Premium Ghostwriting Academy Review: What Are Nicolas Cole's 3 Pillars of Success? + A Passive Alternative
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Premium Ghostwriting Academy teaches you how to write educational email courses, newsletters, and social media content. It also goes over how to position, package, and prospect your offer so you can attract high-paying clients. It's a very detailed course with lots of support. However, it's way too expensive at $6,800 for what it teaches. I mean, you can easily find cheaper or even free resources on how to become a premium ghostwriter. Besides that, ghostwriting isn't a passive or the most lucrative business model. Landing a client who pays big is harder than it used to be because of AI content writers. Plus, you have to spend your days writing nonstop. This is why I chose a more passive and secure business model like local lead generation instead of ghostwriting.
Premium Ghostwriting Academy is Nicolas Cole’s online course that teaches you how to land clients who pay well for your writing, even if you have zero experience. The training is built around Nicolas’ “3P” framework: Positioning, Packaging, and Prospecting. With this, he promises you can find clients willing to pay $5,000 for your service.
Premium Ghostwriting Academy reviews are mostly positive online. You can find several videos and written testimonials on its sales page. One student says, “I recommend any writer who wants to stop feeling underpaid to join.” People on Reddit also have good things to say about the course. However, there is some negative feedback about the lack of support and the upsells.
As someone who uses copywriting and content creation for my own business, my opinion on Premium Ghostwriting Academy is that it’s like starting a taxi company in Chicago right when Uber took off. Writing is an industry that is quickly becoming obsolete with AI content writers. And even if you do find some clients who want human writers, you’re still a ghostwriter. You’re doing all the work behind the scenes while someone else gets credit and recognition for it. You’re not building lasting assets for yourself. On top of that, you’re still clocking time every day to get income, rather than bringing it in with little to no effort.
In this Premium Ghostwriting Academy review, I cover what’s inside, how the 3P framework works, the pros and cons, pricing, who Nicolas Cole is, what students are saying, and whether it’s worth it. At the end, I compare ghostwriting to a more passive business called local lead generation.
What Do You Get Inside Premium Ghostwriting Academy?
Full-stack ghostwriting service. PGA teaches three core services: 5-day educational email courses (EEC), newsletters, and social media content. First, you learn to build EECs, which they call a revenue-critical asset for any business. Then they show you how to turn that project into monthly newsletter and social content retainers, so you can sell a full content package at premium rates.
Private Slack channel. You’re given your own private Slack space where you can message the team, ask questions, submit your work, and schedule 1:1 calls with your coach.
9-module curriculum hosted in Skool. This is your main study guide. Instead of a regular online course, where you just read everything, it comes with assignments after each module. You have to submit this to your Slack channel for your coach to give feedback on it. So it’s a very interactive course.
Community. You’ll join a community of hundreds of writers, from complete beginners to seasoned ghostwriters. This is a great opportunity to build a supportive professional network.
Live mentorship. Premium Ghostwriting Academy hosts 4 live one-hour Zoom sessions each week. Here, they talk about niche, content, tech, automation, sales, outreach, hot seat, and workshops.
Premium Ghostwriting Blueprint. This is a FREE 5-day email course. It walks you through landing your first $5,000 ghostwriting client, even as a complete beginner.
Are Premium Ghostwriting Academy Students Successful?
Premium Ghostwriting Academy students are successful, according to reviews and testimonials. In a YouTube video with Nicolas Cole, PGA student Matthew Brown shared that he started out freelancing for a ghostwriting agency. Back then, he only made $2,500 to $6,000 per month. But after signing up for Premium Ghostwriting Academy, he is now a 5-figure ghostwriter and earns an average revenue of $40,000 per month. “I’d attribute a large portion of it to PGA,” he tells Nicolas.
Another student, Kelsey, says she was a bit hesitant to join Premium Ghostwriting Academy since it was expensive. But after seeing the progress of her friend, she decided to invest. 6 weeks later, she landed a client for $3,300. She also says she has a lot more clarity and confidence in her offer now.
One Reddit user says that he made $70k from ghostwriting the previous year, thanks to Premium Ghostwriting Academy. He was earning enough that his wife didn’t need to find another job and could stay home with their newborn while he covered all the bills. But it was a grind, as he had to juggle copywriting with his work-from-home customer support job.
Louis Araga also shared a PGA review on his YouTube channel, The Solo Ghostwriter. He praises the course for being well built and says he’s learning a lot from it. However, Louis also admits that he still hasn’t achieved success as a ghostwriter.
What Are Premium Ghostwriting Academy Complaints?
Premium Ghostwriting Academy complaints are about the high price and lack of support. One Redditor even called it an obvious scam and a waste of money. He calls Nicolas a salesman who says anything to get you to spend almost $7,000.
Another Reddit user said Cole doesn’t really show up on the weekly calls anymore, and their questions never get answered. That cost them a lot of potential clients. They also wished Cole would focus more on Premium Ghostwriting Academy instead of the many upsells like Liftoff.
Who Is Nicolas Cole?
Nicolas Cole is a successful writer, teacher, and co-founder of multiple writing businesses. He is known as one of the highest-paid ghostwriters in the world.
Nicolas has been obsessed with writing since he started publishing online at 17. He first blogged about his experiences as a World of Warcraft gamer. In 2015, he became the #1 most-read writer on Quora. In 2016, he was one of Inc Magazine’s highest-performing contributing writers.
Nicolas decided to turn his passion into a full-scale business. He co-founded Digital Press, which he describes as the first ghostwriting agency focused on thought-leadership content for founders and executives. Within 2 years, he scaled it to around $2M in annual revenue and 20+ employees. Besides that, Nicolas has ghostwritten for 300+ industry leaders.
To help other writers and even non-writers follow his path, Nicolas co-founded Premium Ghostwriting Academy with his business partner, Dickie Bush, along with other digital writing programs like Ship 30 for 30, Write With AI, and several smaller ghostwriting offers. He also publishes free content on YouTube, social media, his Substack newsletters, and Coffee With Cole: The Digital Writing Podcast. Here, he talks about the art and business of digital writing and ghostwriting.
Who Is Dickie Bush?
Dickie Bush is Nicolas Cole’s business partner and co-founder of several of his main offers. He’s more of the behind-the-scenes guy. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t a successful writer, too. Dickie says he operates a $6M/year and even $600k/month digital writing operation. On top of the courses, he publishes regularly on X and Substack (“Dickie’s Digest”) and hosts the “Dickie Bush Audio” podcast, where he talks about digital writing, systems, and building leverage as a creator.
What Does Nicolas Cole Promise?
Nicolas Cole promises that anyone can become a premium ghostwriter and earn over $5,000 to $8,000 per month. With his Premium Ghostwriting Academy course and guidance, he teaches students how to write educational email courses. Because these are revenue-critical assets for any business owner, you can charge premium prices for your writing services.
Can Anyone Become a Premium Ghostwriter?
Yes, anyone can become a premium ghostwriter, but only excellent writers who actually enjoy writing can succeed. Today, potential clients can easily fire up AI in seconds. You have to be noticeably better than AI content, not just “good enough”. That means sharp ideas, clear structure, and a voice that sounds persuasive. Without this, you’ll have a hard time convincing big clients to trust you, let alone hire and pay you a huge salary.
Sure, Premium Ghostwriting Academy teaches you how to write and package your offer, but you also need to love writing. As a ghostwriter, most of your days are spent at the keyboard cranking out words, revising drafts, and thinking about clients’ ideas, not your own. This isn’t some set-and-forget business model. It’s a daily, hands-on grind, and if you don’t genuinely enjoy writing, it’s going to feel like another job you can’t escape.
Even if you’re an excellent writer who loves the job, a strong writing portfolio is still necessary. Writing coach Elna Cain says clients expect ghostwriters to “be a chameleon.” You have to be able to quickly adapt to other writing styles. One Reddit user points out that ghostwriting today is intensely competitive. Attracting high-value clients is difficult without a large and diverse portfolio. Ghostwriters may only increase their rates as they satisfy clients and gain more experience.
Why Local Lead Generation Is Better Than Ghostwriting?
Local lead generation is better than ghostwriting because it’s easier to land high-paying clients, and it’s a much more passive business model. With local lead gen, you’re not a newbie ghostwriter competing with established writers. Instead, you’re a digital real estate owner who builds small business websites. Your goal is to rank these sites on Google by targeting a specific area and niche. Once you reach the top local search engine rankings, your site will attract traffic and leads. You sell these leads to actual businesses in the area. From my experience, local lead gen clients are happy to pay a fixed monthly fee or a 5-10% cut of the deals they close from your leads.
Here’s a side-by-side breakdown for local lead generation vs ghostwriting:
Local Lead Generation | Ghostwriting | |
|---|---|---|
💰 Income Type | Recurring & passive. Get paid monthly like rent. | Active & transactional. Paid per project/client. |
📈 Client Value Over Time | Increases over time. Clients stay for months or years. | Starts over with every new client. |
🧑💻 Daily Workload | Front-loaded (build once, maintain lightly). | Daily writing, editing, and researching. |
🧲 How You Get Clients | Offer instant high-quality leads that are hard to resist. | Cold outreach, DMs, follow-ups, and rejection. |
🎯Niche Targeting | Super localized. Rank for keywords like "Plumber in Austin" and dominate. | General founders and executives for educational email courses, newsletters, and social media content. |
🏆 Competition Level | Low - most small biz owners don’t know SEO. | High - fighting for space with seasoned writers. |
🧠 Skill Learning Curve | Simple 3-step process: Build, Rank, and Rent/Sell. | Requires real writing talent + sales skills. |
📈 Scalability | Stack 10+ sites → $50K/mo+ potential. | Always trading time for money → hard to scale fast. |
🤖 AI Disruption Risk | Very low. AI can't promise actual leads to businesses. | Very high. Clients often want AI to do the writing work now. |
⏳ Time Freedom | High. Sites run passively after ranking. | Low. Income stops if you stop writing. |
📍 Ownership | You own the site = You own the asset. | You're invisible = your client gets all the credit. |
In my opinion, ghostwriting is like being the backstage crew for Coldplay. You set up the stage. You test the mics. You run the lights. You make sure the entire show goes off without a hitch. BUT nobody knows your name, you’re not earning royalties, you don’t own any part of the songs, and you’re invisible to the audience.
Meanwhile, local lead generation is like being the owner of MetLife Stadium. Once built, you don’t need to sing, write, or show up on stage. But guess what? Every time there’s a concert (a lead), every time someone buys a ticket (a business closes a sale), every time someone walks through the door (traffic from Google), you get paid.
Local Lead Generation Is My #1 Business For Passive Income
Local lead generation is my #1 business for passive income because it allows me to enjoy myself without any worries. Consider my website, Thousand Oaks Custom Metal & Electric Gates, 1022 East Avenida De Los Arboles, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360, 805-800-8922 https://www.thousandoaksmetalgates.com/. The leads from this site generate about $44,000 each month for my client, who then pays me a 10% commission of about $4,400. This is entirely passive. I did the bulk of my work on the front end and now watch income roll in.
If you’re interested, I run a local lead gen coaching program with over 7,4000 students. I teach my repeatable 3-step process to ensure profitability and scalability. Go check it out! You can also work for one of my roofing clients for a 1% to 5% commission.
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Ippei Kanehara
Founder/CEO
$52K per month providing lead generation services to small businesses
Ippei.com is for digital hustlers, industry leaders and online business owners.
His #1 online business recommendation in 2024, is to build your own lead generation business.