  • How to repurpose their content from YouTube for LinkedIn
  • Why I think it would have such a big impact on their business.”

And here’s the best part:

This is everything you’d tell them over a DM, but you’re doing it publicly.

Now, this might sound weird or uncomfortable.

When I suggest this to ghostwriters, they ask me if the person will get mad. But what’s actually going to happen is the person will see it and think, “Wow, that’s actually really smart. Why aren’t I creating content on LinkedIn?”

Then they’ll reach out to you.

Or they won’t. But even if they don’t, other people in the industry you write for will see it and start to ask the same questions of themselves. Then you’ll get a DM from them, too!

Most writers will do Steps 1 to 3, and maybe even Step 4. But nearly all of them forget to do the most important step of them all:

Following up.

Step 5: Follow Up (Till They Call The Cops!)

Let’s say you ask your uncle for an introduction to his entrepreneur friend.

But then he becomes busy at work and home (after all, he does have two young kids) and he forgets to make the introduction. You hear nothing and assume the friend doesn’t work with you. You’re wrong! So, how do you get your uncle to nudge his friend? Follow up.

The number 1 rule here is to follow up until they call the cops.

Yes, really!

A lot of writers don’t follow up because they worry they’ll be “annoying”, alienate the potential client, or come across as “sales-y.” But when I was running my agency, when we pitched people or someone would make an introduction, that person would immediately become a client 10% of the time. The other 90% became clients during the follow-up.

I’m a good example of this.

Before I wrote this piece today, I was thinking how busy I am:

• I need to let out the dog.
• I have to go to the dentist.
• I want to check in on my wife.
• I’m dealing with my Slack, which is blowing up with requests from my team.
• I’m running our large ghostwriting training program, the Premium Ghostwriting Academy.

And I have people in my inbox pitching me—some of them I should probably work with.

It’s not that I’m not interested in working with these people. I am! But I have so much going on right now. So I need to be reminded over and over again.

This is the same for every other busy business owner in the world.

So if they don’t immediately accept your offer, don’t take it personally. Follow up!

The secret to a client-landing follow-up is to add value and be useful.

I’m sure you hear “add value” all the time on the internet, but here’s what it really looks like:

• “Hey, I'm sure you've been really busy but I just wanted to bump this up in your inbox. Have you considered… {suggest a content idea}”
• “Hey, by the way, I just saw you put out this amazing piece of content—would love to turn that into a LinkedIn carousel for you.”
• “Hey, I saw this in the news and I thought it’d be a great jumping-off point for a LinkedIn post.”

If you can build that skill, you will make a lot of money as a writer.

Because this is the thing that nobody does. This is why all those writers that are sitting on Upwork just waiting for someone to hire them don’t make very much money. They’re not taking control of the relationship.

The vast majority of clients that I landed, and the reason why our agency grew so quickly and how I was able to generate millions of dollars as a ghostwriter, is because we followed up with people for literally 12 months in a row.

Every week. Or once every three days. Relentlessly.

Sure, 3% of people said “I don’t want to work with you, stop emailing me.” But the other 97% were still open to the idea of working with me. And it paid off.

So, follow up until they threaten to call the cops. This is where all the money is.

That’s it!

Go execute these 5 steps, land your first client, become a LinkedIn ghostwriter—which can be an incredibly lucrative ghostwriting career path.

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