The Real Reason You're Not Landing Writing Clients (Spoiler: It's Not Your Niche)

I have coached over 2000 writers inside our premium ghostwriting academy on how to land high ticket clients. And the number one question I get asked is, Cole, what's the best niche? Who is the best client to reach out to? And my honest answer is, you can make any niche work. One of our most successful students ghostwrites for companies that clean residential pools. So I promise it's not a niche problem. And the reason you're stuck isn't because you haven't picked the perfect client. The reason you're stuck is almost always because you just aren't executing the fundamentals consistently. So in this hot seat, watch how I coach this student inside our premium ghost trading academy through this faulty belief and help him realize his issue isn't his niche. It's the fact that he's just not doing any outreach or creating any content of his own. Well, how are things going? Tell me, tell me what's top of mind, whether this or anything else.

Yeah, so, I mean, lots of, lots of things are top of mind. 2025 kind of felt like a year of kind of just doing shit chaotically. Something's working, something's not. And then like it was just a complete blur. And 2026, I want to do things more intentionally and kind of like, I don't want to say scale the right way because I don't know what the right way is, but I know what many things that I did was wrong and I don't want to do that again. So it's more of like narrowing down, you know, doing less of the things that, that, that wasn't good. And one of them is just having a clear avatar, which seems like, you know, it's, it's, it's just a, it's just a question that I've been reflecting on a lot over the last couple weeks is we have a, a wide range of clients, as you know. We have, we have people that are like big media companies, we have CEO, like tech CEOs that are big on Twitter, and we have people that are just starting out. But like about 50% is info. And there was a while where I, I didn't want to target info because I thought it'd be cooler to go over the, to go the, the CEO route, be like, let's work for all of, like, let's work with all of these highly influential big companies, publicly traded companies. But I've now sort of, sort of like gone back to. That is the niche that I know best is info. I know info. We have the best results in info. And yeah, I just wanted to get your take a little bit as well, you know, a little bit more about my business too. Of where do you think it's like the right choice of focus on info when it comes to outreach, when it comes to content? Because I haven't done any outreach and I have done any content yet. And this is something I want to do. And so this is like outreaching content is kind of like starting from zero when it comes to getting clients through non referrals or conferences route.

Okay, so this is a fun question and I was going to ask a clarifying question but then you just told me the answer at the end. So I want to, I want to pull back and just talk about this high level for everyone. 99% of the time. The problem is not the niche. The problem is not the ideal target customer. You can make almost any avatar or customer work. The reason that that seems like the problem is because right now your business is dependent upon things that you don't have as much control over. Like you get clients by going to events and meeting people. That's great, but you don't always have control over who's in the room. You know, you might walk into a room of an event and there's a third of the room is agency owners and a third of the room is people and info and a third of the room is corporate America. Like you don't, you have no control over that. Right. You also don't have control over referrals. So it's amazing when you have a happy client that goes, let me introduce you to my friend. But the client isn't sitting there going, well, is my friend the perfect target avatar for this agency or this service? No. They're just like, hey, my friend needs help too. Hassan. Info is like people that sell education. So it could be selling a low ticket digital product, it could be a cohort based course, it could be a course on maven, it could be a coding bootcamp, it could be a high ticket group coaching program. It's just any, anything that is education related. It's just the shorthand that people refer to is info. So the reason I'm pointing this out Blossom and is like the, the benefits and the luxuries of your business have also created the problems. So like you have, you, you are in a very advantageous position. It's a different challenge than other people have. You know, like you've been doing this for a couple years. You've gotten good at going event, going to events. You've gotten good at Networking with people you've gotten good at asking for referrals, that's, that's all great, but they're, they're not levers that you have as much control over. And so as a result, your business just becomes sort of a reflection of whatever happens in those rooms. Nothing wrong with that, but that's where you are. Right. But, but when you sort of like trace it and connect all those dots, you realize that the problem isn't actually what is your target avatar. Because even if you picked one today, like, your business is still dependent on these other things that you don't have control over the real thing to solve for. The real problem is, and you said it at the end, you're not creating content for yourself and you're not doing outreach, which are the two ways of getting clients that you have the most control over. So do you need to go through some big positioning overhaul? No. Do you need to create some, like, master Plan document for 20, 26 of this is the specific person I'm going to go after? No. Do you need to go fire half of your clients? No, you don't. You literally don't need to do anything except what is a industry or niche that you want to write about today? Like, not forever, like literally just today. And then start doing that, start reaching out to people, start creating content. And then what happens is over time, the answer will reveal itself. Like, if I were you, I would take the ship 30 approach. I would one day write about things that you've seen work for info businesses. And then another day, maybe you had a client that was in, I don't know, big finance, and you're like, we did this thing and we noticed that it worked really well. Great. Write about that. Over time, you will start to attract certain types of people from your content and from your outreach. And then the answer reveals itself. You're like, oh, when I do outreach, I notice that people who are in info tend to respond more or are less price sensitive than people who respond in SaaS hypothetically. Right. But like, I think one of the biggest misconceptions, and this isn't just you, I, I get asked this question from people at, at day one of their journey all the time in pga, which is thinking, I want to, I want to experiment with a different niche or I want to go after someone different, I need to overhaul everything. No, you don't. Like, literally just go find that person and send them a dm.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Yeah. What I would, what I would add to that is it's not that like, I feel like I need to overhaul my business. So to say it's more speaking to a. In content. Speaking to. And again, poke holes at this if you, if you see holes. But speaking to an executive of a publicly traded company and talking to an info owner who, let's say, has scaled their business through paid ads alone or have an audience, audience on a different platform and explain the benefits of Twitter and LinkedIn, that's like different content. So it's more like I'm more talking about the avatar of, to go after that person with content and being intentional about. Okay, I'm going to just exhaust as many info businesses as I can. And I have, I have lead lists from other coaching programs that I've been a part of. Like, I know all these people are making X amount in info so like I can go after them, create content about info and then just be more targeted. Right? Rather than like just, this is a publicly traded company we've worked with. This guy is, you know, this person. This is info, you know, like I'm. To make it even more clear, I think Jeremy Haynes has an awesome brand where he's like, I help info business scale to a million a year. It's like, that's someone who I think has a really awesome brand. It is so clear who he helps. His content is super targeted. Like, that's the type of brand that I want to build too. And yeah, I'll leave it at that.

He's, he's, he's done a great job. And I think ultimately that is the goal. The problem, I'm going to give you a little tough love here. The problem is that you are at level one and he is at level 10 and has been talking to the same person for 10 years. And your question is, how do I at the very beginning do what this person's been doing for 10 years? And the reason I point that out is because if you go back 10 years ago, that is not what Jeremy was doing. Like, it's very easy to point to other people and go, I want to do what they're doing. But what you miss is you're looking at the end product. You're not looking at the process that got them there. And so you don't really go from I'm creating zero content to I have full clarity over my brand and content strategy and every and the exact person I'm trying to attract. It just doesn't work that way, you know, and so some, I think you're, you're overthinking it, and this is very common. Everybody overthinks it. I want to point out four. Four levels. Let, let's not even talk about outreach, because outreach is very simple. It's like pick someone, speak directly to them. Free consulting, See if you can help them. Great, I know you know how to do that. It's just you haven't been doing it, you know, so like, you should go do that. Let's just talk about content. Okay? This is something that is very simple, but it is very easy to misunderstand. All right? Level one, when, when you look at someone on the Internet, the first judgment you make actually has nothing to do with that person's positioning, expertise, credibility, anything. Level one. And the first judgment that you make is are you playing the game, AKA consistency? Okay, So I can, I can prove it with a very simple example. Everyone here. Have you ever clicked on a profile and gone to the profile and then scrolled down and realized that the last time they posted was 7 years ago? Has anyone ever done this? Like, you randomly come across profile and you click and you're like, oh, the last time this person was here was seven years ago. Okay, what is the likelihood that you follow that person? Is it high or is it low? Drop in the chat. It is zero. It is zero. Okay? It doesn't matter if that person was the former President of the United States. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how much credibility they have, doesn't matter how much expertise they have, doesn't matter how many badges they have. The number one thing that you care about is, is this person playing the game? So Thomas, unfortunately, you've already failed, right? Like we literally, like, why are we even talking about the niche? Like you're, you're, you haven't even created the character. You're not even in the world yet. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

Okay, so level one, it's like, are you even playing the game? Here's a really. Also to your point, I want to just walk through this very slowly. To your point, on like, yeah, but I have to speak to this specific person perfectly. Okay, can someone drop in the chat who Gary Vee speaks to in his content? Because Gary Vee's agency works exclusively with CMOs at multi hundred million dollar to billion dollar brands. Who does his content speak to? His content is like wake up in the morning and put a smile on your face. You know, his content is like, be kind. Right? And the reason, I'm not saying that that's a good strategy, but my point, my point in pointing that out is that you underestimate how much. Even though the goal is to specialize, the more that you play the game and the bigger that you get, the more that everybody assumes if you've been successful over here, you can help me too. Billion dollar brands don't work with Gary Vee because he speaks to billion dollar brands. Billion dollar brands want to work with Gary Vee because he's got 10 million social followers and has proven that he can play the game on every platform in every medium for a decade. Right? So it's like, let's not overthink it. Okay. Level two is, Are you helpful in some way? Like, it does. It doesn't even matter if I am in your industry or not. I just want to click on your profile, see that you're playing the game, and be like, oh, this person seems to be providing something of value, something. Because the unconscious conclusion is, I'm like, oh, so then this person's playing the game and like, they serve somebody, right? And the conclusion of that is if I'm interested enough or if I see that they provide a service in some way, I, as the customer or client, inherently come to the conclusion, I wonder if this person could help me too. I mean, they're being so helpful to all these other people. Like, why can't help me, right? Level three is some sort of industry. Okay, great. So, like, we're in the same industry. You know, let's say that you're talking about info, and I'm in info, and I'm like, I bet you can help me, you know, and then level four is niche within industry. So it's like, oh, it's not just info. It's actually info at 500k to a million a month. It's not brand new. I'm making 10 grand a month. It's not, you know, I'm trying to scale above a hundred million dollars a year. It's like this little sweet spot. So the reason I'm walking through this, right, Is because your. Your question is, Cole, how do I skip to the end? And my point is, I'm like, well, dude, yeah, you gotta. You gotta start the game.

Yeah, I think a part of it is. Yeah, I think a part of it is this probably. Is this all big one exercise in productive procrastination? Because it's like. Because it's my service. I feel like the second I launch, I'm like, it has to go like 3 billion impressions and the whole world needs to know who I am.

So here's just a level set for you, even if it did get 3 billion impressions, nobody cares and nobody remembers. We did our end of year like big 20, 25 metrics. We looked at everything. Last year, my content across five different platforms generated over 100 million views. And then on top of that with ads, add in maybe another hundred million impressions. Okay, Think, think about how many people. 100 million people is right. And still the vast majority of people don't know what PGA is or does, doesn't know all the other verticals or products or companies that we have in our portfolio and has never heard of me. Nobody knows. So this idea of like overthinking it is. You're, you're, you're solving a problem that literally doesn't exist. It's like you're not playing the game and you're expecting to get post something useful consistently. Yeah. And the thing I'm telling you this is this is one of the hardest things for people to understand. And it's true for you, it's true for every person here. Doesn't matter where you are on the journey. There is an unconscious bias that everybody has that when someone is successful in one thing, they assume they can help them in another thing. So the whole goal of niching down and positioning this. There is a huge asterisk next to what I'm saying. So I would like everyone to listen very, very close. The whole point of niching down is not that you only work with that person. The point of niching down is that so few people niche down that when you do, everybody assumes that because you specialize in this one thing, you can help them too. All I do all day long is talk about ghostwriting and yet I get offered consulting opportunities all the time. I get offered agency opportunities all the time. I get offered SaaS opportunities all the time. I get offered be a co founder in companies all the time. I get offered invest in companies all the time. My content doesn't speak to any of those people. So why do I attract those opportunities? Because so few people niche down and specialize that when you do and you are successful in a niche and successful at any level, everybody assumes you can help me too.

Yeah. And you can only do that once you start posting useful content consistently and you can figure out what niche you want to eventually go down, Correct?

Yeah. Like I, I actually know that there are other topics and niches that if I wrote about more often, I would probably be able to build like another vertical or some other lucrative business. That's an option. But I don't really want to like, actually, the reason I actually write about ghost writing and digital writing and writer career paths and all these things is because it's actually the thing that I am genuinely the most interested in. So a lot, like, everyone is so fixated on, like, what's the perfect niche? What's the perfect topic? The best niche is the one that you don't give up on. On. I could tell you. I could tell you, hey, of all the options you listed here, I think that you should go after this avatar. This is the thing that you should write about. But you might do that for three days and be like, damn, I know Cole gave me that answer, but honestly, I'm just, like, really not that interested in it. You're going to give up. Every person gives up. So it's really not about the perfect niche or topic. It's the one that you are least likely to give up on because you genuinely are interested in it.

Yeah, it's like the Midwick graph. It's like, just post something all the. And then just post something.

Yes, correct.

And this is maybe is a stupid question, but I'm going to ask it anyways. When it comes to, like, seems like such a basic question, but, like, even when it's like, we have a website or my bio is it just. I just keep it broad. I don't even add info or anything else in that bio or anything. When, like, in LinkedIn or Twitter, I just say, like, we help Twitter LinkedIn people grow. Like that.

The answer let. I'm gonna give you, like, the most simple answer, which is maybe the most complicated one, but it's the most simple one, which is the answer is always whatever gets you to take action. Like, if. So let's say it in reverse. If you're like, cole, should my bio be this or this?

Yeah.

The very first decision actually doesn't matter. The very first decision is which one gets you to start posting.

Yeah.

If leaving it broad gives you the confidence to start posting, leave it broad. If getting specific gives you the confidence to start posting, then make it specific and start posting. But every person here, it's like, the answer. The answer is not what is the perfect answer. The answer is, why aren't you taking a step forward? Go take a step forward and then iterate on it.

Yeah. That's what I needed to hear. Thank you.

Great. That's what we're here for.

Yeah.

All right, follow up question. Follow up question for you. Are you. How's the agency doing? Are you paying yourself more? Is life better?

We have, like, I haven't been paying myself more because we have, like, a ton in unpaid invoices, so that's actually a bigger problem.

Okay.

We have, like, almost a hundred K in unpaid invoices, so I've had to not pay myself just to make payroll.

All right, so my. My advice to you would be, a, solve that problem as soon as possible, B, when you do solve that problem, pay yourself more, and C, after solving that problem, the very next priority is to make sure that that problem never happens again.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm getting everyone on stripe. Yeah, I. I wanted to do mercury because I didn't want to pay the 3%, but this is costing me so much more than 3%.

Yep.

So I'm just going to do the 3%.

Yep, exactly. It's just the cost of doing business, you know?

Yeah.

And two, you can. By the way, here's a little, like, pricing tip. If you move to autopay on stripe, you say to the client, I'm happy to eat the. The. The 3% fee. Actually, no, what I. What I would do if. If you really want to. If you really want to do it, here's. Here's how I would do it. I would say we're. I'm. I do stripe. Here's the auto pay. Because Stripe charges 3% fee, I will need to add that to our monthly cost. So you make the client pay for it, or we can waive the fee if you want to prepay for three months or six months in advance.

I like that.

So that way nothing actually changes. But now they have, like, a tangible, real incentive to give you the cash and give you more cash up front.

I love that. I'm gonna do that.

Yep.

Awesome.

All right, Good question. Always good to catch up and see you.

Appreciate it. Yes, I will be here more regularly.

Please, please do come and ask questions.

Yes, I need it. Thanks again.