The email scripts to use to ask someone to be your mentor

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• Jen Glantz is an entrepreneur and the founder of Bridesmaid for Hire.
• When reaching out to potential mentors, Glantz says building a genuine connection is key.
• Don't ask for frequent meetings at first — instead, share why and what you want to learn from them.

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A year after starting my business Bridesmaid for Hire, I realized I needed help. I'd spent time hiring lawyers and accountants to help strengthen my business and freelancers to help with creative projects, virtual-assistant tasks, and social-media strategy. But it wasn't until a fellow entrepreneur friend told me about her mentor that I realized I needed mentorship guidance, too.

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Mentors are people who either have an expertise in a subject matter that interests you or have reached a level of success you're aiming to meet. They can be people in your industry as well as just people who inspire you.

When I decided I wanted to find a mentor, I had one person in mind whose blog posts and business advice I'd been reading for years.

After you've identified someone you'd like to be your mentor, it's important to reach out to them in a strategic way. Here are the exact scripts I use.

Script 1: The introduction

Whether you're reaching out to someone you've met before or someone new to you, it's important to say hello and introduce yourself. This is what I usually say to kick off the mentorship ask:

[Start off with your last interaction or introduce yourself for the first time]. I've been keeping up with your [share what you do to stay up-to-date on their content or career]. Recently, [share something you saw recently that resonated with you and the takeaway]. That was a big inspiration for [share more about something you're working on and how you've used some of their advice]. Looking forward to keeping in touch and hope you're well.

Example:

Jen Glantz here! It's been a while since we last chatted about Instagram reels at Mark's workshop in July. I still use your 3-step hashtag approach and have found great success and an uptick in my metrics.

It was great reading your newest blog post on that topic that you shared on Linkedin. I took that blog post and shared it with my team as we started to plan our Q4 social media. They really found it helpful! Looking forward to keeping in touch and hope you're well.

Script 2: The ask

Once I've established a relationship with a person I want to be my mentor (as in I've met them in person or we've exchanged a few emails), I'll then make my "ask."

The key here is to not overwhelm a person by telling them you want to learn from them and have frequent meetings with them. Instead, let them know that you'd like to gauge their availability and interest.

It was a pleasure [insert a reference to your last communication]. I've been implementing a lot of your advice and truly appreciate learning from you. Do you have any availability to:

- Insert your ask

- Explain what you want to work with them on

- Showcase your commitment to following through after they give you advice

Example:

It was a pleasure chatting with you about TikTok trends last week after your session at the conference. I've been implementing a lot of your advice and truly appreciate learning from you.

Do you have any availability this quarter to talk more as I continue to build out my social-media strategic plans for 2022? I'd love to show you the data-driven approach I put together and ask for feedback on a few different areas. I respect your time, expertise, and advice. It would be an honor to continue to learn from you.

Script 3: Ongoing mentorship

After you've had that initial meeting, it's important to schedule follow-ups to continue to foster the mentorship relationship. Rather than wait for that person to contact you, share an update or ask to set up time to chat every six to eight weeks.

I hope your month has been going well. [Update since your last conversation and then share a positive moment of success or step forward you took]. [Then ask for advice or a meeting].

Example:

I hope your December has been going well! Since we last spoke, I did all three of the actions you showed me and I was able to double our following and launch our first content series. Sharing that, proudly, with you.

What's your January like? If you have 30 minutes to spare, I'd love to meet for coffee or jump on a quick call and catch up.

Having a mentor provides you with guidance, advice, and direction. While reaching out is tough, finding the right person to ask is the first challenge. Once you've done that, use these scripts to get the conversation going and the relationship will grow from there.