Common beginner mistakes I made as a web3 ghostwriter.

If you don't know them, you might make them too.

These are 5 mistakes that you should really avoid:

1. Don't get devalued before payment:

After a service like ghostwriting is offered, some clients tend to think that your service isn't worth the price you're charging anymore.

Not because you wrote a piece that is of low quality but because they are just selfish and clueless.

Most of the time, they think that your work is something that gets done easily

Solution: always make sure you're paid a percentage upfront

It works for me like this. We agree on 30% of whatever my fee is and you pay me the rest after editing the initial draft and making all corrections.

2. UNdefined market:

This means that you are not absolute and clear on what you offer.

Not that the clients don't know that you offer ghostwriting services, but you didn't tell them what you won't do. Be clear on what you don't do.

This is very common, especially in this web3 space.

From being a ghostwriter, you are told to do the graphics designs for the content, handle the social media presence, help with vibecoding, help to settle marriage crises etc.

This might be a good thing if it increases your pay. But most times it doesn't.

Solution: lay out what you won't do for them in clear terms.

If you have extra skills you'd or can offer, make sure you charge extra and let them know it won't be for free.

3. First meeting fidget:

When I started, I was scared of what the outcome of the meeting would be. This threw me off, and I wasn't able to get the necessary info I needed.

The thing with ghostwriting is that you must be able to thoroughly interview the client so that both of you can be on the same page.

Solution: This is simple, be confident in yourself. You'd need to start from somewhere anyway

4. Poor communication:

This should be part of the third mistake, but I decided to fillet it.

Clear communication is the basis of ghostwriting.

You need to ask what they want, how they want it, ask what they expect from you in terms of work days, volume of work, editing issues, tone or style preferences etc.

I did this when I started but I wasn't thorough enough.

Solution: always see it like this, you can't ask enough questions when interviewing your client (this is in context though)

5. Underpricing your service:

Yh I understand that you need to build experience and take anything that comes your way, but you'd need to change your pricing system as you go on and get better.

Because I didn't want to lose my one and only client I had then, I kept to the fee I was collecting.

The workload increased and it became seriously frustrating.

In other words, to avoid this for you, be clear with your retained clients that your fee has increased due to certain factors attached to the work.

Also, let the new ones know the exact amount you charge based on certain factors.

To wrap this up, if you are setting out to become a ghostwriter or you are already one, these are the mistakes you should avoid so you won't later start questioning your life choices