Ever wonder how some professionals seem to excel in their career, grow their network, and increase their business — all while writing articles and guest-starring on various podcasts and webinars? Before I worked with dozens of rockstar surgeons and in-demand subject matter experts, I too wondered where the magic lay. But I quickly saw that the secret is invariably the same: they have a killer team behind them. And they’re not afraid to delegate.
Most successful professionals have a number of personal assistants in their lives: an administrative assistant, a housekeeper, a nanny, a bookkeeper, a dog groomer, possibly even a personal chef. Leaders strategically fill various roles to lighten the load so they can focus on their most important contributions.
It might surprise you, however, to know how many leaders add another kind of assistant to their roster: a personal writer. A personal writer is like a concierge writer, often called a ghostwriter. They specialize in taking your ideas, expertise, and insights and transforming them into finished works. Personal writers get your ideas out of your head and into the world. Here’s how.
Save time
Hiring a personal writer is one of the easiest ways to give yourself the gift of more time. Instead of spending hours drafting, editing, and revising an article, you might only need to slot a one hour interview (or less) for your writer to interview you about a certain topic. Then they do all of the heavy lifting: the outlining, the writing, the formatting. All that’s left is your review and final edits.
Keep in mind that a writer doesn’t have to serve up a perfect draft to save you time— you’ll likely find that it’s much easier to edit an existing draft than to start from scratch. Over time, however, a good ghostwriter will adopt your tone and voice, so that it will feel like the content is coming directly from you — even if you didn’t type it yourself. Leveraging a writer’s expertise and efficiency gives you back time to focus where you need it most.
You might only need to slot a one hour interview (or less) for your writer to interview you about a certain topic.
Translate your ideas
Picture this: you have a sudden burst of inspiration and a million ideas spring to mind for possible articles. You can’t wait to start writing! But as soon as you sit down at your computer… you find yourself staring at a blank computer screen. You’re not sure where to start. After staring at the white page for a while, you flip over to email. The wave of inspiration is gone. If this sounds familiar, chances are you might need a ghostwriter.
The beauty of having a ghostwriter is that you don’t need to have a clear plan — you just need your ideas and expertise. Your writer will be able to extract your best ideas and turn them into something cohesive, compelling, and publication-worthy.
Personal writers get your ideas out of your head and into the world.
Get it done
There’s a big difference between wanting to publish an article and actually getting it published. To that point: How many unfinished drafts are sitting on your hard drive? How many sticky notes with scribbled ideas are on your desk? No matter how well-intentioned you are about getting your ideas out into the world, it’s hard to prioritize writing when there are other fires to put out. Chances are, you are being pulled in many directions already.
When it comes to writing, the devil is so often in the details. Have you found yourself starting articles with great gusto—only to find them staggering as they near the finish line? A ghostwriter keeps your best ideas from languishing on your hard drive and gets you past any inevitable slowdowns all the way to the publishing goalpost. In fact, they can turn around an article in a matter of days or weeks, whereas it might otherwise take you several months. At that point, your idea might have grown stale and lost its relevance.
How do you know if you’re ready to engage this secret weapon in your own career? It might be time if you feel overwhelmed trying to excel in your field, maintain a personal life, and create amazing content.
