Nicolas Cole
Author and writing entrepreneur sharing creative discipline, self‑improvement, and high‑performance writing systems.
Progress Comes After the First Two Awkward Attempts
The first rep of anything sucks. You don't know how to do it yet. It's going to feel awkward. The second rep also sucks. You're going to try something different to see if "that works instead." Third rep works. Now, you can start improving.
New Claude Plugin Generates Viral LinkedIn Posts Instantly
Last week, I spent 7+ hours building a set of Claude Skills to help you write viral LinkedIn posts faster. The result? A Claude Cowork plugin anyone can install to write publish-ready LinkedIn posts in minutes. Now, I originally built this to share...
Creativity Needs Discipline, Not Late‑Night Vices
I reject the premise that creative people do "better work" by waiting to be inspired, drinking alcohol, smoking weed, staying up late into the night, etc. There would be higher-quality art in the world if more creatives treated themselves like...
Prioritize Duty Before Desire for Success
The 1 rule highly successful people follow: Do what you need to do before you do what you want to do.
True Creativity Thrives when We Abandon Zero‑sum Competition
The highest form of creativity is retiring from zero-sum games where you must "compete" for a finite supply of winnings, and instead, giving yourself permission to create games where you—and other people—can all win.
Every Newsletter Needs a Tangible Recurring Benefit
Every newsletter needs a recurring, tangible “thing.” These assets do 1 of 3 things: • Save the reader time • Save the reader money • Help the reader make money Without this, your newsletter doesn’t really have an offer.
Treat Sales as Education: Ask Clarifying Questions
The path to getting better at sales is by NOT thinking of it as "sales." It is more helpful to see it as education. And one of the most effective things you can do with a potential client is to...
Pick a Business Model, Not Just a Hobby Newsletter
Newsletter as a blog: • Publish when inspired • Hope readers find you • "Please support my writing" Newsletter as a business: • A named & claimed category • Stacks offers readers can't refuse • Monetization systems that run on autopilot Choose wisely.
Failure Accumulates: Small Missed Actions Build Big Losses
The same way big successes are the result of lots of tiny steps, big failures are the result of lots of tiny mistakes. You don't fail "all at once." You fail slowly, little by little, each day, every time you...
Turn Substack Zero to $10K/Month in 30 Days
We took our Substack from zero to $10,000/month in less than 30 days. Here's the exact system we used: For context, we have built our paid Substack Newsletter Write With AI to: • 110,000+ subscribers • $845,000+ in digital product sales • And $425,000+ in...
Share Your Most Impactful AI‑Powered Daily Automation
What task have you automated with AI that has had the biggest impact on your daily life?
Threads Audience Growth: A Lottery with One Winning Strategy
Building an audience here on Threads is just a lottery. And there is only one way to win this "game":
Do the Basics First; Mentors Help Those Who Act
When someone asks for help without already executing the basics, nobody wants to help that person. But when someone is clearly, visibly, consistently executing the basics, mentors WILLINGLY share information—because they see high potential.
Cold Outreach: Fastest Path to $10K/Month Writing
There is no denying that cold outreach is the fastest way to hit $10,000/month as a writer in 2026 (nothing else comes close). But most give up & never land their first writing client. This is the most effective cold outreach strategy...
Name Your Niche: Clarity Beats Cleverness on Substack
A Substack newsletter aimed at everyone is a Substack for no one. People don't subscribe to "interesting thoughts." They subscribe to solutions. And the best way to make it obvious who you write for is to name and claim your...
Focus on One Strategy to Earn $180K Monthly
You will make WAY more money as a writer once you start doing this one thing (it's how I built a $180,000/month ghostwriting agency):
Money Isn’t Worth It without Purpose, Says Billionaire Mentor
"$3,000,000 per year would be a waste of time." Hearing my mentor say this broke my brain: I was in LA at the time. And my mentor was: • Nearly a billionaire • Incredibly successful • Wanted to try something new He’d exited his company a few...
Turn Off Your Brain, Just Act and Accelerate
How much more progress would you make if you just turned your brain off? Just turn it off. What if you stopped thinking about the work and just DID IT instead? What if you got out of your own way?...
Break Limiting Beliefs, Even if It Costs Everything
Nothing holds you back more than your faulty beliefs. Do whatever you have to do to change them. Spend all your money. Go into debt. Move across the country. Work for free. Do whatever you have to do to change...
Launching $350 Digital Product for 200+ Creators
Just made myself a second espresso to kick off the start of our Low-Ticket Launchpad LIVE in about an hour. This week, we're going to help 200+ creators launch and start selling a $350 digital product. What are you up to today?
Earn $3K+ Monthly Ghostwriting on LinkedIn—No Experience Needed
Last week, I spent 8 hours creating a Claude Skill pack to help you make $3,000+/month on LinkedIn. But how can you make this kind of money on this platform? Simple. By ghostwriting. LinkedIn ghostwriters are charging $3,000-$5,000/month per client. And I just made it...
Master One Writing Niche, Watch the Money Flow
There are so many different ways to become a successful writer today: • Copywriter • Ghostwriter • Script writer • Newsletter writer • Digital product creator • Self-published fiction writer And they all work. Pick 1. Get really good at. And watch the money roll in.
10 Hard‑Earned Lessons to Acceler
I've generated over $15,000,000 from digital products. But if I was to start over? I would do SO MANY things differently. Here are 10 of the biggest lessons I've learned in the last 5 years (so you can make more money faster from...
Validate Before Building: 5‑Step Process Proven by $10M Sales
After $10M+ in digital product sales, we’ve landed on a 5-step validation process we use every single time we create something new. And it all happens before we build a single product. Here are the steps: 1. Pick One Problem For One Person 2....
Turn Hundreds of Followers Into a $350 Digital Product
If you have a few hundred followers on social media, then you are sitting on a digital product. But most writers struggle with packaging their knowledge into something readers will buy. So on Monday (April 27th), I'll show you how to build...
Write Many Books, Own Your Niche, Not One Bestseller
Remember, if you want to make money as a fiction writer, the game isn’t to write “one best-selling book.” The game is to write lots and lots of books and dominate a category/subcategory.
Unlock the Formula for 6‑7‑figure Digital Products
Here's the secret to building 6 and 7-figure digital products people actually want to buy:
Earn 99% Margins by Building a Simple Digital Business
My little writing business has made over $20,000,000. But the problem? It's VERY expensive to run. At this point, we have a team of about 30 all-stars with a 7-figure payroll. If I wanted to maximize the money flowing into my bank account, I...
Three Phases to $1M Digital Writing Success
The Path to $1M as a Digital Writer is just 3 phases. Phase 1: Start writing online, gather data, and then double-down on "what's working" Phase 2: Name & Claim your niche, build a Superniche audience, create your 1st digital product Phase 3:...
Focus on Essentials: Skip the Shiny AI Tools
AI is moving insanely fast: • New workflows. • New tools every week. • New “you need to learn this NOW” posts everywhere. And it’s easy to feel like you’re behind. And the truth is you’ll never catch up by chasing every shiny release. Which is...
Bet on Yourself: $40k to $240k in a Year
In 2016, I was making $40k/yr as a copywriter at an ad agency. In 2017, I was making $240k/yr working for myself as a ghostwriter for executives. A small example of the difference between betting on someone else vs betting on yourself.
Age and Luxury Car Prompted Tech Job Assumption
A while back, I bought out the lease on my M850 BMW. And the sales guy asked me: "What do you do for work?" Since I'm only 35, the sales guy thought the "only" way I could afford it was because I worked...
Stop Sabotaging Yourself: Action Beats Skill Mastery
I have trained over 12,000 writers & ghostwriters. And what people struggle with the most isn't the "hard skills." It's the relationship they have with themselves. They are their own worst enemy. They talk themselves out of taking action. They...
Cherish Early Wins; Later Growth Gets Harder
Enjoy being a beginner. I promise, it gets harder from here. In the beginning, ANY progress is euphoric. First client? First $10k/mo? First "upgrade" in lifestyle? You'll feel high. But the more you achieve, the further out the next reward,...
One Phrase Turned My Broke Studio Into $180k/Month
In 2017, I was broke and living in a rundown Chicago studio apartment. 18 months later? My ghostwriting agency was on its way to generating $180k/month. This is the story of how one little phrase changed everything:
Surround Yourself with Relentless Performers; Raise Your Bar
One of the only ways to learn "what it takes" is to spend as much time as possible around someone relentless. It'll reset your bar, and make you realize how little you're actually doing relative to a high-performer. Then, it's...
Live Prosperously by Giving, Creating, and Honoring Your Word
Rules for a prosperous life: • Give more than you take • Help more than you request • Don't be afraid to ask for help • When others compete, create • Bet on yourself • Listen because you care • Share what you learn & earn • Respect...
Track Only Eight Metrics, Ignore All Other Distractions
The 8 highest-priority metrics to track in your 1-person ghostwriting business: • Cold Reach Outs • Cold Responses • Warm Reach Outs • Warm Responses • Inbound Messages • Free Consulting Looms Sent • Sales Calls • Clients Closed Everything else is a distraction.
Scaling From $100k to $1M Is Simpler Than Starting
Going from $100k to $1M per year is 10x easier than going from $0 to $100k. It will feel like chewing glass, but it gets easier. Just keep going.
Publish Boldly, Write Daily, Progress Reveals Its Value
Advice I wish I had as a writer 10 years ago: • You never know what's going to resonate. Just hit publish. • Progress gets easier to measure the longer you do it. • You won't enjoy writing every day. Do it anyway. •...
Write Daily, Publish Publicly, Turn Content Into Sellable Capital
My free guide to building a massive online audience: Write: • 300 words per day • Create with your reader Publish: • Practice in public • Double down on what works Expand: • Turn high-performing topics into longer-form pieces • Turn longer-form pieces into Intellectual Capital you can sell
Write a Book in 30 Days: 7 Simple Steps
Want to write your first book by next month? Here's how (in 7 simple steps): I can now write an entire 228-page book in 30 days. After self-publishing 11 books, I developed a simple process. Here's my 7-step framework:
Earn
How to earn a full-time living as a writer in 2026: 1. Start writing online 2. Start ghostwriting on the side 3. Sell a digital product in your niche 4. Upsell clients to get to $10k+ per month 5. Quit your 9-5 job so you...
Consuming Content Steals Minutes From Your Creation
every minute you spend consuming someone else's content is another minute you didn't spend creating something of your own
Turn One Idea Into Seven Daily Posts
In 2025, my little writing business generated $8,000,000. And this 1 strategy made it possible: Lean Writing. It's how I take 1 idea and turn it into 7 different posts — so I can publish every single day without running out of...
Add One Extra Offer, Earn 50% More
5 ways to monetize a paid newsletter beyond subscriptions: 1. Template packs 2. Monthly subscription 3. Paid webinars 4. Low-ticket upsells in welcome emails 5. Quarterly digital product drops Most writers would *easily* take home 50% more money just adding one of these.
Earned $20K/Mo by Sacrificing My Own Writing
When I first started getting paid $20,000/month to ghostwrite for industry leaders, I had a tough time balancing creating client content and working on my own writing. Here's the brutal truth I had to learn the hard way (if I wanted...
Just Publish: Stop Overthinking and Hit Send
How to hit publish: • Hit publish • Hit publish • Hit publish • Hit publish • Hit publish • Hit publish • Hit publish • Hit publish • Hit publish • Hit publish Nothing to it but to do it
Teach Kids Financial Independence Over Outdated College Expectations
I've been saying this for years. My goal is to teach my kids how to be financially self-sufficient by the time they're 18. If they want to use their money to go to college "for the experience," that's their decision. 0%...
We Can't Distinguish Human vs AI Writing, Yet Claim Bias
Terrific example of how, when people say “AI doesn’t have that human touch,” what they’re really saying is they don’t actually know what that means or how it’s reflected in the writing. They just don’t like AI. Humans can’t tell...