123 ways you can use a growth mentor to hack your learning curve (and grow your business)

Buckle up!

If you’ve ever asked, “I wonder how speaking with a growth mentor could actually help me?” — consider that inquisitive case closed.

With the help of our mentors and community members, we’ve put together this monster list of GrowthMentor use cases.

Product Market Fit

• I want help improving my product marketing by clarifying the value proposition and overall messaging.
• Talking to product managers that understand the insane value of user testing for product development is something I need to do.
• I’d love some product feedback from advanced users through live user testing (check if any mentors fit your ideal buyer persona).
• I want to hear stories of successful founders firsthand and get the sort of insight I can’t get by reading blog posts.
• I know this is an area that some people gloss over because they are impatient.  I need to speak with someone to make sure I am going about things correctly.

Product Market Fit Mentors 

Bootstrapping

• I’d like to speak with friendly founders who have successfully bootstrapped their way to 7 figures without external investment.
• I would love some intros to affordable and reliable freelancers used by other bootstrapped startups.
• It would be great to get some advice on inexpensive tools that I can use without breaking the bank.
• I need help developing an MVP fast so I can validate my business proposition and get cash in the door quick.
• I want to hear some real life success stories to inspire me to keep going and pick the brains of successful bootstrappers.
• I keep thinking whether I should raise funding or continue bootstrapping.

Bootstrapping Mentors

Funding

• I need someone to look over my pitch deck.
• How do I pick the right accelerator program to apply to?
• How do I deal with VCs?
• I have questions about startup law and legal issues like company incorporations.
• I want advice on how to raise money without having to give away equity to venture capital funds or investors.
• I want to bring in a co-founder but am not sure how much equity is fair to give.
• I need help defining my fundraising plan and would like to learn more about fund-raising strategies, stages, methods, and sources.
• Advice and a second opinion on a term sheet or a specific funding vehicle such as convertible note s or SAFEs is something I need.
• I’d like to practice my pitch and get feedback- including structure, content, design, storytelling, and messaging to investors.

Startup Funding Mentors

Career

• I want to have a talk with a high level professional before a job interview.
• I want to get my feet wet in the world of Growth, how should I go about this?
• I am thinking of a career shift and want to talk it over with seasoned professional in the new field.
• I feel like my fixed mindset is holding me back from exploring new career options.
• I’d like an accountability partner to hold me accountable for my tasks at hand.
• How do I stay disciplined even during times of super high stressful deadlines?
• I would like to practice my business language skills talking about marketing topics.
• I’m deciding between taking a full time job or growing my freelance business.

Search for the role you want to discuss — example : Head of Growth

Personal

• My significant other is sick and tired of hearing about my business – I need someone else to talk to.
• I want advice on different angles to take to boost my personal social influence.
• I work remote and want to bounce ideas around with another human being who will know exactly what I am talking about.
• I’m totally curious how experts keep their workflows and files organised neatly.
• How do I establish work/life balance?
• How do I deal with stress?
• I need to vent before I burn-out.
• I know that there’s another level I can reach, but seem to be holding myself back from actualizing it.
• I am curious to learn the mental models used by successful founders that helped them stay disciplined.

Mindset Coaching Mentors

Venting Frustrations

• I’m a solo founder and I feel lonely without anyone to talk to about my business issues.
• Big expectations have been placed on me, but I feel there’s little chances of them being met.
• Startup stress is hurting my personal relationships and I don’t want it to.
• How can I stop comparing my business to unicorns who seem to have made it so easily?
• I am developing unhealthy habits due to my “hustling.”
• I just feel like I am completely out of ideas.

Venting Frustrations Mentors 

Networking

• I’d like to collect quotes from experts to use in blog posts.
• I’d love to be able to easily schedule interviews with high level experts and record them for my podcast or blog (with their consent).
• I need to get networking and increase my sphere of influence.

The people on this list are totally worth booking a call with and adding to your network : VIP List

PPC

• I have no idea where to start with Google Ads.
• Brainstorm new banner slogans for ppc.
• Something must be wrong with my Google Ads campaign, I want to show it to someone using screen share.
• I’ve structured my Facebook advertising strategy, but want to go over it with someone else.
• I have a habit of starting a campaign and then chickening out and stop it before I collect enough data.
• I need an accountability partner to hold me to my plans.
• I’ve done a decent amount of research on how to start advertising on Facebook, but I want to talk to someone briefly to make sure I am on the right path.
• I’m looking for a second opinion on my ad copy.
• I don’t want to spend $1,000 bucks on a course that tells me how to do LinkedIn ads.
• I want to boost my confidence and talk to someone who has vast experience with Google Ads before I start my new campaign.
• I’m considering outsourcing my Adwords to an agency or freelancer but just am not sure.
• I’ve got a few campaigns running with decent conversions but want a quick audit in real time of how everything’s structured.
• I’d love to get a live tutorial on how to use advanced features like dynamic insertion and re-marketing list search.
• I’m thinking of offering Adwords services and want a bit of career advice from those that have “been there and done that”.
• I’m not using the full range of ad extensions and you want some help on setting them up

PPC Mentors

Outbound Marketing

• I’d like to optimize my standard templates I send to leads.
• My leaky sales funnel needs repair.
• I want to discover new lead generation channels with fresh perspectives.
• I seem to be filling up with low-quality leads and I want help on how to boost the quality, because otherwise, what’s the point?
• I don’t have a proper process or guideline for my lead generation efforts and I know it’s unscalable this way.
• I’m not sure which sales CRM or lead generation SaaS tools I should use, there’s just so many to choose from OMG!
• I’m super nervous about how GDPR compliant your sales process is and want a second opinion because it’s totally confusing.
• I’m having difficulties tracking KPIs across my full funnel. TOF to MQL to PQL to SQL to BOF, it’s getting crazy!
• I am simply not getting enough leads and it’s something I must fix. Life’s too short to suck at lead gen.

Outbound Marketing Mentors 

SEO

• I want a technical SEO audit and advice for quick fixes.
• I am spending way too much time reading SEO blogs but would rather just want to talk to an expert.
• I am considering restructuring something major e.g. URL hierarchy and want a second opinion first.
• I am working with a SEO agency and want a 3rd party audit of their work because I’m really not sure what is going on.
• I want a real-time sparring partner while doing keyword research.
• I am a complete SEO noob and want someone with +10 years experience to explain it to me like a 10 year old.

SEO Mentors

CRO

• I want an expert to go over my landing page via screen-share and point out low-lying fruit tweaks that I can change.
• I am absolutely positive that I’m not the best conversion rate optimization specialist and can learn a thing or two.
• I have a high-ticket product or service, so a boost in conversion rate will surely affect my bottom-line in a meaningful way, but I just don’t know what to do.
• I don’t have high enough traffic to do statistically significant A/B testing, so I just need an honest second opinion.
• I have super high traffic and want to start A/B testing but have never “properly” done it before and want to learn from pros.

Conversion Rate Optimization Mentors

Marketing Automation

• I need to save time by automating time-consuming marketing tasks that are driving me mad.
• I am new to marketing automation and want an expert to go over my business in real-time and advise me on what I can automate.
• I am not the best marketing automation specialist and can learn a thing or two from someone else.
• I am using marketing automation tools in-house, but have over-complicated my workflows and feel completely overwhelmed.
• I am thinking of building a marketing automation SaaS tool myself and want to talk to power users for out of this world user research.
• I am using specific tools like Zapier, Marketo, Drip, and want some 1:1 advice on how to debug particular workflow issues.

Marketing Automation Mentors

Link Building

• I am new to link building and want to get an hour mentoring session from a seasoned vet to hack my learning curve.
• I want to talk to link building experts with years of experience and pick their brains.
• I want intros to affordable freelancers that can help with prospecting and outreach.
• I am considering buying backlinks from Fiverr or Upwork but aren’t sure if it’s a good. Idea.
• I want to build relationships with experts on the GrowthMentor platform and hopefully get an organic white-hat link because I am so freaking cool.

Link Building Mentors 

Social Media

• I hate Twitter, but I need to use it to show a presence- what’s the bare minimum I need to do?
• I’m the admin of Facebook group and I need to build up my members.
• How do I boost my Instagram engagement?
• I want an outside opinion on my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram presence, maybe I’m missing something?
• I might want to get into social media marketing, where should I start?
• I am fresh to social media marketing and want 1:1 guidance from a social media guru that’s gotten verified results before.
• I am managing social media marketing in-house but don’t have results to show for and think I might need a bit of help.
• I am not sure which social media channels I should be using for my business – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Quora, Youtube, Reddit?
• I want to hire a social media freelancer or agency but want help deciding from an expert since I’ve never hired for this role before.
• I feel like maybe my social messaging is too self-absorbed- I’d like to run it by someone else.

Social Media Mentors 

UX

• I’d like a UX audit on my application or website.
• I want to learn about Growth Design.
• I’m the only UX designer in a company and want to bounce ideas off an industry peer.
• I have a few different mock-up design variations and want feedback on which to choose.
• I’ve never worked as a designer or UX specialist and want career advice.
• I want a second opinion on my wire-frames before creating high fidelity mock-ups.

UX Mentors 

Content Marketing

• I’d love to get some content marketing ideas from a few different people.
• What should my first steps with content marketing be?
• I want advice on how to get buy in for content marketing budgets and prepare myself for questions like “where’s the ROI?”
• I’d like to brainstorm high-level content strategy with a growth mentor and then use cheaper freelancers to execute the outlines.
• I want to get an outside perspective on content marketing strategy from content strategists that can give my new ideas on the fly.
• How can I capitalize on my existing traffic with lead gen?

Content Marketing Mentors 

Customer Success

• I want to learn more about specific tactics I can use with customers to gain their love.
• We are an established business but I have no idea where to start with customer success (but I know I should).
• I’m curious to learn how other startups structure their customer success teams and scale their processes.
• I’d like some tips on how to use my existing customer success team to help with sales too.
• I’m thinking of using a customer success SaaS software to track NPS but I’m not sure how to proceed.
• I’d love an expert to go over my customer service templates, email replies, and give me feedback on ways to improve.

Customer Success Mentors

Conclusion

Phew!  If you actually read each of those points instead of using the table of contents, you are seriously dedicated to growing your business.

Hell even if you skipped around and made it to this last bit, I give you props.

Now, go DO something with everything you just absorbed or your head may explode.