It is deeply personal: the author uses himself as a succesful "case study" for each of the points he makes. He also signals clearly when something he says is an opinion, a fact or an analysis, and most of the time provides convincing arguments. It does not give false promises: Beating the game takes a hell lot of work. Every day. For as long as you want to play it. And really beating the game will involve playing different games, in different scenarios, with different skills. Well, I’ve learned a lot. Most of his ideas I’m still wrestling with, but it’s definitely a book worth its weight in gold. I was hoping he could explore the topic of writing on the internet for people who haven’t lost their attention span, even though it would be for a smaller portion of the population. Likewise, I’ve been writing on Quora for a few days now and it’s absolutely saturated with copy-paste Facebook memes, and between that and racist/sexist comments on there, it seems that Quora is more of a toxic social media platform than a platform for writers. So I don’t quite see his enthusiasm for it.

Of course, one could just look through Cole's catalogue of Quora posts, Medium articles and Tweets to see this in action. But, Cole has thoughtfully curated his most successful posts and explained the techniques and structures that make them work so that you don't have to hunt for every article and study it on your own. This book contains everything I know about online writing,” says Cole. “From going viral, to building a massive library of content that will continue to pay you dividends well into the future.” In this book you will learn: I liked the book because it gives you a perspective on writing. I have begun incorporating it into my own writing - 1000 plus views on Quora in the first month. This book spills the secrets on Coles meteoric success - a method he's proven in his own life, and one which many writers in his highly-regarded online courses have emulated. (Just look at the testimonials on Ship30for30 if you don't believe me!)

He also relies far too much on his own experience to support his arguments. In other words, almost everything he says is justified by little more than "this approach happened to work really well for me, so therefore it must be the way all other people should do it too, regardless of their skills, goals, or circumstances." That's not how an expert teaches. That's just incidental success that may not be repeatable in principle for others.

Cole has a lot of great info on how to build an online presence and begin monetizing it. The biggest takeaway I had was how most creators try to monetize too early. Cole put a heavy emphasis on building an audience and figuring out what they want before ever asking for a dollar. I found myself recognizing some of the tactics used by the successful creators I follow. Also, has a LOT of examples and templates that you can use to get started. It's been a while since I've been so hooked with a non-fiction book.The more unexpected the style, in the context of your category, the more likely you are to stand out." Initially, that was a big yawn. Then I reached a section where I actually needed a bazillion examples of how to follow his advice. I had to read every single one of them to reach that essential "ah-HA!" moment. This book contains everything I know about online writing,” says Cole. “From going viral, to building a massive library of content that will continue to pay you dividends well into the future.” Either the writer isn't being specific enough about their category, or the content of their writing isn't speaking specifically to their target reader." How to create your own “Content Roadmap,” and position yourself as an influential voice in your industry or niche.