Just over 12 months ago, I took on my first mentoring students.
What a trip.
Helping people take that next step in a business (regardless of if they were starting from scratch or already well entrenched in the Internet Marketing game) was a joy.
I had no idea how it was going to work out.
I learn’t so much out of the experience. I think Steven Covey said, “if you want to learn something very well teach it”.
Very true.
Over the course of the 12 months, as I was working with the mentoring students, I began to formulate an idea…
That idea became known as “Going Pro”.
It really does stir me up when I see people talking about going to the next level or burning the ships or doing whatever else is trendy or happening at the time.
That’s not what Going Pro is about.
When I first started talking about Going Pro, people thought I was talking about going full-time.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
With this post, I’m launching my new mentoring series, creatively titled “Mentoring 2.0”
The Going Pro concept is crucial.
I had suspected even before I started mentoring…
The Mentorees knew all the tactics, or new where to find them. If anything they were drowning in tactics and options!
What they needed was an understanding of what to focus on, perhaps even more importantly, what NOT to focus on.
In launching Mentoring 2.0, I’m taking all the best bits from the first mentoring program and everything I’ve learned from the first year of mentoring.
Let’s get these clear up front. There’s no magic bullet, no miracle technique the “successful” people keep to themselves.
There’s no magic and no Unicorns.
Sorry.
It’s clear to me, your success has ZERO to do with any trick, tactic or strategy
There ‘s no motivational phrase, aseop’s fable, or power quote that will change what you’re doing one bit.
Sorry about that.
The only thing that’ll help is if you realise that indeed it’s only you who can make the change.
Then why the Charlie Sheen are you offering mentoring?
Why would I pay you a cent.
Because there is a way forward.
You can Go Pro.
The reason I’m doing mentoring 2.0, is because I believe there is a method to going pro, like I said, nothing I say will change a thing! I can’t guarantee a single result.
The only thing I knows if you’re still reading this, you’re not getting the results you want, or your already Pro and know the power of mentoring and networking.
Look, It’s not your fault!!!!
You’re working hard.
Trouble is, you’re working hard on completely the wrong thing.
And that’s where I can help.
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What is Going Pro?
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There are three core practices essential to anybody Going Pro.
Before I tell you what they are, I want to be sure you do not believe time is one of them!
Josh Bretag was a trainee chef working 14 to 16 hours days 6 days a week. I tried very hard to persuade him not to go in to the mentoring programme last year.
He was very determined and he knew even better than me he would have to very very clearly optimises his time. Fast Forward 12 months and it was a great thrill for me to have Josh Speak at the Going Pro conference in Melbourne last week – exactly 12 months after he started this journey is a trainee chef.
It’s not about the time.
It is about these three things.
Three crucial areas define Going Pro.
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FOCUS
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Focus comes down to 2 areas.
The first is what should you be focusing on, and perhaps more importantly, what you shouldn’t you be focusing on.
As I said before, my mentoring students have access to all the tactics they could need or want. The issue was far more about what they should be focusing on (or perhaps more importantly, what they shouldn’t focusing on).
The second part of focus, is the ability to block out chunks of time where you can apply the processes which are going to make you money.
We will get to processes in a minute.
In the mentoring program we have successfully introduced the concept of CFT (Critical Focus Time). This technique is called many things by many people, ultimately, it’s all about blocking distractions so your brain can get in to a flow and work on the things that are important to make money in your business.
The interesting thing is, the successful people I know, would perhaps be doing critical focus time (or the equivalent) than no more than two hours a day, usually a lot less.
This was revolutionary to my students. It’s a bit like Tim Ferris in his new book “the four hour body”, he talks about MED, this stands for Minimum Effective Dose.
When you apply in MED through mentoring 2.0 into your online business, whether you’re starting or have been around the block a few times. You will see dramatic differences in your productivity and results. This is one of the key things being part of a mentoring program and being coached brings to the table.
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PROCESS
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There’s a process for everything.
Creativity is a process.
If you’ve ever found yourself sitting in front of the computer wondering what to do next. That’s not a Focus problem…
It’s a PROCESS problem.
I know myself when I first started out I really rejected the idea of everything being a process.
I was creative.
I was a free spirit.
I was sticking it to the man…
I was also broke.
It’s only over the last few years I’ve realised that everything is a process. The most creative people I know, and I bet anybody you could name, are processvdriven creatures.
It’s the only way to be truly successful.
It also stops you being distracted by those cute surfing dogs on YouTube.
Whenever you find yourself staring at the computer, that’s a process failure.
With my mentoring program the idea is to make sure you have a process for everything.
One of the key things we’ll be doing is making sure you’re using the right processes at the right time.
It’s amazing what a fresh set of eyes on your business can do.
Have you ever had a piece of writing written by somebody else and you find a bunch of spelling and grammar errors. (Yes, almost certainly, what you’re reading right now would qualify!)
Even if you think you’ve checked thoroughly a fresh set of eyes makes all the difference when you’re in the editing process.
Being a mentoring program is like having an editor your business making sure that you are getting focused on the right things at the right time and you’re applying the right processes at the right time.
Make no mistake, i’m not doing it for you. That would be pointless. You need to learn how to do this for yourself.
Funnily enough, there is a process for that too!
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MEASURING
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Repeat after me…
“You can’t manage what you don’t measure”
If there’s one process subject to more abuse than any other when it comes to Going Pro, its measurement.
There ‘s a very good reason for this, it’s not your fault.
Your brain is trying to protect you from a horrible truth. It really just wants you to have a nice day and be comfortable and relaxed and enjoying the next Episode of “Britons Next Top Model”.
By not measuring your site, not checking your stats, you can maintain the happy equilibrium of ignorance.
Sadly, ignorance equals broke.
Every successful person I know measures.
They also have an ability not to take measurements to personally…
If you don’t track what’s going on in your business you can’t possibly make it better.
It’s very hard to have $100,000 a year business if you only have six people visiting your website every week!
The cool thing is, when you start to measure, great things happen.
If your brain finally figures out, “hey, you’re serious about this stuff”.
All of a sudden things change.
Because your brain doesn’t want to see bad results, once it realises you’re serious about measurement it will do what you need to do to make the changes that will get your business moving forward.
In Mentoring 2.0 we have an exercise which was developed by Eugene Were, that determines all the assets in your business and how you can utilise those assets to get you moving forward in the direction you need to go.
But if you’re not measuring, you don’t have a chance.
The only compulsory activities in the mentoring program revolve around measuring.
It’s that important.
Having done a year of mentoring, there are a couple of key distinctions that became brutally obvious to me.
If you’re in a 9-to-5 job, or in some sort of activity requiring any sort of mental energy during the day you need to commit to building a team.
I said way back in 2009 Internet marketing is now a team sport.
In 2011, the team has become mandatory.
If you don’t want to build a team and your working 9-to-5 then please don’t apply for the mentoring program.
You won’t be accepted.
Now building a team may mean only having one extra person.
A person doing your backlinking for example doesn’t cost much. Three lattes a day will get you a team member that will allow you to test hundreds of phrases to find the markets that will work.
I’ve seen this work time and time again in the first 12 months of the mentoring program.
In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s the single biggest success factor for people who are new to Internet marketing.
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Can I be a beginner?
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Absolutely!
Being a total beginner and coming into the mentoring program can be a very, very, very smart idea. Basically, you’re taking off a few years of mistakes and are being focused on the processes and practices that will actually work while you establish your business.
That’s the good news.
The bad news, if you could call it bad news, is there are certain things you are just going to need during your 12 months.
The great news is you have access to our entire library of tools and strategies lessons and webinars to get you the skills you need. As I said just above, you also need to commit to building a team. One of the most valuable things I can do in the mentoring programme is help guide you to build, create and manage a successful team.
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It’s not a race.
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This mentoring program is about you.
Your projects, your pace.
It’s not like the challenge.
With the challenge, you go from point A to point B to point C. In a mentoring program, we will be working with your project and will be doing it at your pace.
Once we’ve identified your goal is and where you want to work then will apply the correct processes focus and measurement to get you moving forward. Whether you are a beginner or a pro already wants to go to the next step.
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Let’s get specific.
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So what’s in the mentoring program, what do you get! What’s involved?
The first element of the mentoring program is a one on one meeting with me for 30 min up to once a week during the 12 months of the mentoring program.
We use the wonderful tungle.me appointment system and makes meetings really easy. I record the sessions and these are available to you to listen to after the one on one.
This is the meat of the program.
We’ve really refined this process so you can absolutely get the maximum value out of each session. We use an awesome tools like Dropbox, Jing, and GoToMeeting to make sure you get maximum benefit.
We also have our famous weekly group sessions. Named in honour of Dr Drew, these sessions are all about the strategic, theory, and processes I see making the difference between people who are amateurs and people who are Going Pro.
They are not your typical lesson.
Occasionally, when there is a brand-new technology I think people should jump on, our group sessions in the mentoring programme is where you will hear about it first.
We also have amazing guests, who come in and talk with the mentoring group.
This year we had people like John Reese, Andy Jenkins, Trey Smith, Sam Witteveen and Pete Williams among others who came in and gave us the benefit of the expertise and experience.
We also run a help desk.
There is just one problem with the helpdesk.
It is staffed by the rudest and nastiest, helpdesk operator in human history.
Me.
I answered all 3255 questions from last year.
I created a help desk because I want to make sure that between our 1-1’s if you ran into a sticky problem or wanted to know about a piece of software, there was a way for you to communicate with me in between times.
We have a bunch of rules and processes around the Helpdesk and its worked brilliantly. I couldn’t think of doing a mentoring program without it.
I do not outsource the helpdesk. It’s all me.
After three months you may wish it wasn’t me, but too bad you’re stuck with me.
Oh, by the way-I’ve heard some horror stories from mentoring students where they would sign up to a program to be mentored by somebody and then all of a sudden you’re palmed off to be mentored by somebody’s persons team.
That won’t happen here!
Like I said before, you’ll be stuck with me whether you like it or not.
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Products and seminars.
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During the 12 months of your mentorship any products we produce internally you will have access to at no charge.
We have at least three new big-ticket $2000 items we will be launching over the next 12 months. You will get access to all these for nothing.
Any seminars we run during the time of your mentoring will also be free. You just need to pay to get the accommodation. You don’t need to pay any admission fees.
We also have the visit in Melbourne program.
It was very humbling that mentors from all over the planet would come and spend the time with me here in Melbourne.
I loved it.
If you’re ever in town, give me some notice and we can spend time working on your business at my favourite coffee shop.
This worked extraordinarily well during last year and I hope more people take advantage of it this year.
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I’m interested, how do I apply?
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The first thing you need to know is price.
The price rules the above for 12 months of mentoring is $7500 US Dollars.
As I mentioned above, there are a couple of compulsory measurement activities that you need to do during the 12 months of your mentorship.
It is crucial these are done.
if your interested the next step is very simple.
Send me an e-mail to eddale@mac.com
When I receive your application. I’ll send you some details of where you can send the $7500.
Please understand at this point I treat the $7500 as a deposit. It’s only after we have had a one-on-one interview with all the applicants will I be able confirm your acceptance into the program.
This is not some marketing crap.
Due to the popularity of the mentoring programme last year I had to turn away many, many people. It was very unpleasant.
You need to be certain this is something you want to do. You want to go pro.
Once I receive your deposit i’ll make a time with you for our one-on-one where we’ll talk over the terms and conditions of the programme.
Bluntly, i’ll try talk you out of it. If I don’t put you off I’ll answer any questions you have.
I fully realise this is not for everybody.
When I started out last year, I really had no idea what would happen.
It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.
To see the growth in the mentoreess has been incredibly gratifying. To see so many of them want to go for a second year is even more gratifying.
Spaces are extremely limited. And that is not marketing crap.
If you have a look above what I provide you can understand why the program is indeed extremely limited.
I’d really love to work with you over the next 12 months and get you on the path of Going Pro. I’ve never received more satisfaction than in working with the mentoring students last year.
I’d love you to become part of mentoring 2.0
The next step, is simple.
Send an e-mail to eddale@mac.com
Ed