I had 174 responses to my marketing mentor survey last week.
I’ve been toying with the idea of launching my own mentoring programme, and wanted to find out how many people had used a marketing mentor in the past, what level of results they achieved… and basically whether people want or need access to a marketing mentor (or in my case a web marketing mentor.)
The resounding answer was YES! In fact here’s a quick summary of the main statistics…
Have you ever worked with a marketing mentor?
Yes – 55.2%
No – 44.8%
If you answered yes, how long did you have a mentor for?
Less than 2 years – 89.2%
More than 2 years – 10.8%
Did the mentor help increase sales?
Yes, their advice made a huge difference – 20.5%
A little bit – 39.7%
No, our sales stayed the same – 27.4%
We lost sales – 4.1%
The advice seriously damaged my business – 8.2% (SHOCKING!)
Do you like the idea of having access to a WEB marketing mentor?
Yes- 82.6%
No – 17.4%
On the basis of these results I WILL be launching a web marketing mentor programme next week. However, the survey also included some ‘open ended’ questions where people could tell me what was good — or bad — about the mentoring they’ve had in the past. I’ve used that to refine the finer details of how my own menoring will be conducted.
(For example it seems people don’t just want a mentor to give them occasional advice — it seems most people want a lot more than that.)
Anyway, if you want the full scoop on my survey click the video for a narrative of me giong through the results. If you do watch the video I’d love to hear any additonal comments you have — please submit them below at the bottom of this page. Thanks.
To say I’ve learnt a lot from the 174 responses to my survey is an understatement!
My mentor programme launches next week — but since the survey last week I’ve seriously limited the number of people I’ll accept, so that I can be a lot more practical and ‘hands-on’. More details shortly.
Have a great weekend,
Ed.
P.S. Here’s the list of ‘best advice’ and ‘worst advice’ taken from my survey…
The 18 Best Tactics & Strategies Given by Mentors that “Made a Significant Difference” to Sales & Profits.
(Taken from results of Ed Rivis ‘Marketing Mentor’ Survey, March 2009.)
- Implement systems.
- Design a marketing funnel.
- Position yourself as an expert.
- Don’t compete on price.
- Focus on specific niches.
- Profile customers to identify the best ones – then get more of them!
- Use direct response copywriting.
- Use time effectively—value it highly.
- Focus on one thing at a time and follow it to completion.
- Use targeted marketing aimed at specific people.
- Get leverage on landing pages, joint ventures, lead generations and special offers.
- Continuously track, measure and test different tactics.
- Switch to advisory/consultative selling.
- Get total clarity and direction.
- 100% accountability.
- Stop flogging a dead horse.
- Trust your instincts more.
- TAKE ACTION.
The 23 Worst Mentoring Failures—that Either Failed to Produce Results Or Damaged Sales & Profits.
(Taken from results of Ed Rivis ‘Marketing Mentor’ Survey, March 2009.)
- Not giving practical support/not taking a hands-on approach.
- Talked too much.
- Too much advising & not enough listening.
- Not enough more meetings or e-mail interaction.
- Failing to understand the company fully — making false assumptions.
- Not working to an agreed plan.
- Not setting goals.
- Not telling the truth!
- Not delivering on promises.
- Not ensuring a return on investment.
- Mentor not walking his talk! (Giving advice he wasn’t following himself).
- Mentor didn’t understand Internet Marketing.
- Lack of structure.
- No formal feedback or review mechanism.
- Failing to identify a ineffective business model.
- Not delivering any more specific information than already in his books and website.
- Asking ambiguous and vague questions then not explaining them or giving any help.
- Poor advice – think all he was after was the money.
- Mentoring programme was too fast/too slow.
- Not driving the learning process.
- Not thinking between sessions.
- Not enough focus on results.
- Failing to pay attention to the cost of their advice in terms of results achieved from it.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Dear Ed.
Brilliant to see the 18 best reasons. I didn’t realise how many I had been taught then forgot about. I will print these out and pin them on the wall!
Thank you!
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Thanks for sharing Ed – very enlightening and, as you say, also very worrying that so many suffered from bad advice. I know from experience, based on the advice you’ve given me privately in the past, that anyone who joins your mentoring programme with the right ‘will-do’ attitude will see great results.
I hope you’ll be able to share some of their success stories in the future to encourage others to forge ahead and find the right mentor for them.
Carol
April 4th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Hi Ed
This really shows how important it is to carry out a survey too. Have been planning (and playing with) a survey like this too, but your results (and conclusion) made me realise it is essential before launching any training/study program/product.
And reading the worrying 23 worst failures I wonder what made the ‘victims’ select that particular ‘mentor’ – hypes, referrals, ‘pressure’ or just bad luck? Might be worth diving in deeper? Anyone care to comment?
Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)
April 4th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Very interesting Ed, But who is doing it effectively and how can we find the win-win for everyone?
Now looking at this you might be interested of in conducting some research into the market of business consultancy/business coaching to see who’s got the biggest share, the retention rate of their customers and ideally the percentage increase in profits from such clients. Because the Biggest company, with the best retention rate and ideally (but not really feasibly) the average profit increase per year for those clients.
I could save you some time though, my Dad works for them and he brought me my copy of your book. The value of you book especially if you know a thing or two about the internet really is as close as it gets to crisp, clean, fresh banknotes in your back pocket.
The coaches work will other mediums mainly, not to say Brad Sugars on Wednesday was talking about closed-door sales on hidden Url’s. But they wouldn’t employee your strategies for their own business as it would be overkill one coach will only take on about 20 clients a month. So the cost of a web developer vs 100 stamps (when you have been extensively trained in through the system) it’s easy to see the winner.
Ask though if you seem like a good prospect they may sack the time wasters or narrow minded people who react and don’t like being held accountable. That’s how to make the most of time their not your friend, there not your employee, they are your business coach, and they ask the right questions and ensure you find the right answer’s.
Just like a sport’s coach they will help you focus on all the area’s of your game.
Excited to learn more about work web marketing mentor program, as I would say you have to be the leader in terms of Web Marketing. Just of the value you get from your publishing. Referral system?
Thanks again for your great direction
Joe