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

This Is Where You Should Place Your Newsletter's Paywall #newsletter

31 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this short segment, Nicolas Cole outlines a practical framework for structuring paid newsletters. He argues that creators should first separate pure informational content—something that is abundant and freely available—from tangible, premium deliverables such as walkthroughs, templates, or assets. The free portion serves to educate and build trust, while the paid portion delivers the concrete value the reader is buying. Cole recommends introducing the promised premium deliverable at the very beginning of the piece so readers know what they’ll receive if they continue. After this preview, the creator should place the paywall, then follow with the actual premium material. This approach clarifies the value proposition, reduces friction, and aligns the reader’s expectations with the paid offering.

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. 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. 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 put whatever you want.