Everyone needs an editor. That’s one of the first things I learned in my college journalism classes, and it holds true today. And if editing your work requires too much labor, you may also need a ghostwriter.
I offer many services as a personal finance freelance writer. One that I don’t advertise much is ghostwriting. But it’s a skill that many companies ask me to do, and it can be a little frustrating as a writer not to have your byline on a story.
Still, it’s a service I’m happy to offer, as I’ve done recently with some personal finance freelance writing for a website that just started running. The site has one generic byline on its stories. I’m not exactly sure why, but I think it’s to sell its brand to readers.
Other websites have asked me to ghostwrite for specific people such as CEOs. I don’t do this too often, though it’s a highly-paid gig I’d like to do more often.
Even if you consider yourself a good writer, you may still want to hire a professional writer to do the work for you. Why? Here are a few reasons:
- It can make your site look more authoritative, as if you have a staff of writers, instead of doing all of the work yourself.
- The writing will likely be better.
- SEO and other marketing tools can be used by a professional.
What about a byline?
To make your website look authoritative, ghostwriting will only help so much. Not having the real writer’s byline may help the site’s brand, but only a little.
What helps more, I think, is having bylines of multiple writers to show it’s a comprehensive site with a lot of viewpoints. The style and voice of the writing can still be focused on the site’s brand, but some individualism should pop out.
And if you’re asking what a byline is — as one executive I’ve worked for has — it’s simple. A byline is the name of the author put on top of the story. “By” Aaron Crowe is a “byline.” Get it?
I’m a fan of having bylines on my stories because it helps readers find me here. That can lead to more business, which is a good thing.
My byline also helps give a website some authenticity that it has hired an expert to give personal finance tips. For example, at the bottom of many bylined stories you’ll find a tagline. That’s a simple term for a sentence or two about the author such as the publications or websites they’ve written for, and maybe something personal such as their hobbies or winning a Pulitzer Prize.
Go to the bottom of this story and you’ll see my tagline for a site I write for. It’s also at the top of this post.
Why you need a ghostwriter
Although I think websites are better served by running bylines of their writers, there’s definitely a need for hiring a ghostwriter for your site.
Hiring a ghostwriter will add stories, blog posts and other things to your site that will give readers more to view.
A ghostwriter will take some of the workload off the site’s owners, while providing expert writing on a topic they know about and can research. For me, that’s personal finance reporting, though as a trained journalist I can cover a variety of topics.
It’s a simple solution to a common problem: Getting more eyeballs on your website by producing great content.
I’m ready to help you
