I was on a plane last week.

Flying to San Francisco. (My best friend had a baby girl.)

I was sitting in an aisle seat, reading, chewing leftover ice from my drink, shifting. 

I had to pee. 

I got up and walked to the back of the plane. There was a line. I stopped and waited and looked at the people. 

One guy to my left was bearded and balding, older. His shirt said, “What if the hokey pokey really is what it’s all about?” I read it and pursed my lips.

Pokey picked his nose. 

It was a sudden, deep, violent assault on his left nostril. I stared at him, shocked and impressed. 

He was reading on an iPad. I looked at the screen and recognized the Agora Financial logo…

Agora Financial is a big, successful direct-response copywriting company.

Agora’s copywriters create print and digital publications about “alternative” investment strategies. Investors interested in metals, emerging technologies, and small-cap stocks read Agora for advice, predictions, analysis.

I subscribe to one of their newsletters, The Daily Reckoning, because I like studying the copy.

Here’s one email from early 2019:

Joe Schriefer is the Copy Chief at Agora Financial. 

I know this because he was a guest on Copywriter’s Podcast with David Garfinkel. 

“Every other copywriter I talk to wants to become a copywriter at Agora Financial,” said David. “So I don’t know if you have any job openings but if someone wants to do that… what would you suggest?”

“I’m always hiring copywriters,” said Joe. “My team will never be big enough.”

Then Joe told David the 3 qualities that make copywriters at Agora Financial (arguably the best copywriters in the world) successful: 

Quality 1: Intellectual curiosity

“You have to be a very curious person. So if you’re the type of person who does NOT question the mainstream, you’re not going to work with us. You have to be a person who will dig and dig and dig and try to search for answers.”

Quality 2: Insane work ethic

“I wish I could say copywriting is easy. That you put your feet in the sand and earn millions of dollars. I’ve never seen it. Maybe I’m just too dumb and I don’t have the raw intelligence. But all of our copywriters are the hardest working people in the business.”

Quality 3: The ability to fail without feeling like a failure

“What I mean by that is our hit rate is not very high as new copywriters. I’ve seen a lot of people with big egos come in, fail, and they just can’t do it again. They’re too afraid to do it again because it’s been such a public failure. Successful copywriters have the ability to fail without feeling like a failure. They can have a promotion go out and it can be terrible — and they can say, What did I learn from that promotion and how can I do it better next time? And they get right back up on the proverbial horse and they go right back at it.”

Want to write copy for Agora?

Email Joe directly. (Really.)

“If people possess any of those qualities [and want a job],” said Joe, “they should simply email me: JSchriefer@AgoraFinancial.com.” 

“Just write to me and get my attention.”

(But before you write, be sure to read this short article.)

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Hey there, thanks for reading. :)

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Eddie Shleyner
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