How to Find Your Mentor and Expand Your Network

In order to successfully build your brand, create your team, form partnerships, and establish brand deals it is absolutely essential to utilize your networking skills!  Networking can be intimidating on a large scale, but having a trusted mentor to guide you and your business through these processes helps to confidently and rapidly grow your brand in an authentic way. 

Networking is not simply all about collecting contacts, it is about planting seeds for long-lasting relationships. PressReady has created an action plan for you so that your networking connections will turn into long-term relationships that are sure to flourish. 

How to Find a Mentor

The first person you need to have in your network is a mentor! A mentor is someone who openly shares their successes, failures and knowledge with you and is dedicated to helping you achieve your goals. A mentor can be a past or present professor, a former boss, an academic group leader, an advisor, or anyone that knows a lot about your industry and is well respected. LinkedIn is a great place to form these connections! Whoever you choose to have as your mentor, make sure that you feel not only inspired by them but that they are good communicators and committed to supporting you.

When and How to Keep in Touch with Your Mentor 

It is important to check in with your mentor frequently, but you should not solely rely on them for everything. Some mentors and mentorship programs may have you meet once a week or bi-weekly, but in most cases checking in with your mentor and keeping the relationship will be up to you. In most cases, checking in with your mentor once a month or once every other month via Email,  Zoom or in person if it is safe to do so is adequate.. Keep in mind that they have a busy schedule too!

When reaching out to your mentor it is important to update them on any recent achievements of yours and significant business updates, but don’t forget to ask about them and what they have been up to! Remember, the purpose of having a mentor is to learn from their experiences and knowledge. The email or call does not have to be strictly business, adding in a bit of personal info goes a long way when creating a relationship! 

Best Practices For Networking 

Having a mentor means learning from someone that truly wants you and your business to succeed…it's like having your own little hype squad. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there to find your hype squad and do the same for others in the future!