If you don't have good fresh content to use for new products, your momentum comes to a crashing halt and so does your business. So the question begs itself, how do you consistently create new content? Here are your four basic options: 1) You can continually write your own materials...and you should. 2) You can record your thoughts and get them transcribed... and you should. 3) You can hire a ghostwriter to write materials for you... and you should. or 4) You can purchase the rights to content that you can resell... and you should do this as well. Each option has its own positives and negatives but in my opinion you should be doing a little bit of each. Let me explain... 3) You can hire a ghostwriter to write materials for you Hiring a ghost writer has some major advantages and disadvantages. First and foremost it takes a HUGE burden off your shoulders to create original content. Secondly it frees up a lot of your time. Third, it feels great when you get an email from your ghostwriter and the ebook/book/manual/article(s) are all complete and ready to go - it truly is the magic pill. There are some downsides however. The first one is the cost. Depending on your project, it can cost anywhere between $400-$3,000 to get an ebook, book or manual created. This is relatively cheap when you think about the fact that you can now sell that content and profit from it as long as you sell it, but it still costs quite a bit. The second major downside is the time it takes to communicate with the ghostwriter. If you are anything like me, you don't want to be sending out crappy information. So that means YOU DO have to involve yourself in the process. Forget what all the "gurus" try to tell you about how easy it is to just hire a ghostwriter and wake up with a finished product. You tell me if this process is as easy as slapping down a check and receiving a perfect book a few days later: First you send your initial thoughts and plans for what you want. Then they send back their outline, you make adjustments to the outline, and a few days later they send back the proof for the outline. Once the outline is completed you give the go-ahead and they write the rough draft. Obviously this takes some time (usually between 1 week and 2 months depending on your project) but once they have completed the rough draft its up to you to read the rough draft and suggest any changes. Youll want to go over the rough draft with a fine tooth comb to prevent the writer from going in a direction you didnt want. This isnt any small task but its well worth the effort because you are ensuring that the product you are creating is of a high standard. When you finish the edit of the rough draft the ghostwriter makes the adjustments and then sends you a final draft. You read the final draft and give the final ok. Phew!! Thats a lot more than just placing a bid on eLance and having a book show up on your doorstep ready to sell. Now, if you care about the quality of the products you create please pay close attention to this next sentence. You need to actually READ what the ghostwriter has created for you. It will almost always require you to make some final changes. Make sure you get EXACTLY what you are looking for otherwise it's a product that you yourself haven't even completely read. Would that make you comfortable selling something with your name on it and you don't know everything contained inside? I can't tell you how many products I have purchased only to find it was the same old stuff just rehashed. Read what they write for you. Create quality content!! So although a ghostwriter does save you a TREMENDOUS amount of time, please don't be fooled into thinking that once you hand over the assignment your work is done. It's not... unless you want to create a crappy product. It still takes work but it's A LOT easier and takes WAY less time once you have the raw materials to work with. Your job is to polish that collection of raw ideas into the high quality product that would make even your Mom proud :) If you enjoyed this article make sure to look up the other two articles in the series dealing with the other 3 methods of creating content: Part 1 - Writing your own materials and Recording Your Thoughts and coming soon, Part 3 - Purchasing The Rights Of Content You Can Resell! |
