TCC Podcast: From College to Copywriter (with Stansberry) with Allison Comotto

We’re sneaking in an episode between 75 and 76 this week, because copywriter Allison Comotto is speaking at the The Copywriter Club In Real Life event this week and we wanted to introduce her before she takes the stage. She’s given us a sneak preview of her presentation and let’s just say we’re really looking forward to it. In this interview, Rob and Kira ask her about: •  how she got hired as an in-house copywriter right out of college •  the rigorous interview process she went through •  what the day-to-day work is like as a new copywriter at Stansberry •  her advice about how to “get the gig” and what not to do •  the importance of having a mentor as you start your copy career •  the difference between the various Agora companies •  the biggest surprise she’s had since starting her job at Stansberry •  how she’s taken on new responsibilities over the past 8 months •  what her copywriting process looks like •  the place that formulas and frameworks play in the Stansberry writing process •  the big lesson about failure that she learned early on •  how she finds the “big ideas” for her copy •  the size of the opportunity for copywriters at Agora •  what compensation looks like at Stansberry (she shares the numbers) As we were wrapping up our interview, Allison “went off script” and told us what she really thinks about living and working in Baltimore. And she shared an assignment for any listeners who might want work for Stansberry Research. Ready for this one? Click the play button below, or scroll down for a full transcript.   The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: Stansberry Copy Bootcamp Stansberry Research Mike Palmer End of America Patrick Bove Agora Joe Schriefer Agora’s Recruiter Email: talent@14west.us Allison’s LinkedIn Kira’s website Rob’s website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group Intro: Content (for now) Outro: Gravity   Full Transcript: Rob: What if you could hang out with seriously talented copywriters, ask them about their successes and failures, their work processes and their habits, then steal an idea or two to inspire your own work? That’s what Kira and I do every week at The Copywriter Club podcast. Kira: You’re invited to join the club for a special unnumbered episode, as we talk with in-house copywriter Allison Comotto about how she ended up working as a copywriter, landing a job at Stansberry Research, what she does on a daily basis, and whether the Agora companies really are the mecca of copywriting. Kira: Welcome Allison. Rob: Hey Allison! Allison: Hey, thanks for having me! Kira: It’s great to have you, Allison. So, let’s start with your story, and how you ended up as a copywriter. Allison: I mean, I know that a lot of people say that they kind of fall into a career, especially in something like copywriting, but I mean, there is really no other way to describe the way I kind of fell; it’s a very short, steep hill in me becoming a copywriter. I was a senior at Hopkins last spring, and I was in the thick of the senior-year job hunt, and I was a writing major. So my whole focus was in poetry, and professional writing, which definitely had more of a corporate feel. So I was writing everything from marketing plans to persuasive papers, that kind of thing. And then I did a minor in marketing communication, because I really like the creativity of marketing, how it is constantly evolving...it was really nice foil to all the liberal arts classes I was taking along with them. And as for general work experience, obviously it was limited because I was still in college, but it was all mostly in PR and communications, so I was a PR intern at a local ad agency. That was a very traditional PR, like, cold-calling small-newspapers across the country and getting hung up on. That kind of thing. And then I was a global communications intern for UnderArmor, which was kind of a fancy description of someone who packed up and sent dozens of pairs of shoes to important magazines, and other media outlets all over the world. So I liked PR a lot, and I think it’s a great field for someone who loves people like they do. But when you’re in PR, the story kind of arrives on your lap fully baked, and all that’s left to do it put it out. And I had a much greater interest in crafting the story myself, and this route all four years of college, and, even at these sort of more pigeon-holed internships, I found myself kind of hustling my way into what I realize now are more copy-oriented projects. I wrote blogs for Hopkins submissions; I wrote website copy for Under Armor’s B-to-B websites; kind of of whisked myself onto all the creatives at the ad agency I was working at, so, really anything I could do to take more ownership of that, more appealing storytelling component of marketing PR, that was what I wanted to do. And then sort of out of the blue, thanks to some sort of algorithm, I got an email from Glassdoor about the Stansberry Copywriter Boot-camp. I would strongly encourage anybody to Google that job description because it is straight-up awesome copy. It was essentially a sales letter from Mike Palmer encouraging you to give copy a try, if you were a voracious reader, a really hard worker, a self-starter, an entrepreneur looking for a home...and it essentially sounded like an opportunity to get paid, get your PhD and what’s arguably the most pervasive and lucrative writing and storytelling that there is. And he didn’t mention anything about finance or experience level, which is great, because I had none of that; like, a really high-based salary for somebody straight out of college looking at agency positions. And I remember I sent it to my mom, and I was like, “I don’t have the complete picture, but who does this sound like? I have got to try this.” So I sent him everything and heard back about a week later, and for the boot-camp itself, we had to submit, something like ten ads, and two leads, and flat portrayals for a couple of their most successful packages at that time. I totally thought I was in over my head. I had no idea what an “advertorial” was. I didn’t know a thing about finance or the stock market. I’d been reading poetry for four years in the library. And I was really just doing as much reading and research as I could possibly fit alongside midterms for those two weeks of prep and just got sick, most of it. The boot-camp itself was kind of crazy intense, a two-day affair. It started with a happy hour, and like, there was something like four hundred applicants laying by the back fifteen. And I remember sort of mingling and learning everybody’s name and background and I watched them just kind of write me off as soon as I mentioned that I was still in college and had absolutely zero experience at anything close to writing long-form direct sales copy, especially in the financial sector. Then the next day we took all the work that we had submitted as like, for the back assignments for the boot-camp. And we edited it all in groups; there’s really intense group breakout sessions. And I remember just trying to contribute as much as humanly possible, and I know I really recalled that half of my sessions were marked as either “neutral” or actually having a negative effect on the copy we were reviewing. But it just meant more to get you thoughts and feelings out there, and trying to be remembered after the interview and, we had these speed-dating interviews with every member of the Stansberry copy team; we went to a baseball game... I mean it was really something else, in terms of any job interview that I had ever had. And then, on the following Wednesday, I just got called in for a very intense one-on-one interview with Mike, and that night they offered me the job, and then, I’ve been kind of trying to learn copy and I go that uphill battle ever sense. Rob: So, I’m assuming you had no idea that Agora or Stansberry was this awesome place to develop copywriters, where copywriters around the world really want to work... you just kind of found it through sheer luck, in some ways? Allison: Yeah, and it’s funny because, the summer after my sophomore year of college, I actually worked at an internship at Agora without even really understanding what that meant. It was this editorial position; I did social media, and posted e-letters and stuff like that, for like five hours a day for like three months. And all of their copywriters were freelance, so I just never even looked at copy, touched copy, did not understand that side of the business at all; never watched a BSL... So it’s crazy to kind of put together this picture and be like, “Wait, I ended up back here? And I’m a copywriter here now? And, I’m working in finance as opposed to health?” And so I had gotten this little piece, but it was nothing like what’s like to be a copywriter. That’s the story. Rob: Yeah, I love the story. So, I want to know week one, you know, first day, second day...did you jump into copy? I imagine you’re drinking from the fire hose. Tell us about those first few days. Allison: For sure, yeah. They were definitely thrown into the deep end and start treading water kind of situations. So, we initially were structured where we each had a copy mentor who was one of the more experienced. We called them experience-juniors or experience writers; they’ve been around writing copy for four, five, six years. My mentor was out for the first week. So, I definitely felt like I was sitting there, not really twiddling my thumbs because we had assignments we had to work on everyday, so I wrote a list one day, an editorial the next day, a lead the next day, and we would sort peer review with all of our other juniors there. There are six juniors on the team, four hired from the copy boot-camp, and two others came in a little before that, but we’re all pretty much the same experience level. And so,