Spooked Away a Great Ghostwriter? Our Best Tips on Being a Good Client

Losing a great ghostwriter can haunt you for a long time, especially when the hunt for a talented replacement turns into a frightfully long process. 

The cost of writer turnover hurts not only your team members who are repeatedly spending valuable time and resources catching a new writer up to speed, but also your overall content strategy. Rushed publishing, inconsistent branding, delayed or missed deadlines … it’s enough to send shivers down your spine!

If you’re struggling to keep your ghostwriters from vanishing in a fright, then it’s time for less scare, more care. Here are our best tips for how to be a good client and keep your ghostwriters coming back for more. 

Don’t Ghost Your Ghostwriter

“Ghosting” is a term used to refer to someone who abruptly cuts off all communication with another person without any prior warning. Healthy communication is an important part of any working relationship, but it’s especially important in content marketing. If you want to receive high-quality content that aligns with your overall content strategy, be available to answer your ghostwriter’s questions. 

When clients suddenly and unexpectedly stop replying to emails or phone calls, don’t show up for scheduled meetings, or wait an excessively long time to give feedback on completed drafts, it encourages ghostwriters to start looking for other places to haunt. 

Treat Your Writer Well — No Tricks!

Most ghostwriters prefer treats to tricks, so make sure you are doing your best to treat them well. Be respectful and listen to their professional opinions. While you’re an expert in your industry, your ghostwriter is an expert at their craft. You hired them to help you — so let them help! 

Be careful not to scope-creep beyond your contractual agreement. Your content agreement clearly outlines the services your ghostwriter has agreed to perform. Be respectful of those boundaries and follow the outlined process for requesting additional services from your ghostwriter. Clients who demand, persuade, or try to trick their ghostwriter into doing more work for free are some of the most terrifying to work with. 

Remember, producing high-quality content isn’t easy. It takes significant time, research, and diligent efforts for your ghostwriter to create a piece that is both engaging and builds on your overall content strategy. Express your appreciation for their time and effort while your content agreement is in effect, then show your appreciation by promptly paying their invoice. Don’t make them have to haunt your accounting department to get paid what is due to them!

Clients who offer their ghostwriters excellent treats like respect, appreciation, and prompt payment will always have eager ghostwriters knocking on their door. 

Spell Out Your Wishes Clearly

While ghostwriters are true wizards when it comes to words, they can’t read your mind. Good clients clearly spell out their desires and give their ghostwriters feedback that they can actually use. 

Good feedback includes specific directions for what change needs to occur and explains the why behind the change. Any comments you provide need to help your ghostwriter better capture your tone and brand. Comments like “Don’t like this” or “This is way off-base” are extremely vague and don’t help your writer identify what exactly is wrong. Instead, give specific feedback with explanations for why a change needs to happen. An example of a good comment is: 

“This section sounds a bit too technical. Our audiences respond more to jargon and simpler language. Could you please rewrite this paragraph?” 

This clearly states the problem, what change needs to happen, and why. This helps your ghostwriter learn and produce better content next time. 

Don’t Be a Joy-Sucking Vampire

Have you ever noticed how speaking with one person for a few minutes can make you grin wider than a witch at a broom shop, but speaking with another person leaves you feeling completely drained? That’s how powerful a positive or negative attitude is in the workplace. 

Good clients have positive attitudes, which helps them have great interactions with their ghostwriters and build solid working relationships. A ghostwriter is much more likely to make your crypt their permanent home when they feel welcome and enjoy working with you. 

Positivity can be contagious, but, unfortunately, so can negativity. Clients with negative attitudes are difficult to work with. Their constant criticism slowly sucks all the fun out of each project.  

If your ghostwriters are spooking easily, it may be time to honestly assess your attitude in the workplace and make some changes. How about that, boys and ghouls?

Finding and keeping a great ghostwriter is easy when you’re willing to put in the work to be a great client. If you’re not a vampire and prefer to give treats instead of tricks, we’d love to introduce you to our team of word witches and wizards. Schedule a free consultation with the Comma Copywriters team today.