# The Art and Business of Online Writing  ## Metadata - Author: [[Nicolas Cole]] - Full Title: The Art and Business of Online Writing - Category: #books ## Highlights - Sharing thoughts, stories, opinions, and insights on a platform that already has an active audience. ([Location 471](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=471)) - There are 2 types of writers today: those who use data to inform and improve their writing, and those who fail. ([Location 573](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=573)) - The new way to think about being a writer in the digital age is to turn your writing into a data mining machine. ([Location 604](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=604)) - Categories are how we organize information in our minds. Know your category and you’ll know where readers “fit” you into their own minds. ([Location 762](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=762)) - The secret to creating a unique writing style is by doing what would be considered “unexpected” in your chosen category. ([Location 792](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=792)) - When I was in college, one of my teachers used to say all the time, “If your story is reliant on the reader making it past the first few pages, then chances are, your story doesn’t need those pages.” ([Location 818](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=818)) - “The Rate of Revelation.” This is the rate at which you reveal new information to the reader—and new information is what keeps people interested. For example, a paragraph with a very slow Rate of Revelation would look something like this: ([Location 824](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=824)) - What makes a badge of credibility valuable isn’t really the badge itself. It’s how the writer chooses to wear it. ([Location 1045](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1045)) - because I was wearing my badge proudly, everyone else took it upon themselves to be proud of my badge too. ([Location 1054](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1054)) - Credibility is in the eye of the beholder—and it’s a ladder anyone can climb. ([Location 1056](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1056)) - The name of the game is to then spend less on the cost of getting you to click than the profit generated on the ads shown to you within that sixty-second window. ([Location 1176](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1176)) - Note: Major publication ad game - People read major publications for three reasons: opinions, news, or to learn how to do something. That’s it. ([Location 1216](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1216)) - As a contributing writer, your job is to produce page views for the publication. In return, you get to leverage the name of the publication for your own Perceived Credibility. ([Location 1265](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1265)) - The 5 Phases of Social Platforms—And Why Phase 3 Is Your Window of Opportunity ([Location 1309](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1309)) - Note: A good hook that made me want to keep reading - When someone reads your writing on a social site, it feels more objective and “out in the open.” ([Location 1327](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1327)) - I have a rule I live by, and it goes like this: “The number of hours I spend consuming should never equal or exceed the number of hours I spend creating.” ([Location 1528](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1528)) - In order to be taken seriously on the internet as an authority in your category and a leader in your industry, niche, or genre, you need to be writing and publishing new material 2x per month. ([Location 1603](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1603)) - In your first six months of writing online, you should be less concerned with “establishing” yourself and more focused on “discovering” yourself. ([Location 1632](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1632)) - Your goal is to write (ACTION)—and it’s through writing that you will BE “a writer.” ([Location 1723](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1723)) - the entire secret to getting exposure on your writing online is to find as many ways as possible to make your writing resonate both on a broad level and with a specific audience at the same time. ([Location 1808](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1808)) - There are five types of writing on the internet. Form #1: Actionable Guide Form #2: Opinion Form #3: Curated List Form #4: Story Form #5: Credible Talking Head ([Location 1952](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1952)) - What you’re aiming for is the most value you can possibly deliver WITHOUT 1) confusing the reader, or 2) wasting their time. ([Location 1981](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=1981)) - In order for your list to not be clickbait, but actually be meaningful and valuable to a reader, you need two things: Specificity and Speed. ([Location 2047](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=2047)) - What makes a list “work” is the fact that it has the potential to pack a ton of valuable information into a very short period of time. ([Location 2055](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=2055)) - If everyone else is using cliché examples—Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Tiger Woods—you can differentiate yourself by using lesser known, more unconventional examples specifically from seemingly irrelevant categories. ([Location 2069](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=2069)) - what’s expected is boring. What’s unexpected is exciting, new, and different. ([Location 2108](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=2108)) - Sometimes, your credibility informs what it is you write about (you’re the Head of Marketing for a startup, and so you believe you’re qualified to write about marketing). Other times, what you write about informs how and where you need to build your credibility. ([Location 2129](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=2129)) - The Curiosity Gap is what tells the reader what this piece of writing is about, who it’s for, and what it’s promising—all without revealing the answer. ([Location 2166](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=2166)) - The size of your audience is a direct reflection of the size of the question you’re answering. ([Location 2231](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=2231)) - if you’re writing about what’s happening within the world of biotechnology, your Audience will only be as big as the number of people actively asking themselves about biotechnology. ([Location 2233](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=2233)) - They want to know what happens in the story before they even read it. ([Location 2323](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=2323)) - The best way to come up with a compelling PROMISE is to think deeply about 1) outcomes your readers want to receive, or 2) outcomes your readers want to avoid. ([Location 2325](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=2325)) - this paragraph might feel like it’s lacking “depth.” But what you have to remember is that for pieces that have five or more Main Points, the whole reason why a reader is there is because they want to know the Main Points themselves—not necessarily a dissertation on each one. ([Location 2790](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=2790)) - You are not the main character in your story. The reader is. ([Location 3250](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=3250)) - The Golden Intersection of great writing is: Answering The Reader’s Question x Telling Them An Entertaining Story ([Location 3276](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=3276)) - repetition is how you reinforce who you are, what you know, and what life experiences are informing your writing, perspective, and unique point of view. Repetition is how you get people to remember “you.” ([Location 3741](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08GZK274F&location=3741))