Business MENTOR Nick Shelton Progress
Scientist To Mentor Copywriter
Nick Shelton is a Business MENTOR student of mine now for the past couple of months. It’s important you know this guy can work 17-hour days as a lab scientist.
He has undertaken copywriting MENTOR program to change his life and his lifestyle. Working 17-hour days you can understand why.
As you can see from his photo he is a good looking guy with a stunning Chinese wife. I am sure they will have the most beautiful children ever! Ladies I am sorry - he has definitely been snatched up.
He is a great guy I am very fond of and really truly his progress is inspiring.
So far he has
Been writing over 2000 words daily
Written copywriting adverts from scratch
Creating his website
Branded his website
Located his target clients
And so much more than I can write here.
He correctly looked at copywriting MENTOR as a long term project that would change his lifestyle for himself and his wife.
He has his vision in place.
He knows his outcome to be reached.
He understands what it’s going to take to hit his financial target from MENTOR.
He is doing amazing.
Below is what he sends me each week. Nothing has been changed and all the words are his open experience so far in MENTOR.
Enjoy.
Week 9 Here it is week 9 of the mentor program.
OVERWHELM!! This is the part of the program where I feel it is very important that I have a mentor and I'm glad to have a mentor.
The reason is when you start putting together the pieces of the puzzle it suddenly seems a bit overwhelming. Without a mentor, this would be the time when it would be easy to lose momentum.
At one point I became a bit nervous and didn't know the next step. Fortunately, Alan stepped in and got me straightened out quickly so I could continue the journey.
That's what makes the program worth it.
Knowing you have someone there to keep pushing you in the right direction and if at some point you become confused or over-think a problem, they get you cleared up and back on your way to success.
Alan has been great at keeping me focused and on track and adapting with my learning style, customizing the experience in a way to benefit me best.
I feel good knowing that Alan is determined to not let me fail. As I said last week, I'm on my way!
A few days ago someone had asked me what I thought about the mentor program. I told them that I have had an excellent experience with it. They were interested in working with Alan but said that they needed to wait because they could not afford it.
I thought about it for a while and thought. Well...that's exactly why they should absolutely do the mentor program.
In my experience, sure it seemed expensive at first but I looked at it as an investment in myself.
If I don't invest in me, nobody else will. I wanted to make sure that next year is better and more profitable in all ways than last year and I wanted and needed to learn the skills to make it happen. Guess what?
I'm learning the skills to make it happen!
I am in the mentor program because I don't want to ever have to say "I can't afford that" anymore.
So I would say to that person, if you can't afford it now, how are you going to afford it next month, or next year? What would have changed? Nothing, you'll be the same person with the same situation you are in now. So...
For me, I took action, I got in. I am growing every day. Working every day, Learning every day. And Alan is here as my guide. I couldn't do it alone, I needed a mentor to keep me on the right track and minimize my mistakes.
Alan tells me what to do and how to do it to be successful in this field. I do it. And now I'm on my way. You know what? There's room for you too! I'll see you on the yacht!
Thanks Alan!
~Nick Shelton
Week 8 Here it is week 8 of Alan’s mentor program and time really flies when you’re having fun. My feelings about this program so far are as follows:
Alan is an excellent teacher, very patient and helpful. I feel I am making measureable progress every week. Not just learning how to write copy but also how to position myself and my copywriting business for success. In the past I took a course with a different instructor and they taught copywriting skills but nothing about actually getting clients and running the business of copywriting.
With Alan, my copywriting skills are growing very rapidly and I feel very comfortable with my current ability and I am confident that I will absolutely be able to add value to any of my clients in the future.
When I began this program back in week 1, I knew I wanted to take massive action and create change in my life. I didn’t want the next year to be a repeat of the previous year, I wanted to be better. I knew I had to develop a skill set that would be valuable to the market place and then I would be able to make the changes in my life I desired. I can get more value out of life by being able to provide more value to others.
So, here is where I am. At the moment I work a job just like everyone else. I just finished working a set of 9 days in a row, 12 to 17 hours per day. That is not the lifestyle that I dream of living. And it’s not really good for my marriage either. But the good news is…I’m on my way out!
The Mentor program has shown me the way out. Even though I work a lot at my job, I still make time for the mentor program and I get things done. Nobody can tell me that they don’t have time to do something. We can all make time for things that are important to us and copywriting is important to me.
Let me also say that the mentor program is not easy. Alan does not cast a magic spell and then automatically you are a world-class copywriter. No. It takes a lot of work, dedication and commitment. I was already in debt and went further into debt to be able to afford to take this mentor program. And I know this much. With the skills I’m learning, I know I won’t be in debt much longer. I’m on my way out!
This year will be the best year so far because this is the year I decided to change the direction of my life, invest in myself, trust myself, get the right tools, the right education and get the right mentor. My friends, I’m on my way to the top. Perhaps I won’t get there this week, but…I’m on my way. And it feels good.?
Thanks Alan! ~Nick Shelton
Week 7 I'm Nicholas Leon Shelton, Apprentice of Alan Forrest Smith and today I am thankful, or perhaps a better word would be grateful. Why?
I consider myself to be lucky. Lucky to be in the situation that I find myself.
Many people in the world, have goals, dreams, and aspirations. Yet for some reason, very few people reach their goals.
They get sidetracked, they hit obstacles, and life gets in the way. So they settle for less. Comfort can be the enemy. Because when you are comfortable it makes it so you don't have to change your situation, you can always just continue whatever you are doing and retreat into your comfort zone.
I worked hard to achieve a nice level of comfort. My position currently is and could be the position that most people dream they could attain. Yet...I know I could be so much more. The legendary speaker Jim Rohn used to say, "how tall does a tree grow?" "As tall as it possibly can" So why should we as humans ever settle for less than we can possibly do? I absolutely know I can be more than I currently am.
My goal is to be the best copywriting mentor student that Alan has ever had. It is not an easy thing to do. It is a LOT of hard work. Just learning the craft is hard work, but to try to not only learn but to be the best is even harder, much harder.
Sometimes I have negative thoughts and doubts. Like if I was climbing a mountain and then halfway up, I find myself exhausted and look up to the peak and think, "I don't know if I can make it all the way up there."
So I need the push, when I started the mountain climb, I was motivated, but I didn't expect it to be as hard as it turned out to be. I was very confident, but the mountain has humbled me. I have however, learned how to get better footing as I climb and make better decisions along the way. But there comes a point where you wonder if you have what it takes to make it to the top and the doubts creep in.
It would be comforting if I said Alan as the mentor is like a mountain sherpa who will come and gather your equipment and guide you up the mountain. But that is not what I am going to say.
I think that the genius of Alan is that he doesn't necessarily help you in the way you are expecting, but he helps you in the way he feels you will benefit most. His mentor is custom made for the individual.
I made a decision. I decided to get to the top of this mountain in the best condition as any previous climbers. Alan knows this. And he watches and studies me along the way. When I stumble, and when I doubt, he is not there above me holding his hand out. He knows that is not the way to my goal. Perhaps another person with a different goal would get that treatment. But I wanted to be the best. So instead of blazing the trail ahead of me up the mountain and setting my anchors and pulling me up when I stumble. Alan follows me up the mountain. This is a mountain that he knows and is familiar with. He is an expert. He made sure I have all the equipment that I need for the climb and a good map.
He saw me at the start, fresh and full of energy, run toward the mountain and climb fast. He followed in a slow, deliberate pace. I carry, big packs of provisions for my journey. Alan has only a heavy coat, a gold coin, a pistol and a shovel.
I ask, "Don't you need supplies?" He says "I have what I need for this job. The gold coin is for you when you make it to the top, and the pistol and the shovel is for if you think you are going to quit and come back down."
"In simple terms, you will make it to the top of this mountain. Period. Going back, does not exist for you. you've come too far."
See, there are benefits to having a mentor.
I rested on a sunny rock for a few days, but then I heard the slow and deliberate footsteps coming up behind me and I knew it was time to press on.
Onward and upward! I got my second wind. I'm on my way to the top! It takes extraordinary effort to reap extraordinary rewards. Thanks Alan,
~Nicholas Leon Shelton
Week 6. Hi, I'm Nicholas Shelton, apprentice for Alan Forrest Smith's mentor program.
Another week and further into the rabbit hole of copywriting I go. It takes an extraordinary amount of time to work on this craft and work on it correctly. I might be super busy but I guarantee if super model Claudia Schaeffer called and asked me to lunch, I would have time.
The point is we all have 24 hours in a day and can make time for whatever we like so I make time for this intensive study reading the books of the past masters writing every single day reviewing and re-writing
Got to get better every day, must get stronger. Who wants to be a mediocre copywriter? Not me! Gotta be the upper crust and that takes work.
Have to out-work the competition, out-study, out-think. Extraordinary efforts for extraordinary gains.
Create Value. I wrote my finest piece of work yesterday and today Alan tore it apart. Beautiful. Why?
Because that's the only way to get better.
That is the value in having a mentor.
It reminds me when I was in basic training in the military. We would make our beds and the Drill Sergeant would come in and kick the bed over or turn it upside down or tear the sheets off and say "this is a disgrace, do it again!" and so we did it over and over and then there came a point where I had made my bed to perfection. No bed in the history of the world had ever been made better. It could have been put on display in a museum for future generations to look at and marvel over. I showed my drill sergeant. He said "Shelton, that might very well be the most perfect bed ever made...Now let's see if you can do it again!" and he tore the sheets off and flipped the mattress against the wall and walked out. I almost cried. But I did it again. This time he came in and said "Well done" and it was smooth sailing from that point on.
The purpose of a mentor is to have someone to hold you accountable and not let you get away with weak product. To notice things you wouldn't notice. To push you beyond what you would do by yourself. To use their expertise to raise your level. That's what's happening here with Alan and myself. I'm building my copy writing muscles. I feel myself getting stronger. I can do this. With each passing day I'm getting better and better. And I'm already pretty damn good. But I didn't set out to be Alan's pretty damn good apprentice. I set out to be Alan's best apprentice. So, back to work I go. No rest for the best!
Thanks Alan!
~Nicholas Leon Shelton
Week 5 Hey Alan, here is the week 5 feedback.
In order to tell about my experience with Alan Forrest Smith as my mentor, I will need to tell a story.
Picture if you will a master blacksmith in ancient Japan making a fine sword. A sword meant for the highest, most elite warrior, the Samurai.
He works tirelessly over burning hot flame and strikes hammer against steel over and over again. Folding the steel, re-working it, plunging it back into the fire and once again shaping it over and over.
Once he is satisfied that the quality is at the highest level, and can be improved no more, he sharpens this newly crafted sword to an edge so fine, that even something as delicate as an eyelash blown by the wind would be cut by the blade.
It's the master blacksmith's craft and sworn duty to make sure the end result of his labor is nothing less than perfection. The Samurai is a master of battle, but without the sword his skills can only take him so far. However, present him the sword and this fine masterpiece of steel will take him the rest of the way to victory.
The heart and soul of the blacksmith are in the sword and the sword becomes one with the Samurai. All three will be as one in battle and they will know only honor and success in their days.
I'm Nicholas Shelton, an apprentice of Alan Forrest Smith. I tell you this story to illustrate to you my training with Alan. Now in this particular story, Alan is the master blacksmith.
I am the sword that he is crafting.
The Samurai is my future client.
Alan forges me in the fire and tests me, over and over and puts me under pressure and tirelessly crafts me into the very finest marketing weapon "the sword".
Then my client, "the Samurai" who is a master in their field takes me up.
Together, in the battle of business, we slay the competition with ease.
Who could stand against a force like that?
Nobody.
So at the end of the day, the Samurai will stand on the battlefield of business...victorious. And he'll owe his success to the combination of:
His business skills (battle skills)
Elite Premium Marketer Nicholas Shelton (the sword) and Alan Forrest Smith (the blacksmith) who will smile and know he's done a fine job.
So if Alan is the blacksmith and I am the sword who will be the Samurai?
You?
Don't wait!
Step up and be counted! Victory awaits!
~Nicholas Leon Shelton
Week 4 I'm Nicholas Shelton, I'm in the mentor program with Alan Forrest Smith. It's week four.
I learned the secret to being a top tier copywriter.
You know what it is?
Hard Work.
Alan does not have a magic wand that he can just wave over your head and make you a great copy writer. You have to work at it. Not just when you feel like it, not just when it is convenient for you, you have to work at it every day, make time for it, give this craft your full attention like it is a new born baby and you are raising it. You must be dedicated. So here I am, dedicated, and putting in work every day to get better, to be better. The stakes are too high for anything less.
It is a new year, I made a decision to be a top tier copywriter and I won't stop until I make it so.
I learned copywriting is about building relationships. First the relationship between you and your client and then building the relationship between your client and their customer. When I get a client they can be sure they will be getting my very best and I will be working every day and the result should exceed their expectations. Like the greatest hits album of your favourite singer, they will be getting my very best work.
Alan has shown me that copywriting is about creating value. And when I write I ask, how can I create more value for my client? This is not a business about getting, it's a business about giving the most value. So universal law dictates that the more value I can give, the more value I will be able to receive.
Let's not forget integrity. Alan stresses integrity in your work. Integrity is of the utmost importance.
If you do a google search on Alan Forrest Smith, you will not find anything negative about him, the reason is he is a man of integrity. He does what he says he will do. And as his student, I know that this is the ONLY way to be.
The only way to become one of the best of the best copywriters is by creating the most value for your clients.
Alan is showing me how to build a "value factory" of copywriting so I am putting out more and more value daily.
I'm on my way.
And it's only week four.
Thanks Alan,
~Nick Shelton
Week 3. I'm Nicholas Leon Shelton, I am an Apprentice in Alan's Mentor Program. I'm currently three weeks in. This is the point in the program where it starts really kicking in. It is a lot of work. Most people don't want to do a lot of work or are afraid of hard work. If you are afraid of work, then this is not for you.
I'm not afraid, I am what you would call "competitive" I am driven by the competition, to do better and be better than they are. When I've tried to learn this trade from other teachers in the past it was always incomplete. The difference here is night and day. I am learning how to actually build a business, build a brand and a strong foundation. Communication is the foundation of any relationship. And there is a great relationship here.
Alan communicates with me, clearly. I digest it and process it and then it is my job to take the message of my client and communicate it to the target audience. It is simple in theory...when I was a single man, I wanted to communicate with young ladies to get them to see things a certain way and fall in love with what I had to offer.
Now, I replace myself with the product and the beautiful lady with the end consumer. I show the consumer what the product can to for them to make their lives better. And in doing so create a "romance story" between the product and the consumer.
Makes me think of the old French song that goes "Falling in love again, never wanted to, what am I to do, I can't help it". Everyone wants to fall in love. It is my job to help them (the consumer) fall in love with my client's products and it is my job to help the client fall in love with me.
And I'm only in week three, just wait and see what I do next.
Thanks Alan,
~Nick Shelton
Week 2. The Equivalent of Navy Seal training for writing copy?
I'm Nicholas Shelton and I am currently an Apprentice with Alan Forrest Smith. We are only a few weeks in but I have come a long way very quickly. If someone were to ask me what it's like, I would say it is like Navy Seal training for writing copy. Alan told me from the beginning that is is for the best of the best. The top .5%
They say that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Well my teacher is Alan Forrest Smith. I could not ask for better. But it's no easy walk in the park. Alan made it clear that to be the best you have to earn it. It's a whole lifestyle change and it has definitely been so for me. I wake up early in the morning, I'm writing more than I've ever written (over two thousand words per day) Alan gives me the tools, pushes me, inspires me. I hone my craft. I see measurable progress with each passing day. Like doing push-ups in the mud, I'm doing push-ups for my mind, getting stronger, writing stronger. It's not just about a volume of writing, it's about quality, it's about vision. Alan has shown me how to view things differently and from this view point, the path is clear.
In addition to writing mass volumes every day I have also been reading more than ever. Studying the masters of copy from the past, seeing their styles and where they had breakthroughs and where they made mistakes so I can learn from it and condense this knowledge to dial in my skills. It's clear, if you want to be the best weather it's an elite Navy Seal or an elite copywriter you have to train like the best. That's what I'm doing with Alan. While the other guy is sleeping, I'm working, while the other guy is watching tv, I'm working. When you have the best mentor, the best tools and you put in the time and the work and dedication. Excellence will be the result. I'm in it all the way and I'm loving every bit of it.
~Nick Shelton
Week 1. Hi Alan,
The Mentor program is going extremely well and even though we have just begun, I have already learned so much. This has opened up a whole new world for me where I am developing and fine tuning my copywriting skills. However, to my surprise it isn't just about copywriting, it is a whole life upgrade!
People often say, you get out of it what you put into it so that is why I am working so hard to be the best apprentice you've ever had come through the program. You are giving me 100% to keep me focused and on the right track and I'm giving you 100% not only through my words but through my actions. With each passing week I'm adding knowledge and sharpening my skills and I'm excited that I'll be able to add some real value to the marketplace and we're just getting started!
Thanks so much Alan! ~Nick Shelton
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