Nicolas Cole 🚢👻 Profile picture
Aug 30, 2021 23 tweets 7 min read Read on X
Today is The Art & Business of Online Writing 1 Year Anniversary

• Self-published
• Sold 4,000+ copies to date
• Still selling ~300 copies/mo
• 5 Stars on Amazon

Thank you to everyone who grabbed a copy!

Here are my favorite 20 quotes from the book, visualized:

👇📗
Give away 99% of your best writing for free. Monetize the last 1%. Image
In the game of Online Writing, volume wins. Image
The Golden Intersection of great writing is:

Answering The Reader’s Question

&

Telling Them An Entertaining Story Image
You are not the main character in your story. The reader is. Image
If the “sweet spot” of an online article is 800 to 1,200 words, then your job as a writer is to pack as much value into your Main Points as possible—without inflating the piece’s word count. Image
The size of your audience is a direct reflection of the size of the question you’re answering. Image
The Curiosity Gap in your headline tells the reader what this piece of writing is about, who it’s for, and what it’s promising—all without revealing the answer. Image
It’s only “clickbait” if you fail to keep your promise to the reader. Image
Anytime you fail to deliver on your promise to a reader, you’ve lost them. Image
Consistent output is the secret to every growth metric on the internet: views, comments, Likes, shares, etc. Image
Data doesn’t lie. But data is also a reflection of the external crowd, and not necessarily your internal compass. Image
If your goal is to be a successful writer, then social platforms are for publishing first, and consuming second. Image
When it comes to writing online, platforms will always change, but the rules will stay (pretty much) the same. Image
Categories are created at unlikely intersections, spotted by writers with an intimate understanding of one or multiple sub-categories. Image
What makes a badge of credibility valuable isn’t really the badge itself. It’s how the writer chooses to wear it. Image
The inverse rule of “Specificity Is The Secret,” is “The Broader You Are, The More Confusing You Are.” Image
When I was in college, one of my teachers used to say all the time, “If your story is reliant on the reader making it past the first few pages, then chances are, your story doesn’t need those pages.” Image
Categories are how we organize information in our minds. Define your category and you’ll know where readers “fit” you into their minds. Image
Successful writers play the game of Online Writing consciously. Unsuccessful writers play the game unconsciously—and then wonder why they aren’t succeeding. Image
There are 2 types of writers today: those who use data to inform and improve their writing, and those who fail. Image
If you haven't read The Art & Business of Online Writing yet, you can grab a copy here:

amzn.to/2Yf1tKR
Special thanks to @SACHIN_RAMJE for doing an amazing job visualizing all these quotes from the book.

If you are looking for someone to help you visualize your own content, I can't recommend Sachin enough. Such a joy to collaborate with. Hit him up!

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Nicolas Cole 🚢👻

Nicolas Cole 🚢👻 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Nicolascole77

Aug 29
I grew my ghostwriting agency to $180k/month in 18 months.

The secret?

Understanding the “Art of Packaging.”

Anyone can use these 3 dead-simple steps to earn more $$$ as a writer:🧵 Image
It's important to package your services as "products."

• Can you offer 2+ different versions?
• What are the differences in speed or volume?

But the price gap between your packages is extremely important.

Here's why:
Step 1: Name Your Packaged Service

Giving your packaged service a name makes it feel like they are buying an OUTCOME rather than just a bundle of tasks.

Here's a simple framework for a Packaged Service name:

Problem, Person, or Way + Desirable Outcome + "Package" Image
Read 8 tweets
Jul 31
Many call this author a "fake" writer.

But he has:

• Sold 300+ million books
• Writes 8+ novels every year
• Holds the world record for the most NYT bestsellers

9 of his best insights on writing, storytelling, and rejection:🧵 Image
James Patterson is one of the best-selling authors of all time.

He has 144 (!) NYT bestsellers.

I am fascinated by his career.

Let's dive into his writing advice:
1. Patterson researches his villains by talking to:

• The FBI
• The CIA
• The Police

But there’s always an extra ingredient he adds to make them more "satisfying":
Read 16 tweets
Jul 29
In 5 years, my little business has generated $15,000,000.

It runs on just $8,215/month.

Here are the 7 most powerful no-code tools in my tech stack:🧵 Image
Image
In 2020, I was ghostwriting for:

• CEOs
• Executives
• Best-selling authors & more

I used years of writing experience & these tools to build a writing education business that today is doing 7-figs a year:
1. ConvertKit ($1,179/mo)

The heart of our entire operation. Handles all email marketing:

• Automations
• Broadcasts
• Product launches

We used this to grow from 0 to 200k subscribers, which scaled perfectly with us.

One of the most important tools in our arsenal.
Read 12 tweets
Jul 24
Every writer should have a newsletter making $10k/month.

But most:

• Overthink
• Never make $1
• Don't know where to start

Steal my 4-step blueprint to attract your first 1,000 subscribers:🧵 Image
For context:

I've generated millions of dollars with newsletters:

• Scaled two paid newsletters to 6 figures (Write With AI & Category Pirates)
• Driven millions in sales with free newsletters

Every time I start a newsletter, here's how I do it: Image
Step 1: Pick your newsletter platform

• Substack: For casual creators
• Beehiiv: For advanced/marketing-minded creators
• ConvertKit: For expert-level business-minded creators

There are others, but these 3 are the most creator friendly.
Read 11 tweets
Jul 17
6 years ago, I scaled my first business to $180k/month.

But the stress put me in the hospital with shingles.

These were my 13 most painful mistakes: 🧵 Image
My 1st company was a ghostwriting agency.

In 18 months, we grew from me and one of my best friends working out of his 1 bedroom apartment to:

• 20 full-time employees
• $2 million in revenue
• 80+ clients

Unfortunately, we made every mistake in the book: Image
Mistake #1: Trying to scale "me"

We decided to scale an agency since I had been ghostwriting on my own.

• I was charging around $1,000 per article
• Based on 30-minute calls
• And 1 hour of writing

Unfortunately, finding writers "like me" was very hard—and expensive. Image
Read 19 tweets
Jun 30
One of the most prolific writers of the last 30 years:

John Grisham.

His books have been made into movies starring Tom Cruise, Sandra Bullock, and Samuel L. Jackson.

10 of his timeless writing insights on talent, routine, and dealing with criticism:🧵 Image
1. Grisham sets himself tough creative constraints:

• Start a novel on Jan 1st
• Write daily for 3 hours
• Finish it by July 1st

The key?

His tightly controlled writing environment (down to the coffee he drinks):
2. Grisham pumps out one novel every year.

But he can only do this by avoiding a huge mistake a lot of writers make:
Read 13 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(