Writing online & ghostwriting

Guests treat persuasive writing as the base skill beneath content, products and sales. Ghostwriting is the most common way to make money from it, in four episodes. Dickie Bush’s path is to build the skill, ghostwrite on someone else’s audience to 5–10K a month, then build your own audience from abundance. Marcos Ruiz grew a Twitter ghostwriting agency by selling clients monetisation rather than followers, Alex Lieberman’s agency serves B2B executives at $7,000 a month, and Lara Acosta turned the idea into Kleo, an AI LinkedIn ghostwriter. Bush and Ruiz stress that you first need your own proof: a viral thread, a personal brand, case studies. Reps matter: a 30-day daily challenge, 100 mornings on Quora, or 2–3 posts a day. Cardinal Mason argues AI is a tool rather than a replacement because clients pay for thinking, while the AI-ghostwriter products suggest AI is taking over some of the drafting. Paul Millerd gives the one detailed book case: he turned down Penguin Random House and earns about $7–8 per self-published copy against about $2 traditionally. Ghostwriting has limits too: it is hard to scale past 5–10K a month as a side hustle, and agencies keep clients for only 3–5 months.

Key points

• Ghostwriting monetises writing fast by borrowing other people’s audiences — 4 episodes. (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 11:57) (Marcos Ruiz · Marcos Ruiz (Jun 2024) ▶ 01:36) (Alex Lieberman · Alex Lieberman (Nov 2023) ▶ 08:23) +1 more
• Build a habit through daily reps (challenges, morning writing, multiple posts a day) — 4 episodes. (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 05:44) (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 02:20) (Cardinal Mason · Cardinal Mason (Aug 2023) ▶ 07:05) +1 more
• Your own public writing is the proof that wins work and opportunities — 4 episodes. (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 07:38) (Marcos Ruiz · Marcos Ruiz (Jun 2024) ▶ 10:34) (Lara Acosta · Lara Acosta (Jan 2026) ▶ 03:02) +1 more
• AI helps with writing but clients still pay for thinking; AI ghostwriters are now products — 3 episodes. (Cardinal Mason · Cardinal Mason (Aug 2023) ▶ 02:51) (Deven Bhooshan · Deven Bhooshan (Sep 2025) ▶ 02:10) (Lara Acosta · Lara Acosta (Jan 2026) ▶ 01:10)
• Write for the reader: solve one problem concisely and simply — 2 episodes. (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 11:21) (Marcos Ruiz · Marcos Ruiz (Jun 2024) ▶ 09:28)
• Educational long-form content sells without a pitch — 2 episodes. (Justin Welsh · Justin Welsh (Apr 2023) ▶ 07:04) (Lara Acosta · Lara Acosta (Jan 2026) ▶ 05:44)
• Ghostwriting has limits: hard to scale solo and short client lifetimes — 2 episodes. (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 08:19) (Alex Lieberman · Alex Lieberman (Nov 2023) ▶ 10:48)
• Keep the writing tool stack minimal — 2 episodes. (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 13:17) (Marcos Ruiz · Marcos Ruiz (Jun 2024) ▶ 09:23)
• Self-publishing a book can pay several times more per copy than a traditional deal — 1 episode. (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 04:12)

Where guests agree

• Writing well is a foundational, transferable business skill (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 10:15) (Cardinal Mason · Cardinal Mason (Aug 2023) ▶ 01:54) (Justin Welsh · Justin Welsh (Apr 2023) ▶ 07:04)

Frameworks

• Ghostwriting as an entry path to writing online — His recommended path to monetising writing: build the skill, earn 5-10K a month ghostwriting on someone else’s audience, then build your own audience and products from a position of abundance. (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 11:57)
  • Build the writing skill yourself
  • Borrow someone else’s audience by ghostwriting for them
  • Reach a 5-10K/month income that doesn’t take 40 hours
  • Build your own audience and passion projects on the side
• Ghostwriting as an entry path to writing online — No-money path vs paid path into ghostwriting. (Marcos Ruiz · Marcos Ruiz (Jun 2024) ▶ 10:34)
  • No money: be a Twitter user, study viral writers, use yourself as the case study, then DM
  • Money: buy a course and copy exactly what it says
  • Either way: build a personal brand first
• Self-publishing checklist — Steps to self-publish a book that feels like a traditionally published one. (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 08:20)
  • Developmental editor
  • Cover design (99designs)
  • Formatting (Amazon’s tools or Reedsy)
  • Proofreader
  • List yourself as publisher
  • Upload PDF to Amazon; print in about 3 days
• Sprint and recover cycles — Alternate intense writing periods with stepping back to shape structure. (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 05:01)
  • Write intensely for a month or two
  • Step back and work on structure
  • Repeat

Tactics

• Batch client content from a monthly interview — Interview each client once a month to get their thoughts out, then a ghostwriter and content strategist create 12 pieces of content per week per client. (Alex Lieberman · Alex Lieberman (Nov 2023) ▶ 09:59)
• Keep the writing tool stack minimal — Jot ideas in Apple Notes synced across devices, write for 90 minutes on waking to expand them, publish with Typeshare, and search your own Twitter to find past writing. (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 13:17)
• Use Hemingway to simplify client writing — It shows the reading grade level so you can dumb it down. (Marcos Ruiz · Marcos Ruiz (Jun 2024) ▶ 09:28)
• Edu-selling posts with no CTA — Post educational content answering the audience’s biggest problems, then show where the tool gets better results, leading to waitlist sign-ups. (Lara Acosta · Lara Acosta (Jan 2026) ▶ 05:44)
• Build a writing habit by posting on Quora before work — He wrote on Quora every morning before starting work for about 100 days. (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 02:20)
• Gift copies of your book as a marketing channel — Self-publishing lets him send books anywhere in the US cheaply, shipping included. (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 08:58)
• Use 99designs for the cover and Reedsy or Amazon’s tools for formatting — Pick a designer whose other work you like; use default formatting options. (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 08:24)
• Immerse yourself to learn fast — Read, write and edit copy constantly, listen to marketing podcasts and watch YouTube on it. (Cardinal Mason · Cardinal Mason (Aug 2023) ▶ 07:05)

Stories & examples

• The first $5,000 thread: After his viral breakdown thread, someone asked him to write one about them. He let the client set the price, spent a 15-hour weekend on it and was paid $5,000 via PayPal, which he first thought was a typo. Lesson: Attention from writing can produce business opportunities, and effort was finally tied to results. (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 07:38)
• Turning down Penguin Random House: Approached by one of the world’s biggest publishers, he self-published to keep creative control and earn several times more per copy. Lesson: For an author with an audience, self-publishing can be more rewarding than a traditional deal. (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 04:04)
• The ‘lime sucks’ blog: Dealing with Lyme disease, he started a blog and sent posts to people, then wrote about his path after quitting, publishing ever more often. Lesson: Writing regularly about your own life builds the habit and the audience. (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 02:35)

Numbers

• Sustainable ghostwriting income target: 5-10K thousand per month (implied) / month (self-reported, approx.) (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 12:15)
• Year-one book earnings and copies sold: about $50,000; about 10,000 copies; about $5 per book USD; copies (self-reported, approx.) (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 01:39)
• Per-copy earnings: traditional hardcover vs self-published paperback and hardcover: about $2 (10% of list) vs about $7 and $8 USD per copy (self-reported, approx.) (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 04:20)
• Costs to create the book: editing and coaching, cover, IngramSpark fee, audiobook: 3,900; 742; 250; 1,280 USD (self-reported, approx.) (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 09:37)
• Royalties to date, essentially profit: 125,000-130,000 currency unstated (self-reported, approx., currency unstated) (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 09:55)
• Revenue from the coach’s thread: 20-30k currency unstated (self-reported, approx., currency unstated) (Marcos Ruiz · Marcos Ruiz (Jun 2024) ▶ 05:23)

Caveats & warnings

• Scaling ghostwriting as a side hustle beyond 5-10K a month is very difficult. (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 08:19)
• Ghostwriting agencies typically retain their average customer for only 3 to 5 months. (Alex Lieberman · Alex Lieberman (Nov 2023) ▶ 10:48)
• A good editor is likely to be one of the biggest expenses. (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 08:22)
• Writing and podcasting made no money until recently; other work funded them. (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 10:41)
• Writing four hours every morning is not his style; each writer needs an individual relationship with writing. (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 11:16)

How much to trust this

• Evidence: 9 episodes, 9 independent speakers (repeat guests counted once; Pat and Gus counted as one voice).