How to Start a Mastermind Group in 7 Easy Steps

Group conversation
Photo courtesy of plantronicsgermany on flickr

It’s approaching a year since I started participating in my first mastermind. I can’t put into words how beneficial this group has been for me personally and professionally.

I have been meeting regularly with my friend Anthony Tran from Marketing Access Pass that I met while taking Podcasting A to Z – an online training course with Cliff Ravenscraft.

I stumbled my way into it, however the steps that led up to us forming our mastermind group are easily repeatable – and stumbling is not a requirement =].

How I Stumbled into a Mastermind

I already had a desire to form a two-person mastermind with someone who had similar interests in business and digital marketing. However, that was not my mission while taking the course.

The craziest part about how it all started was that the thought of Anthony and I staying in contact after the course was first mentioned by Cliff. When that happened, it caused me to take a deeper look at what Anthony was all about. I then quickly realized that Cliff was spot on wit his recommendation.

After about a week or so into the course, it was becoming more and more clear that Anthony and I had a ton in common. He and I had already been actively networking with the other members of the group, which in hindsight should have been a light bulb moment for me.

This made for an extremely easy transition to meeting regularly after the course. We both were interested in the idea and we made it happen.

How to Start Your Own Mastermind

The basic idea is to identify others that share similar goals and interests. If you already have someone that you find yourself speaking with on a regular basis, that might be a great place to start.

Here are the steps that occurred organically in my case, however they can easily be reproduced. Follow the seven steps below and and you will have your very own mastermind up and running in no time:

  1. Identify your reasons for forming the mastermind group. Give some thought to the core objective for the group. Try to nail this down as much as possible. This will provide you with a decision filter to help ensure group members are onboard with the objective for the group.

  2. Decide on the desired size for your group. It would be ideal to max out your member count at 6-8 members, which should be manageable if you are running one hour meetings. Remember, it is perfectly fine to start out with only you and one other person – this is exactly what I did.

  3. Decide on a list of characteristics each member should possess. This will help you narrow down group member candidates. You want to try to make sure the group has the proper dynamics to to achieve the best results.

  4. Create a list of the individuals in your network that are ideal candidates. Now, based on the criteria you created in the previous step, jot down as many people in your network you can think of that meet your group member criteria.

  5. Send group member invitation(s). You don’t have to be super formal for this step if you don’t want to. However, make sure the tone of your invitation is consistent with the tone you won’t others to bring to the group. For example, if the person is a close friend, a phone call or text message may be all that’s required.

  6. Finalize group meeting formalities. This would include how scheduling will be handled, meeting format, what tools will be used to manage the meetings online and/or offline, etc. There will be subtle differences in what is required to host the meetings depending on whether the meetings will be hosted in-person or online. Just be sure to plan accordingly.

  7. Host your first meeting. Once you have confirmed your group member(s), it’s time to schedule your first meeting and go for it.

Last Words

I hope you have decided that “yes”, I do want to start a mastermind group. If so, remember that it may take some time for the group to find a rhythm – but stick with it. It’s likely that there will be ups and downs at times. However, strive to be persistent and before you know it you will find yourself wondering – why didn’t I do this a long time ago.

If you have decided to start a mastermind group, I’m interested in hearing about your next steps in the comments below.