How to Get Hired by One of the Country’s Top Financial Publishers
Last week, I let you in on what Bob Bly looks for when he hires a freelance copywriter.
Today, I’ll give you another perspective. This time from Mike Palmer … the man who heads up the writing team at Stansberry & Associates, Agora’s largest and most successful publishing franchise.
If your goal is to write financial copy, you can do no better than to know what’s happening at S&A.
Mike’s developed a system for finding and training writers that’s fast becoming the standard for creating world-class, in-house copy teams.
Qualities Mike looks for in new hires:
- An obvious hard worker. (Did they work in college? Do they do more than most at their current job?)
- Someone motivated by money.
- Someone who has had at least one “crappy” job … so they’ll appreciate how great the writer’s life is.
- Someone who is passionate about ideas … movies … books.
And this one is key …
- Someone who is a buyer.
Think about that. Are you a buyer? Do you get swept up in a great sales pitch … even if you know you’re being sold? Mike believes that this is a critical impulse successful direct-response writers need to have to be able to relate to their prospects. It gives you an edge … an excitement about the product that can’t be faked.
I know lots of great copywriters. And most of them are also great buyers. (If you meet Paul Hollingshead at Bootcamp, ask him about the $3,000 massage chairs he had to have from Sharper Image!)
Once Mike finds this hard-working, motivated-by-money, happy-to-be-a-writer buyer who is passionate about ideas, movies and books …
… he puts them into a training program that starts with …
- Taking AWAI’s Basic and Masters Copywriting programs.
- A 6-month reading list of advertising classics that include Caples, Hopkins, Ogilvy, and (his personal favorite) Breakthrough Advertising by Gene Schwartz. Stephen King’s On Writing is on the list too.
Plus, he has them do two more things that I urge you to start doing today (if you aren’t doing them already) …
- Write an ad or a bullet every day. (Don’t even question this. Just do it. If you don’t have a product to write for, write ads and/or bullets for the copywriting program … for one of your favorite products … for your own self-marketing materials.)
- Break down the architecture of a control on a regular basis. Spread the letter out and, next to each section, write what’s going on from a copy standpoint. Did the writer make a promise, introduce a new benefit, offer proof … ? (Mike points out that not only will you get great insights into the flow and rhythm of successful letters, you’ll actually end up with “templates” you can use for your own letters.)
One more thing …
Mike asked me to let you know that he’s looking to add several new copywriters to his team. These are full-time staff positions … meaning you have to be willing to work in S&A’s Baltimore office for a few years. It’s a dream opportunity.
If you’re interested, send him a note at MPalmer@stansberryresearch.com. Be persuasive!
How to Land Clients in 21 Days with Just Your Computer
How do I land my first client? It’s a question every aspiring freelancer asks eventually. Now, there’s a proven system for landing clients that removes the guesswork. Best of all? No cold calling. Learn More »
“I’ve owned several small businesses before, but didn’t like the fixed schedule and other limitations (not to mention having to work every holiday). I feel much less restrained and free to create now.”
If yes, you could be in big demand, earning big money, writing just a few hours a day from anywhere in the world you choose to be.
Get Nick Usborne’s step-by-step system for creating money-making information websites.
In just 6 hours and 35 minutes, you can be in business earning $60 – $150 an hour writing simple resumes.
Learn the secrets behind succeeding in this in-demand career.
The work is plentiful … the pay scales are generous and the competition is scarce!
Get the answers to the hundreds of questions and concerns commonly asked in specific, step-by-step details.
Use this eight-step plan to make the leap from aspiring copywriter to professional copywriter this year.
Let your fellow AWAI members show you firsthand the easiest, most powerful way to land your first client … BEFORE you finish the program.
Writing for the web is a huge opportunity for copywriters. Let web expert Nick Usborne show you how to write blockbuster web copy in record time … even if you're a complete internet “rookie”!
It’s an opportunity to make $50,000, $75,000, $100,000 a year or more … working just a few hours a day.
A once complicated profession is now something you can do on a standard computer – even if you have little or no “artistic” ability.
It’s one thing to have a website. But if your website can’t be found by the search engines, it may as well not exist.
The Internet creates new income possibilities every day. The biggest among them: online video marketing.
Get the very techniques top-performing copywriters use to rattle off one groundbreaking control after another.
In his new book, Michael Masterson teaches you his very own formula for powerful persuasion and how to apply it to direct mail sales letters as well as online promotions.
Guest, Leave a Reply
Please Note: Your comments will be visible by everyone.