Are coaches/mentors really even necessary?

I think that depends on what your priorities are. Yes most information is free, but there's a lot of crap that you step in on the way to good quality information. I look at a good mentor as a way to speed through the learning process. If time is money, wouldn't that be worth the cost?

I have lived my life through coaches and mentors. My first mentor was my football coach. He said, never give up on yourself... you have potential.

Second was my wrestling coach. He told me what I needed to work on to go state.

Third was my kung-fu instructor. He told me what forms I needed to practice to win tournaments.

I have had friends and acquaintances that have given me more useful advice than I could find in any course on the market.

If the mentor is truthful in willing to help, not some money grubbing lunatic... they could take you in the right direction.

Problem is you have to watch because it seems everyone is a mentor nowadays and they usually outsource their mentoring to someone else who could give a damn about your success.

Hey, jgant...

Sorry about your experience. That has got to sting.

My guess is hesitation, and lack of confidence, not to mention lack of effort, or maybe lack of time. Where as those who've done it and succeeded have complete confidence in their methods, and can just repeat their steps plan from before. I still don't think that info is worth 10k, as others have said, it's all about you as an individual when it comes to marketing anyway. So you're going to have to find what you're comfortable with, what works for you etc...but then again what do I know. Thanks for the great answers gentlemen, always appreciated.

I'm the breathing example that your statement is downright wrong.

You dont need a *mentor*. The information is out there, freely available to anyone. You just need to be responsible to take proper account, and to apply business smart and/or common sense to your IM endeavors. That's all.

I couldn't agree more with this. Although intuitive people can learn a lot by themselves and by trial and error - it takes a mentor or coach to really kick you over that final hill. Saving money to give to a decent coach is well worth it. WSOs, push button promises, link building packages and plugins all add up! However - find a decent coach! Some will call it coaching but actually just get you into a membership site with a one size fits all. You really need somebody who will look a twhat you are doing and give you specially tailored advice on what to do next. Only then will you be able to get the true support you need. The top golfers or tennis players did not get where they are by reading books or watching videos of 'mentors'. They actually spoke to them and had them examine thier game and give tailored advice.

In my opinion - Alex Jeffries is top notch, and so is Sterling Valentine. Both give you personalised advice if you need it. However - it doesn't come cheaply! You will make the necessary progress quickly though so it is a good investment.

Paul Dunstan

Oh my... Where to even begin...

I've already posted here several times that I'm currently in a high-level coaching program with my mentor. And I'm getting HUGE value out of it. There's NO QUESTION it's worth every penny I've paid.

That said, I'd say it depends... It depends on what you're trying to do, your skill level, your knowledge level, your work ethic (self discipline), capacity to learn on your own, current financial state, etc.

I've heard highly successful people say they'll never be without a coach/mentor.

The thing is, you can learn from a coach/mentor just through their blog posts, teleseminars/webinars (free or paid), books, etc. Not just their high-level coaching programs. You can learn a LOT through these methods, even without paying a dime.

If you're strapped for cash, learn all you can from their free info, like their blog and free teleseminars and webinars. When you have some cash, then buy their homestudy course or sign up for their high-level coaching.

The biggest value you get in a coaching program isn't strictly in the how-to info. You can get that from their teleseminars or homestudy programs, usually for a lot less than their coaching.

The value in the coaching is accountability, the ability to get your individual questions answered, and feedback on your ideas, business, marketing campaigns, websites, etc. There's a book titled something like "If the how to's were enough, we'd all be rich and happy." (Or something like that.) Very true.

The how-to's are often NOT enough. Aside from the practical help coaching offers, a good coach addresses the mindsets/emotions we have, which play a HUGE role in our success. (For example, we all probably deal with fear at some level when trying to start a business. Fear of failure. Fear of what others will say or think. Etc.)

You'll also often get introductions to other high-level players who would never give you the time of day otherwise. Your coach might even joint venture with you, which is PRICELESS. I've gotten experts to come in and provide their expertise for FREE just because we have a mutual acquaintance (my mentor).

Those are things that the how-to courses don't generally address.

Coaches and mastermind buddies also see our blind spots.

I was in a mastermind meeting in Feb. and my mastermind gal pals told me my business name was all wrong and my mentor told me my website isn't good enough and needs to be completely redone.

I felt shredded. My business name??!! My website??!! I've already invested a lot of money in both. And like most entrepreneurs, my business is my baby, so it's an emotional investment too and the criticism stung a little bit. Changing my business name means I have to change a LOT of things, including getting my book edited because it had the name and URL plastered all over it.

Changing my name and redesigning my website is costing me over $3K (so far). (After that, I'm not sure I want any more advice! :p)

But they were right. The new name is much better. And I'm hoping I've finally found a good website designer. (I've had nothing but bad luck with web designers.) We'll see. She starts working on my site next week and I should have a completely new site design by May 1.

But those were blind spots I wasn't seeing on my own. In the short term, it's painful, both emotionally and financially. But if it makes my business better, then that's a very good thing. And that's not something a how-to course or little e-book will give me.

I see a lot of people that could use some honest feedback. But you have to be smart enough to ask for it and then act on it, even if it stings a little when you first hear it.

Michelle

The devil is in the details. Successful operation depends on the details, and they are many. If your coach can and want to give you all the details of operating the specific business model, then it's a good coach, and you need him/her. But if you are only getting general advices and directions, you don't need such coach.

Every business consists of what you see on the surface, and what you don't see and cannot read about anywhere for free. You may need a coach for the invisible part, which is usually most important to know.

Tiger actually just won a tournament, but you're right he hasn't won for awhile, may have something to do with losing his coach. His coach went to train some other golfer and that guy ended up winning something big. So I guess mentors can be useful of course, I suppose I just don't see it with marketing, not thousands worth anyway. I mean what are they really going to tell you, you need backlinks to rank a site, content etc...same thing all you guys talk about.

His quote is referring to traditional education such as college or university degrees.

I know Jim Rohn is a AVID advocate of the leverage of mentoring.

Cheers

Anton

You seriously lit up my day CashTree

Thank you so much for the kudos and I'm glad I could help you. It's really nice to see that people actually remember my name and share their experience with others

Keep up the great work!

I think it depends on the person. If someone is self-motivated
and can discipline themselves to get the work done with very little
supervision, then this person doesn't need a coach. Nevertheless,
it's a good idea to have several people in your circle that you
can turn to occasionally for advice when you reach a plateau.
For someone who is not as disciplined or lacks focus, a coach
or mentor would be a great asset.

Amen to that.

for me, it's a yes. for many reason as previous warriors said, especially to keep me focus on the track.

That's because you're a polarity responder like me - we hate generalisations like that because they're obviously not true and therefore make us respond negatively to the concept being proposed.