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When I started freelance writing, I hired a writing mentor. Here’s how getting one helped me, and why you need one too.

Yes, I offer my services as a freelance writing mentor. This isn’t a post just because of that. While I would love for you to get in touch if you want help, I also want you to choose the best mentor. I also want you to see the benefits of hiring a mentor rather than trying to muddle through everything yourself.

Having a writing mentor helped me in my early days. In fact, I still get in touch with my mentor now and then when I need that little extra push. It’s been necessary in recent months as I’ve looked at changes to make to my writing business and ways to grow things online due to a divorce and a change in life needs.

So I thought instead of just saying hiring a mentor helped me, I’d share just how having one has. Just what have I learned and changed because of it?

I quickly figured out the common mistakes

Too many new writers make a lot of mistakes. I’m not saying I haven’t made mistakes, but I haven’t made all of them. There’s been no need to.

Why? Because I had a mentor who made them for me. She taught me what not to do in the world of writing, so I could get straight onto making money.

But I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning before hiring a mentor. One of those was not having a writing mentor at all. Like many, I believed I could do it all myself. Why did I need someone on the other end of a Zoom call to help me grow this business? How could that person really know what I wanted to achieve?

Well, a good mentor has been there and done it. My own mentor had been through the early challenges of being a writer. She’d worked through mistakes and figured out the best places and ways to get clients. It saved so much time for me since she could help me take those initial steps I would have otherwise fumbled through.

There were still some writing mistakes that I made, but the outcomes weren’t as bad as they could have been. With a mentor, I had someone to go to when I felt I was making the mistakes and got solutions or advice quickly.

I had someone to bounce ideas off

Sometimes we just need someone to listen to our business ideas. And then when we do get ideas, we need someone to help us brainstorm and move forward.

This is something that my writing mentor was able to help with. She’d been through this process in the past and knew just how difficult it can be for some. As I developed my business, I was able to do more and more of it alone.

Now I don’t need her as much for bouncing ideas. However, I do still sometimes use editors for this at some news sites—mainly because the editors know what types of content work. For the business side of things, I tend to bounce the ideas off my husband now.

But that’s something I can do for you. I can be that sounding board when you need it.

It’s the reason why I booked some time recently with my mentor. I wanted to get some help brainstorming the path forward when it came to changes due to divorce, being a single mom, and looking at career changes.

I had someone for a little extra motivation

It’s not that I didn’t want my writing business* to work out. I really did, but motivation isn’t always easy to come by. Especially if you keep getting rejections. (It was also made difficult with an abusive partner who didn’t support me as much as his words said he did, but that’s another story!)

My mentor was able to help steer me in the right direction and give me that little extra boost of motivation I desperately needed. She gave me someone to hold myself accountable to, which is something I’ve found I need in all walks of life.

We’d meet weekly at first and discuss my business goals. That’s when I first learned about SMART goals. With each weekly meeting, we’d discuss how I did with the goals and how I could find more motivation on my own. Those weekly meetings changed to monthly ones and then became less frequent as I didn’t need that support anymore.

With more motivation, I was able to manage my time a lot more. I’m now able to get through 10,000+ words a day without too much hassle when I used to struggle to do 1,000 words.

She was also there during my separation. I needed someone to give me a push some days when my anxiety was at its highest.

Do you really need a writing mentor?

I’ll admit it that I never thought I would need a mentor, but boy was I wrong! It is one of the best business investments I have ever made.

With a writing mentor, I was able to avoid spending money on tricky and realistic writing scams, protect myself from costly mistakes (both time and money), and get the motivation and direction I needed to succeed as a writer.

Now I’m taking all the tools I gained and offering a mentoring service to help you. If you want a writing mentor with years of experience in the online writing world, I am your girl. Just get in touch and let me help you.

MORE: What should your first mentor session look like?

Do you want to talk to me about becoming your writing mentor? Get in touch with me at alexandria@bloggingblissfully.com.