If you are any kind of an entrepreneur, you’ve likely heard of mastermind groups. Masterminds are vital to the success of many big name brands and businesses. Many people that are seeking an online income often start out completely solo. I strongly discourage against this.
Masterminds can be the make or break for your dreams of financial independence and goals. When you cluster together as one, you protect one another from costly mistakes, learn faster, and reach goals at a much quicker pace!
Companies like Under Armour and Chevrolet put together a mastermind before any major marketing campaign to ensure the quality of their efforts in their drive to hit quarterly goals. Big investors put together “boards of advisors” which is the same thing as a mastermind. Masterminds can work wonders if they are well run with key members.
[bctt tweet=” When you cluster together as one, you protect one another from costly mistakes, learn faster, and reach goals at a much quicker pace!” username=””]
First I’d like to give you my take on two very different approaches to masterminds.
Short-Term Masterminds
A short-term mastermind is usually 4-12 months long. These groups usually cost you a fee to join. Expect anywhere from $1500-15000 depending on the level you are willing to invest in for each four-month program.
A word of caution: If you are being asked to join a 4-month mastermind for $15k and there is only one person “in charge” and the rest will be facebook group support, TREAD LIGHTLY.
First of all, you should be seeking a very specific group for a specific outcome. So if you know the coach/leader very well and they have a proven track record, by all means, jump on it.
Second, if you don’t know the coach/leader well then you might want to read their material or shoot them an email to make sure you are going to get what you expect out of the deal. And third, some of the people in the group might be ten times more clueless than you. Nothing like being led astray by the lost sheep. It’s difficult to get decent support from people as clueless and frustrated as we are.
There are hundreds of coaches out there worth every bit of $15k but typically this is more of a 1:1 rate. Group coaching, even for very high-end coaches is usually a few thousand less unless you pay in installments.
And last, you might be able to get a steal of a deal on a newer coach. Just because their prices are lower doesn’t mean they don’t know what they are doing. You might be able to get their best work early on before they quickly figure out they should raise their rates because their stuff is pure gold.
For example, I hired a coach at $1500 for her video courses. I got a single one-to-one call and some email support. Less than a year later her same program is $5700 and her 1:1 rate is $25k for 4 months. She is teaching the same stuff but has realized her worth and set her prices accordingly.
What You Get From Short-Term Masterminds
Again what you get from a short-term mastermind depends on what you are seeking.
There are great ones for overcoming your money blocks. I touch on this in my own course and one-to-one coaching but I also recommend Tonya Rineer. We both get great results but her program is set up differently than mine.
One of the best investments you can make is taking a mastermind course for marketing. You have to know how to market to your audience. Not everyone. Your ideal clients. The people who actually give two cents about what you are saying. If you struggle with marketing, a four-month course either mastermind or 1:1 is highly ideal. And in case you are wondering, marketing has seriously changed in the last few years.
Maybe you are looking for a fitness group to hold you accountable. Or a group to help you learn how to meditate. There are paid masterminds for just about everything these days. And if you can’t find one, a jackpot for you. Create one.
If you are looking for a free guide to get you some clarity, take this free five-day assessment.
Long-Term Masterminds
I’m going to break this down into two but I’ll only talk about the first one briefly.
Long-Term Membership Groups
These are basically masterminds that you pay to join. They can be monthly or yearly depending on the level of the group you are joining.
For the lower-earning groups, the idea of the monthly fee is to keep members accountable and doing what they are supposed to be doing. Turnover in these groups is usually moderate to high.
For this reason, the group dynamic can be strange. You get an opportunity to make many connections but some of them go nowhere. Like the girl who was in the group two months but flaked out because she couldn’t afford to stay in or the ones who get bored and leave, etc. In theory, there isn’t much incentive to continually pay for the same thing over and over.
The larger-income groups are going to cost you quite a bit more. It’s very common for these to run $25k a year. These groups are usually filled with entrepreneurs that are making a consistent five-figure a month income or more. While you might be paying to “make connections” and “learn from their expertise”, I’d do my homework, as some of these groups meet only once per month for very little time. How much will you learn in 12-24 hours a year?
Depending on the size of the group and the members in it, you might not get what you bargain for.
I’m not a huge fan of paid groups for a few reasons. I think the connections made are not as genuine. I think the money being kept by one or two founders creates a type of pyramid feel to the groups, and it’s a lot to invest in a “what if”. You could use $25k to hire a top notch coach for 1:1 and learn way more in less time.
Long-Term Mastermind Groups
I had been blogging all of three months before I figured out I needed to join or start a mastermind.
Why?
Because it is a faster track to your goals PERIOD.
I was familiar with them in the offline world. I had taken several live in-person courses on leadership from John C. Maxwell (to say this guy made a profound difference in my life would be an understatement) and learned a ton about teams and masterminds.
I learned how and why they drive individuals to their goals faster and create steam. I had been a member of three different ones over the course of a decade for different business projects and I had been the leader of two.
These groups are typically not paid. You are seeking a diverse skill set for your group.
I recommend 5-7 members. I’ve seen them as low as 3 and as high as 12. Both ends of the spectrum start to get a little more chaotic and less productive.
You don’t want people just like you. If you find people in exactly your niche with your same skills, you won’t grow or learn much.
The idea is to meet once every one-two weeks and surge one another forward.
The Relationships and Growth of Mastermind Members
Because this type of group is not paid, you can work toward building a strong foundation of trust and friendship within the group. If people are not “clicking” or the chemistry is off, don’t hesitate to switch it up until you find a group that is really in sync. We want our businesses to be fun! Work that doesn’t feel as much like work is almost always more rewarding and succeeds faster.
I have personally had the privilege of sitting in on a mastermind meeting of a group that has been together for more than five years now. They have two members that are slightly newer but the majority have been around quite a while. The dynamic of this group was so awesome.
They were clearly friends, all of them were massively successful online, and they were pushing strong to make sure the newer members caught up and reach their income goals.
[bctt tweet=”If you want a competitive edge in the online world, you should belong to a mastermind of some kind” username=””]
They are reaching income goals in 6-9 months that many online business owners take years to do alone.
That’s just plain stubborn. Why would you do it alone and spend every night for months at a time googling the answers, when you could simply put together a group of well-rounded minds and help one another get to your financial freedom faster? #communityovercompetition.
A special shout-out to my sisters who totally rock. Love you guys! They push and give and pluck one another for great ideas. It’s awesome and we’re totally kicking it up a notch this season.
Masterminds Will Help You Reach Your Goals Faster
If you want a competitive edge in the online world, you should belong to a mastermind of some kind.
It simply makes sense.
[bctt tweet=”Shave years off your learning curve by seeking others that are strong where you are weak, and offer up something of similar value” username=””]
Up later this week: How to Put Together a Successful Mastermind.
And hey, if you’ve been part of a paid or free group please leave a comment about your experiences below!
xoxo-Deanna