How Ghostwriters Are Actually Landing Clients In 2025 - The Art & Business of Writing Podcast with Nicolas Cole

Summary

Podcast Summary: Coffee With Cole: The Digital Writing Podcast

Episode Title: How Ghostwriters Are Actually Landing Clients In 2025
Host: Nicolas Cole
Release Date: March 31, 2025

In this insightful episode of Coffee With Cole: The Digital Writing Podcast, host Nicolas Cole delves into the evolving landscape of ghostwriting, exploring innovative strategies that ghostwriters are employing to secure clients in 2025. The discussion is enriched with real-world examples, actionable advice, and inspiring success stories from seasoned ghostwriters.

1. Exploring Diverse Niches for Ghostwriting

Nicolas Cole opens the conversation by challenging the notion that ghostwriting opportunities are limited to conventional niches. He emphasizes the vast array of industries where ghostwriters are making significant inroads.

Key Points:

Unexpected Niches: Ghostwriters are successfully landing clients across a spectrum of unique fields, including:
- Poker Coaches
- Maritime SaaS (Software as a Service)
- Equestrian and Horse Ranching
- Clifton Strength Coaches
- Construction, AI, College Sports, and Masonry

Nicolas Cole remarks at [00:00]:

"If you think you can't start ghostwriting or land ghostwriting clients in your niche, that is factually incorrect."

Guest Speaker B adds further breadth to the list:

"Gardening, woodworking and CNC machines, material handling, and applied behavioral scientists." ([00:31])

Insight: The diversity of niches underscores the universal need for skilled writers to articulate specialized knowledge, presenting ample opportunities for ghostwriters willing to explore unconventional sectors.

2. The Fundamental Needs of Businesses

The conversation shifts to understanding why every business, regardless of its industry, requires ghostwriting services. Cole and his guest outline three critical areas where businesses seek assistance:

Traffic Generation:
Businesses need to attract and drive visitors to their platforms. Ghostwriters aid by creating compelling social content that boosts organic traffic.
Opt-Ins:
Converting visitors into email subscribers is vital. Educational email courses crafted by ghostwriters can significantly enhance opt-in rates.
Conversions:
Turning email subscribers into paying customers is the final hurdle. Regular, engaging newsletters written by ghostwriters help improve conversion rates.

Guest Speaker B explains at [01:04]:

"Every business on earth needs help with three things: traffic, opt-ins, and conversions."

Nicolas Cole elaborates:[01:07]:

"First, they need help with traffic... second, they need help with opt-ins... and third is conversions."

Supporting Data: Cole cites an internal audit from his training program, revealing that turning subscribers into customers often requires upwards of 20 email touches. This data reinforces the necessity for consistent and quality email content to drive sales.

3. Core Ghostwriting Services

To address these business needs, Cole identifies three primary ghostwriting services that writers should focus on:

Social Media Ghostwriting (Traffic):
Crafting engaging social media posts to increase organic traffic.
Educational Email Course Ghostwriting (Opt-Ins):
Developing valuable email courses that entice visitors to subscribe.
Weekly Newsletter Ghostwriting (Conversions):
Writing regular newsletters that convert subscribers into paying customers.

Nicolas Cole advises at [02:18]:

"Just copy what these ghostwriters are doing because it's clearly working for them."

4. Success Stories: Real-Life Ghostwriters

The episode features compelling success stories of ghostwriters who have effectively implemented these strategies to build lucrative businesses.

Ghostwriter 1: Lorenzo

Services Offered: Educational email course ghostwriting ($5,000 one-time fee).
Client Acquisition: Cold outreach on platform X.
Journey: Lorenzo secured his first client through cold pitching and later pivoted to focus on social ghostwriting, enhancing his income streams.

Ghostwriter 2: Khalid

Services Offered: Social media and educational email course ghostwriting ($5,000 one-time fee for courses and $3,000/month for social media).
Client Acquisition: Cold outreach on LinkedIn and X.
Achievements:
- Scaled his ghostwriting side hustle to $16,000 per month while maintaining a full-time job.
- Initiated with zero prior online writing experience, demonstrating the program's effectiveness.

Nicolas Cole highlights at [03:56]:

"Khaled is definitely an outlier. He's been a huge success story from our ghostwriting program considering he got his ghostwriting side hustle to up to $16,000 per month while still working a full time job."

Ghostwriter 3: Kelsey

Services Offered: Educational email course ghostwriting ($5,000 one-time fee).
Client Acquisition: Cold outreach on LinkedIn.
Achievements:
- Generated her first $10,000 in a single month.
- Expanded services to include weekly newsletter ghostwriting as an upsell for existing clients.

Ghostwriter 4: Matthew

Services Offered: Educational email course ghostwriting ($5,000 initially, increasing to $7,000) and social media ghostwriting (from $3,000 to $5,000/month).
Client Acquisition: Cold outreach on LinkedIn.
Achievements:
- Transitioned from a beginner to running a $50,000/month agency within a year.
- Expanded his team to include additional writers and an account manager, ensuring scalability and quality.

Nicolas Cole reflects at [05:08]:

"Matthew has scaled these two services, social ghostwriting and email course ghostwriting, into a full blown agency that does over $50,000 per month just by providing those two services."

5. Strategies for Landing Ghostwriting Clients

Cole and his guest outline actionable strategies for aspiring ghostwriters to secure clients effectively:

Cold Outreach:
Utilizing platforms like LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter) to reach potential clients proactively.
Specialization:
Focusing on one of the three core services—social media, educational email courses, or newsletters—to build expertise and a compelling portfolio.
Upselling:
Once initial services are secured, offering complementary services (e.g., adding newsletter ghostwriting after establishing an email course) to increase client value and revenue.
Consistency and Volume:
Emphasizing the importance of sending a higher volume of quality emails to improve conversion rates, as evidenced by their $15 million total revenue and the necessity of multiple touchpoints before a sale.

Nicolas Cole emphasizes at [06:28]:

"They're helping businesses solve one of these big big three problems in their business."

6. Conclusion: The Path to Success in Ghostwriting

In wrapping up, Cole reiterates that businesses across all sectors inherently require assistance with traffic generation, opt-ins, and conversions. By offering specialized ghostwriting services tailored to these needs, writers can establish a profitable and sustainable career in ghostwriting.

Final Takeaway:
Providing one or two of the core ghostwriting services offers the fastest route to achieving substantial monthly income, potentially reaching $10,000 per month for dedicated writers in 2025.

Nicolas Cole concludes at [06:54]:

"And providing one or two or all three of these services is your fastest path to making 10 grand per month as a writer in 2025."

This episode serves as a comprehensive guide for both aspiring and established ghostwriters, illustrating the expansive opportunities within various niches and the strategic services that align with fundamental business needs. Through actionable insights and real-world success stories, Nicolas Cole equips listeners with the knowledge to thrive in the competitive field of ghostwriting.

Transcript

A (0:00)

I run the largest training program for ghostwriters on the Internet. So if you want to know how ghostwriters are actually landing clients in 2025, I can tell you. And before you click away because you're thinking, okay, yeah, sure, but that doesn't work for my niche. Here are some of the weirdest niches we've seen. Ghostwriters land clients in poker coaches, maritime sass, like for boats, equestrian, horse ranching, Clifton strength coaches. I don't even know what that is. Construction, AI, college sports, masonry, very avant.

B (0:31)

Garde woodworking and CNC machines, material handling and applied behavioral scientists.

A (0:38)

Super cool. If you think you can't start ghostwriting or land ghostwriting clients in your niche, that is factually incorrect.

B (0:45)

If you're open to learning how to get started and how other people, just.

A (0:49)

Like you, are landing ghostwriting clients, paying them thousands of dollars every single month, then here you go. Here is what they're selling, how much they're charging, and how they're finding these clients. But first, a quick crash course on who needs a ghostwriter.

B (1:04)

Every business on earth needs help with three things.

A (1:07)

First, they need help with traffic, so.

B (1:09)

Getting customers to know they exist. Second, they need help with opt ins, so turning attention traffic into email subscribers.

A (1:17)

So that the business can contact those customers directly. Right?

B (1:20)

And third is conversions. So converting all those free email subscribers into paying customers. There is not a single business on.

A (1:28)

Earth that would not benefit from more traffic, more opt ins and more conversions.

B (1:33)

This is why I say every single business needs a ghostwriter. Because the big three ghostwriting services that I encourage every writer to provide are specifically designed to solve the three things.

A (1:44)

Every business on earth needs help with. Traffic. You need a social ghostwriter, so you.

B (1:49)