Nicolas ColeCo-Founder Ship 30 for 30, Premium Ghostwriting Academy

Publications Are A HORRIBLE Way To Get Distribution

11 Apr 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

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In this YouTube segment, Nicolas Cole challenges the common belief that publishing long‑form articles in high‑profile outlets such as Fast Company or Forbes guarantees massive readership. He explains that these sites publish thousands of articles daily, are cluttered with ads, and typically deliver only about 800‑1,000 views per piece. Cole argues that the most effective distribution channel for long‑form writing is not traditional publications but social platforms—specifically LinkedIn and X—where articles can reach far larger, more engaged audiences.

Chapters

When an article gets published in Fast Company or Forbes or whatever, the average person, very smart CEOs included, think, "Oh, my article is in this huge publication. This publication gets tens of millions of page views. That means tens of millions of people are reading my article." That is not what's happening. Your article is going live on a website where 5,000 new articles get published per day, and it is littered with ads, and at best, it maybe gets 800 to 1,000 views. The best way to distribute long-form writing is actually not on these publications. The best way to distribute them is on social platforms. Like LinkedIn or X. Long-form articles on X right now are ripping.