I love making money and I’m sure you do as well. It allows us to do so many fun things in life; it funds holidays, trips away and nights out at the weekend. However, we do need to work hard to make it in the first place and that isn’t always easy. Even when we do make it we need to focus on bills and other insurance policies that tend to cost a lot of money. That’s why lots of people have tried to find ways to make some extra money on the side trading is certainly one of these. Trading has certainly been around for a long time but it’s definitely become a lot more accessible in recent times and that’s what has made it a popular choice for so many people. 

You can’t just walk into a trading website and expect to be an expert, however. There are a lot of different things you need to master and take into account and that’s why I believe undergoing a mentorship could be a good idea for you. There are a lot of traders out there, both active and retired, who are more than willing to pass on their ideas and philosophies and you are able to take advantage of that. A lot of them have even set up a variety of different programs (think of Timothy Sykes Millionaire Challenge, for example) and you should most certainly explore these. How do you get started in trading, though? And what are these programs? Read on to find out. 

When you’re looking to sign up for these kinds of mentorship programs, the first thing you need to think about is who actually runs it. Of course, in most cases it’s a trader who runs it as a way to pass on their knowledge and experience; however, it’s a well-known fact that some traders are a lot better at this than others. Some simply aren’t as skilled as others and therefore can’t pass on the necessary knowledge, whereas others overcharge you for services that aren’t worth a certain price. This is why you need to do a decent bit of research; you need to have a look at a bunch of different traders who offer these services and work out which ones are the best. After this, you can come up with a more narrow shortlist. To do this, you could go online and read a bunch of online reviews or even ask around to find out who other people try to learn from. There are, after all, a lot of people to learn from and it’s up to you to decide who’s best for you. 

I’d suggest looking at it as though you’re a sports star. Different players play better under different coaches; if you can’t find a coach who suits your style of learning, you may not take much on board at all. You’ll stall pretty quickly and so will your trading career. There’s no rush- take your time with this decision and it’ll benefit you greatly in the future. 

Taking the tactics of your chosen mentor into account is important as well. A lot of traders have different tactics when it comes to teaching and recruiting students and you may not be a fan of some of them. Some, for example, like to keep things simple and never go overboard. They’ll issue you with simple notes and instructions and will urge you never to take too many risks; it’s all about making a steady income and doing it their way. Others, like Timothy Sykes Millionaire Challenge, use tactics from the other end of the spectrum. He continually posts flashy pictures of his luxurious lifestyle all over the internet and social media; he does this in an attempt to inspire his followers and to show them that anything is possible. He started his trading career while he was a student and is now a multi-millionaire, so while his tactics have come under fire it’s clear that he has a point. It’s all about what kind of tactics you’d like your mentor to employ; would you rather keep things simple and risk-free or do you prefer to live on the wild side? Choose depending on this. 

Once you’ve chosen a mentor, you need to choose an actual program. The majority of mentors you’ll see will have different programs set up for differing levels of students; these will be based on skill, the will to learn and the price you’re willing to pay. If you start at the lower-priced packages, you’ll usually get access to some basic documents and tips, some video tutorials and maybe some other things to help you get started with trading. The more you pay, the more you’ll get access to it. Higher-level programs will unlock the ability to take part in live video chats and you may even be able to take part in one-on-one conversations with your mentor (if you’re lucky). Timothy Sykes millionaire challenge is an example of this; you need to pay a hefty $5000 to sign up for it, but once you do he gives you all the materials he believes necessary to become a millionaire- he did it that way, so why couldn’t you? He already has a number of millionaire students so it’s clear these kinds of programs can work. 

After deciding on all of this, you need to actually sit down and decide how much you’ll invest when you’re actually trading. A lot of beginners make the mistake of investing too much, to begin with; they don’t really know what they’re doing and end up losing out on a fair bit of money. You need to be careful here; come up with a well-structured plan and only invest a little bit of money at once- you’re not going to be an overnight success right at the beginning and there’s no harm in losing. As long as you’re only investing sensible amounts of money to start with these losses shouldn’t hit you too hard. You can use them as a learning experience and that’ll help you move forward in your trading career.