How to Create An Online Mentoring Platform?

How to Create An Online Mentoring Platform?

Views - 1028
Leave a Comment

With the rapid expansion of technology and the global impact of Covid 19, mentoring has taken on a whole new dimension. Several online mentoring platforms have emerged, using which people can connect with mentors worldwide and hone their skills. But before we talk about them, let’s take a look at the contents of this post. 

Table of Contents:

General Statistics of the Mentoring Industry

For years, mentoring has been advocated as a tool for personal and career development. It typically involves coaching, consulting, and even psychological support and is no longer “nice to have,” but a must-have. So, with the demand for mentoring rapidly increasing, in this section, we have covered the general mentoring statistics.

– 97% of individuals feel they are more valuable with a mentor than without one.
– Almost 89% of mentees will also mentor others.
– 79% of millennials see mentoring as a pivotal factor in their career development.
– Due to mentoring almost 67% of businesses have reported an increase in productivity.
– 38% of employees believe they will make it to senior positions themselves as they have exposure to senior mentors.

Online Mentoring Platforms – Market Players

Learning and growth require exposure to different perspectives. This is why it is important to have mentors who can share their expertise in various domains. That being said, here’s a round-up of major players in the online mentoring industry.

Major Players in The
Online Mentoring Market  
Platforms Revenue Founding Year
Clarity.fm $17.5 Million 2012
GrowthMentor $5 Million 2018
PushFar $1.7 Million 2018
Together $1.1 Million 2018
Mentorpass $1 Million 2020

The global mentoring market is constantly evolving with more and more online mentoring platforms springing up and adapting to the changing needs and expectations of individuals. Here are some trends that are shaping the market.

Rise in Online Learning

As technology is improving by the day, eLearning is growing tremendously. It provides people with the opportunity to learn new skills from the comfort of their houses, so the mentorship industry is growing parallelly. Growth in demand for new skills also creates demand for people who can impart their knowledge.
Also, people opt for eLearning as it takes 35% to 55% less time than traditional learning methods and connects people from across geographical boundaries.

Surge in Employment Turnover

The result of Covid 19 has been a surge in turnover intention among employees. Many studies have revealed that work-related stress, emotional exhaustion, and job insecurity have all been major causes for employees to quit their jobs. Therefore, to keep employees motivated, many organizations have turned to online mentoring programs. Also, people are increasingly looking to upgrade their skills to navigate the unknown environment.

Growing Demand for Emotional Intelligence

In the current times, there is a growing need for individuals with high emotional intelligence, virtues of self-awareness and the ability to motivate and influence others. Mentors with these skills are further driving the rise of the global mentoring market.

Start your entrepreneurship journey by launching an online mentoring platform

Impressive Benefits of an Online Mentoring Platform

Online mentoring platforms have made mentorship more accessible, convenient, and inclusive for individuals who seek personal development and professional growth. They also provide access to mentors from diverse backgrounds and industries. In this section, we cover the benefits of an online mentoring platform.

Impressive_Benefits

Flexibility & Convenience

Traditional mentoring platforms vs virtual mentoring platforms have a main key difference, i.e., the flexibility and convenience the latter provides. Virtual mentoring platforms are far more convenient and flexible as there is no commute needed. Moreover, users can access the platform as per their availability.

No Geographical Restrictions

An online mentoring platform bypasses location barriers, i.e., having no geographical restrictions allows mentors and mentees to connect seamlessly irrespective of the time zone or location.

Actively Shapes Career Paths for Mentors

Mentors can polish their leadership skills and fast-track their careers through a successful online mentoring platform. This means that if a mentor is listed on a successful mentoring platform, and has good ratings and reviews, then they can use it on their CV and shape a career path for themself.

As effective communication, periodic checkpoints and efficient planning are inclusive of mentoring, an online mentoring platform becomes the first step to leadership development.

Faster Access to Experienced Mentors

When people face obstacles, they need assistance in finding resolutions to their problems. Virtual mentoring offers 24×7 access to a broader range of experienced mentors from across the globe who with different backgrounds, perspectives, and areas of expertise can offer guidance that might not be available locally.

Launch an online mentoring platform to connect qualified mentors with seeking mentees

Types of Mentoring
Individual Group Collective
This is the most efficient way of mentoring as the mentor gives individual attention to the mentee. A mentor interacts with a group of mentees who have the same goal. As the name suggests, a group of mentors interact with a group of mentees.

Workflow of an Online Mentoring Platform

Online mentoring platforms have bypassed the traditional methods of mentoring. They consist of 3 main players:

  • Mentee
  • Mentor
  • Admin

In this section, we share the workflow of an online mentoring platform.

For A Mentee

  • The mentee will sign up on the platform. 
  • Search for mentors as per requirements.
  • Check availability and send a booking request to the mentor.
  • Make a payment. 
  • Receive booking confirmation.

For A Mentor

  • A mentor will sign up on the platform. 
  • Create a profile and send a request to the admin for approval.
  • Upon approval receive booking requests. 
  • Accept or reject booking requests as per availability.
  • Receive payments for every session from the admin.

Role of Admin

The admin manages the entire platform:

  • User management.
  • Management of booking requests. 
  • Payment to mentors after deducting commission.
  • Monitoring of reports for better decision-making and so on.

Possible Revenue Channels – Online Mentoring Platform

Once you have made up your mind to start an online mentoring platform, it is essential to decide upon the revenue channels. Some of the possible revenue channels are:

Commission

The admin charges a commission from the mentor and mentee on every booking.

Subscription Fees

The mentee can pay a fixed amount of money to get a subscription to the platform with advanced features.

Advertisements

This allows the admin to generate revenue via online advertising methods like ads, PPC, and more.

Sponsored Profiles of Mentors for Promotion

The admin can charge mentors for a featured listing.

Essential Features of an Online Mentoring Platform

feature_image_yocoach_blog

Ratings and Reviews

Ratings and Reviews allow mentees to make confident decisions about selecting a mentor.

Push Notifications

This is a pivotal feature as notifications allow mentors and mentees to not miss any session. It also allows them to get interesting updates.

Online Forum

An online forum allows all participants to discuss trending topics, share their opinion, say what they think about a mentor, or talk about what is needed in the solution.

Decision Driving Analytics

As mentioned above, the role of the admin is to measure tangible business results so an online mentoring platform should have access to pivotal data via the feature of analytics.

Progress Tracking Reports

Tracking progress is another important feature as it is important to keep track of the mentees’ progress.

Interaction Tools

Both mentors and mentees need interaction tools to develop their own self-knowledge for the session and clearly express to inspire and be inspired. These tools include:

  • Screen Sharing
  • Screen Recording
  • Whiteboard
  • Audio/Video Chat
  • And more

Multilingual/Multicurrency

As a mentoring platform caters to a global audience, it is important for the platform to have multilingual and multicurrency functionalities.

Launch a feature-rich online mentoring platform

Online Mentoring Platform – Custom Vs Readymade

An online mentoring platform can be created using two approaches: Custom built & opting for a readymade solution. Custom-built mentoring platforms are built from scratch as per the tailored requirements and are costly and time-consuming. Therefore, readymade solutions are widely considered as they are time-tested and have features as per the set industry standards. Moreover, they are more affordable and their time to market is also less.

Choosing the Right Readymade Solution

To choose the right readymade solution for an online mentoring platform, we have made a checklist. Below mentioned are the essential points you should look for in a readymade solution.

Ease of Use

The platform should be easy to use, i.e., the interface should be user-friendly and intuitive. 

Cost Effectiveness

As mentioned above, a ready-made solution is less expensive than a customized solution. But still, you would want to consider the cost of the solution before making a choice.

Intuitive Features for Interaction

As already mentioned, the platform should have interactive features using which mentors and mentees can interact with each other.

Active Customer Support

If you need help with troubleshooting or just getting advice, active customer support is a must.

Ability to Scale

As your business grows, it is important to have a platform that accommodates more users. So choosing a scalable solution is another must-have.

What Experts Recommend – Choose Yo!Coach

Yo!Coach is a popular readymade online consultation solution that is perfectly suited to launch an online mentoring platform. It incorporates impeccable functionality that empowers the admin to run the platform seamlessly. Furthermore, mentors can take either one-on-one sessions with the mentees or group sessions in real-time using the platform. In addition, Yo!Coach comes with readymade apps that provide mentees to easily search, book, and schedule sessions.

Other Key Highlights of Yo!Coach

  • Fully Customizable
  • White-Label Readymade Solution
  • 1 Year of Free Technical Support
  • One-Time Payment, Lifetime License
  • Multilingual 
  • Multiple Payment Gateways
  • Reports and Analytics
  • Progress Tracking
  • Mobile Apps for Mentees
  • Lessonspace Recording Functionality 

Build a scalable online mentoring platform with Yo!Coach

Conclusion

Online mentoring is reshaping the traditional ways of mentorship. As many players are vying for a piece of the online mentoring market (the magnitude of the market shift and the increasing competition they herald), it is recommended to use a ready-made solution like Yo!Coach to kickstart an online mentoring platform in a few days. For more information, get in touch with us. 

FAQs

Q1. Why mentoring?

Mentoring (online mentoring) provides a supportive, private environment where people from diverse backgrounds can mentor and seek mentorship.

Q2. What are the different types of mentoring?

  • Individual mentoring 
  • Group mentoring 
  • Collective mentoring 

Q3. What should you look for in an online mentoring platform?

  • Ease of use
  • Cost-effectiveness
  • Interaction feature
  • Active customer support
  • Ability to scale

Q4. How does an online mentoring platform work?

An online mentoring platform has three players: an admin, a mentee, and a mentor. After successful registration, a mentee can choose and book a session with a mentor. A mentor can accept or reject the booking request. If accepted, the mentor successfully conducts the session and receives payment for it from the admin. The admin manages the entire mentoring platform and pays the mentor after deducting the commission.

Q5. What are the essential features of an online mentoring platform?

  • Ratings and reviews
  • Push notifications
  • Online forum
  • Decision driving analytics
  • Progress tracking reports
  • Interaction tools

Disclaimer: The Blog has been created with consideration and care. We strive to ensure that all information is as complete, correct, comprehensible, accurate and up-to-date as possible. Despite our continuing efforts, we cannot guarantee that the information made available is complete, correct, accurate or up-to-date. We advise - the readers should not take decisions completely based on the information and views shared by FATbit on its blog, readers should do their own research to further assure themselves before taking any commercial decision. The 3rd party trademarks, logos and screenshots of the websites and mobile applications are property of their respective owners, we are not directly associated with most of them.


Leave a Comment


CAPTCHA Image
Reload Image