There is one thing that ALL successful Internet Marketers have in common. They all have, or have had a mentor. This was explained in more detail in the fourth blog in the previous section, “My Expensive, But Ultimately Successful Search For A Mentor”. I now set out below the things you must satisfy yourself exist in any mentor’s program, before you fork out the considerable, but necessary, expenditure that will be required to join up with any program. These points are also relevant to the scheme I suggest you join in the fore mentioned blog. That is to join Dean Holland’s Internet Profits scheme.
Offers to join “big ticket” mentoring programs usually come at the end of Webinars. The webinar will typically have contained some training, albeit with a few holes, which will accentuate the difficulty of becoming a successful Internet Marketer, working from scratch on your own. The training will be followed by a subtle sales spiel with an offer to plug those holes so you can live happily ever after. It will be suggested that you go to a “secret” URL which will contain either a sign-up form, which will require you to use your credit card, or a form where you will be asked several questions regarding your Internet Marketing experience and your current financial resources. However, in all probability, a price will not yet have been mentioned. You will then either be asked to specify a suitable time to have a one-on-one talk with a representative of the organization, probably using Skype, or perhaps you will receive an email a day or so later, after your initial application has been studied, with either a refusal or, more likely, a request to suggest a time for a call.
If you were impressed by the training contained in the webinar, and you have access to a reasonable amount of money, say $3,000 for starters, by all means visit the “secret” URL and complete the form as requested. However, if the URL leads directly to a sign up page asking only for your basic contact details and your credit card number, and you have no opportunity to speak to, and question, a human representative of the organization, click the “back” arrow immediately and wait for the next opportunity to come along. If however you do get an opportunity to discuss what will undoubtedly be a sizable investment, whether that opportunity arises immediately or one or two days later, here is a list of things you should satisfy yourself with before you sign on the dotted line and part with your hard earned money. Before I set out my suggested questions, I would like to remind you that joining a scheme and acquiring a mentor is an absolute MUST for ALL inspiring Internet Marketers. Unless you are a genius, or are extremely lucky, you will NOT succeed on your own. The money you will spend on a good mentor’s program would soon become peanuts compared to the money you will potentially lose searching the Internet for a cheap, push-button solution over the next year or two, until you realize that paying for a mentor is the only way to go.
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COST
Even if you have just won the lottery, don’t go for a scheme that is too expensive. Really expensive scheme’s could be too advanced for you if you are a relative beginner. Double check that any up-front fee is for LIFETIME membership, not annual or other length of time. Monthly fees are okay, but you must be able to leave at any time, with no exit fee. $2,000 is a reasonable up-front fee for a lifetime membership of a good mentoring course. If you can afford it you may go to $5,000, but no more to begin with. If there are several entry points, check that you can upgrade in the future for the difference in price, rather than the full cost of the higher level. (This is one of the few areas where I think iPro falls down, and I have let Dean know of my dissatisfaction). If you are struggling to meet the fee ask if there is any payment plans where you could spread your payments over four or six months. This option should be made by any good, caring, scheme but the added cost shouldn’t be more than 20%.
If the payment takes the form of a monthly recurring fee, I wouldn’t go above $150 a month, and, as I said above, you should be able to cancel at any time. But remember, whether you decide on an up-front fee, or a monthly fee, in all probability you will need more money for software and advertising, so try to get an estimate of the cost of these necessities from your interviewer before you commit yourself to anything.
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PRODUCTS
The scheme which your chosen mentor controls should have a product, or, preferably, a funnel of products, starting at a cheap front-end product and ending with a high ticket product, which you, as a “partner” can sell and on which you will earn commissions of at least 50%. The product(s) must be in a niche that you understand, and if you already have a list of any size, in the same niche as your list. Payments of commissions must be made at least monthly directly into your Paypal account, taking into account the necessity to give a guarantee and allow time for any possible refunds that have too be made.
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TRAINING
Any mentoring scheme costing $2,000 or more should have at least two types of training. a) Permanent video training accessible at any time on its web-site, and b) webinars should be held at least weekly. (Dean Holland’s iPro has at least 3 a week). If the access to the regular webinars runs out after a certain period of time, say 3 or 6 months, this is understandable as the webinar hosting companies, like Go To Webinar have a limit to the number of people who can attend each webinar and, as the number of students joining any scheme rises, very soon space gets very limited. It’s okay if the senior mentor delegates the hosting of most of these webinars to a senior subordinate, but the senior mentor should personally host at least one per month. However, at the $2,000 level don’t expect any one-on-one coaching via Skype or something similar. You would need to be looking at the $10,000 level for anything like that. it is very important that all webinars are recorded and the recordings are placed on the main web-site, where they can be viewed at a later date. This is especially important if you live far from the mentor’s home base and so the webinars are aired at an unsuitable time for you to watch them live.
The other form of training that is very important are videos on all topics that all potential successful Internet Marketers must be well versed in to make their dreams come true. The range of topics is far too wide for me to mention here, as I would be sure to omit some important ones. Ask your interviewer how many hours of training videos are on the web-site. It should be in the range of 100 hours or more. Any less than 70, and the price is $2,000 or more, it’s time to say goodbye.
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THE ALL-IMPORTANT HELP DESK
It is extremely important that your chosen mentor has a help desk which is open at least during normal working hours and, preferably runs with a skeleton staff during the weekends. It does not need to be quite as extensive as the one depicted in the diagram at the beginning of this section, but it must offer at least email support with a maximum of 48 hour response time during the week, preferably 24 hours. Support desks are normally staffed by girls with limited technical knowledge, but they must be competent enough to deal, on their own, with problems concerning the web-site and payments. It is very important that they have access to more advanced technical people who could solve more complicated problems or answer any involved technical or sales related questions you may have. They must also be able to forward your query onto the top mentor himself, should you request it, or they think it is appropriate. It’s essential that you are able to get quick answers to problems that are holding you back. The girls on Dean Holland’s help desk are very competent and usually there is at least one of them on duty at the weekend. They have no hesitation in forwarding your query onto Dean himself, or one of his two main assistants if you request it, or they themselves deem it to be the best way to move forward.
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FACEBOOK COMMUNITY
There are probably many more questions you can think of yourself that you would like to ask at a mentor’s initial interview. Remember that you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. But, in this post, I will address just one more. At all levels of any good mentor’s scheme there should be a dedicated private Facebook Group. Having a lively Facebook Community of like-minded individuals who are all chasing the same goals along the same path is very important. The senior mentor and his assistants, if any should also join in to form a large debating forum where ideas can be shared, helpful cheap or free products that someone has come across can be shared, or advice be sought on any related topic or product. A lively and constructive Facebook Group can avoid the same wheel being invented over and over again, but its main purpose is to let all members know that they are not alone in their struggle for success and there are many others in the same boat, some of whom can help and some of whom need help. A well controlled and regulated Facebook Group is a “must have” for any mentoring program. Dean’s iPro program has 3 different Facebook Groups all of which are lively and useful, and the existence of the top level Facebook Group along with the opportunity to join in the discussions held there, is alone, almost worth the price of joining as an iPro member, yet it only is but a fraction of the advantages of the scheme as a whole.