How to hire a LinkedIn ghostwriter: a step-by-step guide

Sell in Public → B2B LinkedIn content agency → LinkedIn ghostwriting

The hiring timeline at a glance

Step 1: Decide what the posts are for and who will post

Pick one main job for LinkedIn: buyers knowing your founder's view before the first sales call, explaining a new category, hiring senior people or raising money. A writer who knows the job can choose topics; one who doesn't drifts toward generic "lessons learned" posts.

Then decide who posts. One founder is a different hire from a founder plus two executives, or a program that includes ten employees. Be honest about time, too: whoever posts should expect a regular conversation with the writer, weekly or every other week, and a few minutes per draft to review.

Write it down. A made-up example: "Our CEO wants heads of RevOps at 200- to 2,000-person companies to know her view on forecasting before they talk to sales. She'll post twice a week and can give 45 minutes every Tuesday." You'll send this paragraph to every candidate.

Step 2: Set a budget and choose freelancer or agency

Decide these together, because the second largely sets the first. A freelancer is one person: lower cost, a direct relationship and a single point of failure. An agency adds editing, cover when someone is out and room for several voices, at a higher price. One writer can usually handle one or two voices well.

One vendor pricing guide puts a freelance LinkedIn ghostwriter at roughly $1,500–$5,000 a month for eight to twelve posts, and a content-only agency engagement for one executive at roughly $5,000–$10,000 a month (Influent). Per-post quotes vary even more, and the guides disagree on the low end: one says budget writers charge $50–$100 a post (Windmill Growth), while another calls $300–$800 typical (Foundera). All of these come from companies that sell ghostwriting, so read them as a rough map, not a survey.

The price moves with the number of people posting, posts per person, interviews, comment handling, and design or video. Choose a figure you could keep paying for six months; a six-week burst tells you very little.

Step 3: Cut the long list to three to five

Start with the people whose posts you already read and ask them who helps them write; most will tell you. If step 2 pointed you to an agency, add a couple of LinkedIn specialists. Then cut hard. Drop anyone who hasn't written for B2B buyers, can't take on the number of voices you need, can't start within a month, or answers your step 1 paragraph with a standard package. Three to five gives you a real comparison without eating a month of calls.

Step 4: Read samples the way your buyers would

Ask each candidate for three to five published posts and who they were written for, then read them as a busy buyer scrolling past. Look for a detail only that person would know, posts for different clients that sound like different people, and points someone could disagree with. Ask what raw material the client supplied: a writer who can turn a messy 30-minute conversation into a sharp post is the one you want. Their own follower count tells you little.

Step 5: Run the intro calls the same way for everyone

Send each candidate your step 1 paragraph a few days ahead, so the call starts from your situation instead of their pitch. Give every call the same length (30 minutes is enough) and ask the same questions in the same order. Score each candidate straight after the call, while it's fresh, on three things: how well they understood your goal, how specific they were about their process and how curious they were about your buyers. Choose one or two for the trial before the week is out.

Step 6: Protect your material, then run a paid trial

The trial means sharing your roadmap, customers or numbers with someone you haven't hired yet, so sign a short agreement first. It should say that what they hear stays confidential and that anything they write for you is yours.

Then pay for a short trial, around three or four weeks or a fixed handful of posts, at the candidate's normal rate; unpaid spec work attracts writers with time on their hands rather than the ones in demand. Give it the real setup: one proper conversation, real drafts, your normal review. Judge it on how much you had to rewrite, whether they found angles you wouldn't have, whether a busy buyer would stop on the posts and whether they hit their own deadlines. If budget allows, trial two finalists at once.

Step 7: Agree how posting will work day to day

The main agreement adds scope, price and notice to your trial agreement. It should also settle three LinkedIn questions that are easy to miss:

• Who presses publish. You, from drafts you approve, or the writer through a scheduling tool or access to your account. If they get access, write down how it's used and how it's removed.
• Who writes comments in your name, if anyone, and whether you see them first.
• What happens to scheduled posts and unfinished drafts during the notice period, so nothing goes out after you've parted ways and nothing half-done disappears.

Step 8: Brief the writer on who you're trying to reach

Give the winner the specifics a LinkedIn writer can't guess: the buyer titles and target accounts the posts are for, the people in your network you most want to reach, and a few posts by others you admire, with a line on why. Agree how comments will be handled, how fast you'll review drafts and whether comms or legal sign off. The target list also gives you something concrete to check in step 9.

Step 9: Judge the first 90 days

In month one, expect heavier edits while the writer learns your voice; they should shrink week by week. In month two, look for rhythm: conversations feel easy and ideas come from your real work. By month three, go back to the step 8 target list and check whether those people comment, whether buyers mention posts on sales calls, and whether inbound messages and tracked-link clicks come from the right companies. Then keep going, adjust the scope or switch.