šŸ’«

Getting your first mentees

Getting your first mentees

More than ever, getting your start on MentorCruise is no easy feat. As of writing, about 20% of mentors get lucky enough to get a booking in their first week on the platform. For half of mentors, that moment happens within the first month.

But what if you donā€™t want to leave it up to chance? What can you do to attract your first mentees on the platform?

Our standard advice

Weā€™ll repeat our advice that was offered to you during your onboard too ā€“ the safest way to get your first mentee, a good rating in the books and some experience on the platform is to find one yourself.

As MentorCruise is growing bigger, the choice often falls on mentors that have a track record of good ratings. Remembering someone that wanted to get mentored from you for a while could be that for you.

Apart from that, itā€™s also a good measure to let your network know, so:

  • Post in industry communities about your new mentoring offer
  • Share your profile on social media and with your network

Complete your profile

MentorCruise is a work profile like so many others. When mentees search through the marketplace, they will check your profile and you canā€™t always expect mentees to check your other profiles too.

Itā€™s therefore important to keep your profile up-to-date and polished. You should also experiment with different approaches to your positioning

First impression

Get your MentorCruise profile up to a basic standard, this includes:

  • A professional profile picture
  • Your full name
  • A specific job title
  • Social media profiles
Your profile picture should be professional, distinctive, and unique. It should clearly represent your identity and create a positive first impression. Avoid using selfies or casual pictures that are not appropriate for a professional platform like MentorCruise. Daniel Johnson

When setting up your profile, use specific titles and industries. This shows your mentees that you have the required expertise and also gives them an opportunity to do some research themselves.

Skills

The skill section is an important part to being found on MentorCruise. You should have between 10 to 30 skills listed in this section.

Keep these skill relevant, as too many broad terms can confuse mentees and our search engine. Especially if youā€™re a newer mentor, it can make sense to focus on more niche keywords.

Include relevant skills in your profile that showcase your expertise. However, avoid including too many skills or skills that are not relevant to your area of expertise. This can create confusion and make it difficult for potential mentees to understand your value. Daniel Johnson

Too few terms can make it hard for your profile to be found. Focus on keywords that have an adequate traffic number (suggested in parentheses when you search for them), while maintaining a good mix of competitive and niche keywords.

Pricing

You should set up various pricing plans to provide flexibility, if possible. Additionally to the subscription plans, you can also set up one-off sessions, giving your mentees another easy option to get in touch with you.

Look at other mentors in your niche to gain an insight into the usual packages offered at each stage.

Cheap packages may bring you in a few more mentees, but can discount your services in the long-term.

Large, expensive packages may seem overwhelming to mentees, and they may hesitate to get in touch with you.

Once you can set up additional Lite and Pro plans, it makes sense to spread your offering more.

Response Time

Respond quickly to new applications and inquiries to keep your ā€œtime to first responseā€ at a high standard.

At the upper end, youā€™ll receive a ā€œQuick Responderā€ badge on your profile, which is proven to increase trust, conversion and traffic from mentees.

Writing a compelling biography

When writing your biography, it's crucial to highlight the value you bring to the table while also showcasing your unique qualities. To make a lasting impression, try including a section that outlines the type of help and support you can offer to potential mentees. You could begin with the phrase "As a mentor, I can help you:" and then use bullet points to describe common challenges faced by your target audience.

It's essential to make your biography friendly, engaging, and tailored to your reader. Avoid using technical jargon or terms that might be difficult for your potential mentees to comprehend. Instead, try using longer paragraphs to convey your message clearly and cohesively. Keep in mind that MentorCruise showcases the first two paragraphs above the fold, so using longer paragraphs ensures that the most critical information is visible at a glance. Daniel Johnson

Additional Tips:

  • Consider adding an intro video to your profile
  • Fill your profile with ā€œfeatured contentā€, like interviews and podcasts you were on.
  • Focus on the value you can provide to mentees, not your qualifications

Opportunities for more traffic

Want to get your profile in front of more eyes and mentees? Hereā€™s a quick view into the MentorCruise system and the opportunities for more traffic,

  • Include at least 10-15 relevant tags on your profile. Tags are key to getting listed on landing pages and surfacing in search results. Use skills you have and things you can help with. Tags are usually 1-2 words ā€“ you can always look for inspiration from similar mentors.
  • Fill out one of ourĀ interviews (text or video)Ā to get featured on our social media more prominently
  • Write a blog postĀ for us for an additional traffic boost
  • Share your profileĀ on social media to show your network that you're available
  • Use the banner to embed your profile in other places

Running a promo

Experienced mentor Mladen offered us his insights on how he attracted his first few mentees: promotional offers.

As other mentors grew in experience and started raising their prices, he saw the chance to gain a benefit offering services to the more budget conscious mentees on the network.

I started with around $100 and with every mentee, Iā€™d raise the price by $40 until I got to a point where I was OK not to go higher.

This helped Mladen to get the flywheels running and gain more experience and standing on the platform.