How Effective is Your Mentor

Success leaves clues. On your first hike through a dense and possibly dangerous forest would you select a guide who did not have a map and had never been through that area? Of course not, that would be about as risky as calling a foreign country and saying, "Here's $20,000, send me a bride." Can you even imagine someone that desperate? Even worse, can you imagine a woman foolish enough to accept? Nelson Mandela fled to a foreign country to avoid an arranged marriage; even an arranged marriage had more potential for success than totally blind luck.

Two days ago I spoke to an intense and enthusiastic mastermind group about marketing their new personal development product. During the question and answer period, one wise man asked me a specific question. He was not being nosy or rude, just direct. "Are you a millionaire?" Since my website is the New Millionaire Blueprint, he had a right to ask. Not only that but he chose to confirm that he was receiving quality information.

Just as you would not take an inexperienced guide without a map into foreign territory, so you want to take business advice from someone who has been a top producer, is still a top producer and knows how to teach you how to duplicate their successful results. Many people knew how to produce decades ago but do not know what currently works. Others know how to produce but not how to teach someone to duplicate their results. Have all 3 elements increases your success potential tremendously.

When he asked me the question, he was verifying that he was receiving information from someone who met all 3 of the criteria. My quiet and confident "yes" provided him the necessary information. No offense intended or taken; I accepted it as a valid question of a person doing his due diligence.

So much has changed in the last ten and certainly the last 20 years. Thirty years ago, the internet was only a glimmer in the eye of a few tech savvy individuals such as Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Marketing on the internet has not received any prominence until the last 15 years at most. I had the first web site in Routt County Colorado which did any marketing. I started marketing reservations for my property management company on the internet in 1994; at that time such advertising was considered radical and untested. In fact, I completed my master's thesis on the subject in 1997 with three years of my company's history included. One professor asked me to produce my list of reference books for the paper; I could not as the only book out on the subject at the time was the new book by Bill Gates.

Internet marketing represents the bulk of the business advertising and certainly the most effective in today's economic culture. Pay per click marketing on Google, Yahoo and various other search engines as well as a plethora of social networking sites (Web 2.0) dominate most current marketing plans. Brick and mortar businesses, network marketing businesses, corporations, franchises and non-profit organizations all market on the internet.

The most effective means of marketing thirty, twenty and even ten years ago have radically changed from what proves most effective today. Some wisdom remains timeless but effective marketing techniques have dramatically evolved in the last decade and continue to do so consistently.

Top leaders and producers follow the advice of Albert Einstein, "Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." Value to you as a follower means having a coach, mentor and advisor who has been a success, is still a success and knows how to impart that value to you. The long track record of success combined with today's success indicates a willingness to stay current with modern effectiveness.

Learning, knowing, and practicing effective advertising techniques in today's marketplace remains part of the essential criteria for selecting a mentor. Being able to personally achieve results is insufficient. In order for you to benefit, your coach and mentor must also be able to impart that knowledge to you in such a manner than you can duplicate that success for yourself.

Not everything works every time. Confucius said, "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do." Great leaders stretch over and over again in order to learn and grow. Not only learn from them, but duplicate that willingness to stretch and grow. Choose the best mentor and fall in step alongside them to forge your own path to success.

Marketing presents one aspect of business success. Learn all the elements of success. Choose wisely, your future depends on your choices.