The following tips are meant as a guide for those of you who wish to enter into a coaching or mentoring relationship with a Guru, Coach or Mentor.
If you are not going to work with the individual you are paying, dont do it. You need to work with the individual whos charging you, so you can have accountability from him/her.
Take a very close look at the cost/benefit ratio of the relationship. Is similar information or help available at a lower cost or from other sources. Please understand that most of the information needed to succeed in Creative Real Estate or Home-Based Businesses is available for free if you have the time and ability to research it yourself.
Be very careful of those who claim to have secret or proprietary ways of doing business. The dictionary defines proprietary as made and sold by one with the sole right to do so; exclusively owned; private; benefiting an owner; owned by a private individual or corporation under a trademark or patent.
Now ask yourself, does anyone in the field of Creative Real Estate own an exclusive method of doing business. The answer is no. It is just marketing hype designed to entice someone into parting with his/her money.
Most of the methods for finding, acquiring, renting, selling, optioning property have been around for years. Can someone bring a slightly different twist to these methods, yes; but this is hardly proprietary.
Take Lease Options, people have been doing options for well over one half of a century. There is nothing new about sandwich leases, assignments, etc.
Wouldnt you think that if someone had a proprietary method and he or she shared that method, that it would no longer be proprietary. Of course! Once shared, it is no longer exclusively owned, therefore not proprietary.
Which really leaves the part of the definition about benefiting the owner. As we have seen, there are truly no proprietary or secret methods; so who does this claim benefit Why the one trying to separate you from your money with this hype.
Be careful about long term relationships. Be sure any contract you sign can be canceled if you are not satisfied with the service being provided to you. You should be the final arbitrator of whether or not a relationship is worth your money.
Do not pay for the entire period up front. Many Gurus, Coaches and Mentors have a non-refundable clause in their contracts. By paying the entire fee up front, you lose leverage in case of dissatisfaction with the services provided you.
Be sure any material supplied to you and any services to be provided during the course of the relationship are covered in detail. Get a listing of what will be covered and the order in which it will happen. Do not accept generalities or vague comments like "Well get to that". Know exactly what you are paying for.
Dont be led on by overly high prices. The most expensive is not always the best, especially for you. This is one area, where cost does not equal caring or commitment to your needs. Nor, does a high price indicate quality. Dont be fooled by the "Im worth it" line.
Speaking of quality and caring, dont settle for lip service that someone cares about your future, make them demonstrate it. Speak to them a number of times. Do they give you the bums rush if you cant afford their services right now, or do they take some time with you. Do you get the sense that they are more interested in selling you something If you do, think very carefully before agreeing to enter any relationship with someone like this. What makes you think that their underlying attitude will change with the passing of money.
Do they seem to get more benefit from the relationship than you do By this we mean, do they ask you to help promote their activities or products in your marketing material or promotional material. Do they ask you to do things for them, but are reluctant to do things to help promote your business If they do, these are warning signs that this could well be a one sided relationship. Dont fall for the line "Well, youll receive some back end benefit from this". Remember, youre in business to promote yourself, not someone else.
If your Guru, Coach or Mentor makes a promise to do something for you, get it in writing, particularly if it has a monetary consequence to you. By getting it in writing, you a
