Hey hey, ProWriter!

Yesterday was a national holiday in the States, meaning that today, October 10, is actually our Monday and the start of our work week!

There’s just one problem with that…

October 10 is also International World Mental Health Day. Probably not the best day to start your work week.

So we are going straight back to bed after this newsletter goes out (and we won’t judge you if you decide to do the same).

For the hustlers out there, here’s what we have for you today:

• Do ghostwriting gigs hurt your chances of getting more work? 👻

• How many writers will be displaced by AI?

• This influencer podcast will give you daily insights to help your writing.

• The number one skill every writer needs to have

• Shhh … couple of secret gigs no one knows about yet at the bottom!

Let’s hop in!

- Dave and Dusten

#ProWriterTips 💡

Do ghostwritten clips help or hurt your portfolio?

It’s officially the spooky season, so let’s tackle a topic that keeps a lot of writers up at night: ghostwriting.

Last week, in a popular Slack community for marketers, a writer asked for opinions on best practices for sharing ghostwritten work in their portfolio.

This writer is worried that getting new work in their niche will be more challenging if they’re unable share bylined clips.

It’s a reasonable concern. A lot of work for brands tends to be ghostwritten.

Many brands will skip an individual byline for messaging reasons. In some cases, a member of the C-Suite or someone else on the team will get a byline so they can look all thought leadery for their ICP.

But don’t worry.

Ghostwriting is very common in brand writing.

And, there’s no reason to think it will affect your portfolio when you go to pitch new clients.

But if you’re worried about it, here’s the advice Dusten shared with that writer on how to couch your ghostwritten work:

“As someone who hires B2B SaaS writers, a byline is definitely awesome, but I think we on the client side generally understand that a lot of writers provide ghostwritten content for brands. What I usually ask for is a contact at the brand who can confirm you did the work. If you really want to be ahead of the curve, get a testimonial from your contact at that brand and include it in your portfolio when you're submitting. Testimonials are gold.”

Ghostwriting isn’t an industry-wide standard, of course.

Some brands want a human name on their content for SEO reasons, and some will offer a byline as a value-add for a lower-paying gig.

Over time, if you become more of an expert in your niche, a byline might be something your clients are actually willing to pay you extra for since it might lend them some Google cred.

But the point is, the brands you’re pitching to won’t think ghostwritten work is unusual.

And like Dusten said above, there are things you should be doing to assure them that you actually created your ghostwritten clips.

A good testimonial beats a byline any day.

In conclusion, when it comes to ghostwriting, there’s nothing to be afraid of. 👻

Want to check out all of our Writer Tips for free?

📺🎙️A word from our sponsor📲🤑

Say, do you need a place to put all of those ghostwritten clips? 👻

(sorry, we just love using the ghost emoji 👻)

Anyway, let me tell you about our sponsor this week.

Us. It’s us. ProWriter.

ProWriter isn’t just a newsletter. It’s an entire resource for helping freelance writers launch their writing careers.

When you become a ProWriter member, you get:

✔️ A free portfolio to highlight your hard-earned skills and experience

✔️ Workshops, courses, and other resources to improve your skills

✔️ Access to a community of peers and coaches to help you succeed

Ready to grow your writing career?

Eye on AI 🤖

In this section, we bring you the top stories about AI that actually affect you. Mostly so you can stay informed, but also, worry less.

AI will disrupt 40% of the labor force in just 3 short years

The short-term impact of AI is expected to be pretty dicey, but last week, Morgan Stanley put some actual numbers on it.

They predict that AI will affect 44% of the labor market in just 3 years (an almost double jump from today’s impact number, 25%).

Remember, though, that disruption doesn’t automatically mean unemployment.

BNN said it best in their report:

“This does not necessarily mean that 40% of jobs will be eliminated. On the contrary, it will result in new tasks for humans to perform, such as ensuring the accurate and responsible use of new AI-powered systems.”

Businesses, especially in industries like software and tech, will expand, creating more opportunities, not fewer. And some marketers think that’s good news for content creators, because AI-generated content still needs a human touch.

This quote, captured at Content Marketing World 2023 a few weeks ago by Content & Marketing Strategist David Sprague sums it up:

In the opening keynote address, Ann Handley, chief content officer at MarketingProfs, was asked what keeps her up at night. She responded bluntly, “Disrespect of writers and creators.” She noted that you can’t use AI if “you’re not a good writer and don’t respect the craft.” 

What’s the upshot for you? Invest in craft.

Writers making moves to become well-rounded content creators, who understand how their work fits into an institution’s content strategy and can deliver results, will have more opportunities, not fewer.

Meanwhile, anyone trying to “fake it ‘till they make it” isn’t going to last.

The team at ProWriter and this newsletter are designed to help you evolve and stay competitive, so watch this space, as the kids say.

Other headlines:

• In big swings, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said AI will be able to outperform human intelligence 10x in just 10 years. And 10 years after that, AI will evolve into “ASI,” or, “Artificial Super Intelligence,” which will be 10,000x smarter than humans.

• (Editor’s note: it’s worth pointing out that while SoftBank is a tech investment whale, it has a tendency to hype the shiny new tech thing, and its record is pretty mixed. That doesn’t mean Son is going to be wrong about AI, but it’s context a lot of AI-vangelists are leaving out. And we wouldn’t do that to you!).

• Google made some updates to its spam policy this month to clamp down on things like cloaking, scraped content, and other black hat SEO tactics. Pass this along to your clients and contacts, and you’ll look like a real team player.

Lastly, generally speaking, we at ProWriter are loathe to deprive the internet of its fun.

But in case you haven’t heard, that “guy kicking an alligator” pic that went viral last week?

Alas, it is in fact AI-generated.

Hat tip to Know Your Meme for clocking the origin of the image to the Facebook page “Uncle Mike’s Photography,” where 34,000 fans enjoy bizarre AI-generated images like this one.

This particular "faux-to” is part of a whole series that features our protagonist round-housing the alligator, but also housing a pizza with the alligator:

There are some other, uh, interesting works there, but, click through at your own risk.

100 content people you should be following 🤝

We made a big list of the most successful and influential voices in marketing.

The main thing they have in common? They post free content advice that will make you a better writer.

This week, here’s who we think you should follow + connect with on LinkedIn: 

#98 Jess Cook

Jess is Head of Content at LASSO, a project management software platform.

She started her career as a writer (like you!) and content strategist, and has served in various managerial, directorial, and advisory roles for brands like Fastly and Laudable.

Here’s why we like her:

1. She posts content tips daily

Jess is one of the most consistent and prolific publishers on our list.

A lot of what she posts could go under “shaking you out of writer’s block,” and she’s great about showing how the content you write connects to a brand’s overall strategy.

2. She has a great podcast

I know, I know. Who doesn’t have a podcast? My grandma has a podcast!

But Jess’ podcast, That’s Marketing, Baby, which she co-hosts with Susan Wenograd, will help you keep a finger on what’s working with episodes on current marketing trends, copywriting tactics, measurement, and the occasional guest.

Simply put, following Jess and engaging with her content can put you on a track to establishing your bona fides as a content strategist among your clients.

👉 Connect with Jess on LinkedIn

Makes you think 🤔

One skill every writer needs

What’s the most important skill a writer needs to be successful?

Sure, writers need a lot of skills to be great (even if they will settle for “good”), but is there One Skill To Rule Them All? One cheat code that separates the real writers from the rest?

We popped that question this week in our editorial meeting. There were a lot of different opinions, and, as you can imagine, a lot of strong disagreements.

But one answer slowly won everyone over.

The most important skill? Self-editing.

Ernest Hemingway once said that the “only kind of writing is rewriting.” And the very best writers take this skill very seriously. That includes the best writers we’ve worked with and coached over the years, as well as those we learned the trade from years back.

Now, self-editing is also the part of writing that is the least fun. And often, the most time-consuming.

But you have to eat your veggies on this one.

This week (and every week after), make sure you’re leaving yourself plenty of time to look back over your work and tighten things up.

Good habits = good outcomes.

Top Freelance Writing Jobs 💼 

1. Steyer Content is an agency looking for a policy writer. $40-$50/h! You can Easy Apply on LinkedIn (we recommend sending Kearsten a professional, personalized note as well).

2. ShoutVox is looking for a general marketing writer for $45+ (depending on experience). Apply on the company site.

3. A little bird told me that the Head of Content at Maze is looking for a freelance SEO editor. No payout info available, but send your writing/editing portfolio with a short bio to [email protected] if you can start right away.

4. NerdWallet is hiring for a handful of remote writer roles. They pay well, according to a guy we know. If you have a business or insurance background, explore their jobs page.

5. Bilingual medical writer? Artisan Talent has a gig worth $35-$38/h. Apply here.

6. Relay Commerce is looking for remote SaaS writers. Scant details, but check it out at PeakFreelance.

7. VSA Partners is looking for a freelance brand writer. Apply here.

Don’t forget — all the jobs we post here are remote and we privilege gigs with transparent pay.

A handful come from our personal networks and aren’t on any jobs boards… yet. So get on ‘em.

Wait! One more thing… 📣

We’re doing something very special and very valuable.

We’re opening replies to our audience of 10,000 subscribers.

I know, insane! What are we thinking?

We’re thinking that creating a resource that’s valuable to you means listening to your feedback, that’s what!

So while it’s early days and we’re still getting this newsletter off the ground, we are inviting YOU (yes, YOU) to help us inform the direction of future editions of the ProWriter Newsletter.

If you have questions about freelance writing, career growth, personal branding, the marketing industry, writing for tech, SaaS, and B2B industries, we can help.

Hit reply and ask away! Your questions will be answered in future newsletters.

Note: we’re looking for questions like the ghostwriting one at the top of this newsletter. Things we can turn into tangible advice. “How do I make money freelance writing” or “where do I get writing jobs” is not specific enough, sorry!

Thanks for reading, ProWriters!

Let’s have a great week.

Dave & Dusten

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P.P.S. Want to really upgrade your freelance writing career?

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Until next week, see you on Twitter and LinkedIn.