🛠️ Service

5–10 hrs/wk

Ghostwriting (LinkedIn)

Write LinkedIn posts and threads for executives and founders. Monthly retainers ranging from $1,500 to $10,000+.

Startup cost: $50
Time to first $: ~14 days
Monthly ceiling: $8,000
Following: 4K

Overview

The ratings, in full

Difficulty

Startup cost

Income ceiling

Scalability

Time to first $

Who can help

Ghostwriter

Personal Branding

Offer Design

Browse the expert directory →

Videos

10 walkthroughs worth watching

Economics

What the maths has to do

Price points

Retainer: 1500–10000per month
Trial week: 500–750one-time

Launch velocity

Week 1: Portfolio posts + offer page + 50 ICP targets
Week 2 to 3: Daily outbound (DM/email), 3–5 calls booked, 1 paid trial closed
Week 4 to 6: Convert trial → retainer; add second client

Effort per client

Note: Strategy call, 12–20 posts/mo incl. edits, light engagement prompts
Hours per month: 5–8

Monetization notes

Productize: Strategy Sprint (voice doc + hooks) → Monthly Publishing (posts/threads) → Exec Amplification (comments/DMs).
Anchor on outcomes: pipeline influence, replies from ICP, booked calls.
Tiered deliverables and SLA-driven pricing; add UGC/video scripts as upsell.

Planning assumptions

Paths: 1 small retainer @ ~$1k/mo, or 1 trial ($500–$750) → 1 retainer @ ~$1.5–$2k/mo, or 2 micro-retainers @ ~$500–$600 each
Target MRR: $1,000

Budget

What it costs, line by line

Build to first sale: $0 – $100
Sales & marketing to $1k/mo: $100 – $300

Build budget breakdown

Offer page, samples, and booking link ready in ≤ 5 days.

Lean

$0 – $40

The cheapest honest way in.

With tools

$50 – $100

Paid tooling where it buys back real time.

Fully loaded

$120 – $150

Everything bought rather than done yourself.

Lean — what you actually buy

Portfolio & samples
10 practice posts + 3 case-style writeups
$0
Landing page
Notion/Carrd one-pager (free tier)
$0 – $9
Scheduling
Calendly basic / Google Calendar
$0
Grammar/style
Grammarly/LanguageTool free
$0
Recording
Loom free for async client notes
$0
Contingency
Fonts/icons/stock for visuals
$0 – $31

With tools — what you actually buy

Landing page (paid)
Carrd/Webflow 1–2 months
$9 – $19
LinkedIn Premium (optional)
InMail/search filters (1 mo)
$39
SaaS helpers
Headline analyzers/AI ideation (credits)
$0 – $20
Contingency
Logo/visual aids
$2 – $22

Fully loaded — what you actually buy

Site + domain
Domain + Webflow/Carrd
$21 – $38
LinkedIn Premium
1 month for discovery/DM reach
$39
Toolkit
Loom Pro / Grammarly Premium (1 mo)
$20 – $40
Visual assets
Stock / icon packs
$20 – $30

Sales & Marketing budget breakdown

One k per month

$120 – $300Per month to sustain ~$1k/mo

Outbound engine
Inbox warming + light enrichment
$30 – $80
Always-on Premium
LinkedIn Premium or Sales Nav alt
$39 – $99
Content cadence
1–2 weekly authority posts
$0 – $40
Partner slots
Newsletter shoutouts/communities
$0 – $60
Referral pool
Client/referrer gifts
$0 – $21

Target: 4–6 calls/mo; close 1 retainer @ ~$1–2k; CAC payback ≤ 1 month.

Ten k per month

$1,500 – $4,000Per month to drive toward ~$10k/mo

SDR/VA prospecting
Part-time booking assistant
$600 – $1,500
Partnership buys
Niche newsletters/podcasts
$400 – $1,200
Production support
Editor/strategist to scale output
$300 – $900
Funnel tooling
CRM + scheduling + analytics
$100 – $300
Events/speaking
AMA/webinars to fill pipeline
$100

Target: 10–15 calls/mo → 3–5 retainers @ $2–$4k; churn < 10%/qtr.

First 1000 total

$100 – $200Until first $1,000 total revenue

LI Premium (optional)
InMail credits and search filters
$39
Lead data light
Hand-built list or credits
$20 – $60
Creative swaps
Thumbnails/headers for credibility
$0 – $30
Referrals/thank-yous
Small gifts on closed deals
$0 – $30

Target: Book 3–5 calls; close 1 paid trial ($500–$750) → path to $1k/mo.

What you’ll need

The kit, and what it runs you

Strong writing abilityFree
LinkedIn presence$0 – $39per month (optional Premium)
B2B & startup contextFreeresearch time
Capacity$5 – $8hours per client per month

Everything above: $5 – $47 to get started.

Recommended stack

Writing

Google Docs/Notion

Grammarly/LanguageTool

Templatize hooks, story banks, CTAs

Discovery

LinkedIn search/Premium

Apollo/Clay (light)

Build 50–100 ICP leads/week

Meetings

Calendly + Zoom/Loom

Async updates + monthly strategy calls

Proof

Screenshots, case pages, KPI tracking

Show ER%, booked calls, comment quality

Billing

Stripe/PayPal + MSA/SOW

50% upfront or monthly auto-bill

Checklist

8 steps, in order, costed

1
Study top LinkedIn voices in target niche
Collect 100 hooks, formats, CTAs
Build: FreeMarketing: Free
2
Write 10 practice posts in your own voice
Build: FreeMarketing: Free
3
Identify 10 target clients (founders, VPs)
Light data credits if needed
Build: $0 – $30Marketing: Free

Step 4 is locked
Step 5 is locked
Step 6 is locked
Step 7 is locked
Step 8 is locked

5 more steps in the full playbook

Unlock the rest — plus progress tracking, the break-even calculator and every other playbook — for $120/year.

Unlock the full playbook

Risks

How this goes wrong

Client may not get traction

Weak positioning or audience-message mismatch suppresses engagement and pipeline impact.

Watch these

Engagement rate (ER%)
Lagging
(Reactions + comments) / impressions per postHealthy: ≥ 1.5–3.0%Act at: < 1.0%
ICP comment rate
Diagnostic
% comments from ideal buyersHealthy: ≥ 20%Act at: < 10%
Booked calls from posts
Lagging
Attributable meetings/monthHealthy: ≥ 2–4Act at: < 1

What to do

Run a Positioning Sprint: tighten ‘who/why now/unique POV’.
Use ‘Proof-Story-Teach-Ask’ rotation; add explicit CTA weekly.
Amplify: client comments on ICP posts + DM follow-ups.

Voice mismatch issues

Ghosted content doesn’t sound like the client; edits balloon and trust drops.

Watch these

Approval cycle time
Leading
Draft → approved hoursHealthy: ≤ 48hAct at: > 72h
Revision loops
Diagnostic
Average rounds per postHealthy: ≤ 1.5Act at: > 2.5
‘Sounds like me’ score
Lagging
Client 1–5 ratingHealthy: ≥ 4.2★Act at: < 4.0★

What to do

Create a Voice Doc (phrases, taboos, cadence) from interview/transcripts.
Pilot 5 ‘calibration posts’ before committing to full calendar.
Keep swipe bank of the client’s own phrases; insert verbatim lines.

Retainer can end suddenly

Budget shifts or perceived low ROI; no lock-in without value proof.

Watch these

Churn rate (monthly)
Lagging
Retainers ended / totalHealthy: < 10%Act at: ≥ 15%
Content SLA hit rate
Leading
% posts delivered on timeHealthy: ≥ 95%Act at: < 90%
Attribution notes
Diagnostic
Documented opportunities from postsHealthy: Weekly updatesAct at: Gaps > 2 weeks

What to do

Monthly value report: top posts, ICP interactions, booked calls, learnings.
Quarterly strategy reset with new hooks and campaign angles.
Offer downgrade path (lite plan) rather than cancel.

Timeline

What the first months look like

Week 1
- 10 practice posts live
- Offer page + booking link
- 50 ICP targets identified
Week 2–3
- Daily outbound (20–30 DMs/emails)
- 3–5 calls booked
- 1 paid trial closed
Week 4–5
- Trial delivered (3–5 posts)
- ER% ≥ 1.5–3.0%
- Retainer offer presented
Week 6–8
- Retainers: 1–2 active
- SLA ≥ 95%
- Churn < 10%/mo; pipeline of next 30 targets

Stay outcome-first (booked calls, ICP replies). Keep a living swipe/voice doc and rotate formats weekly.

Ghostwriting (LinkedIn)

The ratings, in full

Who can help

10 walkthroughs worth watching

What the maths has to do

Price points

Launch velocity

Effort per client

Monetization notes

Planning assumptions

What it costs, line by line

Build budget breakdown

Lean — what you actually buy

With tools — what you actually buy

Fully loaded — what you actually buy

Sales & Marketing budget breakdown

One k per month

Ten k per month

First 1000 total

The kit, and what it runs you

Recommended stack

8 steps, in order, costed

How this goes wrong

Client may not get traction

Voice mismatch issues

Retainer can end suddenly

What the first months look like

Week 1

Week 2–3

Week 4–5

Week 6–8