The Secrets Of Finding The Right Marketing And Copywriting Mentor

When I started my career as a freelance copywriter and marketer, there were zero teachers available. Count ’em, zero. I’d been fortunate to have a few bosses, while I was still working for The Man, who gave me tidbits of advice here and there… but there was no roadmap for freelancing.
No gurus anywhere.
Joe Sugarman and Joe Karbo (look ’em up if those names are not familiar — very important guys in advertising) offered small seminars, but not on any regular basis. Strictly for insiders, and a startling small population of insiders at that. I met, and started working for, Jay Abraham right around the time he was stepping forward to offer more structured teaching. Still, compared with what’s available today, it was fairly meager stuff.
Mind you, for an ambitious twerp like me — chomping at the bit to devour every shred of knowledge and every trace of skill I could find — it was a cornucopia of amazing learning opportunities. I was VERY lucky to have encountered quality teachers early in my career.
By the time I started co-producing regular seminars with Gary Halbert, in the late ’80s, more and more people were realizing the need for teachers. That didn’t mean the best and brightest stepped forward, of course. Still, I was happy to see so many options suddenly become available.
Today, the Web is crammed to the rafters with wannabe gurus. The word guru, by the way, means teacher. In case you were wondering. Most of ’em are just opportunists, looking for easy ways to make a buck. For many, their plan seems to be this: Slap together a course or seminar, hype the heck out of it, get good at making joint ventures with people bearing large lists… and see what happens.
And yes, it’s frustrating for the guy looking to learn. Who do you believe? How do you separate the crafty hype from the serious opportunity? Thus, we get flame wars on forums about the death of the marketing guru, and angry rebellions among seminar junkies over the relentless pitching going on at many events. And, we also get many wannabe gurus jumping in front of that very parade, claiming to be the anti-hype teacher. Whatever.
Again: Learning is tough. It’s a process… and it’s up to YOU, the seeker of truth, to do your job separating the crap from the gems. There is NEVER going to be a golden age where truth wins out completely, and it becomes easy to find your perfect teacher.
I found ONE teacher who actually taught me something as a young man coming out of the public school system. I could’ve easily lumped her in with all the others who’d wasted my time… but I’m damned lucky I allowed her to shake me up. The magic in learning comes not from any secret way to master something without effort. That doesn’t exist. No. The magic is all about finding a relationship with a teacher who not only aces the facts… but also cares enough to metaphorically smack you around until you get it.
The winners in life never stop learning, and never stop seeking the truth. They’ve learned to love the challenge of encountering something new, and mastering it. They don’t whine about how hard life is — they roll up their sleeves and dig in with gusto. I’m GLAD there is a glut of gurus out there. The charlatans are easy enough to spot, if you just pay attention. The good ones are known, too. They may not be the most popular, or the most savvy at getting attention.
But they’re the ones who get the job done, teaching you what you need to learn. Bitching about having too many gurus is like complaining about having too many choices at the local sandwich shop. Just get over your bad self. As a student, you have a job to do, and part of it is finding out the right way for you to learn.
Having choices is a good thing. And remember — the best teachers are not necessarily good at elbowing their way to the front of the crowd. They do, however, have the most vocal fans.