ACTION #1: THANK YOUR MENTOR

If you haven’t already sent through a message of thanks after your session – get on it! 

For a lot of mentors, the value they receive is the feeling that they’re actually helping someone. The more you can show your appreciation and the impact of your mentor the more likely they would like to follow your journey. Because they feel like they have more stake in it.

An example “Thank You” message can be as follows:

Hi Emma,

Thank you for taking the time to catch up with me on Wednesday.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to your insights on the marketing industry and your journey from starting a personal finance blog to now leading growth marketing for Airbnb.

It’s inspired me to start my own social media project to learn the skills to become a growth hacker. I’ve also bought a copy of This is Marketing by Seth Godin after hearing your book recommendations!

I’d love to stay in touch.

Cheers,

Hannah

The point of your Thank You message is two-fold:

1. State the key takeaways from your initial conversation and

2. State what action items you’ll take on board moving forward.

3. This way your mentor can tangibly see how they’ve made a difference in the short-term.

Here’s the template of what to say…

Hi [Mentor Name],

Thank you for taking the time to catch up with me on [Day].

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to your insights on the [X industry] and your journey from [Y to Z].

It’s inspired me to [Action Item #1], [Action Item #2] and [Action Item #3 if applicable].

I’d love to stay in touch.

Cheers,
[Your Name]

The more specific, the better. You’ll come across more authentically.

ACTION #2: 3-MONTH UPDATE

*Note: You don’t have to update after 3 months. You can decide sooner or later. However, 3 months is a good length of time where you can make some progress on your actionables and you haven’t faded out of their memory.

Ideally, if you’d like to maintain your relationship, you should offer an update on how you’re doing and ask for an update on how they’re doing.

An example of this is as follows…

Hi Emma,

I hope you’ve been well since we last spoke in January! Thanks again for all your help so far.

I wanted to give you a quick update on what I’ve been doing for the past 3 months which are as follows:

• I recently started interning as a Junior Marketing Coordinator for a Melbourne-based SaaS startup
• Just finished a free online course by Seth Godin (Also finished This is Marketing – loved it!)
• Reached 300 followers on Instagram for my social media project
  

It would be great to hear from you! How have you been since we last spoke and how is Airbnb treating you? Would love to know! Thanks and have a wonderful day.

Best,
Hannah

Here’s the template of what to say…

Hi [Mentor Name],

Hope you’ve been well since we last spoke in [Month]! Thanks again for all your help so far.

I wanted to give you a quick update on what I’ve been doing for the past 3 months which are as follows:

• [Update #1]
• [Update #2]
• [Update #3]

It would be great to hear from you! [Call to action]. Thanks and have a wonderful day!

Best,
[Your Name]

This can also be a great segway into organising another coffee catchup to maintain conversation and your relationship with your mentor.

ACTION #3: TRY TO ADD VALUE (CONTINUOUS)

The next best way to keep in touch with your mentor to reallyyy take your relationship to the next level is to see how you can help them.

Mentoring can often be seen as a one-way street, but the sooner you reciprocate value – the more likely they’ll want to reach out to YOU. Imagine how much more would you be able to learn then…

Some simple ways to add value can be…

1. Share an interesting article related to their line of work
   
2. Share resources or tools that could help them
3. Introduce them to a cool person who can help them out

For example…

Hi Emma,

I hope you’re doing well.

I recently read an interview article with Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi. He discusses the strategies they used to 4x growth on their Gen Z users in the past 2 years and how they navigated safety during the coronavirus pandemic.

I thought you might gain some insights for how Airbnb targets young people during this climate.

Cheers,
Hannah

Here’s the template of what to say…

Hi [Mentor Name],

I hope you’re doing well.

I recently found [resource + resource description].

I thought you might gain some insights on [potential insights]. I’d love to know your thoughts!

Cheers,
[Your Name]

By sending these sorts of resources every month/few months or so, you’ll position yourself as 1) Someone who respects your mentor’s work and wants to add value and 2) Someone they want to keep talking to.

Of course, the resources you try to provide should be interesting or helpful to their work, otherwise, the benefits I’ve described above are severely diminished.

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These are tips and actions you can take and use for any relationship, and we highly recommend you do so!

Thanks for reading to the end and let us know if you found this guide helpful!