GWA #5 - Ghostwriting 101 Part 4

In today’s episode of our Ghostwriting 101 series we will be talking about how to promote yourself and find clients.

The first step is to find your niche. Take some time and think about the things that you love to do, the books you love to read, the television shows or movies you love to watch, etc. This will aid you in figuring out what kind of clients you should seek out. For me, I have found that my niche is Christian writers, specifically pastors. All of the writers I have worked with so far have fallen into that category. However, I also have a secondary niche because of my bachelor’s degree in politics and interest in history. Any client looking for a fiction or non-fiction book about politics or history would fit in perfectly for me. So, don’t be afraid to have several specialties.

However, you should find one main niche that you will focus most of your attention to. So, if you find yourself watching countless reruns of Law & Order, consider specializing in writing crime dramas or non-fiction criminal profiles. If you are a poet and good at rhyming, consider looking into the children’s book genre. Even something like being an outdoors enthusiast or adventure seeker can be to your advantage.

Also, instead of focusing on interests or skills that you have, you can also think about that kind of client you want to work with. Do you want to work with business people like CEOs and entrepreneurs? Or stay at home Moms that have a story to share? There are countless groups of people that you can reach out to.

So, how do you do it? Once you know what kind of writing you want to specialize in, the next step you must take is creating a website. In this day and age, it is absolutely essential that you have your own spot on the web. And no, a myspace or facebook page does not count. There are countless possible clients that will never find you if you don’t put in the time and investment needed to make a real website. Now, it doesn’t have to be as expensive or time consuming as you may think. This does not have to be some highly decorated fancy website. What you really need is a basic business card website. This means that you can simply list the services you offer, what you specialize in, your prices, and how you can be contacted. Just be sure it looks professional!

I personally use Yahoo’s Geocities (http://www.geocities.com/) because the costs are low (it’s only $8.95 a month for me to have my domain, 2,000 megabytes of storage space, and much more). What I really like about it is that I don’t have a lot of experience with html, so I use their pagebuilder program. It allows me to click and drag images and text wherever I want them, easily create links and new pages, and change the style, color, and size of the text quickly. But, there are many other programs like this out there, so do your research. You can also hire a professional to put together your website for you, but make sure you’re sitting down when they tell you how much it’s going to cost. If you go to http://www.ghostwriters-anonymous.com/ you are automatically forwarded to my professional website http://www.alainaburnett.com/, so feel free to stop by if you want to see what I have done. And of course all of the websites I mention in this podcast will be linked in the show notes.

Once you have chosen your niche and set up your website, you can begin to promote yourself! Look into websites and publications that your target audience would be interested in. When you’re first starting out, I recommend advertising on the internet because it’s much less expensive and it’s a good place to begin your marketing. For example, since I specialize in working with Christian pastors, I researched Charisma magazine, one of the most popular magazines for evangelical pastors. However, I found that the costs are a little out of my price range for now. For a third of a page it would cost me $3,475…and that’s just for one advertisement! And of course the costs go up from there. So, needless to say I’m taking my own advice and starting on the internet. Charisma magazine has a website, so I’m sure most if not all of the publications you would be interested in have websites you can advertise on as well. But, make sure to also look into websites not associated with publications. So, if you’re wishing to work with business people, look at sites like entrepreneur.com or even wallstreetjournal.com.

You should also put together free profiles on networking websites like http://www.linkedin.com/, http://www.guru.com/, and even http://www.craigslist.com/. The more you get your name out there, the better!

One means of marketing that I tested out just last month was getting a booth at a convention. Now that you know your niche and have a website you can send people to, look into conventions or gatherings that involve your target audience going on in your area. Trust me, even if you have to travel a bit it will be worth it! I was just at a conference for pastors that took place a few hours away from my home. I went in with no expectations because I had no idea if people would be interested or not, but I walked away with 15 possible projects and many more people than that took my information! I’m currently in the negotiation phase with 3 of the people I met at the conference. In this instance, it just cost $40 for the booth as well as travel expenses. I went to a local printer and had them make a professional looking banner for me to drape on my table that cost about $200 and then simply purchased inexpensive document stands and easels to set up a few books I had permission to display. Now of course every conference or convention will be different as far as costs are concerned, but I highly recommend that you tap into these opportunities. Even if you just plant the seed and don’t walk away with any projects right away, I think it will definitely pay off in the long run.

Also, reach out to fellow ghostwriters! Many times they have more clients than they can handle and would be willing to pass along a client to you. So, it definitely pays to have friends in the business!

However, I have to say that the number one way to get more clients will always be through recommendations. The projects you will work on will likely be expensive for your clients, so it is understandable that many times people trust their friends or colleagues to tell them who to turn to. So, the most important thing is for you to get your foot in the door. Once you have one client, more will come. Creating a solid client base will take some time and probably some investment on your part, but once you get started, projects will continue to come your way.

Well, that’s it for now! Feel free to contact me with your questions or comments at any time. I will answer your questions on air if I think the audience will benefit from hearing about the subject of your e-mail. You can reach me at gwapodcast@aol.com. That link will be included in the show notes at the official page for the Ghostwriters Anonymous podcast, http://www.ghostwriters-anonymous.com/. Click on the tab that says “Ghostwriters Anonymous podcast.” Along with the links, I also include a transcript of every episode, so take the time to check that out. Thank you for listening and make sure to tune in next week for the fifth episode of the Ghostwriting101 series where I will be talking about the writing process.