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Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal5 Ways To Make $1 Million As A Writer - Nicolas Cole
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WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Nicolas Cole Explains Five Ways Writers Can Earn Seven Figures
- Cole traces his path from a rejection-letter-focused writing education to Quora, where one viral answer and two e-books earned his first five thousand dollars and taught him to start from what readers need.
- He lays out five routes to a million dollars as a writer: ghostwriting, productising yourself, outcome-based sales copywriting, paid newsletters, and books.
- Cole argues that doing free work first, paid work second, and a product third builds skill, network and credibility, and that an agency often brings the 'valley of death' rather than more income.
- On building an audience, he says to skip blogs in favour of platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, use a data-driven 'lean writing' approach, and write for one specific reader using the 'for who so that' framework.
- Cole and Abdaal agree that niches come from unlikely intersections and from teaching what you learned in the last two years, and that you don't need a huge audience to earn a good living.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasStart from the reader's need, not what you want to write
Cole's first real income came when readers kept asking about his workout and diet, so he wrote two e-books answering them. He says people buy answers to questions, not the asset itself.
Free work has an exponential return
Cole says offering a few free pieces to a creator or entrepreneur removes friction, forces you to prove your skill, and often leads to paid work, referrals and a strong network. Abdaal says a coach who helped him for free earned far more of his goodwill.
Get paid for outcomes, not effort
Cole says top sales copywriters reach upper six and seven figures by taking a share of the revenue lift they create instead of charging per asset. Productising yourself likewise breaks the link between time and income.
Paid newsletters work at the two ends of a barbell
Cole says successful ones either save readers time through curation or shorten their growth curve with deep expertise, and anything in the middle fails. He adds that around 1,000 paying subscribers can mean a six-figure income.
Bigger agencies can mean less money and more stress
Cole describes a 'valley of death' between roughly one and eight million in revenue, where he scaled to over 20 employees, ended up with shingles, and then cut back to two people. He advises talented writers to stay small or work for themselves.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesI like to say I use language to change how people think.
— Nicolas Cole
People don't buy the asset, right? No one buys a book. What the person's buying is an answer to a question.
— Nicolas Cole
The problem is we all say we want to stand out, we all say we wanna be different, but deep down we all just want to fit in.
— Nicolas Cole
people don't realize that the ROI on free work is exponential, whereas the ROI on paid work is not exponential.
— Nicolas Cole
There's never been a better time in history to make a living as a writer. You just have to understand how to make money as a writer.
— Nicolas Cole
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SPEAKERS
Nicolas Cole
guestWriter and online writing entrepreneur known for building audiences and monetizing writing (e.g., Ship 30 for 30).
Ali Abdaal
hostYouTuber and podcast host of Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal, focused on productivity and online education.
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
