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While most legacy writers focus on creating a piece of work and then (in the final hour)

scrambling to put a marketing plan together to attract readers, Digital Writers build their
audiences as they go. They share snippets on Twitter. They test excerpts on Quora and
Medium. They turn pieces that clearly engaged readers online into new book chapters
or long-form blog posts (like this ultimate guide here). They write, publish, gather data,
and double-down on what's working—and attract readers the whole way.

For example, when Nicolas Cole started writing a business book with two other
business leaders, they didn't go the conventional route, seek out a publisher, and lock
themselves in a room for a year to write their book in private. They brought their
business book idea into the digital age and started writing book chapters online as
newsletter excerpts. The result? Their paid newsletter, Category Pirates, has

generated the same amount of revenue as they would have received from a book deal,
while simultaneously building an audience of thousands of readers. By the time the
book comes out, die-hard readers will be ready to buy it.

This is the power of building an audience as you write online.

"Scaling Yourself"

Writing online is the most effective way to scale who you are as a human being.

Think about how many times you meet up with someone for coffee and repeat the same
stories, the same life details. Think about how many times you jump on a call with

someone (a friend of a friend, or a networking opportunity) and give them the same 30-
second background info. Think about how many times you manually explain to people—
on the phone, on Zoom, over lunch or dinner—aspects of who you are, your past, your
experience, how you think, how you solve problems, etc.

Every time you write and publish one of those stories or insights online, what you're

really doing is "scaling yourself."

You're taking a detail of your life you would otherwise have to manually explain to
someone in conversation and making it accessible for anyone and everyone online.

The result?

You are giving people a fundamentally different understanding of who you are, how you
think, and how you became "you," from the very beginning. The more people who know
things about you (to whatever degree you feel comfortable sharing), the more

opportunities will come your way. The more people will say, "Wow, I didn't know you did

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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 For 30 Ultimate Guide