Have you thought about sharing your internet marketing knowledge as a way to not only help others, but to make a bit of extra money yourself?
Mentoring can be a great way to give back to the online community while at the same time establishing yourself as an expert, and providing a way to get paid for that expertise.
Can You Mentor?
You might not even realise just how much knowledge you have picked up by becoming an online entrepreneur. Think about all the things you’ve learned along the way.
Did you design your own website? Do you have extensive experience setting up a pay per click campaign or practising good SEO? Have you become a successful affiliate marketer? Maybe your strength is in identifying strong keywords or developing social marketing techniques.
You should realise that there are many people interested in any or all of these areas. It takes time and effort to gain an internet marketing education. Most website owners just starting out don’t really have an inkling of where to begin to monetise their site or drive traffic. That is where mentoring comes into play.
Setting Yourself Up As a Mentor
Still feeling a bit overwhelmed by the thought of teaching someone else? You may want to start by offering your services to a friend or acquaintance and do it free of charge. Walk them through the same steps you went through. Have them assess your skills and how it helped them. This may be just what you need to give you the confidence to sell your services.
Now think about ways that you can monetise your mentoring. First things first, put the information on your website. On your “About Us” page be sure you mention your qualifications (i.e. number of websites created, how much money you have made from affiliate marketing, testimonials, etc.).
Now you can decide how you want to sell yourself. If you are comfortable writing, then an e-book about your chosen topic is a quick and easy way to make money. The e-book can easily be offered for sale on your website with payment via PayPal.
Another way to use mentoring to your advantage is to teach an online course. You can either set up an instructor’s account at an existing learning site or create your own. Another way you can teach is by sending out a PowerPoint presentation via e-mail.
Some people prefer to use a Yahoo group as the classroom. Decide in advance how many days you are going to offer the course (it should be at least a week) and how much you are going to charge. You can then have prospective students sign up and pay in advance and give them a ‘join’ link to the group. You might want to post a daily exercise, then meet online every night at a specific time when you will be available to offer scoring, advice, and answer questions.
If driving traffic to your site is more important than selling a product or service, then consider offering subscriptions. Induce visitors to sign up as a subscriber by offering them members only articles and resources.
Mentoring is a positive activity all the way around. By teaching others, you may just find that you learn something new in the process.
About Sean Rasmussen
Good post. It’s amazing how fast we learn. I believe that anyone can mentor someone who knows less. I am already amazed at the knowledge that I am able to pass on in a short time. And it really is a good thing to help others.
Sean
I am learning at an alarming rate. I had intended doing affiliate marketing . However with the fan page an opportunity has presented itself which I am following up on.
I could see myself moving into mentoring a bit further down the track.
Hi Gee,
Is it offering SEO advice? I think that is really a strength for you and I think you would be great at it. You just seem to have a natural aptitude for it. I think you should do it.
I would probably feel comfortable mentoring someone who knows absolutely nothing about the internet as I know I have come a long way from where I started, but I don’t think I could start charging money for it YET. When I have had a few sales from my site, I would then be a little more confident.
Hi Sean
Mentoring is one of my goals and I have a strong leaning towards keywords and building blogs because they are the things that I have had the most difficulty and confusion around so once I really understand these two things I will be able to teach someone easily.
I am a hands on person so even if I did teach via Youtube tutorials or DVD’s I think I would still like to have a weekend workshop where everyone meets at least once.
I have mentored in other areas unrelated to internt marketing and really enjoyed it. I like to pass on knowledge as much as I like receiving it.
Hi Elly,
That sounds like a great idea. You’d really be able to identify with what the beginner’s are struggling with and you’d know the things that got you over the hump.
Also, I think you’ve got the best temperament to teach. You’re very smart and patient and you know how to talk to people on their level. I’d watch your tutorials.
A very interesting post Sean. Mentoring sounds great and I probably could give some very basic advice to complete newcomers. Although I think mentoring will be one of my future goals.
The best thing is that I will be able to come back to this and follow through at a later date. Thank you.
Mentoring is a great way to share learning. Even while we may not be gurus, we still can offer insights and knowledge gained so far.
Even if it is only how to avoid the pitfalls and scams and how to do basic tasks like writing good content, we have something to offer as a mentor.
And, it is immensely satisfying helping and working with others on the same journey.
If I think about it, I have heaps of stuff I can share and teach – as I am sure many in this comp also have and can do
Most people have valuable information they can share with others, it’s a matter of working out what that information is, and sharing it with people who want to listen