Why Businesses Need an Ecommerce Mentor: How to Find One

• They’ll take their time to understand your business and how it’s run before giving advice based on their ecommerce knowledge and experience.
• They’ll always being there when you need them, but not take over your business.
• They should always have the best interest of their mentees in mind! They shouldn’t just take on anyone as a mentee because they want an easy way out.
• They’re knowledgeable about ecommerce and want to share their knowledge with other ecommerce owners. This means having great ecommerce customer service skills.
• They have been in your ecommerce shoes before. This means they’re understanding and compassionate.

What are some questions you should ask a mentor?

Here are some questions that you should ask an ecommerce mentor:

• How did they succeed in your ecommerce industry?
• What ecommerce tools work for them and their ecommerce business?
• How did they become a mentor? Did anyone mentor them in the past or did they teach themselves how to become successful in your ecommerce industry.
• What is a typical day like for an ecommerce owner like you?
• What ecommerce advice would they give to someone who is just starting out in ecommerce?
• How will their knowledge and experience benefit me as an ecommerce owner.

How Can You Find A Mentor?

It’s not always easy finding a mentor, but here are your options:

• Look at what your local ecommerce community is doing and see who they are bringing in as mentors. Then, follow them on social media or reach out to them online to find out more about the ecommerce mentor experience.
• Check out mentors who you want to follow and reach out to them. They might be taking on mentees soon or they could have contacts that can help.
• Look for ecommerce mentors at ecommerce events like trade shows, conferences, etc. You’ll also get a chance to see how well their ecommerce mentoring skills are.
• Look for ecommerce mentors who offer ecommerce courses and online programs to see if they’d be interested in taking on a mentee.
• Look at ecommerce newsgroups, forums and Facebook groups where you can meet other people who might know of an ecommerce mentor or two.
• Reach out to your network of friends, family members, professional contacts, etc. who might have come across a good ecommerce mentor in their life or business. You never know when someone will be grateful that you reached out to them.

What are the benefits of having a mentor?

There are several advantages to having a mentor:

• You can learn ecommerce skills that you don’t know about yet. Having someone to guide your ecommerce business will help you avoid mistakes and grow faster.
• They’ll show you what’s possible in ecommerce by sharing their own ecommerce journey with you. This can help you strategize and think outside of the box for your ecommerce business.
• They’ll motivate you to work on ecommerce goals because they’re following through with their own ecommerce goals as well. This means there’s someone who is going to hold them accountable if they don’t follow through. You can do this by setting up ecommerce goals together.
• You’ll have ecommerce mentors who are always there to help you with ecommerce problems and struggles that you’re having. This can be very beneficial when it comes to brainstorming ecommerce ideas for your business or ecommerce website’s design, etc.
• Having ecommerce mentors will give you an extra ecommerce push that you might need to ecommerce succeed. You’ll have a cheerleader who is there every step of the way and they will give you ecommerce advice when it comes to ecommerce marketing, ecommerce website design, customer service skills, etc.

Are there disadvantages to having an ecommerce mentor?

Although ecommerce mentors are beneficial, there are some disadvantages to having one. For example:

• Ecommerce mentoring ebooks and ecommerce courses can be expensive, depending on the mentor you have. You might not want to pay for ecommerce advice when it comes to your ecommerce business. If this is the case, then try finding ecommerce mentors who offer ecommerce courses for free or at a discounted price.
• If your ecommerce mentor doesn’t have ecommerce business experience, then they might give you ecommerce advice that isn’t relevant to what you need. You’ll also miss out on ecommerce learning experiences because there’s no way of growing together as an ecommerce mentor and ecommerce mentee.
• Ecommerce mentors might not have the same ecommerce goals as you do, which can be a problem if they’re your ecommerce cheerleader. You’ll need ecommerce mentors who are going to support your ecommerce journey, too. If this isn’t happening then you might end up ignoring their advice.
• Some ecommerce mentors can overwhelm you with advice. This might be a problem because not all ecommerce mentors will have the same ecommerce goals as you do or they could give ecommerce advice that doesn’t make sense for your business.
• Some ecommerce mentoring relationships don’t work out well if there isn’t chemistry between the ecommerce mentor and mentee. You might not click with your ecommerce mentor which can have a negative impact on the ecommerce advice they give you.

How much should you pay a mentor?

That depends on the ecommerce mentor. Some ecommerce mentors offer ecommerce mentoring for free, while others might charge a fee depending on what you’re looking to get out of it.

Some eCommerce mentors will offer ecommerce courses that can be expensive but helpful when compared to free ecommerce advice that isn’t personalized or relevant to what you’re ecommerce struggling with.

There are ecommerce mentors who charge a monthly fee that can be beneficial because it keeps them accountable for following through on their ecommerce goals.

There are ecommerce mentors who charge an hourly rate. This can be beneficial, but it also depends on where you’re located at because not all ecommerce mentors will travel to meet their clients. Some mentors might offer Skype sessions or phone calls instead of traveling to meet with clients.