Messaging your mentor

Direct messaging exists both before you book (to ask questions) and after (to follow up). This article covers when to use it, how to use it, and the etiquette that gets you the best response.

How to send a message

1. Open the mentor's profile.
2. Click Send message.
3. A thread opens. Type your message and click Send.
4. Your message appears in the mentor's inbox (Dashboard → Messages) and triggers a notification.

When to message BEFORE booking

• You're unsure the mentor is the right fit for your specific goal.
• You need clarification on their background or what they do.
• You want to ask about a custom package (e.g. "do you do 90-minute sessions?").
• You want to check availability for a specific timezone or time.

How to write a pre-booking message

Keep it short and specific. Two or three sentences. Cover:

• Who you are in one line ("I'm a junior frontend dev").
• What you're trying to work on ("I'm building my first React app and struggling with state management").
• One question ("Would a 60-min session help me debug and refactor, or is that too much for one session?").

Weak message: "Hi, can you help me with React?" (mentor has nothing to reply to)

Strong message: "Hi, I'm 3 months into learning React. I'm building an e-commerce dashboard and got stuck on data flow across 4 nested components. Would a 60-min session be enough to refactor with you, or should I break it into two sessions?"

When to message AFTER booking

• To share context BEFORE the session (code repo, figma link, portfolio).
• To confirm the Zoom link or reschedule.
• To follow up on homework from the session.
• To ask a quick clarifying question after a session.

Response times

Mentors see a badge showing their typical response time ("usually replies within 2 hours"). Weekend and holiday responses are slower. If something's urgent (session in 1 hour, can't find the Zoom link), open a support ticket — that gets escalated faster.

Thread etiquette

• One question per message — keeps threads scannable.
• Quote the relevant part of the previous message when following up days later.
• Don't send the same question five times if the mentor hasn't responded in an hour — they've got other students and a life.
• Share files using the attachment button, not by pasting megabytes of text.

When messaging isn't the right channel

• Refund request — use the refund flow from Purchase History, not a message. Messages don't trigger the refund pipeline.
• Emergency (session starts in minutes, nothing works) — open a support ticket.
• Report behavior — use the comment or user report feature; admin gets looped in.

Message history

All your threads are under Dashboard → Messages. Threads auto-archive after 90 days of inactivity but stay searchable.

Related

• "How to find a mentor" — pre-booking research
• "Booking your first session" — what to do after you've decided