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How To Approach Someone To Become Your Mentor

 

When I started out as an entrepreneur, I had a million questions. However, I wanted answers from the most successful people. I didn’t want to put my questions up on a forum and wait for some random person to answer it.

 

 

Fast-forward to today and I see that many new entrepreneurs go through the same dilemma I once did. Nowadays, I get 5-10 emails a day from others either asking me questions or asking me to be their mentors.

 

 

Out of these 5-10 emails, I tend to respond to most of them as long as they aren’t selling something or being overly annoying. However, it is very rare that I take someone under my wing and actually become their mentor.

 

 

The reason being, I don’t have that much time. I wish I could mentor everyone, but I only have 24 hours in a day. Instead, the emails or individuals that really catch my eye are the ones I end up considering to mentor.

 

 

In this post, I’m going to share the proper steps on how to approach someone to become your mentor:

 

 

Give Before Asking

 

I quickly found out the secret for finding mentors or answers to your questions. Stop asking and start giving. No matter who it is in the world, they too need something. Turns out, people even needed a favor or something from me.

 

 

Before you ask someone to become your mentor and help you with a thousand questions you have, share a little bit about who you are, why they interest you and ask them what you can do to help them out. You’ll be surprised how much more open people are when they aren’t being asked to do something.

 

 

Don’t Ask For Mentorship From The First Email

 

Another mistake people make is that they ask someone to be their mentor before having any real conversation with them. Half of the emails I get, I don’t know who the person is or why they think I’d be a good mentor or if we could even work together.

 

 

Nevertheless, they still ask me to be their mentor just because of my resume. A mentor-mentee relationship is a lot more than a pretty resume. It’s about having a connection and a mutual vision with someone else. It takes time to establish that.

 

 

Don’t Be Demanding

 

Just like myself, I’m sure other successful people have a tough time carving out time. If you want someone to be your mentor, the last thing you can do is be demanding. You should be working around their schedule, not vice-versa.

 

 

You won’t believe how many people have gone up to me and said, I would love for you to be my mentor and I only need 10 hours of your time a month. Just some emails, phone calls, Skype calls, and sitting into our bi-weekly meetings. These kinds of individuals scare the shit out of me, I’m happy to help but I’m not looking for a part-time job.

 

 

Be Specific

 

When you do want someone to become your mentor, you can’t beat around the bush. Asking me how do I become successful as an entrepreneur is so goddamn broad. Come to me with precise problems and obstacles you are dealing with if you want real help.

 

 

If someone comes to me and says, we are marketing using Facebook advertisements but our costs are too high now, what should we do…..that is something I can help with. I can ask to look at your products, pricing and help you come up with a solution to either continue your Facebook marketing effort or by telling you to find a new method. Be specific on what you want!

 

 

Conclusion

 

Having a mentor is a very important part of being successful. Share some tips that have worked well for you when approaching someone to become your mentor.

 

 

photo credit: breezy421 via photopin cc

 

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