Top 10 Affiliate Marketing Mentors: How, Where & Why to Find One

In today’s post, I want to share everything I know about affiliate marketing mentors. I’ll cover what one is, how they can help you, where to find them, and then I’ll provide a list of the top 10 affiliate marketing mentors who have helped me build a successful online business.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

I figured the first thing I should do is define affiliate marketing. Here is a great definition I found online.

Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts. Source

In my own words, affiliate marketing is when you promote someone’s else product or service online and earn a commission for doing so. The parent company handles the customer service, payment processing, shipping and other behind the scenes things while you focus on making sales.

What is a Mentor?

Next, you need to know what a mentor is. Here is the definition I found online.

Mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The mentor may be older or younger than the person being mentored, but he or she must have a certain area of expertise. Source

In my own words, a mentor is someone who has achieved what you are trying to achieve and they coach and support you on your journey to success.

What is an Affiliate Marketing Mentor?

Based on the definitions of affiliate marketing and mentor, I would describe an affiliate marketing mentor as someone who has achieved success with affiliate marketing and is willing and able to teach you how to do the same thing. They’ve gone before you, achieved success, and are willing to teach you what they know, answer your questions, and help you learn from their successes and mistakes.

Why Do You Need a Mentor?

Everyone needs a mentor. Every successful person I personally know has a coach or mentor. You should have a mentor for the following reasons.

1. You don’t know what you don’t know.

2. It’s easier to learn from someone else’s mistakes than your own mistakes.

3. You need a sounding board to figure out if your ideas are as good as you think they are.

4. You need someone who is qualified to answer your questions and give you advice.

5. Having a good mentor will shorten your learning curve.

6. Two minds working together toward a common goal are much more powerful than just one mind.

There are probably additional reasons to have a mentor as well, but these are the most important reasons I can think of.

Where to Find an Affiliate Marketing Mentor

There are many places to find an affiliate marketing mentor. Here are some places I have checked out in the past to make this happen.

1. Books

There are so many great books on affiliate marketing that you can read and study. You can learn in a few hours of reading a book what might have took someone else five or ten years to figure out. This is my favorite place to find affiliate marketing mentors.

2. Online Forums

There are some great online forums you can visit to learn how to succeed with affiliate marketing. My favorite online forum is Warrior Forum. There are many six and seven figure mentors on that forum that you can access. I’m also a regular contributor there.

3. YouTube Videos

YouTube is an awesome way to find an affiliate marketing mentor. Many successful affiliate marketers make videos sharing their successes and failures. They provide tutorials, answer questions, etc. Find a few people you trust and respect, subscribe to their channel, and learn everything you can from them.

4. Bloggers

There are plenty of bloggers in the make money online and affiliate marketing niches. Some of these bloggers have earned millions of dollars in their career. Many share income reports and provide tons of great tips to take your business to the next level. Find one to two bloggers you like and visit their blog frequently.

5. Masterminds

There are different mastermind teams you can join for free or for a small fee. Just search online for “affiliate marketing mastermind team” and see what comes up. If you can’t find a good one, start your own, and invite other affiliate marketers you know to participate with you. When you can have three to five people working together toward a common goal, it’s very powerful.

6. Podcasts

You can visit iTunes or Sound Cloud and find some great podcasts on affiliate marketing. You can listen to these podcasts while you work on your business, or during your down time.

7. Live Events

Live events are one of the best places to find affiliate marketing mentors. There are some awesome live events you can attend where you can get training and help from successful affiliate marketers. Plus, you can network with the people in the crowd and meet some great people.

8. Coaches

You could potentially hire a paid coach to be your mentor. Many successful affiliate marketers sell coaching services that you can buy.

My Top 10 Affiliate Marketing Mentors

What I want to do in the paragraphs below is share my top 10 affiliate marketing mentors of all time. These are people I have personally learned from in one way or another. You can Google their name to learn more about them or to find their websites.

As a quick disclaimer, I know there are thousands of successful affiliate marketers online. Most I have never met or worked with. I am only including people on this list I have actually learned from.

# 10: John Chow

I’ve been following John Chow for several years now.

John Chow rocketed onto the blogging scene when he showed the income power of blogging by taking his blog from making zero to over $40,000 per month in just two years. And he did it working only 2 hours a day.

Today, John Chow dot Com is one of the biggest blogs on the Internet, with over 200,000 active daily readers and followers. John Chow dot Com is ranked number 16 on the AdAge Power 150 list and number 1 in the list of the Top 50 Canadian Internet Marketing Blogs. He also is the founder and CEO of TTZ Media, Inc. Source.

John Chow taught me a ton about blogging and how to make money online.

# 9: Daegan Smith

Daegan Smith is just a down to earth cool dude. He’s probably the most influential affiliate marketer that most people have never even heard of before. I’m not sure if he even still does affiliate marketing.

I first learned about him sometime around 2010. I purchased several of his courses and was very satisfied. He’s mentored so many people in the email marketing and network marketing space.

The biggest lessons I learned from him were the importance of relentless email follow-up, the power of selling high ticket courses, and the importance of having your own email list.

# 8: Robert G. Allen

I had to put Robert G. Allen on my list because of how much his books Multiple Streams of Income and Multiple Streams of Internet Income influenced my online business.

Robert G. Allen is an author and mentor beloved for his down-to-earth style and highly effective systems. His purpose in life is to help you achieve your dreams.

His 1999 bestseller Multiple Streams of Income coined the phrase and introduced the income-earning philosophy that has become the dominant theme of the new millennium–preached by countless thought leaders, authority marketers, and entrepreneurs.  Source.

The biggest lesson I learned from Robert G. Allen is the importance of having multiple streams of online income.

# 7: Stone Evans

Stone Evans is the founder of the Plug-in-Profits site. He started his online journey after reading the book “Multiple Streams of Income” by Robert G. Allen. He’s earned millions of dollars online over the past three decades.

Some of the valuable lessons I learned from him are the importance of email marketing, having multiple affiliate offers, and having your own website.

# 6: Frank Kern

Frank Kern is one of the most respected direct response marketers in the world. He is a marketing genius. He has mentored tens of thousands of people to make money online. He is no-nonsense and very smart.

The biggest lesson I learned from Frank Kern is copywriting: creating persuasive articles and emails that sell my audience on what I am offering them.

# 5: Pat Flynn

Pat Flynn is an American entrepreneur, blogger and podcaster best known for his blog and podcast Smart Passive Income, where he conducts income experiments and shares the results. The Smart Passive Income podcast is consistently ranked in the top 10 podcasts in iTunes’s Business category.

Pat Flynn is probably the most genuine affiliate marketer I have ever met. He is just a cool and humble dude. The two most important things I learned from Pat Flynn are: be humble and transparent AND the power of podcasting. Do yourself a favor and visit Pat Flynn’s website Smart Passive Income. I know you will learn a lot from him.

# 4: Russell Brunson

No list would be complete without Russell Brunson.

Over the past 10 years, Russell has built a following of over a million entrepreneurs, sold hundreds of thousands of copies of his books, popularized the concept of sales funnels, and co-founded a software company called ClickFunnels that helps tens of thousands of entrepreneurs quickly get their message out to the marketplace. Source.

My biggest lesson I learned from Mr. Brunson was the power of having your own sales funnel.

# 3: Ken Evoy

Dr. Ken Evoy is the Founder of SiteSell Inc. and the creator of Solo Build It! (SBI!), the all-in-one system of process/information, tools, updating and guidance that enables people to build online businesses at unprecedented rates and levels of success.

He is also the author of a series of widely acclaimed “best on the Internet” e-commerce books and courses for solopreneurs who sell (or plan to sell) products or services online. The SiteSell product line has empowered regular people and small businesses around the world to succeed on the Web. Source.

I started as a Site Build It customer on October 31, 2010. Ken Evoy taught me a ton about how to create content that generates lots of traffic and pre-sells your website visitors and makes sales. I used his service for about 2.5 years until I learned enough to venture out on my own. I am eternally grateful for what I learned during my time with SBI.

# 2: Ewen Chia

Ewen Chia has been marketing on the internet since 1997 and is widely regarded as one of the early internet marketing pioneers.

Some of his online businesses include
AutopilotProfits.com, CopyPasteIncome.com, CompleteBusinessSetUp.com, Autorespond.com and SuperAffiliates.com.

Ewen’s mission is to teach internet entrepreneurship and internet marketing as a vehicle for business building, branding, income generation and lead generation. Source.

Ewen wrote a great book that changed my life and business. I built my entire business around what I learned in his book How I Made My First Million On the Internet. That would be the ONE book I recommend to every person reading this article.

# 1: Mike Dillard

Mike Dillard is an entrepreneur in Austin Texas. He built his first million-dollar business by the age of 27, teaching small business owners how to effectively market their products and services online using “attraction-marketing” strategies.

Combined, his businesses have produced more than $60 Million in revenue without outside funding.

In 2015 he launched the SelfMadeMan.com podcast to provide leadership and mentors to entrepreneurs. The show has over 5+ million downloads, and guests include Tony Robbins, Daymond John, Kevin Harrington, Tony Hawk, Gene Simmons, Chris Sacca, and Mike Rowe.

Source: LinkedIn

I had to put Mike Dillard in the # 1 spot because of his book Magnetic Sponsoring. That book has helped me make more money online than other book. In the book, I learned about self-liquidating offers, funded proposals, why people buy, the art of selling and how to position yourself.

Key Takeaways

• Everyone needs a mentor.
• Start with one mentor. Learn everything you can from them. Once you master what they’ve taught you, and you outgrow them, find another mentor. It’s best to start with one mentor at a time so you don’t give yourself information overload.
• If you are trying to learn a new task about affiliate marketing, such as traffic generation or building a sales funnel, it is smart to find a mentor that is a MASTER at that task. No affiliate marketer is good at everything. You might end up with different mentors for different parts of your affiliate marketing business.
• As you learn new skills, be sure you pay it forward and help others succeed.

What I Would Do

If you’re really trying to learn the ropes of affiliate marketing, I recommend you join Wealthy Affiliate. This online platform will teach you how to build your own successful money making website and how to make money with affiliate marketing.

They’ll also teach you how and where to find affiliate products, how to create traffic, find the right keywords and so much more. I use this service myself, along with more than 1.4 million other members.

Plus, there are so many successful affiliate marketing mentors using this platform that it should be pretty easy for you to find your own mentor.

Final Thoughts

There we have it folks. These are my best tips on affiliate marketing mentors. I hope you take the information you learned in this article and apply it to your own affiliate marketing business.

What are your thoughts? Do you have an affiliate marketing mentor? If so, who are they, how did you find them, and what have you learned from them? Leave a comment below to let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,






Chuck Holmes
20+ Year Network Marketing Professional
Top Earner & Top Recruiter
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com

P.S. Learn how to grow a successful network marketing business. Secret tips, training, and practical ideas. Free training delivered by email.