I Went From £7 an Hour as a Hairdresser To £1,500 Per Hour as a Copywriter … By Pure Accident.
Here’s my ridiculous copywriting story. I am an A-list copywriter. I’ve been writing copy since 1985. This is a real-world book about copywriting. If you want to know …
How to become a copywriter
How to learn copywriting
How to act like and be a copywriter
Become a copywriter in the UK
Learn copywriting for beginners
Charge at least £450 per hour
You should buy and read this little orange book
Not ready? Read more on this page and then decide if becoming a copywriter is for you.
Here’s a question; How the hell does someone become a copywriter by accident?
And then get paid tens of thousands of pounds in between doing haircuts?
Crazy right and you probably had some kind of reaction to the above. This is a true story packed with proof below and frankly, at times it will sound pretty outrageous on many levels.
From 1982 - 2000 - I was a hairdresser - and then owner of three hair salons. I was also writing tons of ads for my salons with zero training. I hadn’t a clue what I was doing.
But during that clueless period in the 90s…
I was paid £1500 for a single A4 letter whilst still cutting hair.
I persuaded Jay Abraham to write his ads and let me speak on his stage.
I became great friends with the godfather of guerrilla marketing, Jay Conrad Levinson.
I accidentally became a copywriter without knowing it had happened years later.
I wrote my first flyer because my old french teacher told me I had to (it transformed my business)
How seeing a biker on a beach with his gorgeous woman changed everything
How I discovered the ultimate switch to get my clients to say yes
I had clients for copy knocking at my door (so easy)
I created a 47% sales letter (that saved this guys marriage)
I sold over £1.2 million in cars in just 21-days for a guy with half a brain (literally)
I got a world-class copy mentor for free
I started hanging out with A-list copywriters (because they saw me as an lister)
I sold my three hairdressing salons to write full-time
I got three £50,000 client bookings from one 90-minute campaign
I created a multi-million pound higher response letter system that never failed (by breaking every single rule and formula you’ve ever learned)
AND NOTE: Why ‘probably’ Everything You’ve Been Taught About Writing Copy Is Wrong (Here’s what to do to become a copywriter)
But it’s true and I am still not quite sure how it happened.
Everything Is in My New “mesmerising” Book The Accidental Copywriter
So, I mapped out the whole copywriting story for you to read.
There are 232 pages. It’s packed with real stories from my own life as a new start-up copywriter and the transitions I made. I have gone from the start in the 80s and brought you right up-to-date to today.
It’s worth sharing with you; I failed school and everything I know about writing copy and the copywriting business was never taught to me by any copy guru or even on any course. This is all from the copywriting frontlines, it is all real and you will find a ton of things you can copy, feel inspired from and build your own copywriters business with.
Readers LOVE IT.
It's good...damn good
WOW … I love it! I’ve read Alan's book not once...but twice - and it's good...damn good...he pulls you in with stories from his past...then just like the legendary hypnotist Milton H. Erickson, he strategically places nuggets of copywriting and marketing gold inside those stories that just slip right into your brain while you are turning pages to find out what happened next to Alan. If you want a shortcut to learning the lessons of a top copywriter without going through the 20+ years it took him to pick up - buy the book and read it.
Rich Schefren, Strategic Profits
Dear Friend.
Alan Forrest Smith here.
I changed my career from hairdresser to high-demand copywriter at the age of forty. I went from getting paid around £350 a week to earning tens of thousands per week as a new copywriter.
I live a good life today. That life was all written into being through writing copy and other writings. I live in a highly sought after location. I drive a new car paid for in cash. I do the things I want to do on a daily basis. And at the age of 58-years I have just welcomed my new son and new daughter into the world. That’s the life of a high-demand copywriter.
But less about me.
This is a long page to read. If you are interested in serious life change as a copywriter you should take the time to read it. The contents are aimed at you and your life. Forgive me if at anytime I sound like I am showing off. I'm really not I simply want to share what really happened to myself, to others and the possibility for you!
WHY LISTEN TO ME?
I wrote my first sales copy in 1985 but I started writing persuasion around the year 1979. I’ve been writing a long time.
“mesmerising”
"I read it in one sitting, mesmerising! Alan recounts his journey from small-town hairdresser to highly-compensated business strategies and copywriter. You'll hear the good, the bad, and the ugly about growing a small business, and what it takes to be an enduring success going the non-conformist route. Alan recaps a career in the writing trenches and demonstrates that mindset, confidence, self-belief and dedication to solving real problems with empathy and facts, not fluff and fairy-tales, are what matter. I highly recommend to any aspiring copywriter or small-business owner!"
Kirt Christensen - Trading Science
My truth is
I used to work 7-days a week, drive through endless traffic to my hairdressing salons and work long hours. I had to be at my salon at 7:30 am and usually closed the salon doors at around 7pm alone. My staff had all left hours earlier. The money was good but the hours were killing me. I never had enough time for anything and if I am really honest that part of my life feels like it went so fast I didn’t get the pleasure or enjoyment maybe I should have had.
After 17-years in my salons my back had become so painful I would literally work two weeks and then have to have 3-5 days off lying on a hard floor to try and get relief. At one point I even bought an inversion table that would hang me upside down like a bat for an hour at a time.
I spent 17-years opening and closing the doors to this place. My back was obliterated at the end! I really did get to the stage where I simply couldn’t carry on doing this any longer. The pain, the hours and the endless staff hassles, I’d truly had enough. I had to move into something new and learn it fast as I had 4 kids and a huge house to pay for!
HOW MANY JOBS DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU GET PAID £1500 PER HOUR?
One day while I was cutting hair a client asked who had been writing the marketing or sales letters and adverts from my salon that were flying through his door on a regular basis. I told him it was myself. He couldn’t believe it. He then asked me if I could write a collection of letters for his accounting business. I agreed I would and told him I didn’t want paid (I have no idea why I said I would do it for a favour).
Finally, he came into the shop for his letters. I had put them on a floppy disc for him. He told me he understood I had said I didn’t want to be paid but still he handed me an envelope with a few hundred pounds in it. This was 1996-7 I think and all I know is I had just got paid more for one hours work than I was paying myself for well over 70/80-hours a week!
“brilliant insights”
Beautiful book, amazing tips, and a must-read for anyone who wants to learn what it takes to make it. And by “make it,” I don’t necessarily mean money or fame, but to reach the goals one has set out to achieve.
You will love this book as I do.
Michel Fortin
I GOT HANDED £1500 IN AN ENVELOPE - FOR WRITING TWO A4 LETTERS!
The client came back to my salon and told me the letters had been a huge success. He sent me another client. This time, I charged the client what was a risky price in my eyes. I asked for £1,500 for the letters. He told me it was cheap. I wrote the letters and again I received an envelope with pound notes - £1,500 cash - I had just been paid 4-months wages for something that I had spent one morning writing upstairs in my small office in between salon clients. It felt good and changed the way I started to think about my future. Could I get paid to write letters for real clients as a business?
By the year 2000, I was getting paid more than one years wage from writing part-time and after 17-years of owning salons you can now imagine what I was thinking.
“a wonderful book”
“What a wonderful book – great advice embedded in great stories. It’s like you’re learning direct response and copywriting right along with Alan as he transforms his own business, works with clients and learns from his mentors. This is about so much more than techniques – it conveys the mindset you need to write, market and succeed.”
David L. Deutsch, www.DavidLDeutsch.com
A NEW CLIENT HANDED ME £35,000 TO WRITE SERIES OF MAGAZINE ADVERTS!
By 2002 I was inundated with writing projects. Despite having no formal training and no history of writing this kind of marketing and advertising materials I had to make a decision to carry on working like a slave in my salons or jumping head first into my writing business.
Everyone I knew thought it was too high risk to change careers at forty but to be honest, it didn't feel like a risk because I couldn’t carry on with what I was doing - breaking my back!. I needed a change that would pay me more than my salons and not kill me in the process. This felt like the right thing. It was as you’ll see!
My first famous client was Jay Abraham. He didn’t pay me despite earning him over £800,000 in ticket sales from a London gig but he allowed me to speak at his event for 30-minutes. After that 30-minutes speaking (which was packed with mistakes) I got paid £35k from a film company on the south bank in London to write a series of new magazine adverts. I wrote the adverts that were a major success for the company. Remember I had NO writing experience. I failed school and never took a single exam!
I managed to find the original advert (one from a series) for the film company. It is old and feels amateurish to show you but ... I got paid and they got a result!
"That's the first book I've read in one sitting in years. The way you weave the stories to pass on the lessons is a great example of the craft. And there are a lot of valuable gems to be found along the way. "It also gave me a few needed reminders. Thanks for that."
Paul Myers
CLIENT FROM ALL INDUSTRIES
Today, I’ve written for hundreds of businesses; Global Security Firm, Cyber Warfare Prevention, Famous LA Movie Maker, Film Makers, Dentists, Musicians, Artists, UKs No.1 Real Estate Landlords, Window Company, Software Accountants, Hairdressing Beauty Salons, Boxer, Boxing Kick and Cage Boxing, Football Website, Guitar Company, Piano Company, Professional Speakers, Publishers, Book Publishers, CD and DVD fulfilment house, Stunt Company, Bespoke Furniture, Writers and Authors, Landscaping, Prestige Cars, Premium Cosmetic, Magazines, Events and Seminars, Global Email Delivery Co., Website Builders, Spy Software, Oil Corporation, Golf Experts, Arctic Cruises, SME, Technology, Accountants, Lawyers, Solicitors, Yoga, Investing, Online gaming, Mercedes, Private church, London BBC TV Stars, BBC Presenter, and Authors And more.
My writing even saved a young woman from death in Australia by raising funds for a life-saving operation.
I even wrote a huge $73,000 and handed that cash to Amazonian rainforest charity in San Francisco for the amazonian Indians in Ecuador.
I wrote myself a car paid in cash.
I wrote myself a debt-free life.
I hope you can see how I can be more than qualified to help you.
“the mind and experiences of a great copywriter”
"I fell into the thing." He says. There's nothing wrong with not finding your calling right out of high-school (provided you even finish). No, sometimes your calling finds you. Never at risk of being a footnote in the history of copywriting lore, Smith goes ahead and commemorates his journey in a way that's refreshingly accessible and non-cliquey. If you're looking for a "How to Write Copy Good" manual, this isn't it. If you think you might like a window into the mind and experiences of a great copywriter, then you've hit pay dirt. While I'm grateful for the background on this eccentric and eclectic marketing personality, this memoir, if I may call it that, is a brilliant piece of copy in itself. By that, I mean, after reading it you'll want to hire him to write for you. –
Tyler E. West
WHAT’S IN THE BOOK?
232-page paperback copywriting book (and eBook) designed to fit into your pocket. So you can read it on the go, read it in the coffee shop or even read it in the bath if that’s your preference.
It is packed with copywriter’s true stories.
It gives you my full transition from hairdresser to premium copywriter today.
It takes you inside large corporate meetings.
It gives you insights into my mind as a copywriter and how I was thinking.
It reveals real behind-the-scenes of the business as a copywriter as they happened.
I reveals my unique multi-million best selling copywriting direct response system.
It controversially reveals what I really feel about seminar speakers.
It’ll make you laugh, cry and cringe.
It’ll make you wonder if this ex-hairdresser can do it surely I can become a copywriter.
It shows you how I worked things out and avoided being overly educated to make it work out.
You can order here at the button
If you are ready to become a copywriter and discover how to write copy, learn copywriting and build a business as a copywriter this book is for you.
Yours
Alan Forrest Smith, The Accidental Copywriter.