$200,000 Ghost Tweeter

A while ago, we came across the story of a silicon valley insider— via Insider—who makes $200,000 a year, ghost tweeting. Yes, you read that right.

The demand for social media ghostwriters has surged in the last year, especially on business-oriented platforms like LinkedIn. As execs work to create their visibility on social channels, social media ghostwriters are able to capitalize, some raising rates as much as 40%.

What's especially interesting about this case though, is that they're doing it for VCs. They've made a $100,000 for a thread announcing a big round of funding and also earn between $5,000-$10,000 a month for 10 original tweets. 🤯

They usually have up to 50 clients at a time and have invested in a system to manage their side-hustle. They keep track of opportunities in a CRM, have a dedicated computer, phone, and email account.

On average, they spend 5 hours a week running their side hustle.

A validating push

Our ghost tweeter didn't know anything about ghostwriting beforehand. As a principal in the VC industry they developed a cynical, tongue-in-cheek, public Twitter persona for their job. The funny thing is, after a while, the DMs started pouring in.

At first it felt shady, like sneaking candy into a movie theater. DMs used coded language as not to reveal the clandestine nature of an illicit transaction. 😅

And that's how their journey as a professional, side-hustling ghost tweeter began.

I'm interested in having some help growing my Twitter brand. You seem really good at this. Would you have time to give me some advice?

Knowing their customer

As an insider to the VC industry, they have a deep understanding of:

1. Where the industry's coming from
2. Where it is now
3. Where it's going

In the past, venture capitalists took forever to fund deals with a book of $10-$15 million a year across a handful of startups. They'd hope for a lifetime return of $100 million. Then unicorns like Uber happened and a few VCs made billions—simultaneously, from the same IPO. Let the feast begin.

The VCs, with pockets full of money, wanted more. Competition was fierce at the country club. The stakes rose higher, deals grew larger, and the best deals closed quickly, sometimes in just a day.

Carving out their niche with FOMO

They honed in on an underserved market of venture capitalists and founders. Then mapped it to unmet needs. Helping funders build "parasocial relationships" on Twitter with founders.

So basically, they're tweeting important fundraising/announcements for VCs with a voice that relates to startup founders. Smaller VCs who need reach pay a premium. Their tweets for VCs can get as many as 4 million impressions. 👀

I'm writing the content that will get the attention of young founders, to establish the credibility of my clients, the VCs.

We love stories like this where smart folks double down on what they know and find something they love. Getting paid for it? Priceless.

Us: Frantically looking for available dad joke handles on Twitter.