If you want to succeed in online business (or anywhere as a matter of fact) and to operate in a professional manner you need support and resources. You may know your niche market, you might know the tricks needed to make the job more effectively, but without a suitable support which can motivate you and help you make down-the-earth decisions, you are still missing one major part of the sales chain!
The most valuable support you can find comes from a network of like-minded people who can help you by making you accountable and be there for the exchange of information, ideas and approaches which in their turn can help you succeed in your career.
What a Mastermind Group Is
The idea of a mastermind group began by Napoleon Hill with his book: “Think And Grow Rich“. In this book, Napoleon Hill described a mastermind group as:
“The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.” Napoleon Hill, Think And Grow Rich
In essence, a mastermind group can be any loose association or group of friends, sharing common ideas and spending some time together by elaborating and sharing ideas and approaches.
[Tweet “A mastermind group can help you achieve your goals effortlessly!”]But a mastermind group is not the same as a network, a batch of friends or a coaching session. It is something completely different expanding its results to all these areas, but focusing main of accountability, personal growth and development and the mutual growth of all the participants.
Why You Are Need A Mastermind Group
Today business operate in a complex environment, in a cross section of trade, personal or social interests and newly founded financial, economic or prospecting schemes (like affiliate marketing, social media marketing, click economy, like the economy, crowd-funding economic paradigms, etc.)
In this environment, online business and sales equal trust plus expertise plus provided value plus usability plus necessity (requirements/needs). All these ingredients to work to your favor, need the exact blend in order to provide the necessary results.
[Tweet “A mastermind group is required for your success!”]It is a lot of work, and very few people have the resources, time or energy to master this formula towards the success of themselves or of their brand. And the most valuable assistance you can have in a situation as that is not an army of assistants, but few hand-picked “friends” which will direct you without a fuzz towards the correct direction.
The Benefits of A Mastermind Group
Joining or developing a mastermind group is not as a difficult task as may appear at the start! It needs a little preparation and a few initial tasks to make it up and running but the benefits are exponential, constant and life lasting!
A mastermind group offers to its members (among other things):
- Accountability and personal growth
- Challenges to you to move forward with your goals
- Collaboration on topics of interest
- A network of like-mind people can help your carrier and your business
- A structure guarantees coherence and consistency (formal or informal one)
- Assistance in business problems
- A constant streamline of ideas and resources you can tap on for your own benefits
- A sense of “community” and of doing something beyond yourself
- Advisement and Learning capabilities
- Support and assistance
- Good advice and directions customized to yourself and your business
- New contacts, affiliations, and alliances
These are the main reasons you should participate or developing a mastermind group.
The Mechanics of Developing A Mastermind Group
If you do not have a mastermind group or you do not participate in any, you should start developing it. The process is different from group to group but its mastermind group is based on a similar set of ground rules (topics, participants, basic rules).
This set can be summarized as follows:
- Select the right the main topics of the group. This is an important step because topics dictate the “profile” of the group
- Attract the right (for you) kind of people around you**. People you feel comfortable with and you can talk, really talk.
- Nurture the participant and listen to what they say. A mastermind group aims to help everybody, not just the founder
- Find/develop the entry and basic rules. Use any tool available (questionnaire, financial background, educational background, academic background, etc.) to determine the rules of contact, the participants and the goals of the group
- Provide motives and incentives for participation. This is important because if you want to attract the best people you should provide the best “offers” you can provide.
- Set some standards, operational procedures. It is important for any participant to have to resources he/she can base on like documentation, templates, and agendas for the face-to-face meetings, a calendar for group meetings or one-to-one appointments, etc. These resources can guarantee that everybody is at the same pace and that he/she knows what his/her role is, what it is expected by him/her, in what form, etc.
- Set specific topics and agendas and start to operate your mastermind group
Easy, isn’t it!
Now start thinking about how you can start your own mastermind group!
Question: Have you ever been a member of a mastermind group? Have you ever developed one? what are your experiences? You can leave your comments, in the comments section.