How to Form a Fantastic Mastermind Group!

[Chris W. Sutton]

Mastermind groups are extremely difficult to start and keep going. Having said that, there is a very easy way to not only START a mastermind group but to keep it going indefinitely.

The very best way is to have everyone get a Skype account. It is free and it is easy to install. You can call people Skype to Skype anywhere in the world for free.

The next thing you do is have someone in the group start a chat and "invite" everyone in the mastermind group to the chat. You can have as many people as you want in it.

Now here is the key. Never close the chat and never log out of it. That way you can always check it and update yourself on what has been said. It makes things very easy.

I have several of these things going and I always have access to people I can ask questions. Can it be a distraction? Yes, but you have "Do Not Disturb" buttons and you can show yourself unavailable when you need to do something.

Try it out and see if you don't agree!

[Michael Silvester]

Actually Chris,

This is a very timely post...I just had my first
skype conference call on monday. It's great.

All we have to do is figure out how to punch
the person with all the background noise that
is buggering it up for everyone else.

I had one user that sounded like they were in
a hurricane. Once we found out who it was they
were sent to the naughty corner

Take Care,

Michael Silvester

[Takuya Hikichi]

My question is do you get spammed at all when you publish Skype ID on public profiles?

[Johnny Slater]

Originally Posted by Takuya Hikichi

My question is do you get spammed at all when you publish Skype ID on public profiles?

I have my Skype id on my sales pages as part of my contact info. So far I haven't gotten spammed at all.

[Chris W. Sutton]

AND you can set Skype where only the people on your contact list can contact you!

[Jeremy Kelsall]

I just started using Skype not long ago, and I love it.

Because of Skype, I have a couple of projects in the works and have a
small "mastermind group" with a couple of people whose strengths are my weakness.

I never new marketing could be so interactive

[Rupps]

Great Idea Chris,

Thanks for the tip

[buryou]

I also use skype- although it can get a little hokey from time to time (hang ups, etc)

This is also an option: VoIP audio and video webmessenger from dotlessdomain.com
http://www.dotlessdomain.com/?include=download

it's free- and you can communicate with as many people as you want at the same time.

[ctutt]

Sorry, I can't use skype. My DSL is not fast enough. Beyond that, I personally dislike being "stuck" with a phone in my ear listening to a bunch of "stuff" I've either heard before or don't really WANT TO HEAR.

I much prefer text. I'm a speed/photo reader. I can get it quickly and move on. That's my style--that's the best way to present information to me.

I am interested in MasterMinding as are many of my friends (though they wouldn't want to call it such a "woo-woo" thing.) So, my question to you is: What is Master Minding? How do YOU go about setting up (initiating) a Master Mind Group?

I'm most interested in local face-to-face groups, though a world-wide internet group would also be VERY WELCOMED.
Charles Tutt

[Chris W. Sutton]

Charles,

Skype isn't just voice-to-voice. In most of my mastermind groups, we just leave the chat screen up and never log out. When someone has a question, they just post it and someone will answer it.

I have tried MANY different mastermind groups and most don't work. I started one where all the members tried working on projects together and it was a nightmare because people had different priorities. Arranging a group conference was tough, too.

It seemed like there was more discussion than anything else and nothing was getting done. That is why I went away from joint projects.

Having said that, there were joint projects between two or three members of the group and that worked well.

Now, we just use Skype to ask questions and throw out ideas. It works really well like that!

Hope that helps. Take care!

[Scott Ames]

I'm a little unclear on who should be in your mastermind group. Should they be people with the same goals? IE: Membership Sites

Should they be friends? Competitors? Do you have to like them? Do they have to like you? Should members of the Mastermind have a verbal or written non-disclosure?

Personally I think of it as a group of friends that like to tease, have fun, and are all in IM. The Friday Night conference that Judy has is the closest to what you propose using Skype I think. It would be different in that each person would propose or ask something they are working on and others would come up with ideas. The Friday night chat goes off into sports and all manner of wild subjects.

[Frank Bruno]

Most of my experiences with online "mastermind groups" using VOIP is that they'res just a bunch of riff-raff talk and line hogs where nothing gets accomplished whatsoever. A complete waste of time.

I think you should selectively choose your mastermind group members and keep it to a small group of people so there's more control and a more unified agreement of what you want to accomplish as a group.

Steve Peters and myself are putting together a close-knit mastermind group if anybody's interested PM me and we can see if we could all work together.

Frank Bruno

[Chris Lockwood]

Originally Posted by Chris W. Sutton

Mastermind groups are extremely difficult to start and keep going. Having said that, there is a very easy way to not only START a mastermind group but to keep it going indefinitely.

The very best way is to have everyone get a Skype account. It is free and it is easy to install. You can call people Skype to Skype anywhere in the world for free.

OK, but how does that help you find the right people and get them to join (which would seem to be the biggest problems)?

[Chris W. Sutton]

Personally I think of it as a group of friends that like to tease, have fun, and are all in IM.

Well, you just described one of my mastermind groups to a tee but it has Kevin Riley in it so you can't expect much more.

In my opinion, the best group will be people with different skills. Each one fills a gap. As an example, one might be a marketer, one might be a programmer, one might be a writer, etc. The main thing is that they need to participate.

I think you should selectively choose your mastermind group members and keep it to a small group of people so there's more control and a more unified agreement of what you want to accomplish as a group.

The most effective mastermind groups are smaller groups. I had 30 in one group and it was chaos. 10 and under would be best.

OK, but how does that help you find the right people and get them to join (which would seem to be the biggest problems)?

You should be developing relationships whether you are starting a mastermind group or not. I have developed a lot of friendships over the years in the WF and that is where I got the people in my mastermind groups. It is critical for every marketer get to know and be friendly with other people. Not just in the WF but in life, too. The people that make a large amount of money do it by leveraging their relationships. Start getting to know a lot of people!

Hope that helps and take care!

[Steve Peters Benn]

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the fantastic post. This is one I will definately be saving for future reference!

[write-stuff]

Excellent advice, Chris. Thanx for that. It falls directly in line with what I'm trying to do with TENForum.net - make it a place where groups like this can develop and communicate.

As Chris Lockwood said, finding people with the right skillset for a project can be really difficult unless you just happen to know someone already. You need to be able to search from a large pool based on skill/asset criteria. That way, you're more likely to find qualified people and get something accomplished. Yelling out on forums (the shotgun approach) may land you the partner you were looking for, but the odds are against it.

We need the ability to search from a large database of people based on what they bring to the table.

- Russ

[Lance K]

Originally Posted by Chris W. Sutton

AND you can set Skype where only the people on your contact list can contact you!

Hot damn!!!

How did I not know that? Those gals looking for friends and wanting me to visit their sites are getting quite annoying.

[Ken Leatherman]

Well, you just described one of my mastermind groups to a tee but it has Kevin Riley in it so you can't expect much more.

In my opinion, the best group will be people with different skills. Each one fills a gap. As an example, one might be a marketer, one might be a programmer, one might be a writer, etc. The main thing is that they need to participate.

I agree with Chris (believe it or not) but the "ideal" mastermind group are like minded folks, but with varied skills. Since my primary skill is article writing and pestering the other folks in my group with other questions when I need help they are there.

The great thing is the fun, jokes, throwing zingers at each other is as natural as sitting around the kitchen table with your friends. However, when it's time to get serious we are there for each other.

If we have a specific thing which needs to be discussed in private with say just one person in the group then we go private in Skype to the one we want to talk to. In fact the private conversations is where possible JV's/partnerships/projects usually come together.

I mentioned this in another thread, but there is one thing which hasn't been mentioned about "MasterMind" groups and that is the accountability to yourself and the other members of your group.

Let's face it when you make a statement or put forth an idea to your group you feel a certain amount of accountability to follow through. This accountability can become a great motivator, especially when the other members keep mentioning and asking you about it. (as long as they don't become a nagging spouse )

A great example of that happened to me just day before yesterday (not the nagging spouse, well that too ). I was talking one on one with a member of our group and he reminded me about a great domain I had bought. He wanted to know if I had done anything with it and gave me a gentle push to go on and get something going. Frankly, I had forgotten about it, but now thanks to John it's back up on my list of priorities.

I can't say enough about a MasterMind group, from a social standpoint and business standpoint, but the really great thing is your still the boss of your own business and your the one that decides what your going to give and take from this group of MasterMinds.

As Chris said above, you have to participate, you just can't be a lurker and hope to captiliaze off everybody else.

Ken Leatherman
The Old Geezer

[Kevin Riley]

Originally Posted by Takuya Hikichi

My question is do you get spammed at all when you publish Skype ID on public profiles?

I get spammed (or is that simply annoyed) by Sutton all the time.

[Paul Gram]

My tip for a great mastermind group is to create a group with successful people that take you to the next level. For example, say you make $150,000 per year, I would be in a group with people that make $300,000 per year and up. You become like the people you associate with.