I first profiled Michael Lang and his Internet Coast Mastermind Group last week as he was just getting the group started and was trying to attract members to the group.
In a recent update Michael now has 4 members in the group each with different expertise.
Michael: Writing and marketing Carlos: Marketing, SEO and Web work Albert: Web design/SEO skills Steve: TBA
The group was set up to share best practices on Internet marketing as the primary vehicle for the promotion and selling of a product or service.
Chris Barrow is a Business Coach that runs Mastermind Groups for UK dentists. I came across a post of his in his blog and asked him for details on how his groups work. He sent me a very detailed reply - Thanks Chris! Here are some of the highlights of the information Chris sent.
It's a year-long business coaching programme for dental practice owners and their teams
40% stay a second year (same programme) and 16% stay 3 years (same programme!)
Experience shows a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 10 participants
They meet once a quarter on a Sunday evening for a working dinner - and then all day Monday in conference
Meetings are held at 4/5 star hotels close to easy-access airports and road/rail connections
Each Monday meeting contains a group round-up and summary of the key insights gained
Each group member continues to send in Weekly Work Out Logs to Chris
Communication is kept high through a monthly call and online chat group
I came across a post by a UK blogger named femiy who works as a recruitment consultant and writes on human resources issues. He is discussing the value of joining networking group and mentions a book that Mastermind Group members might find valuable:
In Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene's excellent book on geniuses, it's titled, "the book of geniuses and how to unleash your own". They describe the makeup or characteristics of leading world famous geniuses such as Albert Einstein, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Andrew Carnegie, Leonardo daVinci, Michealangelo, Abraham Lincoln, Dante Alighieri, Socrates, Plato, Achimedes and Aristotle to name but a few..One of the main features of life was that they were surrounded by brilliant minds or mastermind group as they put it in the book. For instance, Lao-Tzu had Confucius and Buddha, Plato had Socrates, Alexander the Great had Aristotle, and so on.. Bill Gates was not only surrounded by some of the brilliant minds on the planet he hired them too.
And so you see, this is a path well throudened, no need to re-invent the wheel. In order to get ahead in the 21st century job market, you need to surround yourselves with brilliant minds as well as contacts whom just might hold the keys to finding you your dream job.
A recent blog post by Michael Lang brought to mind the question of how to attract members to your Mastermind Group.
After looking around for any Mastermind Groups in the South Florida region and coming up empty, I decided to start my own. My experience has taught me that any group must have a strong nucleus if it is going to flourish and have any longevity. I put a notice in the Business section of the Sun Sentinel and hoped for the best. As the date I set for the first meeting approached and no one called I began to brainstorm on alternate ideas for recruitment. Then it happened! I received 2 calls from interested parties and will be meeting with one of them tomorrow to begin the process. His name is Carlos and he appears to be sharp and expressed a enthusiastic interest in getting involved with the group. I also spoke to Ben who works odd hours and cannot make this first exploratory meeting but asked for a report which I gladly will provide.
My ideal group would be highly intelligent and creative individuals who have at least some experience in the utilization of Internet marketing as the primary vehicle for the promotion and selling of a product or service.
Attracting members to a Mastermind Group has to be a function of quality over quantity. It's far better to start a group with only 3 members that are dedicated to the same purpose than 8 members who have different intentions.
The fit between members is also very important. Your group members can all agree on a common purpose, all be highly intelligent and ambitious, all bring great ideas to the table - but the group can still fail because the personalities of the members does mix well.
It's hard to get the right members with both the skill set and personality fit that you're looking for but when it does happen it can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your business career.
Our Mastermind Groups will typically start with a core foundation of members and new members will be added until we get to 8 in total. New members are subject to the approval of all the existing members to ensure there is a fit. New members cannot be from the same industry as existing members. Typically new members are also referrals from existing members as they are already comfortable with the group and know what type of people would fit from both a skill set and personality perspective.
One of the greatest aspects of being a part of a Mastermind Group is the idea generation that comes from the other members. We had our first meeting for a new group recently and everyone has an allotted 20 minutes to talk about their business. There were so many new ideas and suggestions being given to each entrepreneur that I had to cut if off or we would have gone on all night!
It's one of my favourite parts of running a group - you can help entrepreneurs who have been struggling sometimes for years with an issue overcome their challenge and have a renewed sense of optimism.
Mike Crow recently posted a testimonial from one of his group members that describes this experience:
I am a member of Mike Crow's mastermind group.So far I've been to two meetings.Before the first meeting, I was very frustrated with my current business, and suffering major burnout.I had some ideas for changing my business around, but I had not been able to settle on anything, which further increased my frustration.After the first mastermind meeting, I came away with a 17-step plan for revolutionizing my business!! I then had a purpose and was exited to get up in the morning again.And I got those 17 ideas by listening to the group members discuss other members' businesses -- we hadn't even gotten to discussing my business in that first meeting.That one meeting was responsible for a MAJOR life improvement for me and my business.I can't wait to see what happens at the next meeting!
Reading Richard's post at Ask, Answer, Receive shows how the power of Mastermind Groups can be applied to any industry.
Darren, a real estate investor, realized that he
needed more than anything was a team of experts who could become our brain trust or as Napoleon Hill puts it our "Mastermind Group".
As a result of this realization Darren quickly formed a team which included a great real estate CPA, a forensic accountant and an SEC attorney. He now has much more confidence in a number of the real estate deals he is putting together. So much so that on December 15th this year he will be financially free and his wife will be pulling out of her work.
Whether your Mastermind Group meets to discuss your various businesses or are centered around a key theme such as real estate investment it's important to tap the minds and expertise of leaders around you to achieve joint success!
After reading an article in the American Chronicle I thought I would post some of their thoughts about what to consider before joining a Mastermind Group.
Following are just a few advantages to joining a mastermind group:
* Motivation and Support: You'll have a motivating network of support, training, advice, troubleshooting, inspiration and challenge, from a network of trusted associates.
* Marketing: Discover how to truly understand your product or service, and your target market and how to reach and motivate your potential clients most effectively.
* Sales Skills: Learn the ins and outs of sales training and psychology, and use it to your advantage in your business.
* Time Management Skills: Discover how to be more effective with your time. Learn how to spending more time concentrating on your strengths, as opposed to your weaknesses.
In a good Mastermind group, you'll find people who take their business seriously. Think about it. If the other members are willing to invest money to be there, you know they want to learn. Their business is not treated as a hobby. The members are dedicated to their businesses and work hard to achieve success.
Mastermind groups are not for everyone. There are some people who are lone wolves and like it that way. For most people, however, it is a great option to help you grow your business.
I recently discovered the eMoms at Home blog where they were discussing starting and participating in Mastermind / Productivity Groups.
This group meets once per week on Fridays at 5:00 AM. Some suggestions they have for running a successful Mastermind Group include:
Keep them small so that conversation can flow. We have 4 people in our group. I don't think I would want more than 8 total.
Include a range of skill levels in your group. You want people that can mentor you as well as people you can mentor - keep in mind the Latin Proverb, "By learning you will teach, by teaching you will learn."
Use the power of leverage. If I don't follow through on my commitments, there is a price to pay. I make it painful enough to ensure I do what I say I will do.
Their meeting structure is simple and efficient:
We meet weekly at a certain time - if one of us is late, that person is buying breakfast for everyone.
Each person has the floor for a certain period of time - which gives everyone an opportunity to share successes and ask for help or guidance.
We sometimes hand out 'assignments' to each other. A few months ago, I was knee deep in working on blasting out my limiting beliefs about money. One of my group members suggested that I ask for money from someone every day for a week. Wow, it was hard, but I got SO much out of it.
Masterminding To Achieve Success as a Lifestyle Entrepreneur
I came across an interesting blog post in a blog called Money Talks on ways to achieve success as a lifestyle entrepreneur.
#7 on the list of top 10 suggestions was:
Replace the Committee with A Mastermind Group: Surround yourself with excellence
Great minds don't always think alike. That's why the best leaders turn to mastermind groups - a growing business phenomenon attracting successful professionals who seek objective advice, motivation, group synergy and different perspectives to accomplish their most important goals.
It's easy to feel isolated as an entrepreneur. It's difficult to find peers who understand your challenges and issues. That's where a mastermind group comes in.
In a mastermind group, the agenda belongs to the group, and each person's participation is essential to its success. Your peers give you feedback, help you brainstorm new possibilities, and set up accountability structures that keep you focused and on track.
Your mastermind group creates a community of supportive colleagues who will brainstorm together to move the group to new heights. Think of it as your own Dream Team!
I couldn't agree more! The rest of the post also has some interesting suggestions for lifestyle entrepreneurs and is worth a read.
One of the key benefits of creating a Mastermind Group is to have someone hold you accountable for the goals you create for yourself.
If you commit to someone else you're far more likely to follow through. For example, if you set a goal to lose weight and go to the gym 3 days a week, if you commit to going to the gym with a friend you're more likely to go. If you just rely on yourself it's too easy to take a day off and find excuses not to go. Pretty soon you find yourself not going at all and wonder what happened to your plan that started off so well.
The same principle applies to business. If you set a goal and commit to someone else you're far more likely to follow through. Any good Mastermind Group will have a goal setting function where you write down and share what your goals are for your business. In addition, you should have a follow through mechanism. For example, in our groups, members are paired up and call each other once a week to follow up on how the goals are going and make sure action is being taken.
An interesting take on this concept is Kirsten Harrell who has recently set up her own Mastermind Group and the members will be sharing their goals with all the readers of Kirsten's blog! Now that's committing to someone else!
Doug Emerson made a short but great post on Mastermind Groups and the importance of being direct with your fellow members.
The point of Mastermind Groups is to have an informal board of advisors that you can turn to for advice and suggestions. Sometimes the truth can be painful but necessary to help you overcome your business challenges.
Doug mentions:
Comments and advice are constructive and direct. Once in a while, very direct. But that's why we go. To get honest feedback that we can't get from friends and family. There is no hidden agenda. Just an obvious one. Improvement for each others businesses. It's cool.
Another key point he raises is that we as entrepreneurs don't always have people we can turn to for advice in our intimate circle of friends. If your spouse isn't an entrepreneur it can make it difficult to share ideas and get advice. Part of joining a Mastermind Group is to have a support system of people who become very close to you and will be there to give you the help you need to get through your problems.
For as Doug says:
Start a mastermind group for your business. Your spouse or significant other doesn't want to hear about it anymore!
EvanCarmichael.com is the world's #1 website for small business motivation and strategies. Evan also runs a series of successful Mastermind Groups in Toronto for entrepreneurs.
