Too many people use a shotgun approach when it comes to finding a mentor. They read a book, or like that person's videos/blog posts/whatever and then expect to send a cold email and have the person agree to be their mentor.

I'm not saying that the person asking is a bad person - they mean well, but that's not the right way to go about it.

One of the best suggestions that I read was in Gary Vaynerchuk's new book. He recommends learning about the person who you want to mentor you, and then think of ways to help that person. If they're launching something, offer to help pro-bono in exchange for learning from them. Equal value is given in that case (Gary recommends that you give 51% in the relationship).

It's going to take some work, but the good things in life usually do.

If you're not offering anything, it's hard for a stranger to agree to be a mentor. But if you sincerely offer to help with his/her business, I think a lot of people would be open to that.

Successful people want to help, they want to give back - you just have to approach a potential mentor the right way.

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I hope this helps!

Marc

PS: I'm getting ready for the live webinar that I'm doing next Thursday, where I'll be showing how coaches can get 5 coaching clients, without expensive ads or funnels (there's that "funnel" word that sends shivers down the spine of many coaches!) ... if you haven't already registered, here's the link!