This video covers the essential strategies of "Digital Writing" for generating revenue and building influence online in the AI and digital age. Nicolas Cole explains the "Lean Writing" approach -- testing and validating ideas alongside an audience rather than following the old "Legacy Writing" model -- and the "lottery game" principle that comes with consistent publishing. His ultimate argument is that writing goes beyond simple content creation to become the ultimate tool for infinitely scaling your experience and knowledge into bigger opportunities.
1. Why You Need to Become a "Digital Writer" Right Now
If you want to start a business online, create a course, or simply build an audience, you absolutely must become a "Digital Writer." Whether it is Twitter (X), LinkedIn, or Instagram, writing is fundamental -- and even operating AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude requires writing skills (prompt crafting).
Today, writing holds the same status that software engineering once did. But the writing being discussed here is not the traditional kind done in solitude.
"Writing is the new software engineering. It's the most valuable skill for building an audience and launching online products in the AI era. But I'm not saying just become any writer. Don't become a 'Legacy Writer.' Don't be sitting there with a corn pipe, a candle lit, wearing a hat, pretending to be Hemingway. You need to become a 'Digital Writer.'"
2. Legacy Writing vs. Digital Writing
So what is the critical difference between old-school "Legacy Writing" and modern "Digital Writing"? The biggest difference is the speed of the feedback loop.
In the past, it took 2 to 3 years to write a book, then you waited for a publisher's decision, and after publication it took years more to hear reader reactions. The feedback cycle could take 5 years. But digital writing is different. When an idea strikes, you post it on Twitter or LinkedIn and get immediate feedback within 30 seconds to an hour.
Let us break down the differences between these two approaches into three specific points.
First, Practicing in Private vs. Practicing in Public
Legacy writers think they are the smartest person in the world and hole up in a cabin in the woods waiting for inspiration. This is "practicing in private." Digital writers, on the other hand, "practice in public."
"Digital writing is the complete opposite. It's what I call 'practicing in public.' Instead of thinking you're the smartest person in the room, you write alongside your readers. You put ideas out into the world and watch how they perform."
Second, Waiting for Permission vs. Giving Yourself Permission
In the past, you could only become a writer when a publisher said "We choose you." But now you need no one's permission. You give yourself the authority to write, press a button, and your work reaches the world.
Third, Writing "For" Readers vs. Writing "With" Readers
Legacy writers hide from the public and try to unveil a grand masterpiece with a "ta-da!" moment. This is writing for readers, but it is really about showing off one's own genius. Digital writers write with their readers.
"As a digital writer, you don't think you're the smartest. You don't try to do some grand reveal. Instead, you write with your readers. You put ideas out, see which ones resonate, and then give them more of what they like and less of what they don't."
3. Lean Writing: Start Small, Scale Big
Have you heard of the book "The Lean Startup"? The theory says rather than wasting 3 years trying to perfect a product, put out a minimum viable product (MVP) first and see how people react. Writing works exactly the same way.
Why try to write a 300-page book from the start? You do not even know if the idea will land.
- Start with a tweet (180 characters).
- If the response is good, expand it into a LinkedIn carousel or essay.
- Once those accumulate, they become chapters, and eventually a book.
Many people ask, "But don't bestselling authors go into the woods and write for 5 years?" Surprisingly, many of the famous books we know were not created that way.
"Malcolm Gladwell's 'The Tipping Point' didn't start as a book. It started as an article he wrote for The New Yorker in 1996. (...) Mark Manson's 'The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck' was the same. When a publisher approached him about writing a book, Mark simply expanded the most popular posts from his blog into 200 pages."
Even the Twilight series was born from reactions on a fan-fiction site. My own book, "The Art and Business of Online Writing," was essentially a collection of tweets, answers, and essays I had already published for free on the internet, organized and refined.
4. Writing Is a "Lottery Game"
Worried because you have zero followers? Do not be. Today's algorithms prioritize the content itself over follower count.
Look at your feed. More than 90% of what you see is content "recommended by the algorithm" rather than posts from people you follow. This means whether you have 200,000 followers or 2, good content has an equal chance of getting exposure.
This is why online writing is like a "lottery game."
"Writing is a lottery game. The only thing you can control is your output. Every time you hit 'publish,' you're buying a small lottery ticket. 'One ticket, another ticket, another ticket...' Most of them might be losers. But one day you hit the jackpot and rack up 6 million views."
In fact, I post 6 to 8 pieces a day, but a few days ago a single-sentence quote of someone else's meme got 6 million views -- far outperforming a piece I had spent considerable effort on. Nobody knows what will go viral. So keep scratching those lottery tickets (keep publishing).
5. The True Purpose of Writing: Scaling Yourself
Money, product sales, followers -- all great, but the real benefit of online writing is something else entirely. It is "Scaling Yourself."
Imagine meeting someone for coffee. We repeat the same process every time:
- Self-introduction and story: "I grew up in Chicago, I loved games as a kid..."
- Sharing experiences: "I recently went to Finland..."
- Sharing ideas and knowledge: "This is how I approach solving problems."
Every time you meet someone, you have to manually repeat these stories. But what happens when you write them down?
"Why do you keep repeating the same stories? Just make them into videos or write them down. (...) This is what it means to scale yourself. You take everything you were doing manually and create content that generates leverage."
When you write consistently, the people you meet already know your story and your knowledge. Conversations start at "level 3" instead of "level 0." This is an enormous force that accelerates business and networking.
In Closing: We Never Finish
So how long should you keep writing? When are you "done"? The answer is "it never ends."
As long as you are alive, you will keep growing, learning, and having new experiences. If that is the case, you must keep documenting those experiences, refining your thoughts, and scaling yourself. Writing is the process of building your intellectual assets, and this library will work for you for a lifetime.
"When does it end? It never ends. Because you'll never stop growing. (...) If you want to succeed in the AI era, write online. And remember: you will never stop."