Building A Ghostwriting Agency To $180k/mo (My Story)

In this video, I share my journey building a ghostwriting agency to $180k per month and how you can do it yourself. I discuss the 5 stages my ghostwriting agency went through and how I leveled up to each one, the crucial mistakes I made that most new time founders make, and what I would do differently. If you're a ghostwriter or digital writer stuck at $10k per month wondering how to scale your business, or you're an agency owner stumped on the 10x choice, or you're someone brand new to writing on the internet with no clue how to even run an agency - my hope is you gain some insight from my story and I save you a decade of trial and error.

00:00 Intro
00:50 Origin Story
03:01 Stage 1 - $10k/mo
03:42 Stage 2 - $30k/mo
05:03 Stage 3 - $60k/mo
07:58 Stage 4 - $120k/mo
09:36 Stage 5 - $180k/mo
10:54 Disaster Strikes
11:40 The Trip That Changed My Life
13:14 Scaling Back Down
14:30 What I Would Do Differently

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[huzzy]

My biggest takeaways from your journey is:

• Be clear from day 1 on what you want: Either you want to hyper-scale or build a lean boutique business.

• Focus more on client acquisition than increasing your headcount.

But how would we learn the lessons if there is no bumpy road in our journey.

Embracing the suck leads to growth!

[sundelite]

This was one of the most valuable advice videos I've seen in a long time and I watch A LOT of them. Your brutal honesty about your own experience was what set this video apart from others. So many people share their stories of success. Few share difficult experiences along the way but when they do it is freaking powerful.

[ashlee]

Your stress must have been so high, shingles are the worst, and can become deadly. I’m so sorry, I couldn’t imagine the pain you were under. Happy your back and healthy again.

[TalentEthos]

Cole, this is FIRE!!! Thanks for being so open about your journey. I especially liked that you explained what you would do differently and where the sweet spot is. Bravo!

[emmanuelojoshua]

Insightful.

My takeaway from this:

- Grow at your pace. Not everyone has the same goala as you.
- To avoid burnout, don't take more work than you can handle.
- Lastly, choose a good life partner & listen to them.😅. Your wife literally saved your business.

Thank you Nicolas.

[jern-ge]

Every time I watch a video you’ve put up, the more confident I get that I made the right decision to get into ghostwriting. And this is the most inspiring video of all. So far I’ve had 3 potential clients agree to a free loom outline. While I haven’t closed them yet, I’m getting better with each outline I send. And I can’t wait to join PGA so that I improve my cold outreach strategy and get to that 10k mark.

[properbrandco]

I opened YouTube to put some binaural beats on and work on my client's LinkedIn posts.
Now I'm hooked here and can't wait to apply all of those lessons to the ghostwriting agency I'm building.

[lighto]

This is the most honest and insightful content I've experienced in a while!❤️

[ganapathyakshay]

Thank you for sharing your journey. One of the few writing based creators I follow on YouTube. This was a definitive road map!

[freedomcruiser]

Wow! Such an amazing journey 🤩
My biggest takeaways:
1. Positioning, pricing and packaging are inseparable, those are part of the offer.
2. Scaling too fast and too soon could ruin your work life balance. Gotta have a mentor so you can get there faster while avoiding certain pitfalls. Another reason why it's great to join PGA and start doing ghostwriting 🙌

[earleyad]

Every time I watch one of your videos I learn something new, even if it’s a story I’ve heard you tell before.

My biggest takeaway from this is how powerful story is to building a personal brand. And how powerful it is when you can say “here’s exactly how I did it the hard way. But, I can show you how to do it the easy way”
The synergy between an offer the plans into your personal brand shows how much effort you’ve put into this business.

[EcomCarl]

Impressive journey—scaling from a studio apartment to a thriving agency speaks to the power of perseverance! Packaging and pricing are essential; focusing on creating high-value service packages is a game-changer for consistent growth. 🚀

[BeccaIsaacson]

This is your best video, IMO. I want to join PGA for your mentorship. Not enough people talk about what they do wrong, but you did. That's equally as important as what to do right.

[madebymahad]

I’m going into STAGE 3 but been overthinking of my next step - 10x income or 1/10 time. Definitely want more time for my personal life. Thanks for the advice.

[amandaamaral]

This video is gold!! I’ve watched twice already.

[ArlansYourFirstMillion]

I know this is random, but it's so interesting to me how much you've become more comfortable in your videos since November 2023. I noticed it in your hands (November was wringing, today is more expressive and free). Curious if you noticed a change in the past 6 months, too? I'm studying a ton of YouTubers as I've started taking it more seriously the past 6 months, and find your content to be extremely helpful, even though I'm not your target client.

[donatacijntje]

Super impressive! Currently going through PGA…. This makes it so tangible what’s possible….!

[TheKarmsheel]

Excellent video showcasing the classic entrepreneurs journey - so many hard learned lessons! Also shows how valuable a coach/ mentor can be when building a business to prevent you from making all the mistakes yourself! Definitely the main reason I want to join PGA - to learn from and be guided by those that have gone before me.

[UsmanNizami-nkxe]

I've started reading your book ( The art and businesss of Ghostwriting), joined you free PGA group, followed you on Instagram, subscribed to your YT, watched your first full length video.

It seemed far more educational and practical than my 4 year bachelors degree, Lol.

I've been doing copywriting for almost 4 years, and since then I am struggling to sclae.

Ghostwriting seems more promising to me right now. I wanna go all in.

[lailaatmane]

What a story, ride and worthwhile journey you've been on! Thanks for living it, so you could come back and share with us.
That's alchemy!

PGA for writers seems to be the equivalent of what the 'lean startup' was for entrepreneurs back in the day.