How I Got My First Ghostwriting Client Without Portfolio or Testimonials

When I started ghostwriting, I thought no one would hire me because I had no portfolio and no testimonials.

Every day I would watch YouTube videos about "how to build portfolio" and I would save posts about "how to get testimonials" but I never started. I was waiting to be perfect.

The truth is, waiting for portfolio kept me broke for months. I was learning too much and doing nothing.

One day I got tired and I decided to try something different. I did not build a portfolio. I just did these 3 simple things and it worked for me.

First, I picked one person I wanted to work with. She was a business coach on LinkedIn. I read her last 5 posts carefully. I noticed she posts about productivity and balancing school and business but she did not post for 2 weeks. I could see her audience missed her.

So I wrote a short post of 300 words for her, in her style. I did not ask for permission. I just wrote it like I was her. I used simple words like she uses, and I added a small story about her day.

Second, I sent her a message. I did not say "Please check my portfolio" because I had none. I said: "Hi, I love your content on productivity. I noticed you have not posted in a while, so I wrote a small draft for you based on your previous posts. You can use it for free if you like it. No payment. If you like how I write like you, we can talk about me helping you more."

I was scared to send it, but I sent it.

Third, I posted on my WhatsApp status. I did not post "I am a ghostwriter, hire me." I posted "I help busy coaches and CEOs write their LinkedIn posts in their own voice so they can stay consistent. If you know someone who is too busy to write, please connect me."

That same status was seen by a friend who connected me to someone, but the coach I sent the free draft to also replied after 2 days. She said "Wow, this sounds exactly like me, how did you do this?"

That was my first client. No portfolio, no testimonial. Just one free sample that sounded like her.

I learned that clients don't care about portfolio. They care about one thing: Can you sound like me? Can you make my audience believe I wrote it?

If you can show them you can sound like them, even with just one sample of 300 words, they will trust you more than someone with 10 samples that don't sound like them.

So if you are still waiting to build a perfect portfolio like I was, please stop waiting. Pick one dream client today, write 300 words like you are them, and send it to them as a gift. Don't ask for money first, just give value.

You don't need 10 samples. You need one person to say yes, and that yes will become your portfolio.

Are you still waiting to build your portfolio, or have you already tried sending a free sample to someone? What happened? Did they reply or not?

Tell me in the comments, I really want to know and learn from your story too.