The first thing to do is write out exactly what skill set you want the mentor relationship to develop. Is it marketing skills, or sponsoring ideas, or business management skills, etc.? It is rare for one mentor to be a complete package for an aspiring entrepreneur. The more you know about your SFI goals and your own weaknesses, the easier it will be to pick the right mentors.
It’s critical that you know exactly what kind of mentorship you need. Start with your list. You might get lucky and find someone who has all the qualities that you are looking for, but chances are that a compromise will be made. Make the list then divide it into the things that you have to have, and the things that you want. In other words, rank your list.
It’s natural to look at your up-line as mentors, but depending on the line of sponsorship their skill set might not fill your list. You must interview potential mentors for a fit and a lot of it can be done through Google. I.e. you would like your mentor to teach you about internet marketing. There is a two stage process to find out how internet savvy your sponsor is.
1. Google their name - This is very generic and does not always give much information.
2. Google their name + SFI – This should yield low hanging fruit and will tell you about their basic marketing efforts
If you don’t find a blog or basic website attached to your sponsor’s name, this tells you that they are sponsoring through other means. Move up-line and try the next person in your line of sponsorship. Repeat steps one and two. Do that until you find the up-line that has a basic website or blog that comes up in the Google search. When you find that result, you know that you have found an up-line that is internet savvy and can help you with the basics of internet marketing.
What happens if nobody is skilled at internet marketing in your line of sponsorship? There are still paths open for you. Join a2a. It has great filters and you can find someone that has experience with internet marketing. Don’t discount connections that you might have in the off-line world that are not direct competitors with you. Do you go to a church that has an on-line presence? Ask the marketing director if they would mentor you. The secret in finding the right mentor is to know the answer you seek.
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The first thing to do is write out exactly what skill set you want the mentor relationship to develop. Is it marketing skills, or sponsoring ideas, or business management skills, etc.? It is rare for one mentor to be a complete package for an aspiring entrepreneur. The more you know about your SFI goals and your own weaknesses, the easier it will be to pick the right mentors.
It’s critical that you know exactly what kind of mentorship you need. Start with your list. You might get lucky
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