You can find writers simply by doing a Web search for "ghostwriter," "ghostwriting services," or "writing services." You'll need to look over their website and make sure they offer the service you're looking for, then contact them with your proposal. Most independent ghostwriters list their e-mail address or have a "contact me" link on their site, and many of them will get back to you that same day.



Don't be shy. Talk to several different writers until you find someone that you can communicate with. I probably e-mailed 15 people before I found my girl, and she is great!

I've had her ghostwrite articles for me on several topics, including my drywall business in the real world when I needed a press release. She did all her own research and even wrote in a style that my customers and contractors could identify with. I ended up paying her $100 for the piece, and I keep coming back to her with more projects. Heck, she could be writing this article! You'll never know!

The thing about ghostwriters is: You do have to pay them. Like everything else in life, quality costs $$. You can expect to pay anywhere from $20-$50 per article for a good, well-researched piece, but here's what you have to ask yourself: Would you rather do it yourself or pay somebody else to do all the grunt work?

When I put it in that context for my business, paying a little money seemed like nothing, especially given the response that press release generated. Plus, when I read her final product, I upped her pay to $100 bucks. And it paid off for me: Suddenly people were coming out of the woodwork with holes in their ceiling for my crew to fix. Insert bad joke here.

There are also some really good places where writers come together in a group and you can pick and choose between them. Before I hooked up with my favorite ghostwriter, I hired people off of Guru and Craigslist. Some people also use Monster. Guru is free for employers (that's us), which is really nice of them I think!

1) Guru: Free for employers; employees pay a fee to search projects. Guru gives you all the info on people who bid on your project including resume, references and ratings by past employers. That way you can choose the best one for your job.

2) Craigslist: Free for everybody. You choose your geographical area and then you can search postings by people looking for writing work or post your own project. You can go outside your area if you don't care that they work offsite.

3) Monster: Free for job-seekers, so employers pay a fee to purchase job postings. It costs $475 for one posting up to about $13 grand for 100 postings. I found this a little steep, but some people really trust Monster a lot more because of name recognition and the fact it's been around so long. It's up to you!

The best part about ghostwriters is they agree that you will own the copyright for any material they write for you. You'll probably want to make that clear in your initial agreement, but that's what the term "GHOSTwriter" means. They get the money you agree to pay. You get your articles. You drive traffic to your website, in turn driving sales, which makes you more money. Everybody's happy.