Mentor or Not..

A mentor should speed up the process so you are succeeding much faster.

Yes, you can definitely go out and seek as much free information as you want. But usually people do not fail due to a lack of information. They usually fail in the implementation of that information and that is where a mentor comes in handy. They can show you exactly what has worked for them so you are learning from someone who has already successfully achieved what it is you want to achieve.

Having an Internet marketing mentor is not necessarily required, but getting one can help you, especially if you get the chance to find the one who has great and flexible strategies. So, my answer is "it depends" However, though you already have a mentor, you should still take the time to learn things by yourself and explore all opportunities.

Def get a mentor.

It will drastically cut your learning curve.

I'm EXTREMELY driven and tried to do things on my own.

I couldn't.

I needed someone who knew the ins-and-outs and what it takes to really build a successful business.

Plus, if you're wanting to make money from others buying your products.

Shouldn't you go through the buying process yourself and REALLY understand your cutsomer?

A mentor is great. And yes it will speed up the process for you.

Find someone who is doing what you would like to do, or who is making what you would like to make and follow them. You may not be able to get one on one mentoring but you can watch everything they do online via social networks, get on their list, webinars/hangouts and follow them that way.

Just pick someone to follow and don't get distracted by everyone else. Focus is key and will take you much further than being scattered all over trying to follow everyone else at once.

With mentor so easy to JV, swap, exchange, cross promo, etc.

Depending on how well and quickly you can learn shelling out $$$ for a mentor could go both ways.

I'm not going to say much on this but you could learn what you need from a well written ebook or video course...

If you have a mentor, it would be whole lot easier for you to understand complex ideas. Again, you should just do your best in looking for a mentor who has a personality that matches yours, a mentor who will walk you through the entire process and a mentor who can make you feel that he really wants you to succeed (because others can really make you feel that they just want to earn money from you).

Here's the skepchick perspective ...

It varies, according to how people learn best.

For some people, mentoring is a far better and easier way to learn, and there are plenty of people here who have been very successful after some mentoring, after struggling for a long time before it.

I never had one, didn't want one, and if I were starting again tomorrow, still wouldn't want one.

I strongly suspect that successfully finding a mentor is a far more difficult and problematic process than many here, who enthuse about the concept, actually realise. It's very much "caveat emptor". The reality is that, as with so many forms of coaching/tuition/support services online, many people find "mentoring" a comparatively easier service to sell - given the huge turnover of beginning marketers - than the other ways in which they've tried to make a living online. I know that there are many people promoting mentoring services online (including some here, unfortunately) simply because they find that a much easier way to make some money online than it would be from themselves actually applying the content of what they're teaching, because what they're teaching doesn't work at all and is in some cases even based almost entirely on factually incorrect "information".

Needless to say, I have never offered any form of mentoring/coaching/tuition service here at all (and don't intend to). Nevertheless, I'm frequently contacted here by people who have previously "found a mentor" through the forum but are still earning nothing, and some of what I've heard about the advice given has made my hair stand on end. Naturally and in accordance with forum rules, I name no names, but I know that there are some people selling "mentoring services" and "coaching services" here who have absolutely no idea what they're talking about at all. :p

The moral of the story, I think, for those considering mentoring of any kind, is to be careful about two things, before you start ...

(i) You need to see independently verifiable evidence that the proposed mentor actually has their own currently profitable, successful internet marketing business, not just a "mentoring business";

(ii) You need to be able to follow up, independently, testimonials of people who have been through the mentoring process offered and talk to those people yourself and ask them your carefully drawn-up list of questions, not just "read their testimonials". Every successful mentor has people who are available to do that, on request, just as you yourself may occasionally be asked afterwards to do that for future prospective mentees. If for any reason this facility isn't available, then there's something very wrong. Don't be fobbed off with excuses for this being "difficult to arrange at the moment", for whatever reason(s). It's a standard, everyday, necessary, totally reasonable thing to request, and the prospective mentor should be able to fulfil it (and should expect to) without turning a hair.

Some people can, more easily than others. Again, there's always a "quality control" issue involved.

Key concept: most people fail at internet marketing, and "providing information for beginning marketers" is a relatively soft touch and an easier way to make a living online than many ... so it should surprise nobody that quite a lot of the "teaching materials" out there are themselves extremely misguided.

I think having a mentor will definitely speed up the process and also helps focusing on the right things, i.e. things that work, providing that you have a mentor who is teaching you the same things they do in their own business.

It is good to hear different opinions on this. I have a friend who just asked me about this because he has been planning to enter the business, as well, but he is not sure whether getting a mentor would be a great investment or not. I led him to visit this thread. I'm sure he will have great ideas to ponder upon with all your responses.

Yeah I would go for a mentor or at least some kind of accountability group to keep you on track. I bounced around for years online because I kept getting distracted and didn't have anyone telling me what to do.

After only 90 days working with a mentor I was able to go full time with my online business

Well, that is the benefit of having a good mentor. They keep you focused on your goals, they bring you to the right direction and they give you relevant pieces of advice whenever you think that the business you are entering is not really for you. They just keep you going.

That really depends on who you hire as your mentor.

I second the idea of joining a group of like minded people. There are quite a few "challenge" groups on Facebook that are quite useful. I joined The Ultimate Blog Boost challenge and I have been writing like crazy.

I think if you have the money to hire a mentor, go for it. If not, just keep learning as you progress.

Good luck!

Finding a mentor in regards to internet marketing, or anything else for the matter is very important in my honest opinion Learn from someone who has gone before you and soak up as much info. as possible.

I have been following a handful of success marketers rather closely for over a year now and have learned a lot in the process, saving me a bunch of stress, and not to mention headaches lol.

A mentor is very important. Some people are so smart and practical that they can read an ebook/course and instantly understand principles, put them into use, and make money.

Others however need help - and the best way in my opinion is with a paid mentor/consultant.

Joining groups seem to be more ideal to me. But you still need to know about the people in the group to make sure that you are getting accurate pieces of advice. I think that joining one will make me freely explore all my choices and get to know the points of view of different people on each question that I have in mind.

the problem for all newbie, who is the real deal?

most of them were asking for $497/month to teach you, if you choose the wrong one then you have another lesson learn.

A good mentor can only help. A mentor is a good thing to have on and offline.

Mentors may suggest some shortcuts, as they know what works and what doesn't

They can point mistakes to avoid. Still, you'll do your own mistakes. You should be your own mentor at the same time, if you really want to have one.

There's also a learning curve you have to go through, whether you study IM or whatever from the relevant forums, blogs or YouTube.

Best mentors IMO are the ones which help you understand the reason why behind your approach and actions, not just the ones who how-to advice.

Having a mentor will make you accountable for what you need and
should be working on in your business on a consistent basis.

When you're trying to go it alone, it's easy to become distracted and
get sidetracked.

A mentor will make sure YOU DO what's needed to be done!

That's a fantastic positive to have at your disposal.

Having someone there to help PUSH you through the barriers.

Depends on the mentor.
If he has a running and profitable business and then by charity he decides to mentor you, then thats a total YES, go for it.
Usually people that know the way wont waste time on someone that they dont know, they are already mentoring family and friends. Also they are writing WSO that do not include all the know-how, but will give you a clear notion on where to start.

Best mentor you can have is experience and fighting for your dreams.
Ohh, and check Matt Cutts conference:

Absolutely WILL HELP...

IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT APPROACH

mentoring alone is only good if you are ready to be mentored (ready to take massive action and do a lot of work!)

In general, I suggest doing a little bit of digging around to find the general path you want to take and then look for a mentor within that path if possible

best of luck

1. Depends on the mentor.

2. Depends on the person being mentored.

3. Depends on the "How" (think implementation).

I've had some genuine mentors over the years and I would not have succeeded as quickly as I did without them. They cut my learning time in half (at least).

RoD

There are lots of perspective to these.

Imagine you got on the wheels for the first time and you are asked to run a race.

If you have been watching how cars are been driven before then you will have some idea and probably an edge to start moving.

If you have no driving experience at all, never rode in one before and you find yourself in a car about to run a race, how will it be?

Okay, imagine you have never driven a car before and you were informed about a race coming up in 7days.

If you use the internet such as Google, YouTube, blogs and related forums you will certainly get a lot of tips and ideas to help you get started. How well you apply what you have studied is going to depend on a lot of factors like finding the RIGHT information, reading and understanding ability, application and all those.

A mentor is a better start that will help you avoid all the loopholes but you just have to ensure you pick the right coach otherwise it won't cut it..

There is great value in mentors. Some of my best mentors have been passive mentors who coached me through their books, videos or seminars. These mentors are great for setting foundation. I also believe it is important to have active mentors for accountability and fine tuning your pursuits.

You don't have to pay big money to have a mentor. Learn from everyone and apply what you learn and correct and re-aim. Tweak and tweak till you get the best results.

Once you figured out the best way to do something, scale it up and then rinse and repeat.

There you have it - you are your own mentor!

Having a mentor will speed up the process for you but is not required. You can indeed read forums and learn a lot of things. Then test on your own to prove it to yourself.

I personally suggest that you get a mentor. I say that it is mandatory for your success. The reason why I say so, is because it will save you a lot of time. You can find a mentor here in the forums, YouTube, FB. I personally found a mentor on LinkedIN. I still talk to him to this day.

Can anyone recommend a good mentor? I understand that they'll be different types and prices. I need someone who is reasonably priced for what they can provide and really cares to see you succeed..not lose there interest when the money has cleared.

We develop CMS for a specific niche and i think this would be a good route for us...nothing ventured, nothing gained. Many thanks

Absolutely, if you are new to the IM Business, a mentor will be intrumental to your online success.
Best regards,
Peter

If you are new,then frankly a mentor is not optional.
No baby just gets up and starts walking - the baby needs someone to help/guide and make the walking process steady and easy.
it's the same thing here,really.
What a mentor does is to steady you and keep you focused on what works.The biggest problem most folks have is trying to do everything and then doing nothing - a mentor will help with that
For me,it was when i got a mentor,that i finally made money (real money,i mean - $30 is not money )
So i think it's vital

Cheers!
Praise

Mentoring is very helpful but you really do have to make a commitment.

Signing up with a mentor is the EASIEST part of the process. You really have to set aside the time every day to work with your mentor. He/she will give you the guidance but you have to really to work at the steps.

If you cannot set aside at least 2 hours a day to work with a mentor, then I would strongly say to hold off until you have more time available.

You can definitely learn this stuff on your own through courses, pdf's etc ...

But having a mentor or a coach just speeds up the whole process.

If you find someone that is doing what you want to do and getting the results that you want to get ... then it's just easier for them to show you.

But it does come with a price : )

-Shawn

This seems to be the most important benefit.

Exactly. Why do so many people miss this? Also, the absolute best products to promote are ones you've actually used yourself, successfully.

Exactly how I learned - Steve Weber & Yaro Starak.

Seems to be exactly right, from my recent, quite in depth research into just that factor. I'm working feverishly on a solution (almost) as we speak.

You need both. You have to learn many things by yourself, otherwise you won't be able to evaluate a mentor’s help, and you need many mentors until you will learn everything.

It all depends on if you want to spend hundreds of hours alone in Forums trying to learn bits and pieces to the puzzle.

Or if you want to find a mentor and spend a fraction of the time to learn all the pieces to the puzzle.

View it as if you were just starting out playing a new sport... say baseball.

You don't know the first thing about how to hit a baseball, how to catch a ball, or how to throw the ball. You can do 1 of 2 things...

1. You can get with a group of friends and practice every day trying to hit and catch the baseball -- while at the same time not knowing if you are using the correct fundamentals.

2. Hire a trainer and have him teach you in a week or 2 how to properly hit, catch, and throw the baseball the correct way. From there on -- you know know the proper technique and can become better with practice and more training.

Same goes for internet marketing. You can spend hours reading forums, watching videos, and "trying to make things work" -- or you can pay for a mentor or coaching program and learn the fundamental basics on how to properly set up a business and earn a regular income each month.

Once you know the blueprint on how this is done -- all it takes on your part is to put in the work and you will eventually start to see results.

I personally found a good coaching program at the very beginning and am very glad I did.

Hope this helps

In my experience there is a lot of misleading info out there and some people share small pieces and parts or sell ideas that used to work. If you can take the time to test things for yourself and learn as you go, then you can be your own mentor.

I simply don't have the $$$ for a mentor. I would be willing of course, to do a partnership where a guy teaches me, and 50% of my proceeds goes to him.

Checkout my story.started in may 2008. And i did not want to pay anyone to guide me. Started and abandoned over 10 site because no matter how much free info there is out there nothing beats the feeling of having a personal guide with expwrience. Because i got discouraged i quit. 2013 i got into the market again, this time under a coach. 4 months into it. My first 100$ ever and i have not stopped. So if am to advice someone i'd say look for a mentor especially one Who will teach you how to build a list.

While of course there is a lot of information available for free online, I would still advise that you do seek a mentor who will:

a. sift out what is relevant and irrelevant to your own specific situation
b. keep you focused and inline with a plan and some objectives
c. teach you tips and tricks which are not necessarily easily know.

Even the masters have mentors .... so i believe us lesser mortals should do too

Hi Guys.
I'm still looking to find a good Mentor at the moment. Can anyone recommend a good reputable Mentor?.
I've been searching around but nothing beats good old fasioned personal recommonadtions. I looked through this but the websites they gave didn't do it for me http://www.wikihow.com/Find-an-Inter...rketing-Mentor .
Many thanks

Youtube has provided me with a wealth of information on SEO and internet marketing. Without Youtube, I would still be struggling to find useful and timely information in offline resources. The online ebooks are not always relevant to learning and don't act as much of a mentor as they are often many years old and contain outdated information.

A mentor is like a shortcut to success. It's not vital but it sure does make everything go a lot faster.

There are many pits and falls while considering Internet Marketing. Yes you do need a mentor for that.

First of all, every niche is not similar, each has it's own structure of working.
There are definetly some niches which you can master learning through free guides, YT videos ect, but there are also some niches in which you need a mentor you can guide you through hurdles.

These mentors are great for setting foundation.

Absolutely essential if you want to get to a high level.

Getting around people who get better results than you is one of the most valuable things you can possibly do toward making money in this industry.

Everybody who is having any decent amount success typically actively seeks out mentors in their lives who are getting better results than they are currently getting....no matter what level they are at.

This is an interesting thread and finding a mentor is something that must go through most newbies, as well as more practised IM's minds. However, In my case, I feel that the learning process here is not one that can happen overnight and I would rather take some time to learn and make my own mistakes. There is a lot of information here that is free and given by people who are doing the job well, my next step will be to join the war room.

I wonder if, in some way, by taking on a mentor and so being (hopefully) propelled up the learning chain to success you may actually be stiffling your own creativity. A way of working and bringing in new ideas and business that you may need after your mentor has moved on and you have become used to the methods taught in 'Parrot fashion'.

The mentor maybe used by those who are floundering in the information overload here and who then do nothing. Perhaps a mentor would give the targets to strive for.

I guess after doing all you can under your own steam first would be best and then maybe using a mentor to fine tune your process later if you need to would be another approach.

Mentor will be helpful if you are trying to build a long term successful online business, not that you can't find a good guide to help you succeed, but with the mentor there are mistakes you are guaranteed not to make, and you will be more motivated.

Having a great mentor is a way to give you a kick in the butt, but it is not required in order for you to be successful. Mentors had to start from the bottom and achieve a certain level of success before they could mentor someone else, keep that in mind.

All the best

1) Learn a lot first. For free. From forums like this and YouTube...

2) Decide what business you want to start. What products or services
you want to market. Something that interests you enough to stay in it.
Even better, find something that you are passionate about and work
towards marketing in that realm.

3) Then find a mentor who has done or is still doing what you want to do.
And/or, find relevant courses, books and videos for free or paid.

The more knowledge you have about what you want to do, the better
decisions you will make in separating the wheat from the chaff. The good
mentors from the bad. The good, current material from the bad... Stuff that
jives with how you learn... and your ethics...


Dan

PS - You can always explore the idea of going to work for someone you
want to learn from. A volunteer or maybe paid position.

If you cannot find a mentor, which is extremely useful if you have a good one, then pay for one!

If you are so isolated you have no access to a mentor, then drown yourself in podcasts! That's the best medicine to keep you going!

Having a mentor in this field is not mandatory, but if you get the chance to find one, i am sure he is worth, because he shares with you an already filtered information, while Internet sources do not always promote reliable things. So, if you decide to do it on your own, be aware of the risks and the fact that learning process will last longer.
But in both cases you must be determined and willing to learn as much as you can.

Having a mentor will definitely speed up the process but it's not nessecary if you are willing to accept that it might take you longer to reach your goal.

You could always join a membership site so you still get some support even if it's not 1 to 1.

I joined The Ultimate Blog Boost challenge and I have been writing like crazy.

From what I've seen, there are different approaches to Internet marketing, not all of them reliable. Learning by yourself, you cannot tell the difference, but if you manage to find a mentor, someone you trust and look up to, who is, obviously, successful in internet marketing, you can turn to him/her for advice and support.

Finding a mentor is extremely difficult. I've spent plenty of time trying to do it and it has not worked out well for me. I think I've found a great way to do so. I plan on getting a job with an online marketing agency. They provide online marketing services to big companies, such as Fortune 500's and such. The best minds in online marketing are in those agencies, and I suspect that I will naturally establish a mentoring relationship with someone in the firm that I get a job from. You'd need at least a Bachelors degree in Marketing to get this job though.