Podcast Summary: Coffee With Cole: The Digital Writing Podcast

Episode: How to Focus, Specialize, and Scale Without Burning Out
Host: Nicolas Cole
Date: October 22, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

This week’s live “hot seat” episode features deep, practical discussions with digital writers and ghostwriters at various stages of building their businesses. The focus: how to measure early success, learn and iterate without burning out, and productize your services to scale profitably and sustainably. Topics covered include metrics that matter, outreach realities, conference networking, time management, specializing, and avoiding the freelancer trap. The tone is candid, supportive, and intensely practical, with Cole guiding participants through mindset shifts around volume, patience, and simplifying your offer.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early Success Metrics in Digital Writing Funnels

• Guest (Makita) asked if she should be worried after a client’s new Email Education Campaign (EEC) only landed one booked call out of 280 opt-ins.
• Cole’s response: The first and main measure of success is building and launching the EEC itself — “The client wasn’t doing it, now they are. That’s a win.” (06:00)
• Industry-standard conversion rates are 0.5%–1.5%; one call from 200 opt-ins is within normal range.
• Systems like EECs should be given a long-term view — “This could run for two years, not just two weeks.” (08:47)
• Advice for improvement: run bottleneck analysis, improve or extend the follow-up sequence, add testimonials, and continue iterating.
  Quote:

“You built the thing. You accomplished it. You achieved someone taking action over a relatively short period of time. The funnel’s working.”
— Cole (09:00)

2. Outreach Reality: Desensitizing to Volume and Embracing Repetition

• Boris expressed concern about low response rates after 116 outreach messages.
• Cole: Normalize the numbers — for every 100 DMs, expect 10 responses and 1 client. Many underestimate how much outreach is required.
• Skills and context matter: some get faster results, but “it doesn’t mean the strategy is broken.”
• Follow-up is critical (10 nudges or more!); treat prospects as friends who deserve reminders. Quotes:

“The number one thing I see people struggle with is doing the level of volume required.”
— Cole (21:00)
“Every person is a potential friend. Pretend you’re already friends, and you’d follow up until they got it.”
— Cole (20:00)

3. Conferences & In-Person Networking: When and How to Leverage

• Derek worries about making a big investment for a first conference.
• Cole’s advice:
  • Shadow people already succeeding (ask to “tag along” at a conference and observe their approach).
  • Medium-small events (50–150 attendees) are best — high-value networking and more depth.
  • Big-ticket, ultra-targeted workshops can be worth it, but everyday big conferences (1,000+) are not always efficient.
  • Specializing—even arbitrarily—helps you stand out and often attracts adjacent clients, not just your “niche.” Quotes:

“Just by saying you specialize makes you stand out and makes other people assume you can help them, too.”
— Cole (30:14)
“Simplicity is velocity.”
— Cole (1:00:00)

4. Productizing Services vs. Freelancer Trap

• Andre asked how to justify building an EEC for clients without a social following or web traffic.
• Cole: You are not responsible for solving every business problem. Focus on the piece you’re hired for — “specialize in one thing.”
• Clients (and freelancers) often “round down to zero” when there’s “some” but not “a lot of” traffic. Even 1,500 monthly site visits is not zero.
• Explain that your service (EEC, in this case) takes them from not collecting or leveraging leads/emails—to doing so, which is a huge shift. Quotes:

“The exact moment I started making real, real money... was the day I said, ‘I do nothing else but one thing.’”
— Cole (42:00)
“The more you specialize, the faster you move.”
— Cole (1:00:00)

5. Time Management, Prioritizing, and Avoiding Burnout

• Roman struggles with balancing a legacy client retainer, outreach, family, and life.
• Cole:
  • Don’t sacrifice health, sleep or relationships if possible.
  • Free up time from lowest-impact activities (TV, hobbies) or from old legacy clients who demand too much.
  • The path to growth is specializing and moving towards productized premium services, not endless “retainer black boxes.”
  • Letting go of legacy (retainer) clients is scary but often necessary to scale.
  • Appetite for risk is personal: some fill new client roster before letting go; others cut the cord sooner and invest freed-up time. Quote:

“The problem you’re feeling now is a ball and chain you signed yourself up for in the past.”
— Cole (52:34)

6. Free Work: How and Why to Do It

• Cole’s advice: Don’t feel compelled to do “a whole month” of free work.
  • In social: offer one week’s content as a teaser.
  • In EEC: write just Day 1 or outline the sequence to show quality and future possibilities.
  • Always “future pace” — show them what they’re missing and offer to build the rest for pay. Quote:

“With free work, give them enough so they understand the value and can see the future. But don’t do it all.”
— Cole (57:00)

Timestamps for Notable Segments

• 00:00–02:05 | Introduction, overview of hot seat format, welcome to newcomers
• 02:05–11:30 | Makita’s EEC funnel: metrics, measuring success, and first conversions
• 11:53–21:49 | Boris’ outreach challenge: expectation-setting, volume, and follow-ups
• 23:21–31:50 | Derek’s conference dilemma: in-person strategy, event types, and specializing
• 32:37–46:36 | Andre’s “incomplete solutions,” selling EECs to low-traffic clients, and specialization
• 47:00–58:15 | Roman’s time management and letting go of old clients to scale
• 58:15–End | Lightning round of key takeaways from attendees

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The first measure of success is... the client wasn’t doing it, now they are. That’s a win.” — Cole (06:00)
• “For every 100 outreach messages you send, an amazing outcome is getting 10 responses and 1 client.” — Cole (15:00)
• “Every person is a potential friend. Pretend you’re already friends, follow up until they get it.” — Cole (20:00)
• “I started making real money the day I specialized and only did one thing.” — Cole (42:00)
• “Simplicity is velocity.” — Cole (1:00:00)
• “The path to growth is productized services, not endless retainer black boxes.” — Cole (52:34)

Participant Takeaways (Summary at End)

• “There’s always a problem to solve.”
• “Do one thing and one thing only—the more you specialize, the faster you move.”
• “Now it’s all about the volume.”
• “Don’t be a jack of all trades.”
• “Measuring 0 to 1: you weren’t doing it, now you are.”
• “Treat every client as a friend.”

Episode Tone & Final Thoughts

Candid and encouraging, Cole champions the long game, realistic expectations, and focusing on the “one thing” for sustainable success. He urges digital writers to embrace repetition, productize their offer, and focus on what only they can control—without falling into the trap of doing too much or expecting instant rewards. This is essential listening for anyone building a digital writing or ghostwriting business—rich with mindset shifts and actionable advice.