Hiring a ghostwriter for LinkedIn? Ask these questions first

Sell in Public → B2B LinkedIn content agency → LinkedIn ghostwriting

How to use these questions

Ask every freelancer and agency the same ones so you can compare answers side by side. Pick the six or seven that matter most to you; that fits in a 30-minute call. Write down what each candidate actually said, not your impression of them. Concrete answers sound like a named step, an example from another client, or a number they'll commit to, such as posts a month or how many days a draft takes.

Questions about capturing your voice

"How will you get ideas out of me?"

A good answer: A regular conversation with you, by call or recorded interview, plus material they'd ask for: sales call recordings, customer stories, internal notes, talks you've given. They can explain how one conversation turns into several posts.

Walk away if you hear: "Send us a few topics each month," or "We'll research what's trending in your industry." Both mean the posts will be built from public information instead of what you know.

"What will you need from me in the first two weeks?"

A good answer: A specific list: examples of writing you like, phrases you use and words you'd never use, your buyers and competitors, subjects that are off-limits, and who else signs off.

Walk away if you hear: "Nothing, we'll take it from here." It sounds easy, but it means they plan to write without learning anything about you.

"Can you show me two clients whose posts sound different?"

A good answer: They pull up two people, explain how each one talks and point to choices they made for each, such as sentence length, humor or how technical to get.

Walk away if you hear: "Our post framework works for every client." A framework that fits everyone tends to make everyone sound the same.

Questions about who does the work

"Who will write my posts, and who edits them?"

A good answer: From an agency: the writer's name, who edits, and whether the person who interviews you is the person who writes. From a freelancer: a plain yes or no on whether they subcontract.

Walk away if you hear: "Our team handles it," with no names even after you ask.

"Do you use AI, and how?"

A good answer: A specific description. Perhaps transcription, organizing notes or checking drafts, with a person doing the writing and editing, and nothing confidential pasted into public tools.

Walk away if you hear: "Our system generates the first draft and an editor finishes it." That means software, not a writer, is turning your interview into posts. A flat "never" is also worth probing if the samples read like a chatbot wrote them.

"How many clients does my writer work with at once?"

A good answer: A straight number, and how they protect your drafts when a busy week hits.

Walk away if you hear: "We don't share that." If they won't give a number, assume it's high.

Questions about accuracy and approvals

"How do approvals work, and what if I go quiet for a week?"

A good answer: You approve every post. Drafts sit ahead of schedule so a busy week doesn't break the rhythm, and nothing is published without your yes.

Walk away if you hear: "If we don't hear back in 48 hours, we post it."

"How do you keep numbers, claims and customer names right?"

A good answer: They flag any claim for you to confirm, never make up statistics, ask before naming a customer and route sensitive posts to comms or legal when you need that.

Walk away if you hear: "Readers don't check that kind of thing." Your buyers and competitors do.

Questions about comments and results

"What happens in the comments?"

A good answer: Comments are written by people, in your voice, and they tell you when a prospect or target account engages.

Walk away if you hear: "We'll add you to a group of creators who engage with each other's posts."

"How will we know it's working?"

A good answer: Whether the right people engage, clicks on tracked links, sales conversations where a buyer mentions a post, inbound messages, and an honest admission that some influence can't be traced.

Walk away if you hear: "We can promise you a set number of leads a month," or a follower target by a date. Nobody controls those, and a team chasing them will optimize for the wrong things.

Questions about price and terms

"What's included, and what costs extra?"

A good answer: A clear unit (per post, or per person per month), posts per month, how interviews work, whether comments, design and video are included, and what would change the price. For context, one vendor guide says most founders and executives pay $2,000–$5,000 a month (Windmill Growth), while another runs from $2,000 a month for entry-level freelance help to $10,000 or more for premium done-for-you service (Forj Media).

Walk away if you hear: "Let's get on a second call before we talk numbers," followed by packages with no post count or a setup fee nobody can explain.

"What happens if we stop?"

A good answer: A reasonable notice period, and you keep everything: published posts, drafts, interview recordings and notes.

Walk away if you hear: "Drafts and recordings stay with us; they're our working files." Anything made from your conversations should leave with you.

What a good ghostwriter will ask you

The interview runs both ways. A strong candidate will want to know who your buyers are, what you want them to think after reading, what you can't talk about, how much time you can give and what your sales team keeps hearing. If they ask you nothing, expect them to write the same posts they write for everyone else.