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Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal

5 Ways To Make $1 Million As A Writer - Nicolas Cole

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Nicolas ColeguestAli Abdaalhost

Jun 16, 20232h 19mWatch on YouTube

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CHAPTERS

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Chapter summaries

Using Language to Change How People Think
Nicolas Cole introduces himself as someone who uses language to change how people think. He explains that great writers are paid for the two or three words that set the direction of a piece, not for word count.
- •Cole describes his work as using language to change how people think
- •As a ghostwriter and content writer he was paid per word count
- •Great writers get paid for the few words that dictate the direction of a piece
- •Ali says he recommends Cole's book The Art and Business of Online Writing
From World of Warcraft to Discovering Quora
Cole recounts his teenage gaming background and early love of writing. A college professor's advice to wait for rejection letters left him furious, and a friend's tip led him to Quora, where he saw a way to write without waiting for permission.
- •Cole was a competitive WoW PVP player as a teenager, sidelined by celiac disease and spinal injuries
- •His professor described stacking rejection letters for 30 years as the path to success
- •Cole left school with no guidance on monetizing his craft
- •He found Quora in 2013 and saw that every question was a writing prompt
- •The internet meant he no longer had to wait for anyone's permission
Writing Daily on Quora and Making the First $5K
Cole explains how his first book earned little and how he committed to one Quora answer a day for a year. A viral answer about his bodybuilding transformation brought emails asking about workouts and diet, and two quickly written e-books earned his first five grand.
- •His first book took four years and made about $1,000
- •He committed to writing one Quora answer every day for a year as a clean experiment
- •A viral before-and-after answer drew the same two questions repeatedly
- •He wrote two e-books over a weekend and sold them via Stripe
- •He learned to start from what readers need rather than what he wants to write
Your Niche Is About the Reader
Ali and Cole discuss why a niche is about the audience rather than the creator. They cover the hobby-to-business spectrum, how Ryan Holiday is associated with stoicism through repetition, and how you can keep other interests without expecting them to be your money maker.
- •Your niche is about the reader, viewer or listener, not you
- •Be honest about whether you're writing for yourself or for an external outcome
- •Ali describes a spectrum from hobby to business
- •Ryan Holiday is tied to stoicism because he repeats it book after book
- •Cole has published poetry books but doesn't confuse them with his money maker
Consistency, Curiosity and Making Your First Dollar
Ali asks why Cole committed to a daily habit. Cole argues that no time spent developing a skill is wasted, prefers mastering skills over chasing outcomes, and sets a first-dollar goal in Ship 30 because it makes continuing an easier decision than starting.
- •Cole says curiosity drives the commitment and that learning in any field builds universal skills
- •Ali contrasts CV-point thinking with trying things to see what happens
- •Cole prefers mastering skills over chasing titles
- •Ship 30 sets the goal of earning a first dollar online
- •Ali connects this to inertia and a two-minute timer to start tasks
Unlikely Intersections and Creating a New Category
Prompted by Ali's choice of medicine over computer science, Cole argues that opportunity hides at unlikely intersections. Combining two categories lets you play a creativity game instead of a competition game, though it requires being first. Ali gives YouTube examples like TierZoo and Wendover Productions.
- •Combining two fields, like a coder doctor, creates a new subcategory
- •Everyone says they want to stand out but deep down wants to fit in
- •Ali cites TierZoo and Wendover Productions as niche combinations that worked
- •Competing in a single-word category is a work-ethic game; a new subcategory is a creativity game
Hanging Around the Hoop and Enjoying the Journey
Asked how to overcome fear of being seen, Cole recommends surrounding yourself with people doing the same thing, which his mentor called hanging around the hoop. They then discuss enjoying the journey, with Cole saying the goalpost keeps moving and Ali describing his Post-it reminder.
- •Being in a community of people doing the same thing makes it easier to fit in while doing it
- •Cole's mentor called this hanging around the hoop
- •Friendships with other creators create compounding effects
- •Cole reminds himself daily of how far he's come
- •Ali keeps a Post-it saying to remember to enjoy the journey
Quitting the Job and Writing for Inc. Magazine
Cole describes tracking side income and building trust in himself before leaving his job in 2016. His main side income came from Quora answers republished by major publications, which earned him a pay-per-page-view Inc. column that he wrote daily.
- •He tracked side income to prove he could generate about 50% of his paycheck
- •He quit on the same day he published his first book, with a low burn rate
- •He studied what Quora republished and wrote listicle-style answers
- •Inc. paid per page view, and he wrote a column a day for a year and a half
- •The income was still time for money, with no evergreen compounding
What Copywriting Is and How Ghostwriting Works
Cole explains copywriting as writing to sell and describes his low-paid agency job. He then covers ghostwriting as the first path, with a process of recording calls, transcribing them and deleting tangents, and the opportunity of repurposing creators' existing content.
- •Sales copywriting follows rules like benefits, not features
- •Cole earned about $45K at his agency job and saved his Inc. income as runway
- •Ghostwriting clients exist wherever someone has a business, channel or podcast
- •His method was to record calls, transcribe, and delete rather than write
- •Ali says ghostwriting may be an even better side hustle than video editing
The Return on Free Work
Cole advises proving yourself by doing free work first, which removes friction and often turns into paid work. He and Ali give examples of how free favors create network effects, loyalty and referrals.
- •Offering free work lets you demonstrate skill without friction
- •Cole told his former class to start for free and prove they can do it
- •He still does free work, such as writing a commencement speech for an investor
- •The return on free work is exponential while paid work is fixed
- •Free work forces you to learn whether your skill is worth being paid for
Productising Yourself and How Businesses Think About Money
Cole's second path is productising knowledge, such as through a course, after first learning from paid service work. They discuss how buyers are paying for implementation, access and accountability, and how business owners value time saved over price.
- •Productising removes the constraint of being paid for time
- •Start with a service, then use client questions to shape a product
- •Give away most of what you know free; buyers pay for implementation, accountability and access
- •Business owners evaluate time saved, not price tags
- •Ali's business-class flight example illustrates ROI thinking
Sales Copywriting Paid on Outcomes
The third path is sales copywriting. Cole explains that reaching seven figures means being paid for the outcome you drive, such as a share of revenue lift, rather than per asset, and recommends studying greats like Gary Halbert and selling something yourself.
- •Per-asset pricing can reach six figures; outcome-based deals reach seven
- •Writers can take a share of the upside like an infinitely scalable salesperson
- •Picasso story: you're paid for a lifetime of skill, not the hours
- •Study greats like Gary Halbert
- •Selling your own products teaches what makes people buy
The Agency Valley of Death
Cole recounts scaling his ghostwriting agency to over 20 employees and millions in revenue, then burning out and cutting back to two people. He and Ali compare notes on headcount, revenue-critical roles and why a talented writer is often better off staying solo.
- •Cole's agency grew to 20+ employees and 80+ clients but had fixed overhead and churn
- •He calls the stretch between roughly one and eight million in revenue the valley of death
- •Ali compares this to Daniel Priestley's model of 12 to 40 people
- •Cole equated success with headcount, a mistake
- •He advises talented writers to charge more and work for themselves instead of building an agency
Paid Newsletters: Timely or Timeless
The fourth path is paid newsletters. Cole explains that people buy answers, not assets, and that successful newsletters either save time or deliver expert insight. He says a thousand paying subscribers can mean six figures.
- •People buy outcomes, not a newsletter
- •Two types work: timely time-savers and deep expert insights
- •Ben Thompson's Stratechery and The Hustle illustrate the two sides
- •Treating a newsletter like a Patreon is a mistake
- •Cole says getting to seven figures requires clarity on which side you serve
Writing Books: Self-Publishing vs Traditional Deals
The fifth path is books. Cole explains advances are based on your audience, publishers take most of the book's economics, and self-publishing often makes more money. He says a traditional deal makes sense mainly when aiming at a bestseller list in personal development or finance.
- •Advances reflect your existing audience, not the book's quality
- •Royalties of 8–15% mean needing far more sales than self-publishing
- •Print on demand on Amazon is easy and pays a much larger share
- •Traditional deals only make sense for bestseller-list attempts in certain categories
- •Authors need an attention engine or email list to reach readers
Building an Audience Through Lean Writing
Cole says not to chase an audience directly but to deliver value and use data from fast feedback loops. He calls this lean writing and illustrates it with Ryan Holiday and Mark Manson, noting you don't need massive fame to earn well.
- •Follower count matters less than having the right followers
- •Digital writing gives feedback within minutes, so double down on winners
- •Ali contrasts the architect and archaeologist approaches
- •Ryan Holiday and Mark Manson found their niches through data points
- •You don't need many people to make a living as a writer
Why Blogs Fail and Where to Publish
Cole calls blogging the digital version of legacy writing, since it has no distribution and centers the writer rather than the reader. He argues for publishing on social platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, where distribution doesn't depend on audience size.
- •The reader is the main character, not the writer
- •Blogs lack a distribution flywheel and can't win at SEO against big companies
- •SEO and writing what you want are different goals
- •Publish where people already gather, like Twitter and LinkedIn
- •Platforms test posts on small groups, so follower count matters less
For Who So That and Reading the Data
Cole shares the for-who-so-that framework for deciding what to write and explains how to interpret data beyond views. Using comments, engagement and how it feels to write about a topic, you choose what connects to your business.
- •Start each piece with for who so that
- •You can change direction and don't need to marry one niche
- •The size of the question dictates the size of the audience
- •Comment quality can matter more than views, depending on your business
- •A single comment with a question is a potential first customer
No Expertise? The Two-Year Test and Writing for One Person
For beginners who feel they lack expertise, Cole describes the two-year test: teach what you've learned to the version of yourself from two years ago. He adds that you should write for one specific person rather than everyone.
- •Write for the person two years or two hours behind you
- •The two-year test is Cole's cure for imposter syndrome
- •Writing for everyone means writing for no one
- •You need only a thousand true fans, not a mass audience
- •Tim Ferriss wrote The 4-Hour Workweek as an email to friends; Quora scales one person's question
Email Lists, Building a Library and Closing
Cole says an email list is an inflection point best built after you've clarified your writing on social platforms. He describes the value of building a library of content, shares Ship 30 success stories and ends with where to find him.
- •An email list matters most for newsletters, books and productised offers
- •Build the list after validating your topic on social platforms
- •Curating to save people time is a good starting newsletter without expertise
- •A library of content scales you digitally and is never wasted effort
- •Cole says anyone can become a writer by investing in these skills

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