How to find a mentor online

Most of us search the web using ‘how to find a mentor online’, ‘looking for mentor’, ‘need a mentor’, ‘how to get mentor’ and phrases similar to these,  but before deciding your search words,  you must ask yourself why I need a mentor, and what characteristics this mentor should have, or even what mentoring is all about…

Mentoring is a lifelong natural process, we all do to different degrees. When we focus on utilizing mentoring more, we grow and achieve our goals quicker. No matter how smart you are, or how brilliant your business concept might be, or how successful you are in life, every person needs someone who has already been through what you are experiencing right now in life, and he or she has come out the other side armed with invaluable insights. Mentors can help others avoid costly mistakes and gain whole-life knowledge.

The next question is what kind of person you should be looking for and how do you verify that this is the right person that can be my mentor. Mentors are people who think they can offer guidance to others in a particular area of expertise. They have experience and formal knowledge to share so that mentees can be effective, avoid costly mistakes, communicate better, and have more fun.
Watch this 9-minute video on how to find a mentor online or in your community.

Make a list of the characteristics you are looking for in a mentor:

• What type of experience do you expect them to have?
• How much experience do they need to have to be my mentor?
• How old should they be?
• Should they be male or female?
• Are they a good communicator in my mind? What does a good communicator look like?
• Can they build my confidence and help me believe in myself?
• Can they help me with persistence and perseverance?
• What is important to me? What qualities do I want my mentor to have?

Mentors are people who are really good at a particular aspect of life. That doesn’t mean you want to be exactly like them or that they are really good at all aspects of life. It just means that you want to learn some things from them. You can have many mentors. Having at least 4 mentors for every aspect of life that is important to you is a great idea. Select a person that you think can be your mentor and find a way to start a conversation with them. You could try striking up a conversation, phoning or emailing them.

If it’s someone that you have found online at a mentor search website like http://FindAMentor.com, have them fill out a FindAMentor.com mentor questionnaire. Check their references and place of employment to verify they are who they say they are. After you verify them and when you are comfortable, exchange phone numbers and when possible, meet face to face. Remember About 70% of communication happens through body language and facial expression.  Face-to-face conversation is the most effective type of human interaction and communication. Voice-tone contributes another 10%-20 %. Only 10% of communication or less is through words themselves. The second best way to communicate with a mentor is on the phone or with Skype. Only when  person-to-person and phone interaction is not possible, communicate with email. When communicating with email it helps to state clear emotions and intentions in your writing. Do it.

Masterminding is a great alternative type of mentoring (also called peer mentoring), and can be used until you find the right mature mentor in the field you are searching. It can always be used as a great supplementary mentoring forum as well.

Masterminding is about a group of people working together towards a common purpose.  Napoleon Hills says, “when two or more minds come together for a common goal a third invisible intangible force likened to a third mind is created”. Make use of third minds (mastermind groups). They help. Mastermind groups can be a great tool for individual and team growth. For-example if you want to be a great sales person, then find other people who also want to be a great sales person. Meet with each other on regular bases and discuss a standard agenda. Have each person share the following in a round table type discussion:

• Last meeting challenges discussed and what did I did to overcome them.
• This week’s wins.
• This weeks new challenges.
• What I want help with.

Remember to give something back. We are all mentors to someone. We exchange life experience with mentees and help them learn from others mistakes so they can avoid the mistakes that were made in the past.

Mentor one more person each year.  I have made a commitment to add one mentee each year from FindAmentor.com. Each mentoring relationship requires different time commitments. When I mentor people, I allow 1 hour per month at first. If a critical situation arises, the mentee can call me anytime.  Later in the mentor/mentee relationship we meet less. I meet with some of my mentors only once a year. Others, once a quarter.  I follow the same rules with my mentees.

Now if you are still reading this, then you have understood the meaning of the mentoring process and it’s more clear to you, what kind of person you are going to find and how you will proceed in finding a mentor or a mastermind group. Let’s start your search by joining us. Remember, you must create your profile as a mentor or mentee in the specific field you are interested in. Good luck with your mentoring initiatives.

Read our “Tools and Tips section” from the top menu, to know more about how mentoring and how our website works.

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Please tell your friends to mentor someone. We have thousands of people looking for mentors. And we can all be a mentor to someone in at least one field of interest.