Several years ago I was invited to participate in a mastermind group. I had never been involved in a mastermind group before, but I had read about them in Napoleon Hill's book, "Think and Grow Rich." So, I was eager to try the concept out.
This particular group was comprised of five women and the focus was real estate investing. I met Kim, the woman who invited me to join the group, at a real estate investing seminar. I was a relatively new investor at the time and thought this was an opportunity to learn more about real estate investing, team up with other women who were investing, and jumpstart my real estate investing business, which is a business I run with my husband, in addition to my marketing consulting and coaching business.
In theory the group should have helped jumpstart my fledgling real estate investing business. In reality it did not. We met weekly but we quickly realized that some of us were more serious than others. Some of the members did not show up on a regular basis. Others seemed more interested in spending our time together socializing instead of focusing on the business at hand.
Kim, who had organized the group, tried very hard to set an agenda and add value to the group. But we quickly realized that if all the members were not 100% focused on the same goals, it just was not going to work. The mastermind group disbanded after a few months.
This experience taught me a few lessons.
While there is definitely value in masterminding with others, it's important to make sure you are all focused on getting the same thing out of the relationship. And, that you are all seriously committed.
And most importantly, ground rules are imperative.
My friend Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero of Red Hot Copy says her mastermind group members all must agree to participate as if they had each spent $100,000 to be in the group. How's that for making sure your members are serious?
I haven't given up on masterminding.
I've recently joined a new marketing mastermind group comprised of other small business owners and solo-professionals. We bounce ideas off each other. We share success stories and challenges. And we brainstorm - in fact, that is one of the primary benefits of a good mastermind group.
The collective brainpower of all the members is definitely stronger than you'll achieve if you're trying to run your business as a lone ranger. Plus, the networking and connections that result from working with a team will help you grow your business much faster than you can do working solo.
Just make sure you find a good group of people, who are all committed, and act as if they are paying to be a part of the group.
Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to make marketing your own business as simple as answering 10 questions. Learn more about this unique, step-by-step system and get a free Marketing E-Course when you subscribe to the free, weekly 10stepmarketing Ezine at http://www.10stepmarketing.com |
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