Nicolas Cole, one of the internet’s most-read writers, shares insights on reverse engineering written work, the power of niches for writers, and the importance of category creation. They discuss the content pyramid, the difference between more views and more dollars, and how to create a category. The podcast explores creating a category of one, non-obvious connections, and debunking myths about writing and category creation.
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Ghostwriting Agency Journey
Nicolas Cole's ghostwriting agency scaled to $2 million in revenue with 20 employees in 18 months.
Linear scaling created overhead, leading him to seek infinitely scalable business models.
insights INSIGHT
Linear vs. Infinite Scaling
Service businesses scale linearly, increasing costs with each client.
Educational products, software, and newsletters offer infinite scale, independent of direct service provision.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Atomic Essays and Consistency
Focus on writing consistently, even if it's just a small amount each day. Atomic essays (250 words) help build momentum and consistency.
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“Writers without niches are starving artists. Because again, they’re just competing in these massive competitions. Writers with niches are category kings.” — Nicolas Cole
Nicolas Cole shares the lessons he’s learned as one of the internet’s most-read writers, including why he’s fascinated with reverse engineering written work—from James Patterson novels to Twitter threads—into templates writers can use, why all great writing changes the reader, why his superpower is his ability to endure boring things for longer than others, and so much more.
EPISODE GUIDE AND TRANSCRIPT
https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/140
WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE
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CHAPTERS
(00:00:00) - Introduction
(00:07:37) - Service Businesses, Linear vs Infinite Scaling, and Picking a Bag of Problems
(00:10:02) - Ship 30 for 30 and Finding Your Niche
(00:17:01) - The Origin Story of Category Pirates and Snow Leopard
(00:20:13) - Category Creation, Competition, and Being Different vs Better
(00:28:48) - Content-Free Content and Blinding Glimpses of the Obvious
(00:35:34) - The Content Pyramid: Levels One, Two, and Three
(00:49:44) - The Content Pyramid: Level Four (Making Non-Obvious Connections)
(00:55:32) - Debunking Common Myths About Writing and Category Creation
(01:04:10) - The Difference Between More Views and More Dollars
(01:11:37) - What is Category Creation?
(01:14:27) - How to Create a Category: Weird Problem + Weird Solution
ABOUT THE BOOK
Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create A Category Of One by Category Pirates (Nicolas Cole, Christopher Lochhead, and Eddie Yoon) shares why all legendary writers who stand the test of time create a category of one. In decades past, David Ogilvy, Gary Halbert, Leo Burnett, Gary Bencivenga, Al Ries & Jack Trout, and many more master communicators have all written about the psychology behind how messages spread. Snow Leopard builds on their work with dozens of new insights and frameworks, and brings category creation and design into the digital age.
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