In this part of the world, you need 400 hours rotary to become an instructor, so that's not a path to build initial hours.
I hunted around and found the operators who had taken low time pilots in the past. Then phoned the only one within 1000km and introduced myself. The CP was polite and helpful and said to stay in touch.
I think he expected to hear from me in a month or two, but I sent him two or three texts a week for months, until he finally gave in and gave me something to shut me up :-)
It was a constant balancing act - Being very persistent but also being polite; keeping it humourous and not crossing the line to being downright annoying. I'm sure he got sick of the texts, but I made sure that he got a good laugh out of them as well.