Ghostwriting Client Questionnaire
I use this questionnaire to get to know your service or product. You don’t have to answer everything, but I
have found that the more I know about you and your service, the more effectively I can write for you. I am
always looking at how I can work SEO into copy while creating material that is still aligned with the person
who finds your site through their organic search. My goal is to provide the best ghostwriting service possible.
#1: Foundational Information
Do you currently have a website? If so please, give me the url. If you have more than one site, please share all
the urls you have.
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
While we don’t want to overlook the things your service or product adds to people’s lives, they will be
motivated most effectively by the promise to resolve issues that cause discomfort in their lives. Please provide
the following information:
1) Who are you trying to attract as a customer?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
2) What three things does this potential customer fear the most?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
3) What three things frustrate this potential customer the most?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
4) What three things make this potential customer the angriest?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
Note #1: You can list more than three, but the three most probable fears, frustrations and button pushers are
the most likely to engage the customer.
Note #2: If you are trying to attract more than one type of customer, please copy this section and repeat the
questions for each different type of customer (e.g.: lender, realtor, home buyer/seller).
I am going to take the above information and create word pictures that help the potential customer envision
the positive changes your product or service will bring into their lives. Remember if you are selling more than
one product or trying to reach more than one type of customer, I will need you to repeat this information for
each product. This is the only way my ghostwriting will be accurate.
#2: What are you offering?
Now, let’s look at what you are offering. There are four things that you need to demonstrate in an offer—what
the customer gets, why the price is good, a strong guarantee, and provide bonuses. Please provide the
following information. Realize that some things may not apply to you.
1) Describe your product and/or service. Please give details about what you are going to offer your
customer.
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2) How are you going to package your product or service?
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3) Why is your price for your product or service a good value?
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4) Will your product or service improve the customer’s sales or profits?
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5) Does your product or service solve a customer’s problems?
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6) Will your product or service save the customer valuable time?
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7) Are you selling your product or service at a discount? If so, why?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
8) Are there any bonuses you can provide that would increase the perceived value of your product or
service?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
9) Is your product or service more expensive than the competitions? If so, are there things you provide that
justify that higher cost? For example, lifetime support and upgrades, etc.
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10) What guarantees are you prepared to make?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
11) Are there any bonuses that can be added to your product or service? For example, after a customer
reaches a certain volume of purchases within a month, they receive a discount on all additional purchases
for the balance of the month.
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
I am going to take the above information and create a hard-to-resist offer that tells your customers what you
are going to give them, what you are going to charge for it, why that is a great value, why they aren’t risking a
thing (that guarantee), and then add the bonuses that make purchasing your product or service foolish to pass
up. Thank you for being as detailed as possible. This makes my job as a ghostwriter much easier.
Note: If you are trying to attract more than one type of customer, please copy this section and repeat question
#4 – 6 for each different type of customer (e.g.: lender, realtor, home buyer/seller).
#3: Setting Limits
Another factor that helps motivate decisions is the fear of losing out on a good deal. Setting time or quantity
limits helps you accomplish this.
1) If you are offering a discount, when do you want the offer to end?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
2) If you are offering a bonus, do you want set a cut-off date?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
3) Do you want to set limits based on the number of customers you can serve?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
4) Do you have a limited number of products available?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
5) Are you able to pass on a great deal because you got one?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
All of these things can be used to create a sense of urgency. You don’t want people to think your offer will be
around forever at this price. I suggest this technique because it works, but some of my clients aren’t
comfortable with it. That’s OK. I will use the things that reflect who you are. That is what ghostwriting is all
about—delivering copy that fits who you are.
#4: Creating a Story that Customers Connect With
People remember stories. They connect with them. So I’d like to know a bit about why you offer your product or
service. Some of the following questions may help you.
1) What prompted your to develop your product or to provide your service? Were there problems you
faced? Were you looking for a solution and found one? Did you see an opportunity that no one else was
filling?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
2) Did you have an “ah-ha” moment—a moment that inspired you to do what you are doing now?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
3) What is motivating you to sell this product or service?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
I use this information to ghost write an About Us page that your customers can really connect to.
#5: Benefits
We focused earlier on what your customer’s fears, frustrations and hot buttons might be. Now, we are going to
look at all the benefits your product or service provides your customer. I’m going to place this in a table so you
can categorize things. As you type in a column, it will expand to meet your needs.
Things the product or service does for the
customer
Example: It eliminates the need to
leave the office.
1
2
3
4
How would this transform the
customer’s life? In what way?
It reduces automobile expenses by
saving on gas and reducing vehicle
maintenance costs. This means
more money is available for
growing the business.
ADDS A
POSITIVE?
OR
SUBTRACTS A
NEGATIVE?
-
5
6
7
8
9
10
Please try to enter as many ideas a possible. List everything your product is or does. This provides options to
work with when ghostwriting a sales page. The most powerful benefits create great bullet points.
#6: Providing Proof
There are several ways to back up your claims. One is through testimonials. The best testimonials give specific
benefits that the customer experience because they used your product or service. If you are a new business,
consider launching a very limited campaign to get positive testimonials. You can also use statistics. By
providing keywords that describe your business or service, I can research the internet for facts and statistics
about your industry.
1) Please paste in testimonials from your customers that praise your product or service.
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
2) Please list common keywords for your industry (if you know what these are).
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
3) List any drawbacks your product or service might have. Why are these things something your customer
shouldn’t worry about?
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
#7: Creating the Headline and Opener
Now, look back over the things you have entered in this document so far. Is there anything that stands out to
you? Something completely different might pop out to me, but this is about your business and how you want
to promote it. I’d like to know which things really speak to you.
1) Please list the ideas that stand out for you.
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2) What about these ideas appeal to you?
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The goal at this stage is to create an interest catching headline and opening paragraph that keeps the
customer from leaving your page. I’d like to see some of your ideas. As a ghostwriter I will also provide ideas
for you to consider.
#8: Identifying your industry or product keywords
If you are selling a product, what is the manufacturer’s website?
Share the URL(s) of the page(s) the manufacturer promotes their product on.
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
What are the key phrases the people who are looking for your service or product use? I will use these phrases
to optimize content for the terms people use when they think about what you offer. Using several analytical
tools, I will look for short-tail, medium-tail and long-tail keyword phrases that have potential to land the right
kind of traffic to your website.
Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
This might seem like a duplication of the information I asked for in #6. Here I am looking for phrases that your
competitors are using on their websites. Don’t worry if you can’t come up with very many, I conduct SEO
research as part of my ghostwriting service so I can do this research for you as well.
#9: Competitor’s Websites
Please list the top 10 competitor websites that you find when you search for your website by keyword. (Do not
use your business name!) Using private search will give you the most accurate results, because Google keeps
track of who you have visited and thinks those sites are site you want to visit again.
1. Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
2. Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
3. Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
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5. Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
6. Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
7. Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
8. Insert your answer here. The box will expand to fit your answer.
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Please supply a list of competitor’s websites which may or may not appear on the first page on Google.
After each website, tell me what you like or dislike about the site.
Tell me how your product differs from the competitor’s product or service.
Tell me how your product/service is similar to the competitors?
Keyword
Competitor’s Sites
Like About Site
Dislike About Site
Example
Site
living will
http://wills-trustsDescriptions are
Looks like every
Portland or
attorneys.legalmatch.com/OR/Portland/l accurate without
other legal site out
iving-will-attorney.html
sounding too legal.
there. Too much
text.
1. text
text
text
text
2. text
text
text
text
3. text
text
text
text
4. text
text
text
text
5. text
text
text
text
6. text
text
text
text
7. text
text
text
text
8. text
text
text
text
9. text
text
text
text
10. text
text
text
text
Once I have all this information, I’ve got what I need to start ghostwriting great website content and sales
copy for you.