How Two Men Earned $8 Million a Year Using AI

In March 2024, Google removed over 800 sites from its search results.

The evaporated advertising revenue totaled $446,552 per month. That is approximately 67 million yen (calculated at 150 yen per dollar; the same applies below).

The deleted sites were mass-producing articles using ChatGPT.

Meanwhile, during the same period.

There is a duo continuing to earn an annual revenue of about 1.2 billion yen ($8 million) using the same AI.

Nicolas Cole and Dickie Bush. They run one of the world's largest writing businesses.

Let me tell you upfront: it's not a difference in prompts.

The tools they use are almost identical.

In this article, I will thoroughly dissect the decisive difference that separated this "heaven and hell," digging into primary English-language sources and interview videos.

It's long, so I recommend saving it if you want to look back later.

Conclusion: The difference lies "before the AI"

I'll give you the conclusion first.

The side that was deleted outsourced things they had never done before to AI.

The side that earned millions used AI to accelerate things they had been doing for 10 years.

Cole himself stated this clearly in an interview with Ali Abdaal, who has millions of YouTube subscribers:

"The biggest misconception about AI is that everyone wants to automate things they've never done. You cannot automate what you haven't done."

I believe this is the essence of what I want to convey most today.

AI is not a tool to turn 0 into 1. It is a tool to turn 1 into 100.

From here, I will dissect the details of the incident and the earning methods of these two men in order.

1. Understanding the "Incident" in 30 Seconds

On March 5, 2024, Google announced a core update.

The stated goal was to "reduce unhelpful content by 40%."

Immediately after, the AI detection tool Originality.ai investigated about 79,000 sites, and the reality was revealed in numbers:

• Over 800 sites were completely removed from search results (de-indexed).
• 1,446 sites received manual penalties.
• 100% of the deleted sites showed traces of AI-generated content.
• In 50% of those, 90–100% of the posts were AI-generated.
• Total lost ad revenue was $446,552/month (approx. 67 million yen).
• Lost traffic was 21 million visits per month.

This happened overnight.

For those who read this and thought, "See, AI is no good," you are half right and half wrong.

Because there is a business that has proudly continued to grow its sales using the same tools.

2. The Two Who Grew Instead of Being Deleted

Nicolas Cole.

In 2015, he became the most-read writer worldwide on Quora. He then founded Digital Press, a ghostwriting company for executives, expanding it to $2 million in annual revenue and 23 employees, ghostwriting for over 300 executives.

Dickie Bush.

A former portfolio manager at BlackRock, the world's largest asset management firm. He started his writing business at age 25.

Here is the current state of the business they built together:

• Ship 30 for 30 (30-day writing course): Over 10,000 graduates, tuition approx. $350.
• Premium Ghostwriting Academy (training ghostwriters): Tuition approx. $6,800, with about 2,000 students.
• Write With AI: A paid newsletter at $20/month. Ranked 2nd in Substack's paid education category with over 200,000 readers.
• Monthly sales are $600k–$700k. In good months, $1 million. Recent annual revenue exceeds $8 million (approx. 1.2 billion yen).

Pay attention to "Write With AI."

What they are selling are "ChatGPT and Claude prompts."

These are the same tools used by the 800 sites Google deleted.

One side was judged as trash and deleted; the other is read by 200,000 people for $20 a month.

The tools are the same. The difference is the foundation of the human using them.

It's cruel, but it's reality.

That foundation can be broken down into four mechanisms.

3. Mechanism ①: "Category of One" – Don't Compete

The claim in Cole's book Snow Leopard is simple:

"Legendary writers create their own category."

Don't try to beat the competition. Step off the stage where you are compared.

In the interview, Cole said:

"Defining the difference in category is literally 90% of the battle."

He cited Ali Abdaal's book as an example.

If released as a "productivity book," it would be buried among countless masterpieces. But his book is Feel-Good Productivity. It's neither productivity nor time management; he invented a third category name. Thus, it isn't compared and wins alone.

Write With AI itself is an example of this.

It wasn't an "AI tool introduction" or a "writing course." It called itself a "specialized paper for people who write with AI," a category that didn't exist anywhere else at the time.

Translating this to your own content:

If you post about "AI utilization," you'll be compared to countless others. If you post about "AI time-saving management for solo entrepreneurs raising three children," there is no one to compare you to.

Multiply the target and the means to create your own shelf. This is the first mechanism.

4. Mechanism ②: Don't Defer Trust; "Pre-pay" It

The duo's SNS strategy is abnormally simple.

Post daily on X and LinkedIn, and place a "free educational email course" at the exit of the posts.

Then, give away your best expertise in that free course.

Cole's words are these:

"Free work at the beginning is essentially a marketing expense. The reward isn't zero. You are being paid in experience, trust, and pattern recognition."

The mass-produced sites deleted by Google made trust a "deferred payment." Give us traffic and ad revenue first; the content can be thin fluff for search engines. That was the design.

The side that earned millions "pre-paid" trust. Give away the best things for free first. Recovery follows naturally later.

I call this the "compound interest of trust." Pre-paid trust doesn't disappear. It builds up like a snowball and works for you later.

5. Mechanism ③: Turn One Idea into 12

There is a misunderstanding of the word "mass production."

These two also create content in large quantities. Their "Endless Idea Generator" framework is a system that expands one idea into 12 pieces of content in 10 minutes.

What's the difference from the deleted sites?

The mass-production sites were "0 Ideas × AI." They generated stories they had never done or verified from nothing.

The duo is "1 Proven Idea × AI." They expanded only topics that got a reaction or things they actually did into 12 directions.

Anything multiplied by zero is zero.

Here is my translation of this philosophy for Japanese SNS. Please copy and use it.

1[1 Idea → 12 Expansion Template (Ginji Translation)]: Choose one topic that got a reaction and expand it in the following formats: ① Short post with only the conclusion ② Numerical contrast type ③ Starting from a failure story ④ Full disclosure of procedures ⑤ Answering FAQs ⑥ Pre-emptively crushing counterarguments ⑦ Before & After type ⑧ Checklist type ⑨ Case study dissection ⑩ Quote + comment ⑪ "N things you shouldn't do" type ⑫ Long-form article (the parent of all)

The order is important. First, create one "proven idea" that gets a reaction. Expansion comes after.

6. Mechanism ④: A "Ladder" Where Every Level is Profitable

Their revenue structure is shaped like a ladder.

• $0: SNS posts, free email courses (pre-payment of trust)
• $20/mo: Write With AI (200,000 readers, ready-to-use prompts)
• Approx. $350: Ship 30 for 30 (Course to build a 30-day writing habit)
• Approx. $6,800: Premium Ghostwriting Academy (Professional ghostwriter training)

Every step is profitable on its own.

And notice that nowhere on this ladder is there "advertising revenue."

Even if Google's algorithm changes tomorrow, this business won't die. It runs solely on direct relationships with readers.

Meanwhile, the 800 deleted sites relied solely on ads. They placed all their assets in a place that could vanish at the platform's whim.

Cole is also clear about the order of product creation:

"Information products are something you create after you have actually done the work and provided it as a service."

It's not a matter of ability. It's a matter of order.

7. This is Not Just a Story from Overseas

And this isn't just about website management.

SNS posting and product creation operate on the exact same structure.

There are those who mass-produce posts with AI and have followers get bored, thinking, "Not this again."

And there are those who use AI to expand real experiences into 12 directions, building trust.

The enemy isn't AI. It's the structure.

Moreover, in the Japanese-speaking world, there are almost no posts dissecting these two's strategies to this extent.

Proven in the English-speaking world × No one is doing it in Japan yet.

You can only use this time gap now.

Summary

The two were only doing these four things:

1. Don't compete (Create a Category of One)
2. Pre-pay trust (Give away the best things for free)
3. Expand one proven idea into 12 pieces
4. Build a "ladder" that doesn't depend on ads

And at the foundation of everything is that ironclad rule:

"You cannot automate what you haven't done."

To be honest, their sales figures are self-reported and from media reports. You can take them with a grain of salt. Even so, what we can learn from this structure remains the same.

Your first step today is just one thing.

Write your next post not for a "search engine," but for "one reader with a face."

The foundation starts there.

Finally

What did you think?

One last thing.

Like these two, I have decided to give away my best things for free first.

For a limited time only.

I am giving away a set of "20 bonuses."

1. 11 complete strategy guides for Claude / Codex / ChatGPT / Gemini.
2. "100 God Prompts" that work just by copying and pasting.
3. 6 practical AI tools you can use immediately.
4. The entire process of launching an AI business and making 3.27 million yen in the first month.

Total of 20 items. And they are all free. You can get them all without attending seminars or free individual consultations.

In particular, with the popular slide creation GPTs, anyone can easily create slides like the following.

It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? But it's real.

To receive them, it's simple.

Start by joining the LINE Open Chat below.

Click here to start.

I'll be honest. These bonuses weren't completed in one go. I failed more than 50 times to finish them in a form anyone can use.

Let me say it one more time.

What you need isn't technology. It's just the foundation before you outsource to AI.

Why don't we end the exhaustion of outsourcing things we've never done to AI today?

References

• Originality.ai "Google's March 2024 Update: Websites Deindexed"
• Search Engine Journal "Google's March 2024 Core Update Impact: Hundreds Of Websites Deindexed"
• Creator Spotlight "He makes 600K/month from his writing courses" (Interview with Nicolas Cole)
• Write With AI (Substack) Official About Page
• Ship 30 for 30 Official Site
• Ali Abdaal "How to Make $10k/Month as a Writer - Nicolas Cole" (YouTube Interview)
• Category Pirates Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create A Category Of One (2022)
• Dickie Bush LinkedIn Post (Reporting 200,000 readers for Write With AI)

Currency converted at 150 yen per dollar. Revenue figures are based on self-reported values and third-party research and do not guarantee results.