Especially during the early stages of an entrepreneur’s career, a good mentor can make all the difference. Mentors have gone through their own trials, made their own mistakes, and have come away with sometimes hard-earned wisdom. They’ve seen some of the places where projects or businesses can go sideways, and can help steer you away from avoidable mistakes, or offer a better philosophy to follow when leading your team.
To help you gain perspective on what’s important to remember, particularly when it comes to PR or media strategy, members of the Forbes Agency Council share some of the advice they got from mentors, information they have taken to heart. Here is what they said:
Members discuss a few key lessons they learned from mentors about media strategy and PR.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Be Yourself And Speak From The Heart
The most important lesson a mentor taught me is to be myself, speak from the heart, and align myself with like-minded individuals who share my beliefs. Many people think that PR and media strategy is about telling people what they want to hear. It’s not. It’s about telling people what you believe and the stories that demonstrate you living that belief. If you’re insincere, it will shine through. People are pretty good at detecting inauthenticity. Stay true to your purpose and do meaningful work with those who share the same vision you do. When you start with your authentic purpose and work with energized people who align with your goals, you can accomplish anything together. – Fran Biderman-Gross, Advantages
2. Drive Your Brand’s Message
You have to be proactive and drive the message behind your personal and corporate brand, or others will drive it for you. Also, have a point of view about things and don’t be afraid to share it. – Brandon Murphy, 22squared
3. Don’t Spend Into A Headwind
Don’t spend amplification dollars on something that doesn’t resonate well without the amplification. The core seed of marketing values needs to have a solid product/marketing fit—you should know that, out of the possible value propositions, this specific value proposition has the greatest conversion rate of convincing people. Once you have those best-performing value propositions or marketing messages, amplify with a paid media strategy that allows for non-linear results. – Edward Unthank, Etumos
4. Seek Meaningful Interactions With Consumers
The buyer’s journey continues to evolve. Today’s consumers no longer follow a step-by-step process in discovering and purchasing products or services, and they are tuning out many of the traditional forms of advertising and media that brands used to rely on. Social media investment continues to increase as brands realize the channel’s potential for reaching key audiences, especially younger generations of consumers who are social natives. But the ones who ultimately succeed aren’t using the channel to push products, they’re using it to engage with consumers in authentic, meaningful ways and building passionate communities of brand advocates. – Jeremy Haile, Sideqik
5. Value Relationships
Strategize for relationships, not transactions. Develop a behavioral-based media strategy that depicts and shares like-minded values. Pricing manipulations may drive sales, but value-based relationships drive advocates. – Chris Gutierrez, LeadJig
Read more in Five Ways Brand Building Is Like Making Friends
6. Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
I started my first company at age 23 and made the mistake of spending all my marketing dollars with one source. The leads were converting well, so why not? After a couple of years of having a great marketing partnership, I woke up one day and boom: They decided to shift focus and left me scrambling. It caused me a lot of anxiety, fear and doubt. I’ve spoken with many mentors in the past who always told me not to put all my eggs in one basket. I learned the hard way. It’s essential to spread your dollars out and try new things. It’s also important to think outside the box and find innovative ways of producing new clients. Today we work with several different sources and create unique relationships to attract new clients. – Joshua Morales, International Van Lines, Inc
