A crusty old journalism professor I once had used to preach the following:
“To get where you want to go, you should talk to someone who has been there.”
Ideally, that’s where a mentor comes in. A wise and trusted counselor who influences our work and supports us along the way. You know, the older guy who has earned our respect by example. Now all he has left to accomplish is helping shape today’s youth. I’ve yet to find my blogging Mr. Miyagi (See Karate Kid), and I have a few ideas why:
1) A numbers game. Perhaps there simply aren’t enough success stories. Sure there are a lot of bloggers, but how many of them have achieved success and notoriety? With very little room in the penthouse, the number of top bloggers is seriously limited.
2) There’s no time. Blogging is not most people’s full-time job, meaning that would-be blogging mentors don’t have time to commit to taking people under their wing. With the little time they have, they are constantly developing and growing their own blog(s).
3) The load is shot. If bloggers took the time to mentor, they’d have less to write about. Simply put, many bloggers use their blogs as a primary forum to offer advice. If they started to mentor people away from their blog, they’d potentially be stealing their own content.
There are some Websites where you can pay for a blogging mentor, but that’s not up my alley. Last time I checked, Mr. Miyagi never charged Daniel Larusso. A mentor does it for the passion of the sport, not a pay day.
Do you have a blogging mentor? Any ideas on where to find one?
