Building a portfolio of writing businesses to $10M, and sharing my frameworks along the way.

My name is Nicolas Cole, and I am one of the most-read writers on the Internet.

Over the past decade, I have written over 5,000 articles online, and ghostwritten for 300+ Founders, C-level executives, NYT best-selling authors, Grammy-winning musicians, and more. I have also broken records on various digital writing platforms, like becoming the fastest-growing user on Quora in 2014, and becoming the most-read writer on the entire platform (out of 200 million users) in 2015. I have amassed hundreds of millions of views on my writing, and the topics I cover include hard life advice, category design, and digital writing principles.

I have also written over a dozen books, including the best-selling The Art & Business of Online Writing.

I am passionate about paying it forward and sharing what I have learned writing online for more than decade with other writers, creators, and industry leaders.

Here's a quick breakdown of my portfolio of companies, and how to get in touch.

WANT TO GET STARTED WRITING ONLINE?

→ GO HERE: www.ship30for30.com

Ship 30 for 30 is a cohort-based community specifically for people who want to start writing online. In this 4-week program, we help you build your daily writing habit, launch your Social Blog, clarify your niche, and master the fundamentals of digital writing. To date, we have helped more than 3,000 people get started writing online.

WANT TO BECOME A PREMIUM GHOSTWRITER?

→ GO HERE: https://premiumghostwritingacademy.com

Freelance writers charge per word or per hour. As a result, they're underpaid and burned out. Premium Ghostwriters charge per project, work directly with founders, CEOs, and business owners, and are more like "business consultants who happen to know how to write." As a result, they can charge a premium. In PGA, our Premium Ghostwriting Academy, we train writers on how to become Premium Ghostwriters, and learn how to package & price their services in lucrative ways.

WANT TO STAY AT THE FOREFRONT OF WRITING WITH AI?

→ GO HERE: https://writewithai.substack.com

Write With AI is a bi-weekly paid newsletters for writers, giving you strategies and prompts to help you turn ChatGPT into your own personal Digital Writing Assistant. 

WANT TO GET IN TOUCH?

→ GO HERE: www.nicolascole.com

In addition to writing and building my own businesses, I am also an investor & advisor to a handful of media & digital publishing companies. If you'd like to get in touch, please feel free to shoot me an email.

Email: cole@nicolascole.com
Twitter: @Nicolascole77

Nicolas Cole 🚢👻

Last month, I spent 9 hours collecting 102 writing templates and creating 2 AI prompts to help you:

• Write viral LinkedIn posts
• Find proven topics for yourself & your writing clients
• Create banger LinkedIn and X posts using proven templates

Why?

Well, the LinkedIn algorithm has changed.

It's HARDER than ever before to reach a wider audience and go viral.

So, to help you boost your reach for yourself and your clients, I collected all my proven hooks and post formats.

These have racked up millions of views on my content.

Inside the Social Ghostwriting Template Vault, you'll get:

• 30 LinkedIn & X hook formats (40M+ views)
• 50 short-form post templates
• 22 proven long-form post frameworks
• 2 AI hook generators (to help you go viral)
• The 8 topics EVERY client wants to talk about

This is everything you need to write viral hooks and posts (for your own content and your clients).

Want FREE access?

✅ Comment "vault"

I'll send it to you over DM ASAP.

I talk about digital writing, ghostwriting, and self-publishing | Co-Founder Ship 30, Typeshare, Write With AI, Premium Ghostwriting Academy | Author of 10 books | DM "👻" if you want to land high-paying writing clients

I'm 35.

And I would NEVER wish to be 25 again.

Going back is a fallacy.

Now I’m rich, not broke like I was a decade ago.

I’m married and happy, not single & lonely.

I’m way healthier, not grinding into burnout.

I’m driven by my curiosity, not a chip on my shoulder with something to prove. 

• I’m wiser
• I’m calmer
• I’m less stressed

And I’m less emotionally triggered by little things that don’t matter. 

In your 20s, your only advantage is energy.

But if you take care of yourself, then you still have the same energy in your 30s, but with way more resources & pattern recognition.

And one of the ways I've stayed mentally sharp is through journaling.

I've been doing it for 30 minutes every morning since 2010—and it's completely changed my life.

I use a system called Decision Journaling.

All decisions I make go through this process.

And this Black Friday, I'm sharing my entire system.

Join the waitlist here: https://lnkd.in/emYcR_ET

In the last 5 years, I've generated $20,000,000.

My simple superpower?

Writing every day.

But most people never get started:

• They overcomplicate creativity
• They overthink every word
• And they never hit publish

So here are the 8 simple steps I use to write every day:

—
📌 But the most important writing I do for 30 minutes every morning?

Journaling.

I've been doing this since 2010—and it's one the reasons why I've generated over $1,000,000 across:

• SaaS ($1m+)
• Agency ($5m+)
• Consulting ($2m+)
• Paid Newsletter ($2m+)
• Self-Published Books ($1m+)
• Cohort-Based Course ($3m+)
• Low-Ticket Digital Products ($2m+)
• High-Ticket Group Coaching ($10m+)

All decisions I make go through my Decision Journaling process.

And next week, I'm sharing my entire system.

Join the waitlist here: https://lnkd.in/emYcR_ET

8 Simple Steps To Build A Daily Writing Habit

In my 20s, I built a $3,500,000 writing agency.

The entire business was built on ONE skill (steal this):

Cold outreach.

• No ads
• No huge audience
• No fancy website or funnel

80% of the 300+ clients I worked with came from cold outreach.

And I wrote for:

• Olympic athletes
• Silicon Valley founders
• Grammy award-winning musicians 

Learning how to prospect was 100x more valuable than actually being able to write!

And after teaching 1,500+ writers this system inside Premium Ghostwriting Academy...

I've just packaged everything up into The Writer Prospecting Blueprint.

Why?

Because I see too many writers (copywriters, ghostwriters, content writers, freelance writers) struggling to land high-ticket deals.

So I want to get this into as many hands as possible.

Inside you'll find:

• 4 ways to land clients (and why 3 of them waste your time)

• My complete 3-step outreach system from DM to sale

• Real examples of terrible vs excellent outreach messages

• The exact bottleneck analysis system to fix your outreach

• Scripts for booking calls and closing deals

And 3 videos breaking down every single framework.

Want access?

Comment "outreach" and I'll send it across (for free!)

And if we're not connected, send me a connection request with the word "outreach" and I'll send it to you.

At 24, I was a broke copywriter.

But 3 years later?

I'd generated $200k as a writer.

Here's my story and 3 ways you can make money writing online:

Growing up, I dreamed of going pro in hockey. 

But I fractured my spine at 14 and again at 17. My NHL dreams were shattered. 

So, I turned to World of Warcraft for an escape.

WoW had the biggest impact on my life:

• Taught me to fall in love with monotony 
• Introduced me to "social networks" at a young age
• Showed me the Internet could be a competitive outlet

And, at 16, I got my first job writing about World of Warcraft.

Fast forward a few years, and I was working as a minimum-wage copywriter but my income was capped & I was building someone else's future.

So, I made a decision:

I challenged myself to write a Quora answer every single day for 1 year.

• Worst case scenario: I do the thing I love.
• Best case scenario: Something happens.

A few months in, one of my answers went viral.

It was the story of how I went from a skinny teenager undiagnosed with Celiac Disease to putting on 70 lbs of muscle as a gluten-free bodybuilder.

It got millions of views in just a few days.

I started getting hundreds of messages asking about my story and my fitness secrets.

So I spent all weekend pouring my heart into two eBooks: 

1. My workout routine 
2. My meal plan

I called it Skinny to Shredded. 

On Monday, I linked those eBooks to my viral Quora answer. Then, my phone started to buzz non-stop. 

Sale after sale after sale. 

In one weekend, I'd made more money than I did in a month as a copywriter. 

This moment changed my life forever.

Fast forward 2 years, I'd made my $200k writing online for myself & others.

So, how did I do it? 

And, if I was to restart from scratch today, what would I do? 

Here are the 3 best paths to making money writing online ↓

Path 1: Premium Ghostwriting.

This is the best opportunity in 2025. 

Most entrepreneurs, founders, & even influencers need writers. 

You'll be surprised how quickly you can scale to $10K+ per month. 

Path 2: Digital Products.

Your knowledge is valuable. 

Package your expertise into:

• eBooks
• Courses
• Membership sites

This is how we built Ship 30 & PGA.

Path 3: Paid Newsletters.

This is simple:

1. Give away your best stuff for free 
2. Build trust 
3. Launch a paid tier

📌 But the problem?

It took me years of monotonous work to master the non-writing skills to become a Wealthy Writer.

So, I'm sharing them in my Write Your Way To Wealth 3-Day challenge on Nov. 18th.

In just 72 hours, you'll learn what it takes to:

• Charge a premium
• Land dream clients
• Make 6+ figures as a writer

Secure your spot here: https://lnkd.in/eVyT_maj

"A couple million dollars per year isn't worth the effort."

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 years prior, and was starting to get bored.

So one day, we were hanging out, and he brought up the idea of starting an extremely high-level mastermind.

He started talking out the napkin math.

How he’d need to charge $250,000 per person to make it “worth it.”

And as a 27 year old still trying to figure out how to make serious money myself, this sounded like best-case scenario.

I said, “Yea, if I had your network this is 100% what I would do. I’d make a fortune!”

Until, a few minutes later...

He reached the end of his brainstorming and said:

“Eh, after splitting it with my partner, that’s only going to be a couple million a year for me. Not worth it.”

And that was the moment my brain broke. 

Because I realized I lacked context.

Since I was still far from wealthy, any idea seemed like a good idea.

But for someone 10 levels above me:

• Way wealthier
• More connected
• More experienced

It was the opposite. 

It wasn’t that the idea was “bad.”

It was that its potential as a vehicle didn’t accomplish the necessary goal.

The goal being to move the needle for someone who already had everything (making it a hard needle to move). 

I’m still a far ways away from that level of wealth and success.

But in my own small way, I’m now starting to feel and live and experience this same “problem.” 

The higher you climb, the more important it is to choose the right opportunity vehicle.

Which means saying “No” to lots and lots of great ideas you absolutely would have and should have said “Yes” to earlier in your journey, but have since outgrown.

📌 The opportunity vehicle I recommend?

Writing.

Because right now, demand is EXPLODING for writers.

(Even the biggest AI companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Perplexity are hiring 6+ figure writers).

Want to start making money writing & scale to $100K/year in 2026?

Then join me on November 18th for my 3-day LIVE challenge.

In just 72 hours, you'll learn what it takes to:

• Charge a premium
• Land dream clients
• Make 6+ figures as a writer

Secure your spot here: https://lnkd.in/eVyT_maj

I don't think the average person realizes how much money you can make as a writer.

A few weeks ago, I bought out my M850 BMW's lease.

Since I'm young, the sales guy asked me what I do for work.

He guessed tech.

"I'm a writer," I said.

He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.

There is SO MUCH money in writing.

And so much leverage.

More leverage than most career paths.

Everything you write isn't just "effort." 

It's an asset.

And the more you write:

• The more skills you acquire
• The larger your library grows
• The larger your digital footprint
• The more opportunities you attract
• The more pricing power you have, etc., etc., etc.

But it makes me so sad.

There are so many creative, talented people in the world. 

Yet, they think, "Nobody makes a living as a writer."

It's just not true.

You can make an obscene amount of money writing in the digital age.

You just have to be willing to go on the journey of building the 3 skills required to make 6+ figures as a writer:

• Packaging
• Positioning
• Prospecting

And I can show you them in just 72 hours.

Join me on November 18th for my 3-day LIVE challenge where I'll show you how to:

• Charge a premium
• Land dream clients
• And write your way to wealth

Grab your ticket here: https://lnkd.in/eVyT_maj

As a writer, I've generated over $20,000,000. But most of my "writing" success has NOTHING to do with writing. 

Instead, it's actually about dialing in 9 other areas of my life.

These make great writing easy:

—
📌 But the most important writing I do?

Decision Journaling.

It only takes 30 minutes every morning.

I've spent 15+ years journaling.

And I've used this simple habit to:

• Move cities
• Build & shutdown businesses
• Scale to $20M as a digital writer

And navigate endless relationship, financial, and personal decisions.

This week, I'm sharing my ENTIRE system.

But ONLY until Monday, December 1st when doors close.

Get Decision Journaling here: https://lnkd.in/emYcR_ET

9 Areas Of My Life That Make Great Writing Easy

The ONE habit I've been doing for 15 years which has massively accelerated my personal growth:

Journaling.

And I use these 7 prompts to gain self-awareness & mental clarity:

1. "What was I doing a year ago?"

This helps to keep things in perspective.

Looking back one single year reminds me that I have so much to be thankful for.

2. "Do I enjoy how I'm spending my time?"

If you're not enjoying your day to day, no amount of money or external rewards will make you feel more fulfilled. 

So, question what really makes you feel alive and what feels like a burden.

Then, ask how you can remove those burdens. 

3. "Who do I spend the most time with?"

I am such a firm believer that you are a direct reflection of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

Ask yourself if you're spending time with people who enrich your life, or people who are always asking for more and giving you less.

4. "How is my money being spent?"

I see money as fuel.

It's what allows you to do the things you want to do in life.

There are two ways to make more money:

• Work harder and earn 
• Spend less

Do a quick audit of your spending habits, and see if you can control some impulse purchases.

5. "What do I want to learn next?"

Most people reach a plateau when they stop being curious and instead fixate on doing things purely for financial gain—or the approval of others. 

But curiosity never leads you astray. 

Ask yourself:

• What you want to learn next
• What will help you grow beyond where you're at

Nurture that curiosity.

6. "How are my 5 buckets being filled?"

Each of us has 5 buckets that we fill with our time:

• Career
• Community
• Fulfillment
• Relationships
• Personal health

It's worth taking time to question how each of these 5 buckets is being filled.

Sometimes, you'll find you are spending far too much time being social.

Other times, too little time working toward a project or a goal.

Or sometimes, you'll find you haven't spoken to your family in months because you've been so busy. 

7. "How can I be more helpful—to those around me and to myself?"

You can't spend all your time trying to make everyone around you happy.

You have to prioritize keeping yourself happy too. 

Which is why it's worth questioning both.

• What can you do to be more helpful to those around you?
• How can you be more encouraging and more patient?
• And at the same time, how can you do those same things toward yourself?

Personal development is your ability to continuously ask yourself these questions on a daily basis, and slowly improve over time.

—
📌 This simple writing practice has changed my life.

And for the first time ever, I'm sharing my entire system inside Decision Journaling.

These are all the frameworks I've used to:

• Quit my job
• Build a $20M business
• Move across the country (3x!)
• And make life-changing relationship decisions

Grab a copy of Decision Journaling here (before it disappears on December 1st!): https://lnkd.in/emYcR_ET

I'm always asked, "What's the best ghostwriting service to specialize in?" Here's the answer I give every time:

Start with what you love to create for yourself.

For me:

I loved ghostwriting 800-word thought-leadership articles.

This is how I went from making $0 to $20,000/month as a writer.

And right now, ghostwriting is EXPLODING in demand.

For example:

Last week, 9-figure AI company, Anthropic just posted TWO full-time job roles paying $300,000/year each.

(And other non-AI businesses have been doing the same)

Want to start making money writing & scale to 6+ figures in 2026?

Then join me on November 18th for my 3-day LIVE challenge.

In just 72 hours, you'll learn what it takes to:

• Charge a premium
• Land dream clients
• Make 6+ figures as a writer

Secure your spot here: https://lnkd.in/eVyT_maj

5 benefits of writing on LinkedIn:

1. You can quickly test your ideas

2. You can form meaningful relationships

3. You can easily attract a niche audience

4. You can "earn" credibility (views, comments, etc.)

5. You gain elite clarity in your life, career, and business

But here's the downside:

—
📌 Before I start writing every day, I always do 30 minutes of journaling.

And when I have a big choice to make, I use my Decision Journaling prompts.

It's how I have:

• Finished 10+ self-published books
• Built multiple 7-figure digital businesses
• Consistently written online for over a decade

All decisions I make go through my Decision Journaling process.

And TOMORROW, I'm sharing my entire system.

Join the waitlist here (so you know exactly when it drops): https://lnkd.in/emYcR_ET

I journal every single morning for at least 30 minutes.

It's a habit I'll keep until I die.

No other daily habit has helped me regain complete clarity in my:

• Career
• Business
• Finances
• Relationships

In other words, in every area of my life.

My Decision Journaling system is how I turn a reflective practice into ACTION.

It's how I rapidly achieve my goals.

And now I've put my entire journaling process inside my latest product, Decision Journaling.

So, if you’re looking to head into 2026 with elite clarity & build a life changing daily journaling habit...

Get your copy of Decision Journaling here: https://lnkd.in/emYcR_ET

But be quick!

It's only available until midnight EST TONIGHT.

After that, doors close, and it'll be gone!

I've spent 15+ years journaling.

And I've used this simple habit to:

• Move cities
• Build & shutdown businesses
• Scale to $20M as a digital writer
• And navigate endless relationship, financial, and personal decisions

And now Dickie Bush 🚢 and I are sharing the exact journaling frameworks and systems that help us make decisions in all areas of our lives:

Decision Journaling: A Simple Habit That Can Change Your Life.

Inside Decision Journaling, you get 3 mini-courses:

Mini-Course 1: Decision Journaling 101

• Learn why journaling is the most effective tool for decision-making

• Understand the difference between "One-Way" vs "Two-Way Door" Decisions

• Get our 7-step Decision Journaling process to unlock elite clarity in 90 minutes

And more! 

Mini-Course 2: How To Journal

• Discover the best journaling "tool" we've found

• Understand why you should treat making decisions as a "skill"

• Get our 9 go-to decision-making mental models from Jeff Bezos, Charlie Munger, and more

Mini-Course 3: Journaling With AI

• How to use AI to enhance your journaling practice (not replace it)

• Get our Decision Journaling AI Tech Stack (4 tools we love)

• Master the 2 "ways" to use AI for better decision making

Plus, you'll get our Decision Journaling AI Mega Prompt.

When you grab your copy of Decision Journaling, you'll also get:

• Dickie's Journaling Process (prompts, journal extracts, case studies & more)

• My Journaling Process (frameworks, journal examples, case studies & more)

• Lifetime Access to our Private Skool Community

This is based on HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of hours we've spent journaling.

And we're convinced everyone is ONE decision away from changing their life.

So, we want to help you make that decision by giving you a simple system to help you:

• Unlock elite clarity
• Stop second-guessing yourself
• And finally make high-leverage decisions

Get your copy of Decision Journaling here: https://lnkd.in/emYcR_ET

(But you only have 1 week to get it... doors close December 1st at midnight EST!)

This scientist had ONE goal 6 months ago:

To make more than $1,000/month.

For context:

Shruti met with her Success Coach 1-on-1 at the end of June with a BIG problem.

She was booking high-quality sales calls from her outreach.

But they weren't closing.

$1,000 is all that hit her bank account that month.

No bueno.

So, we gave her 3 clear action items:

1. Follow up with leads before the end of the week

2. Send a proposal to a high-quality potential client

3. Practice closing on sales calls with peers in our 1,500+ ghostwriting community

Two months later?

Shruti hit $12,000 working with only 3 clients.

And she's been holding steady there ever since.

Everyone on our PGA team is committed to helping her land 1-2 more clients before 2026.

And I'm betting she will.

Why?

Because now is the greatest time in history to make a living as a writer...

IF you master these 3 skills:

• Packaging
• Prospecting
• Positioning

And in just 72 hours, I will show you how to use them to make 6+ figures as a writer.

The Write Your Way To Wealth 3-Day Challenge starts TOMORROW.

Secure your spot here: https://lnkd.in/eVyT_maj

I'm 35.

And over the last decade, I have:

• Self-published 11 books
• Wrote thousands of articles
• Generated $20,000,000 from my writing

And in this time, I've faced these 9 uncomfortable truths:

1. Your parents are flawed individuals, just like you

As children, we:

• Put our parents on a pedestal
• Project our wants and needs onto them
• And do this for most of our adult lives

Failing to accept our parents for who they are.

2. The people in your life are a "hall of mirrors" for who you are

• If you're a dramatic person, you attract drama
• If you're an egomaniac, you attract egomaniacs
• If you're an insecure person, you attract insecure people

Like a magnet.

3. If you don't grow together, you grow apart

All relationships require nurturing on a consistent basis.

Otherwise, life pulls you apart.

• You change
• They change

Eventually, you don't recognize each other.

4. No one owes you a job

When you graduate from high school or college, nobody owes you a paycheck—that's a lie we've been told.

Your value to a company only exists so long as that company needs you.

5. Safety is an illusion

People spend their entire lives working jobs they hate chasing "safety."

So do entrepreneurs: "Once I make enough $$$, then I'll be safe."

These are lies we tell ourselves.

You never know what could happen.

6. Status symbols only work on people "below you"

• Nobody richer than you cares about your Rolex.
• Nobody happier than you cares how big your house is.
• Nobody smarter than you cares which university you went to.

Status symbols only impress the people who are easy to impress.

7. The purpose of life is to give your life purpose.

Some people view life as:

• A game
• An adventure
• A "waiting period between lives"

All of these are right.

Or none of them are.

Your life's purpose is yours to choose.

8. Your life story is the sum total of all your decisions.

Most people think they ARE someone in life—and they make decisions.

In reality, it's flipped:

You are no one. But with each decision you make, who you ARE becomes more and more developed.

Actions tell your story.

9. It's easier to be broke and guaranteed to fail—than rich and at risk of losing it all

• Responsibility scares people.
• Instead of accepting responsibility, most people defer it.

Better to know they are unhappy and complain vs try to fix it and fail.

—
📌 I confronted 1,000s of harsh truths (like these) every single morning while journaling.

This simple habit is how I make rapid progress in my: 

• Relationships
• Business
• Career
• Life

And after 15+ years, I'm revealing my ENTIRE system.

But it's ONLY available this week... doors close on December 1st!

Click here to grab your copy of Decision Journaling: https://lnkd.in/emYcR_ET

Making money as a writer is rarely a "hard skill" problem.

Instead:

It's almost always a "faulty belief" problem.

You literally can't hit $20k/month because you don't believe it's possible.

But anything is possible if you fix these 8 faulty beliefs:

And once you do, writing your way to 6+ figures per year becomes simple.

In this video, these 8 writers were able to make a combined $258k per month:

—
📌 Want to start making money writing & scale to $100K/year in 2026?

Then join me on Tuesday, November 18th for my Write Your Way To Wealth 3-day LIVE challenge.

In just 72 hours, you'll learn how to:

• Charge a premium
• Land dream clients
• Make 6+ figures as a writer

Secure your spot here: https://lnkd.in/eVyT_maj

PS—Want to watch the full video?

Search "These writers broke their faulty beliefs & got RICH" on YouTube to find it.

At 29, my first 7-figure business put me in the hospital.

6 years ago, I was:

• Working 10+ hour days
• Managing 23+ full-time employees
• Helping our team write for 80+ concurrent clients

The stress sent me to the emergency room with shingles.

These 13 painful mistakes caused this misery:

—
📌 Despite these mistakes...

I never stopped this little 30-minute habit:

Decision Journaling.

I've used this simple, daily practice for 15+ years to help me:

• Self-publish 11+ books
• Make the decision to quit my job
• Scale to $20,000,000 as a digital writer

Want my ENTIRE system to make rapid progress in your life, career, and business?

(You only have until Monday... doors close on December 1st!)

Get your copy of Decision Journaling here: https://lnkd.in/emYcR_ET

13 Painful Mistakes Scaling My First 7-Figure Business

5 uncomfortable truths nobody tells you about making your first $1M:

(I wish I'd learned these sooner)

1. "Slightly more money" in your 20s has a huge opportunity cost.

It's almost never worth it. 

In your 20s, you (likely) lack enough skill to make real money yet. 

So working 2x harder for that extra $2,000 is a waste. 

Just focus on learning. 

Because once you cross the threshold of "real skill" (likely in your 30s+), you'll make 10x or 100x that for a fraction of the effort. 

2. If someone is overconfident about an idea, they're more likely to fail.

Some pattern recognition I've built over the past decade is realizing:

• When someone is "sure" something is going to work, it probably won't.

• When someone can articulate the risks for why something won't work, and why they're going to try anyway, it probably will.

3. It always costs 2x as much, and takes 2x as long.

This has proven true over and over again in my life.

With any:

• Goal you set
• Status you want to gain
• Metric you want to chase

Remember this:

You should walk into it thinking, "This will probably take me way longer, and cost me way more than I'm currently anticipating."

If you're wrong, great. You'll appreciate that it got done faster/cheaper.

And if you're right, also great. You won't be caught off guard.

4. Intelligence has very little to do with financial success.

I know a lot of very smart, very accomplished, Ivy League people who can't figure out how to build anything on their own. 

And I know a lot of idiots who make millions of dollars a year. 

The differentiators are always:

• Effort, and how hard you're willing to work
• Ego, and your ability to get out of your own way
• Consistency, and how long you're willing to suffer for

5. The grass is always greener, but nothing in life is ever easy.

People love coming to uninformed conclusions about how "that person over there" has it easier. 

And it's almost never the case.

A mentor used to say to me, "You're going to have a bag of problems either way. You just get to pick the bag." 

No path in life is free of challenge/obstacle/pain/uncertainty. 

These are part of everything. 

So changing paths doesn't fix the problem. 

It's just a different bag of problems—but problems nonetheless.

Over the last 10+ years, I've generated $1M across 7+ writing business models:

• SaaS ($1m+)
• Consulting ($2m+)
• Paid Newsletter ($2m+)
• Ghostwriting agency ($5m+)
• Self-Published Books ($1m+)
• Cohort-Based Course ($3m+)
• Low-Ticket Digital Products ($2m+)
• High-Ticket Group Coaching ($10m+)

And the fastest way to make money as a writer:

Ghostwriting.

It's how I went from making $0/month as a freelance writer to hitting $20k/month in 60 days.

Want help landing your first (or next) high-paying client?

Click here to get a free, 5-day email course on how to get started: https://lnkd.in/ecq7Y7tn

The biggest mistake stopping freelance writers from making more $$$ online:

Writing "anything" for "anyone."

Clients want to pay you a premium—but only if you niche down.

Here's how:

—
📌 This 1 simple change is how my best friend and I landed our first 2 ghostwriting clients within 24 hours.

We went to a startup event.

And we kept repeating the same phrase to everyone:

"We run a ghostwriting agency that specializes in writing thought leadership articles for startup founders looking to raise their next round of funding."

The funny thing?

It worked—we left the event with our first client.

In the Uber ride home, our 2nd client emailed us to say "I'm in."

And in the next 18 months:

• We landed more clients
• Built a team of 20+ employees
• Scaled to over $2,000,000 in revenue.

This is the power of niching down as a ghostwriter.

And right now, demand for ghostwriters on LinkedIn is exploding.

Want some help making money as a LinkedIn Ghostwriter?

Then click here to grab a copy of The Art & Business of Ghostwriting: https://lnkd.in/exKMwacD

I’ve been journaling since I was a little kid. I don’t know why—it just always seemed like a fun thing to do.

But I started journaling “deliberately” in 2010.

I was going through a hard time (who isn’t at 19/20 years old?) and feeling really lost. 

I turned to journaling as a way to:

• Set goals
• Find clarity
• Better understand myself
• And hold myself accountable

I have been journaling (just about) every day ever since.

It has become a foundational part of my life and the way I make decisions. 

In fact, I can’t think of a single major decision I’ve made in the past decade that didn’t involve some amount of journaling.

I have easily written over 1,000,000 words JUST in my journals.

Most of my journals by the end of the year are 100,000+ words.

Multiplied by 10 years, and you get somewhere north of a million words. 

(This is not counting all the other writing I do, professionally. This is JUST journaling.)

So it’s safe to say… 

I’ve learned a thing or two about what it means to journal effectively.

Now, all that said, I don’t believe there is 1 “correct” way to journal.

In fact, my own journaling process has changed a lot over the past decade. 

And I continue to go through periods where I prefer a physical journal vs a digital journal, or where I prefer short-form journaling vs long-form journaling, etc. 

The point is: 

There is no 1 “correct” answer.

All that truly matters is that you make it a habit, and use journaling as a way to increase your self-awareness and productively make decisions in your life.

And if you want help building a lasting journaling habit, then get my new digital product, Decision Journaling.

These frameworks have helped me:

• Quit my low-paying ad agency job
• Move cities & start relationships
• Scale to $20,000,000 as a digital writer

Get your copy of Decision Journaling here (before doors close on Monday, December 1st): https://lnkd.in/emYcR_ET

Colton Kaplan

Headline

Venture Scout

Stealth

Founder

Founder Social Club

Coyax

COO and Advisor

Walmart

• Selected by senior leadership to provide network strategy, improving process prioritization through 5s warehouse layout yielding $539k cost savings and decrease in safety incidents by 30%
• Created inventory tracker for 1P and 3P freight to be systematically visible in receiving process improving on-time delivery by 10%, increasing efficiency, and exceeding customer expectations
• Utilized domain expertise identifying bottlenecks, internal stakeholders implementing process increasing 3rd party vendor service level agreement compliance, saving $500k in rework labor across network
• Mentored and coached 20+ associates fostering professional growth by conducting interviews, hiring, and training associates resulting in 90% reduction in problem pallets and best department across supply chain 
• Partnered with 5 product teams suggesting feature enhancements and bug fixes for 6 different software platforms through JIRA dashboards resulting in reduced waste, optimized efficiency, and 50k in savings

Next-Gen Inbound Manager

MastersCV

• Developed UI/UX interface and integrated software automating and optimizing efficiency for the customer
• Created process flow and built product roadmap launching 5 products in six months increasing revenue by 50%
• Identified pain points of target market, conducted market research and launched MVP going from 0 to 1
• Implemented agile and scrum methodologies executing sprints resulting in 30% response rate for outreach
• Prioritizing tasks of managing CRM, sales cycle, product marketing, and product and business development
• Executed data-driven analysis of competitor landscape resulting in iterating pricing models and monetization strategies

Founder and Product Manager

Net Impact Purdue

President

• Learned SQL, VBA, Teradata, and macros creating tools identifying item setup issues improving vendor compliance, and reducing net loss for an estimated savings of 2.5 million dollars network-wide
• Identified root causes working with software, QA, product, continuous improvement managers, inbound department leaders, and senior leadership increasing quality for customers reducing DPM in inbound freight
• Created feedback loop developing supply chain visibility for 95 departments in Fortune 1 company to merchandising teams identifying item set up issues for vendors and specific UPC information decreasing shrink
• Implemented feature requests for cycle count, general adjustments, and gross inventory adjustment reasons resulting in aided visibility regarding associates adjusting out inventory improving quality metrics

Supply Chain MBA Intern

Reef Kitchens

•	Monitored daily, weekly, and monthly inventories accurately forecasting supplies needed for upcoming shifts based on sales from previous days
•	Trained line cooks, assistant managers, and general managers on all policies, procedures, and brands executed resulting in personal and professional career growth
•	Scheduled staff to optimize peak times and reduce labor during slow periods; delegated responsibilities to hold each other accountable creating a team-oriented environment

General Manager

•	Developed par sheets to maximize profitability, reduce waste, and minimize excess ordering of products; available for all employee use, increased morale
•	Recruited more business by distributing marketing materials to local establishments resulting in more sales

Assistant Manager

Host of Change with Colton🎙 Podcast | Operations | Strategy | Lean Six Sigma | Supply Chain | Eliminating loneliness on the founder journey | Growing Founder Social Club Community

I am an accomplished supply chain professional and entrepreneur with a passion for growth and improvement.

Host the “Change with Colton” podcast, where my mission is to inspire founders to overcome adversity, gain confidence, and reach their unlimited potential.

Recently launched KindLabz which is the all-in-one supply chain for creators. We help build social impact brands that are sustainable. We are taking on all 17 sustainable development goals and giving back to the communities in need.

I helped Walmart eCommerce successfully launch the first two next-gen automated fulfillment centers. I am SME in inbound operations. I mentor leaders to help them grow in their careers professionally.

I focus on Supply Chain Management, Product Development, Data Analysis, Business Analysis, Engineering, Product Marketing, Software Development, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Sales Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), E-Commerce, Finance, Digital Marketing, Agile Methodologies, and Scrum.

With a goal-oriented mindset and a knack for problem-solving, I implement lean strategies to increase efficiency and reduce waste. 

I have a strong track record of working with cross-functional teams and leveraging data analytics to drive insightful decisions. I positively impact the world through entrepreneurship and product management.

In my free time, I enjoy reading, listening to podcasts, spending time with my wife, and playing with my Shih Tzu Mila.

Welcome to another Founder Social Minute.

Today we are joined by Sneh Dhruv, Founder and CEO of Trillboards.

TrillBoards helps people turn idle screens into a new source of income.

Through Founder Social Minute, I share stories of founders in the community who are collaborating, creating value, and helping each other move forward.

Excited to continue featuring more founders who are shaping the future of entrepreneurship.

Founder Social Club

#FSC #community #FounderSocialMinute #Trillboards

Podcast Host 🎙️| Founder Social Club | Eliminating loneliness for founders

Today I released the first episode of the Founder Social Club Podcast.

I started this to create a space where founders can learn from each other. Real stories, real challenges, and the decisions that shape the journey. 

Conversations about product, growth, hiring, fundraising, failures, and what it actually takes to build something meaningful.

Episode 1 is with Saurabh Misra, the founder of Codeflash. We talk about the future of coding, building from zero, founder market fit, and how AI is changing engineering.

This is day one. More conversations are coming soon.

You can listen here:

🎧 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gN-jrNDX

 ▶️ YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gnn-Ycdc

Thank you for being part of this community.

#FounderSocialClub #Podcast

Welcome to another Founder Social Minute.

Today we are joined by Maureen Lepatan, Founder & CEO of Strathwell Inc

Strathwell Inc turns untapped spaces & services into unforgettable events.

Founder Social Club

#FSC #community #FounderSocialMinute #events

Hosted the second edition of the AI Startup Job Fair a few weeks ago with manny duenas!

It was a strong turnout with many talented people in the room.

Meet Daniel Elfving

Daniel has experience in customer success and a strong passion for blockchain, crypto, AI, and cybersecurity. He is now looking for his next role in these industries and is exploring where he can make the strongest impact.

We recorded a short Founder Social Club Spotlight to highlight his background and his experience at the event.

Sharing it here. If your team is hiring in these fields and would like an introduction, please feel free to reach out to Daniel or to me.

📸 Video Credit: Emanuel Francis

#FounderSocialSpotlight #FSC #startups #jobs

"In the early days of a startup, hiring slow and strategically is key. 

Focus on understanding your product and market first, then bring in specialized talent when it's time to scale." - Aquibur Rahman, Founder Mailmodo

Aquibur Rahman dropped a lot of knowledge on this one. 

Founder Social Club podcast.  👀 

#StartupGrowth #HiringStrategy #Entrepreneurship #FSC #podcast

taplio

The Battle

Nicolas Cole 🚢👻

Colton Kaplan

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taplio

The Battle

Nicolas Cole 🚢👻

Colton Kaplan

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Nicolas Cole 🚢👻's LinkedIn Performance

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