E31 | The Misunderstood Millennial Generation | Nicolas Cole

Nicolas Cole has written for Time, Forbes, Fortune, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, Observer, Slate, Apple News and many other publications.  He writes a daily column for Inc. Magazine.  His book, Confessions of a Teenage Gammer, was self-published and debuted on Amazon reaching #2 in two separate categories.  He has recently launched a new company called Digital Press service his customers with writing services.  His story and unique thinking will encourage you to rethink the possible and chase your dream. 

We live in a time now where anything you think is stable could be
disrupted by tomorrow's innovation.
-Nicolas Cole

Topics covered in this episode: writing for major publications, the gammer community, overcoming criticism, being a Quora super writer, weaving your story into your writing, how to answer the question: 'What do I write today?', creating your voice, overcoming Celiacs Disease, the millennial voice, the impact of technology on culture, being a disruptor, finding community, input feeds creativity, goal setting, and so much more.


About Nicolas Cole

Cole has been writing online since I was 17 years old.

2007, he was one of the highest ranked World of Warcraft players in North America with one of the first e-famous gaming blogs on the Internet. By the time he graduated high school, he had over 10,000 daily readers and had positioned himself as a powerful voice in the world of competitive gaming.

2008, He attended arguably one of the top journalism schools in the country, the University of Missouri. His professor addressed our lecture hall of 500 students with a powerful statement: "The world of blogging is a trend and will never be a credible source of writing." As an already established blogger, he disagreed, and transferred schools the next year.

2012, He graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in creative writing. His first internship was at a digital marketing agency downtown Chicago, and he was introduced to the idea of writing and building an audience on social media. 

2013, He was knee-deep in the world of bodybuilding. He had been lifting for years, and decided to start micro-blogging on Instagram, sharing daily workouts and nutritional advice. In less than a year, He built an audience of 15,000 followers, and became a blogger and influencer for a variety of publications and fitness brands.

2014, He began writing on a platform called Quora. He answered questions relating to all of his interests: gaming, fitness, music, digital marketing, and writing. In less than 3 months, He had his first answer go viral, landing on the front page of Reddit. That answer has since accumulated over 1.1M views. A month later, he had his first Quora answer republished by a major publication, Inc Magazine

2015, He became a Top Writer on Quora and was having a different Quora answer republished by a major publication every single week for almost 6 months straight. Publications include: TIME, Forbes, Fortune, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, Observer, Slate, Apple News, and more. He began to establish himself as a thought leader in the world of content writing and personal branding, explaining to people the ins and outs of expressing their unique voice and building an audience online—something he had already done for himself in both the gaming and the fitness industries. 

2016, He had already had so much of his content republished by Inc Magazine that I was given a daily column. Since then, he has written over 200 columns for the publication, accumulating a handful of viral hits, each accumulating anywhere from 100,000 to 1M+ views.

He also published his first book, a memoir called Confessions of a Teenage Gamer, detailing what it was like growing up undiagnosed with celiac disease and at the same time becoming a nationally recognized gamer. The book was self-published and debuted on Amazon reaching #2 in two separate categories. The book has since gone on to sell copies in over 30 countries around the world. 

From the moment he found my first reader online as a gaming blogger, he knew the power of the Internet. He understood the value of having an audience, and slowly learned the art of separating your voice from everyone else's and carving out a niche of your own.

2017, He decided to take everything he had learned about writing online, and this idea of building a personal brand on the Internet, and offer it as a service to serial entrepreneurs, CEOs, and successful business owners. He launched Digital Press, a ghostwriting + influence agency, specializing in writing high-performing content.

Website: http://www.nicolascole.com/
Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Nicolas-Cole-1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nicolascole77
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolascole77/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnJpJtpEgeoVMn-yyo7CJYw
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nicolascole77
 



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