Completely Hands Off Product Creation
If writing is not your thing at all then there’s another solution.
Outsource the task to someone else also known as Ghost Writing where you hire a writer for your project for a fee. They do all of the hard work for you they research and write the entire thing for a negotiated fee while you take the credit as the author and you own the product outright as if you created it yourself.
This is a great option if you can afford it, if not start writing your own content until you can afford to hire a ghost writer. Content creation can be time exhaustive and outsourcing the task to someone else allows you to focus on growing your business.
How much do ghost writers charge? The price will vary according to the size of your project, obviously a 200 page ebook will cost more to produce than a 10 page one. Some ghost writers charge per page, some charge per word.
The going rate for each page varies from $10 to $50 and everything in between. Those that charge per word can ask for 1 cent to 20 cents per word or more. You should be able to get discounts for bigger projects and when working with bulk orders, i.e. more than 1 project at a time.
Ghost writer’s fees also depend on the level of expertise they have, the more expertise, positive feedback and testimonials the higher the fee. You basically get what you pay for.
The best way to find a ghost writer is to visit two of my favorite forums, the Warrior Forum and Digital Point Forum. I’ve been very fortunate when it comes to locating some top quality writer’ s on these two forums, you will too and I’ ll give you a few tips on how to go about it.
First off for the warriorforum.com you will need to join up so that you can post questions. You will not be able to send any private messages to prospective ghost writers until you have made at least 30 posts in the forum first. Register, get in there and contribute. Get involved in discussions. You will find that you know more than you think you do and will learn a lot along the way. Many great businesses were created in this very forum and so it should be treated like “gold” as Allen the warrior forums creator so beautifully put it.
When searching for a ghost writer on the warrior forum the most important thing is to look at any testimonials in their sales copy if they are offering their services as a warrior special offer.
Look at any additional posts and comments that have been left by past clients they have done business with. Do a search for their username and all posts and threads they ever participated in will show up, that way you read comments they’ ve left, feedback good or bad from other members (which will help to make your decision an informed one). Another thing that I look for is how long they have been a member of the forum and their post count.
If they have been there for 6 months or more and have contributed to the forum, have been thanked by people chances are they are the real deal.
If on the other hand they’ve been a member for only 1 month, have a post count of 30 that was obtained in a couple of days and all of the comments they’ve left are random one liners that don’t make sense or contain any real value, then beware.
That’ s not to say that all are like that, everyone has to start somewhere and everyone has a low post count to begin with but there are those who will try to make a quick buck, this little bit of intelligence gathering will steer you in the right direction come decision time.
Take home point, the more information the ghost writer leaves, the more contactable and out in the open they are, the more genuine they are because they have nothing to hide.
When your post count is over 30 you can start private messaging potential ghost writers. Try contacting those that have left comments regarding their services, past customers to help you make your decision.
Just let them know that you saw their comment on a thread and are looking at hiring a ghost writer and would they recommend that particular writer. What was the thing about their service that most impressed them? Was their overall experience with that writer good/bad? Always let them know where you found their post so that they don’t think you’re trying to spam them.
Another hugely important thing is to look at their work samples. Do a search to see if they are listed as a contributing author on www.ezinearticles.com, www.goarticles.com, etc. This also helps you further gauge their content quality and variation of writing styles. Chances are they will be publishing several types of articles and content and seeing their versatility will further help you in your decision making.
The next thing to do is to get in touch with the author and buy just two articles from them to test the waters. This is so that you can judge their turnaround time and content quality for yourself.
If you’ re happy with the turnaround time for your 2 test articles and even more so with the content and price then
this is the kind of writer you want to have working with you.
Go ahead and negotiate your project with them. Some require 50% upfront which is reasonable. They will send you updates and progress reports over time so that you can monitor the direction and quality of the project and you can make changes along the way so the end result is something you feel good about and are proud to have your name on.
Subject to availability and work load the typical turnaround time for projects of 30 pages or less is on average 7 to 21 days, this is dependent upon your writer but this I’ve found seems to be the average turnaround time. Always make sure that you know the approximate turnaround time so that there are no surprises when you are pressed to a deadline yourself.
For Digital Point Forum pretty much the same due diligence is required. You have the added advantage of an iTrader rating. You can see how long they have been a member and read the comments customers have left. If their iTrader history looks a little checkered with a mixture of good and bad feedback I’d be a little weary of ever using them.
If their iTrader rating is around 10 and over and their history is impeccable with positive ratings then dig a little deeper and ask questions to their past customers. For me I’ve had great content from a writer with 7 iTrader rating as I have with writers with 88 and 368 iTrader ratings. Ask questions, use your discretion and test the waters before committing to any big projects.
Basically in terms of price, I have never received an article over $10 I didn’t like. $18 articles were amazing and this particular writer went over and above the call of duty by infusing her personality into the article and by creating a catchy title. Don’t worry you don’t have to pay that much because I’ve also paid for some fantastic $5 and $6 articles too. It’s when you get into the $3 and less category that quality seems to be reflected in price and the saying “you get what you pay for” really does apply. You be the judge. You will get a feel for the level of quality out there and what your dollar gets you and you’ ll develop a nose for weeding out the good from the bad.
Another option if you seriously don’ t like to write your own content, running along similar lines as Dragon Naturally Speaking you can actually record your audio, save it as an MP3 file and email it to companies that will scribe it into written text for you. The quality of the content is dependent upon the quality of audio you supply them with. The fuzzier and cracklier it is the longer it will take to decipher and transcribe, the more expensive it becomes.
This is a great option if you don’t want to type your own content. These companies will remove spelling errors and alter grammar slightly so that it makes sense but that’ s the extent of their corrective services. You still need to do all the research yourself for your content and word it so that you’ re happy with the outcome in text form.
You can always alter it later, you receive it in PDF and .txt form.
This service costs less if you allow them to have it longer. Priority projects will cost more by the page. For their 24 hour express service you are looking at $2.50 per minute compared to 0.75 cents per minute if you wait for 3 weeks. It’ s entirely up to you.
Another very good site which charges $30 for 30 minutes worth of transcribed audio which means that you could easily get 15 pages of written text for $30, that’ s a cool $2 per page, very good deal.
http://www.transcriptionsservice.com/audio.html
Don’t think that you have to stick to the written word either. With the advances in technology these days the options are limitless.
You can turn your digital products into physical products and since these have a higher perceived value you can charge more for them.
2 Responses to “Completely Hands Off Product Creation”
By My Amazing Weight Loss Story on May 28, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for posting, I really liked reading your most recent post. I think you should post more frequently, you clearly have natural ability for blogging!
By Nadine on Jun 5, 2009 | Reply
Interesting, I`ll quote it on my site later.