In this instructional conversation, Nicolas Cole explains how to maximize revenue on Substack by strategically placing the paywall, distinguishing free informational content from paid tangible assets, and treating stories as products that can be sold using classic sales techniques. He demonstrates how to craft compelling paywall copy by extracting benefit language from public reviews, and emphasizes that a well‑built paid newsletter can become a high‑margin, low‑maintenance internet business. The discussion also touches on applying these frameworks to fiction and other narrative forms, illustrating how to sell attention just like any other product.
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The paywall in Substack, you can arbitrarily choose where to put it. That's, that's like one of its coolest features is, you know, I could put it at the very, very top. I could put it halfway in the middle. I could put it at the very end. And so I would— I, I think that a helpful way of thinking about paid newsletters is separating either information from tangible walkthroughs or assets. Because like information is the commodity. Google has infinite information. Claude has infinite information. So the information is the free thing. It's like, how do I get you bought into the thing that you're about to consume and then paywall? And then I give you whatever the tangible thing is. But like, for example, I have a buddy in cannabis and he has to like navigate a bunch of things because a lot of platforms are really sensitive about that as a topic. And so the same logic applies is like, how can you maybe introduce the idea at the top so someone knows, okay, if I continue reading, here's what I'm gonna get. And then you can place the paywall and then, you know, put whatever you want.
Yeah. And yeah. And then I'm thinking in terms of like people who sell narrative versus learn more about this. Is there a difference there as well? Like when you feel like storytellers and whatnot in terms of like using that in that way?
Yeah, this is a very interesting question because I've been thinking a lot about this recently through the lens of fiction, which is how do a lot of these frameworks apply when you're trying to get someone bought into a story? And I think you kind of have to go back to first principles and realize that stories are products. The same way we give Instagram or TikTok attention, we are giving a story attention. Which means the same way we would sell a product by educating the person on the benefits of this thing, we're just doing the same thing and the story is the product. So like, for example, in the beginning it might be like, I'll use an example that's top of mind for me is like, say I wrote a sci-fi story and at the top I'm like, hey, if you're really interested in these types, like very futuristic, post-apocalyptic sci-fi stories, In, in below the paywall, what you'll find is you'll find really like witty banter characters that go back and forth always arguing about the situation, and you'll find planetary collapse that they have to navigate. Like, all I'm really doing is listing the benefits of reading the story, right? It's like I'm trying to sell you on why you should give me your attention. Yeah, and it's— that's no different than me selling like a mop, you know, this mop cleans, it cleans up 50% more water. It's the same thing.
Yeah, well, that's really interesting because that's where I'm thinking, like, there are different products and different things that connect in larger ways, but in terms of this specific one, it really is sort of like fiction and storytelling and how do you compel people to continue reading but have it be behind that paywall. And then what you just said, like, having those sales, like, those items that people want to read on or to make them want to continue reading?
Yeah, I'll give you a— this is a copywriting 101 framework that works in every industry. The answers are always in public reviews. So whatever, whatever genre you're in, you should go spend 30 minutes, go look at a bunch of top titles in that genre on Amazon Read a bunch of reviews, like literally sit there for 30 minutes or an hour and read 100 reviews and look for what are the things that people say, "I loved this thing." So for example, if a reader leaves a review and they're like, "I loved a strong female character who wasn't afraid to say her opinion." That reader just gave you the answer. You take that phrase, and if that applies to your story, you're like, "In this story, you will find a strong female character that's not afraid to share her opinion." The reviews always tell you the answer, and the reviews actually give you the language where then when you say it back to the reader, the reader immediately recognizes it, and they're like, "Oh, that's the thing I love about—" these stories. I want to read this. Yeah, that's pretty cool.
There you go. I just saw in the chat MD asking Mesh, like, can we, can we turn, like, can we do anything about Cowork in terms of, like, supporting, supporting the production of this type of storytelling? I guess I don't know. Um, but yeah, it's, it's, it's cool. Yeah.
Any follow-ups or you feel good about that?
No, I think it's a great place to start. I have a framework.
Cool. Thank you. Awesome. Yeah, love it. I'm a big fan of Substack, and I think paid newsletters have a ton of potential. You got to be patient with them for sure. You know, they are an investment. But if you make that investment and you build a successful paid newsletter, it is quite literally the greatest business on the internet. Super high margin, no incremental work. Like, it's incredible, but it takes a while to build.
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