There appears to be a myth about what a copywriting mentor and a business mentor is or should be. I say myth because I want to share with you the reader my own belief - and it is my own - of what a mentor means to me. To me, a mentor can be the information left behind by the dead. I will take a book with that information in that book and learn, study and dedicate time to practice what I have been mentored.

As a young man, I kind of fell into hairdressing. I had been cutting hair without any training. Then it got to the point where I realised to rise beyond average and become number one I would have to learn more, read more, practice more and be taught more. Training in those days was steep. I could never afford to pay £5,000 and go on a six-week training down to London. This was the 80s and 90s. This was the only way you could access paid training before the web.

One day in the hair salon owner’s trade magazines a new young hairdresser named Anthony Mascalo - Toni & Guy - advertised a ‘how-to’ Fanzine style book. It was about new hairdressing techniques he had developed. It was very punk rock, very rock and roll, and very my thing. I ordered the first book and I was hooked. Anthony Mascalo was my mentor without the high fee. I had paid maybe £5 per book - £20 in total - and I had myself an incredible mentor. I studied every page endlessly. I read, read again and again. I found heads to practice on - some disasters - and I eventually became the No.1 hairdresser in my town thanks to my mentor. I did dedicate hour upon hour to reading and developing myself from these books. It paid off. I had my mentor in a £5 book.

When I decided to write as a more serious writer I thought to myself who is the greatest writer that has ever lived? For someone that hadn’t read a lot - me - this was no easy task. On the advice of my wife, I began to read the great Tolstoy. I researched Tolstoy and even tackled and read his huge epic War and Peace. I was taken in. His words, style, emotions, and construction of the story. I had found my next dead mentor. The only thing for me to do was to find everything I could about Tolstoy and in particular what was in his mind. Not only did I buy everything and read everything he’d written I even flew to Moscow to absorb the energy from his home and even the desk where he wrote War and Peace. He was my perfect writing mentor and the outlay was under £100 for my books.

In those days I was never been in a position where I can simply hand out a huge pile of money to ask an expert to show me how to get there faster. When I moved into the world of copywriting after hairdressing for 20 years I knew I had to find myself a copywriting mentor. I stumbled upon David Ogilvy and read his book ‘confessions.’ This book sent me on a new path in life. It was the path to becoming a copywriter. As a mentee, I took what Ogilvy was teaching me extremely seriously. I found out every ounce of information I could about Ogilvy the man. I read every advert I could find he had written. I read about his agency and his success. I read his simplistic approach to advertising and writing adverts. I sat and studied his use and placement of words. Sometimes I would be up all night reading, learning and absorbing his mentor gift to me. It wasn’t unusual for me to study all night in those days and then go to bed for 2 hours. I would then have to get up, drive to my hairdressing salon, cut hair all day and then come back home shattered.

It was worth it. David Ogilvy - my dead copywriting mentor - taught me the art, skill and science of writing copy that sells.

This of course led to other mentors. Claude Hopkins, John Caples, Bruce Barton, H.G. Lewis and the one and only master Barnum and his adventures. None were living yet all mentored me through their books and examples.

But the fact is having a real mentor that you can speak with and interact with has a power that goes far beyond a book. With the advent of the internet, I discover a copywriter name, Michel Fortin. Mike didn’t offer to mentor me, yet he needed extra copywriters. I hadn’t labeled myself as a copywriter in those days but I still put my name forward to Mike as an extra writer. I knew if I helped him he could teach me more. He did. He was an incredible copy mentor for me. It worked like this. Mike would send over copy he needed writing. I would accept the writing. Once written I would send it back to Mike. He would make changes using his knowledge and experience. He would then send me the finished piece with no comments. His changes were so subtle yet so powerful it was a lesson difficult to ignore. I took on board everything he shared with me and continued to develop and advance as a copywriter until I suppose I hit the A-list and became high-demand myself. I had now become the master along with my mentors.

All of my mentors cost me a huge investment. That investment was the one thing life never gives enough off. That is time. I invested my time so heavily I was reading books on the beach, in the bath and even on the toilet. It was relentless and yet it paid off. I still hadn’t spent a single penny on a mentor fee.

Today, the world has become filled with relentless fools that have mastered the art of persuasion yet never mastered the art of writing, practising, creating, and sharing powerful copywriting. These are the ones that have become obsessed with followers paying a monthly subscription to deliver what? After 38 years of writing copy, I can tell you I am still looking, testing and developing as a writer. I don’t know if I could trust a 20-year-old copywriter to teach me anything. This is where we are at today with new copywriting mentors. The internet is awash with new mentors offering mentorship before they have become masters. The effect of this is a group of new copywriters that want to know but no longer want to invest their time. Money will not buy you into becoming a copywriter. Time will and spending time with mentors - dead or alive - is what will get you there.

Getting Paid Your First £10,000 To Write A Sales Copy As A New Copywriter

The new mentors have become masters who are being seen. Being seen is critical for finding clients yet even more critical is the delivery of masterful work that delivers what a client wants. The client mostly wants a result. They mostly don't care about the copy. Clients just want a result from the copy. And copywriting isn't about writing. It is about results. To get a phone ringing. To get sales. To create conversations. To get reactions, responses and to do what it is supposed to do - tap into an existing conversation and tap into the mind of the reader.

As a copywriter, I have always been reluctant to call myself a copywriter. The reason for that is in all my years copywriting always involves far more. It can quickly move from writing copy to offering strategic direction, tactical advice and so much more. My work has gone from writing simple headlines to training people on how to pick up a phone and speak. Think about it. You can write incredible copy to get a phone to ring. The phone rings and the leads start to pour in for your client. Yet, if they have no idea how to say and what to say when answering and speaking on the phone - all of that brilliant copy is wasted.

I take you back to David Ogilvy. A kilt-wearing hero of mine. A man that loved and adored life. A man that revealed to me in his books his way of living. His French chateau. His car. His approach. He was truly a mentor I could relate to and felt inspired to be like. I did that. He was my copywriting mentor. Yet, it was a long, tough, hard, pressing and sometimes difficult time being that mentee.

So this isn't a book for those that want a quick fix and those that believe reading a book or having a paid-off mentor is enough. This is a book that will share with you what I know and how you can be, you should be and you will be your own greatest mentor with a little help from friends. And - this will not cost you a lot.

By the way, you may find the contents of this book not according to a set of fixed copywriting beliefs you’ve developed. That’s fine. This is a book for those that know the impossible is possible. It is for those minds that know superpowers can do super things. It is for the young ones, the middle-aged ones and the older ones that know the power of self-mentoring is possible. Change is possible. A better life is possible. Regardless of where you are in life right now you know it's possible you just need a little help or a mentor you can truly rely on.

Everything in copywriting mentor book is based on the real-life experience of a copywriter since 1985.

I am only sharing with you what I know about. Nothing more than that.

And if this book fails you please punch a hole at the top left side of every single page, push through a strong and hang it up in your toilet with my blessing.

Your Mentor,

Alan Forrest Smith