Give Away Internet Marketing Mentoring or Coaching?

Every week I get asked by subscribers, customers or just out of the blue, do you offer internet marketing mentoring or coaching? 

Sometimes, the requests are legitimate, and people really are ready to get personal help…taking them to the next level in their desire to build their online business…but other times, the request is to get free help. 

Now, I have nothing against helping someone – especially if they demonstrate they are taking action and really are dedicated to building a business, and my usual rule of thumb is that I will answer a few questions gratis for them, because that is the way people helped me when I first started out.

But Don’t Ask For Free Internet Marketing Mentoring Or Coaching…

I am not a big fan of giving away mentoring – it’s not that I don’t want to, it just has not turned out well when I have done it…I believe for a few reasons:

1. By asking for free coaching or mentoring demonstrates that you are NOT in the right mindset to succeed with your own business – period!

I’m not saying that couldn’t change, but I am not going to be a psychologist and counsellor as well as an internet marketing coach all for nothing. 

  To be successful, you need to begin with an unstoppable belief in your ability to succeed!  What that means is that a) You must have confidence in your own ability to ask the right questions and pick the right mentor and b) Know that you can turn that information and action into BIG success.  If you are thinking that way – do you really believe you would ask for that infromation free?  

Think about it – does the person or company that wants to dominate their market go out and start with free hosting, free autoresponders, etc…?  No – they look for the best platforms on top of which to build their dream. 

Unfortunately, it has taken me MANY lost hours to come to this conclusion, but lesson learned. 

2. I can’t afford to help someone as well as if I charged for the information.

Again – it’s not that I don’t already spend hours answer questions or providing support to subscribers and customers on my blog, email list or public forums, it’s just that I have to keep that in balance with actually operating and growing my own business and maintaing a healthy lifestyle. 

I can spend an hour developing content or building my own business and earn thousands from that hour of work – on the other hand, giving away that hour is ok IF it doesn’t completely outbalance those hours I spend earning or with my own family.  What many people do not understand about coaching though is it is VERY time consuming.   When I help someone build their business I treat it as if it were my own.  That means hours of market analysis, hours of planning, hours of content development, hours of testing, etc… Yes, I can make my coaching more guidance driven, but the fact remains there is still a great deal of work goes into a mentorship relationship. 

Even Better – And Highly Effective Internet Marketing Mentoring and Coaching

All of that said, since I sell many products into different niches where I get requests for coaching, mentorship, follow-up questions – what I have done is created two different levels of mentorship – a 1:1 program for those that have the right success mindset and time to grow fast, and a more cookie-cutter, pre-developed program with some personal support on the lower end where people can still get mentoring, but on a more controlled basis for pennies a day…next best thing to being free. 

Both programs work extremely well, have a very high success rate and have turned out to be extremely beneficial for those who have moved on and realized their dream of operating a full-time, profitable internet marketing business. 

At the end of the day, these offer the best options for both the student and the teachers.