Nicolas Cole argues that as AI commoditizes raw information, creators win by curating and organizing knowledge into newsletters, guides, or courses. He says the real edge is pairing organized information with tangible assets like AI prompts and templates, plus the trust that makes people actually use them. Facts are free, but a curated roadmap plus a bundled workflow saves hours.
We all take the knowledge that we have for granted. So, so in your question you said a script might not be so valuable because you can just ask AI for it. Let's, let's unpack this because there's a, there you're, you're making a couple assumptions when you say this. So one, the first assumption is you assume people know how to use AI. We know that like 1% of the world is using AI, right? So that's assumption number 1. Assumption number 2 is even if someone knows how to use AI, they know what to ask for. So AI is incredibly powerful, but it's essentially a blank chat window, meaning it only gives you what you know to ask it for, right? And do you think that every single person on Earth knows what to ask AI for in your domain? No.
Yeah, no.
No, not even close, right? And then third, the third assumption is even if someone knows how to use AI and they know what to ask for, they also know how to troubleshoot when things go wrong. So, okay, fine. Like, they know how to use the technology and they know what to ask for, but do you think every person, like, automatically all of the trial and error that you've gone through, every person just wakes up one day and has that same knowledge?
No.
Of course not, right? Of course not. And so when you start to unpack it, you realize that a lot of times the questions that people have or the objections that people have or the faulty beliefs that people have are really just you haven't taken the time to unpack like, why do you think that? And then when you unpack it, you're like, oh, well, that's ridiculous. Of course this would be beneficial to people, right?
Right.
And so my, I believe that more and more where the world is headed is I think the information component still has value in the sense that the primary value of information is not actually the information itself, it's the organization of information, right? So yes, maybe everything that you write about, maybe all of the information that you write about is free and accessible and you can find it elsewhere. That's not what someone subscribes for. That's not what someone pays for. What they pay for is you going, yeah, all that information is out there, but on this specific topic, in this specific newsletter, I have organized the most important things, right? So the reader, whether they're buying it with attention or they're buying it with money, right, time or money. What they are buying is they're buying back time because they don't have to go scour the internet for everything. You took the time to organize it and they're buying certainty. They're like, I trust you. If I go on the internet, I have to parse through what's right, what's not right, or I can just trust you. So the information component still has value. It's just— you just have to understand, like, what value is it? It's time, right? But in the age of AI, even if we say that the value of information is going down, which I think it's going down, but it's not going to zero. There's still value in the organization of information. Where more of the value is going is the tangible asset that comes with it. Okay? So to use an easy example, I'll use something from my world. Okay. If you want to learn how to write on— or actually, you know what, let's just say this. Learn how to write a book. If you want to learn how to write a book, all that information is available for free. It's on the internet. You could ask AI. Like, the information component is a commodity. Why would someone pay me with time or money for this? Well, they pay me because they want me to organize the information and they want certainty, right? Because I'm like, this is the right way to do this, or this is the most effective way to do this, right? Okay. But then what is the value of the asset? Well, the value of the asset is— and I can give you not just like an AI prompt to help you write a book, but I could also give you an AI prompt or bundle of prompts to write the book for you. Or I could give you a Claude skill that outlines, or that ideates and outlines and writes and proofreads your entire book. Like, this is the gap. Like, this is where most people stop and they're like, oh, everyone, if you want to learn how to write a book, well, all that information's out there, right? But your value is not just like, oh, it's out there. Your value is I organized it. I am giving you certainty because I'm telling you what to focus on. I'm helping you reclaim time because you don't have to go spend 50 hours figuring it out on your own. And I'm giving you organized and certainty on the output. So does that make sense? This is more of like a permission thing than anything. It's like, it's, it's, it's— you already know the thing to give the person. It's like, but don't take it for granted.
You're right. And I can see how you guys do it because when I When I can see a lot of cloud skills, everybody's giving away cloud skills, but I really don't even want to use them because I trust— I know who to trust for cloud skills.
Exactly, exactly. And so it's really no different. And your newsletter, the magic combination for nonfiction newsletters is how do I organize the information and make it very easy and accessible for you? And how do I pair that information with some sort of asset that— and this is like the golden phrase— is like, I want to pair it with some sort of asset that increases the likelihood of success. You're not just giving an asset for the sake of giving an asset. That's why when you or anyone here, like, do you see so many people are doing like viral drops and stuff on X or LinkedIn being like, get my 'Get Claude's skill, get my AI prompt, get my bundle.' But the reason that you don't do it is because on some level you haven't built that trust with them. And so you go, 'Well, yeah, okay, great, it's an asset, but that doesn't mean that it's a valuable asset,' right? What makes an asset valuable is when it's paired with information and the information explains what to do, but the asset increases the likelihood that they are successful in doing it. Does that make sense?
That makes a lot of sense.
So it's, it's the same thing with here. It's like I could tell everyone how to write a book. The information is valuable. I could tell you how to write a book, but the value of the asset is I go, and chances are, even though you now know what to do, you're probably going to make a lot of mistakes in the process. This asset helps you not make those mistakes. So the value of the asset is increasing the likelihood that the person is successful. That's ultimately the, the purpose of a template, of, of any sort of thing that you're giving the reader. By the way, if you're brand new to writing online and want a really easy place to start, I recommend reading The Art and Business of Online Writing. I wrote this book after I'd been writing online for over a decade and accumulated over a billion views on my work, monetizing my writing in all sorts of unconventional ways. And I wrote this book to give other writers like you a way to skip all the lessons that I had to learn the hard way and start seeing success from your writing a whole lot faster than I did. So if writing online is something you're thinking about or something you're actively practicing, I recommend picking up a copy of The Art and Business of Online Writing.
What Every Writer Gets Wrong About Their Audience #writing #creator #writingtips
