One of the greatest networking relationships you can build is with a mentor. Getting to know someone who's been there done that down the road you'd like to travel can be incredibly helpful. So how does one go about finding a mentor?

In my experience these types of relationships just sort of happen, and there's not been a ton of formality around them.

The first step is simply knowing who you'd like to have as a mentor, and don't feel like you need to limit yourself to just one person. You may want to find different mentors for different things. Especially if you're an entrepeneur there are LOTS of things to learn, and one person can't possibly be the expert in all of those areas. But let's start with one. At it's simplest you want to find your area of need and look for someone who's successfully navigated that path before you.

Now that you've got your potential mentor identified it's time to ask for a first meeting. Before you do that be sure to do your homework. Learn about them, their history, their experience and anything else you can that might be even remotely useful. Then it's time to pick up the phone (e-mail if you must, or if you can't reach the person, but making a personal connection on the phone is going to go a long way). Your goal here is time on their calendar. It could be coffee, lunch or even just 30 minutes when you'll visit with them in their office.

Nervous yet? A good mentor is probably at least a little bit intimidating, and the prospect of having to make this call makes a lot of people nervous. Just know that it's totally normal, and that great things happen if you're willing to push through this fear.

The conversation is simple. Just let your future mentor know that you respect what they've done. You're about to start a similar journey and would love to learn more about how they did it and get their advice. People love to share their successes and to give advice. Rarely will anyone flat our turn you down when making this kind of request. That being said you may get pushed back weeks or even months because of a busy schedule. Expect this, be polite and persistent and take what you can get. If you can't get a specific date and time continue to stay in touch and ask for this. Your polite persistence will go a long way in showing that you're serious. You may also find that they suggest you meet with someone else. This is not a bad thing. Take the initiative, get the pertinent details and call that referral.

Once you get the meeting there really are no rules. As I said, most of my mentor relationships have been very informal. As long as you're respectful, listen to and consider the advice that you're given and always gracious you shouldn't have any trouble getting additional meetings in the future as you need support.

That's it. It's really not as hard as it sounds, and the value of these mentor relationships is truly beyond measure.

Happy Networking!