I went from crying in the shower after a layoff to charging $5K for something I used to do for free.
Two months ago, I was laid off. I spent the rest of the day pretending I was “fine” while quietly deleting Slack and exporting my LinkedIn contacts before they cut me off.
The “Invisible” Skill I Ignored Until It Saved Me
In my tech job, I was always the one who “cleaned up” the team’s emails, rewrote the CEO’s LinkedIn posts, and made pitch decks “sound smart.”
People called it “polishing.” But what I was doing had a name: ghostwriting. I didn’t know people paid thousands of dollars for it.
Turns out, every founder, coach, and startup exec has ideas in their head they don’t have the time or skill to put into words. That’s where ghostwriters come in.
Ghostwriting isn’t about being a genius. It’s about translating chaos into clarity — on paper.
I Wasn’t Special
Did you know I didn’t have a writing degree and didn’t have a personal brand? I had one thing: the ability to write the way people wished they sounded. So I started freelancing on the side. At first, I charged $150 a post. Then $500. Within two months, one of my clients said:
If I send you voice notes every week, can you just turn them into LinkedIn posts and newsletters? I’ll pay $2,500/month.
And just like that, I became a ghostwriter.
What No One Tells You About Freelancing After a Layoff
I felt
- Behind — watching ex-coworkers post about new jobs at AI
- Invisible — pitching to clients who never replied
- Messy — juggling admin work, invoices, and contracts, all by myself
But I also felt something I hadn’t felt in years: alive. I wasn’t waiting for someone to “give me” my worth. I was charging it.
Why I Charge $5,000 Now
If you think $5,000 is “too much” to charge, ask yourself:
- How much is a founder’s time worth per hour?
- How much do they lose by publishing nothing?
- How many new leads does great content attract?
I don’t just write. I think, position, edit, strategize, and ghost. That’s not a commodity. That’s leverage.
What $5K looks like in practice: 4 long-form posts, ghostwritten weekly, based on short audio notes or rough outlines.
The Step-by-Step (Messy) Path I Took
If you’re freshly laid off and wondering how to start, here’s the exact order I did it:
- Posted a raw, vulnerable story on LinkedIn about losing my job
- Added a single sentence: “I help founders turn ideas into words.”
- Sent 10 DMs to people I admired, offering to write their next post for free
- Used those samples to build a basic Notion portfolio
- Started charging low… then doubled my rates with every “yes.”
It wasn’t pretty. But it worked.
You Don’t Need a Website, Logo, or LLC to Get Paid
You need:
- One skill
- A clear offer
- Proof you’ve helped one person
You can fake confidence until your first client comes. After that, confidence fakes itself.
If You are Recently Laid Off
If you’re sitting there feeling like:
- Your resume is useless.
- Your LinkedIn feed is a minefield.
- You’re too old, too early, or too tired…
Let me say this:
Your layoff might be the best thing that ever happened to your income. Especially if you’ve ever been the “go-to writer” in your team or friend group. Someone out there needs your voice — because they don’t know how to use theirs.
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