My Un-Official Mentors

Everyone has influences, it’s human nature, no one can say they aren’t influenced by something or someone, Barack Obama, Elton John, Eminem all influenced by other people, but remain unique. I get my motivation from a variety of different things, but my influences come from elsewhere.

Now none of these people will know (or maybe they do) that I hold them in such high regard and I’m not saying that the following people are the reasons I do this site or that I agree with everything they say, but I will say that I admire the following people and take a little bit from all of them;

• Allyn – BloggerIllustrated.com

I have mentioned Allyn a few times on this site and it may seem like i have a bro-mance for him, but the reason I listen to Allyn is he makes money online, totally different to anyone else I have seen. Yeah he’s controversial and not afraid of telling people if he doesn’t like something or someone and granted people can’t always stomach that, BUT what he has to say about making money online, has got to be listened too.

If you pay attention to Allyn in his videos and his written content, he actually doesn’t really dislike anyone (except the corporate America) he’s just vocalizing what others are thinking. I admire the out spoken strong character coming from a guy who is clearly intelligent.

• Nathan – NathanHangen.com

Man if you don’t know who Nathan is, you have been living under a rock. Under a rock in a sound proof room, deep in a nuclear bunker! Nathan has a huge following and is making money online, but that’s not the reason I listen to him. I feel like I understand a lot of what Nathan says because he is military and thinks the say way I do (a lot of the time) not afraid of speaking out and defending his business.

I’m paying close attention to Nathan’s progress for my own monetization methods and seeing if I can apply anything he does to my own plans.

• Mike – MikesLife.org

I like Mike, but i’m not sure why. He is the co-founder of Beyond Blogging with Nathan and also has a full time living provided for by his online ventures, but that’s not why I listen to what he has to say. Mike has experienced life and (from outside looking in) has a great comfortable life living in the sun. I admire Mike because he speaks from his gut, still has that fire. It’s that influence and intelligence I love.

Also Mike has authored two proper paper back book’s with two more in the pipeline, which I will be tapping him up for some advice on (hopefully) I actually think I like Mike because he’s a normal guy, replies to his readers, contributes to other sites and all in all a bloody nice bloke.

• David Risley – DavidRisley.com

Now, David and I don’t always see eye to eye on everything, we are wildly different people, I’m 1,000 MPH jumping straight in, David is a clever relaxed guy who is a fantastic business mind. That said the reason I like David and study him a lot (not like a stalker with a pair of bino’s and a box of doughnuts) is because the level of maturity he has is ridiculous.

Despite us not seeing eye to eye he offers his help which is really constructive, my recent guest post for him (unknowingly to me) need work to correct the grammar, which he actually took time to do himself. It’s funny, i’m so stupid I can’t actually see the changes he made, but I put that down to having the special ability to make letters and words dance around the page every time I look at them lol.

A family guy, who doesn’t pretend to be anyone else, which is why he is making a full time living online.

• Sire – Wassupblog.com

I love Sire’s site, actually that’s not true I love his content. The sense of community over there is very similar to the one here. Sire is another wild card who isn’t afraid of going against the grain and voicing his opinions. His opinions though are backed up by fact and feeling and the readers of his site love it and on the most part agree with him.

As well as having a fantastic sense of community, the main thing that draws me to Sire’s site is the importance he places in his readers. Both Sire and I know that readers absolutely have to come first and he ferociously defends that.

• ExtremeJohn – ExtremeJohn.com

John is a big believer in content. He produces a fantastic amount of content every month, some relaxed and easy fun reading, some with a real message. All of which is in the right mix. John’s site gets a crazy amount of traffic and has a great reputation, that is all down to his hard work. By his own admission he went content crazy late 2009 and it paid off big time for him.

Not as controversial as the domain or the initial look at his site suggests, just pure honest content, love it.

• Jordan Cooper – NotaProBlog.com

Jordan is another one who maybe 6 months ago, most wouldn’t have heard about him (personally speaking anyway) but now every man and his dog knows who this guy is. A veteran comedian, he brings something unique to the table, being a comedian he will very rarely come up against criticism, who’d be mental enough to attack a comic right? But Jordan doesn’t use that as an excuse to sit on a throne of superiority.

Again, Jordan and I don’t always agree on everything, but what he has to say, in his videos and written content, is great honest and straight to the point. Jordan offers a 1 to 1 comedy training session, something I will be paying for at some point and is clearly starting to make in roads to making a full time living online, without actually shouting from the roof tops about it. Really unique and genuinely funny guy and because of the fact he can put his view across sarcastically on video or articulate it so well in written format, he is a true mentor for me.

So all of these people are my un-official mentors, but who do I think are the people to watch out for in the future, here’s a quick run down (FYI if you’re not in this list, doesn’t mean I don’t love you);

• Ray - Has guest posted he and started guest posting everywhere else too, a natural writter and all round nice bloke.
• Ben – Ben is another one who you would have heard of. Probably the worlds nicest guy and one hell of a writer.
• Eric – Came onto my radar a month or two ago and stayed ever since, his site get’s a fantastic amount of comments and another one who replies to everything, great guy.
• Travis – Designed my logo, runs a site on faith, which actually gets great feedback. Unbelievably good writer and clever guy. The sort of person who would give you their last dollar.
• Matthew – Probably one of the sharpest business minds I have come across to date, works hard and knows the importance of working hard, I would expect to see him on Dragon’s Den soon.
• Ian- Only recently noticed Ian, guest posted on Jordan’s site and his content is as honest as it comes. Doesn’t dress his site or posts up to be something their not, watch this guy closely.
• Keith – Keith is clearly a clever guy and knows a hell of a lot about marketing, that’s why his new site has rocketed in a matter of days, phenomenal force!
• Karen – No not your token woman in a post full of guys, but one of the best unique writers I have ever read. By unique I mean Karen writes inspiring content that (for me) has never even been touched on by anyone else before. I can see Karen’s site being the next Dooce.com
• Heather – Heather is an Art student with big plans on the horizon. It’s going to be very exciting to see her make the transition from art student to writer of amazing content, exciting times.

photo credit: geishaboy500

So what does everyone think?

Who Influences you?

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Tagged as: mentor, Un-official