How to Find a Mentor to Boost Your PR Agency Growth

Feb 26, 2020

Finding a mentor is extremely important to growing your business. I want to show you how to find a mentor and why it’s important to have one.

My mentor is James Wedmore. Hiring a mentor has been an incredible investment for me. James has helped me achieve amazing personal and business breakthroughs. I don’t believe I’d be able to grow my business as large as it is now without having the support and guidance of a mentor.

How You’ll Know You’re Ready For A Mentor

Do you feel like you’ve reached a plateau in the growth of your business or your personal growth?

If you feel stuck and like you’ve reached a plateau, then it’s time to find a mentor.

Usually, at this point you don’t know what to do to get unstuck. You’re ready to put in the work but you don’t want to work on things that aren’t the focus for your business or that will help your business move forward.

Finding a mentor will help you know you’re putting the right effort into the right things.

How to Find a Mentor

A mentor can be someone who offers coaching services! You can invest in their coaching or connect with someone individually and ask them how they can support you. Make sure you let them know what you’re looking for.

A mentor can also be someone you’re following and soaking up all their content. It could be blog posts, e-books, podcasts, Facebook lives, and other free content they give. Read any books they’ve written. Books give lots of insight into what a mentor values.

They may have courses or programs you can take. Their courses can be mentoring you even if you’re not taking a one on one approach.

Be a Good Person

This is an important step. Just be a good person. You need to connect with people and foster meaningful relationships in your industry.

One way is to send thoughtful emails. Don’t send emails that are too generic. Research people you would like to mentor you. Find out what they’re all about before trying to connect with them.

Comment on social media with interesting remarks. You could compliment people on the things they’re doing to show you’re interested in their business and what they do. Keep building a relationship with people you’re interested in.

You never know down the road if you need a favor from someone you’ve been connected with, they will be more inclined to respond to you and help because they already know who you are.

Be Social

If you’re not comfortable reaching out to people who are strangers, or you don’t want to reach out using social media or emails, then you could attend live events.

Attending live events is an amazing way to connect with other people in your industry. Listen to the speakers and if someone really resonates with you, go up to them after and start a conversation and make a connection. Ask how you can stay connected with them and if they have any opportunities for formal mentorship.

But if you can’t make it to live events, you can go to online groups like Facebook and connect inside there. It’s a great way for people with the same interests to meet. Connect with people who are further along in their career than you. They post weekly content that can be very helpful. Plus when you join in with comments etc, you’re showing who you are and how you can help other people too.

Find A Few Role Models

Make a list of your top 5 role models. Then narrow it down to who could realistically mentor you. You want to find people who can give you advice so that you can emulate the career that you desire.

You want a mentor who has the kind of life that looks appealing to you. It’s important to find mentors that share the same values as you. Find someone who’s vision and life aligns with the kind of life you want to have.

For me, I want control over my time. I want flexibility and to feel connected to the work I do. And I also want to serve and help people by sharing how others can have the same success as I do.

In my business, I use a framework that has been an absolute goldmine for me in my business. It’s given me the freedom I’ve wanted to be a totally present parent and a very checked in wife and mom.

I’ve also found mentors that have a similar approach. They want to add value, contribute and have an impact. That’s what I look for in a mentor and that’s who you want to find as a mentor too.

Be Prepared

I touched on this topic a little already, but you want to study someone you may want to reach out to.

Look them up online and read their content, watch their videos, listen to their podcasts. Listen to their story and learn about their background. Send DMs on social media letting them know how much you appreciate the content they share. When you do, that person will take notice and you’ll start to be familiar with them.

So be prepared, study up on people and then reach out. Have your elevator speech ready when you finally talk to them.

What To Look For In A Mentor

Look for mentors that have the same value in their content.

Here are some things to think about when deciding if a mentor has the same dream lifestyle as you.

Do they value hustle over family?
Do they endorse dangerous behaviors?
Do they shame students who failed by blaming the student?
Do they blame their audience if they aren't successful?
Does the mentor give lots of value?
Do they give lots of guidance support, coaching, and accountability?
Do they offer lots of strategies?
Do they give more than they take?
Do you notice that maybe your mentor values money above all else?

Are they giving more than they're taking from you? Taking from you in time and financial investment. You want a mentor who is generous, kind, open-hearted and is looking to give you value.

If a mentor is making an impact the income will follow. Align with people who value that first. You know they’re successful but that’s not what drives them.

Read The Contract Carefully

If you do invest with a mentor, read the contract really carefully, and make sure that their deliverables are in writing.

Be sure the contract is really clear and you know what you’re going to be getting from them in return.

Is it a certain number of coaching calls? Is it certain content delivered at a certain pace?

The mentor also needs to have accountability with you. Read the contract and understand what it is that you are being promised and what the coaching structure looks like so that you know exactly what to expect.

When I decided to take that step and hire a mentor, my business skyrocketed. My confidence was boosted because I knew I was on the right path. If you’re looking for a mentor and don’t know how to find a mentor, follow these tips until you find the right person to help you boost your PR agency growth.