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Deep Dive with Ali AbdaalHow to Make $10k/Month as a Writer - Nicolas Cole
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WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Nicolas Cole Shares Fastest Writer Path: Sell Services, Not Products
- Nicolas Cole argues the fastest route to $5K–$20K a month as a writer is selling a service to a few clients who pay thousands each, rather than selling low-priced products that need a big audience and high volume.
- He says to start with an information advantage you take for granted, target affluent business customers, and make outreach feel like free consulting and education rather than a pitch, run from an abundance mindset.
- Cole recommends doing early work free as a marketing cost, building a list of 50 warm contacts (or 100 researched cold prospects), and doing the manual work before automating with AI.
- Cole and Ali Abdaal brainstorm a done-for-you video agency, with Cole advising anchoring the offer to a content library rather than audience growth, widening the gap between price tiers, and targeting companies in the $10–100 million range.
- Cole argues that self-publishing and owning a book library beats traditional deals for authors with audiences, while Ali describes writing Feel-Good Productivity and Cole advises on title strategy and extending the feel-good category.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasServices monetize faster than products
Cole says products priced at $10–$200 need large audiences and volume, while one client paying $3K–$5K a month can replace a full-time income.
Start from the knowledge you take for granted
Cole says your information advantage, such as being a doctor, makes you fluent in an industry, and the most affluent customers in that field will pay a premium.
Business buyers value money differently than individuals
Cole recalls quoting $10K for a white paper and hearing the client had been prepared to pay three times that, and Ali notes that to a business owner $1,200 versus $5,000 can feel similar.
Educate rather than pitch
Cole says people don't want to be pitched but educated, so outreach should explain a problem, its cause and consequence, then the solution, in a friendly tone with an abundance mindset.
Free work and volume beat waiting for the perfect offer
Cole says free work pays in experience, credibility and pattern recognition, and that most people give up after four no's instead of reaching 50 warm or 100 cold prospects.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesThe goal is never to sell. The goal is to educate.
— Nicolas Cole
In the beginning, free work is basically a marketing cost. It is a way to remove all friction and get yourself paid in experience, credibility, pattern recognition.
— Nicolas Cole
You think you're taking the shortcut, and then guess what? Shortcut ends up being the longer road because you skipped the whole learning.
— Nicolas Cole
You don't need all the doctors. You need one doctor.
— Nicolas Cole
If you don't have those two pieces, if you don't have the category differentiator multiplied by and what are you actually telling me, there's a reason why those books don't move.
— Nicolas Cole
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SPEAKERS
Nicolas Cole
guestWriter and entrepreneur known for teaching monetization strategies for writing, including ghostwriting and self-publishing.
Ali Abdaal
hostYouTuber, author, and productivity educator who hosts the podcast Deep Dive.
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
