What’s A Mastermind? The benefits of joining one and where to get started + a free template for emailing your dreamies to join yours!
What’s A Mastermind? The benefits of joining one and where to get started+ a free template for emailing your dreamies to join yours!
If you’ve been around the creative industry for some time, you’ve probably come in contact with the movement: #communityovercompetition. It’s fabulous. There’s so much power in running a business that revolves around serving and encouraging others, rather than cut throat competition. It’s life-giving, humankind centered, and just the right thing to do.
I don’t know how long the term “mastermind” has been around, but the longer you are in the creative industry, the more you will come in contact with it.
I attempted to look up a dictionary description for “Mastermind” or “Mastermind Group”, but there is no definition for the type of Mastermind group that we are discussing today.
In short, a Mastermind is a group of people with like-minded pursuits, in a similar industry who come together in order to learn from one another, grow, and support each other.
A Mastermind group can be made up of people with the same type of business (ex: Wedding Photographers), or just people in a similar industry (creative entrepreneurs).
Below I will discuss the different types of Mastermind groups, the purpose of a group, what to do in a Mastermind, and how to get started.
Types of Mastermind Groups:
Peer-led vs. “Master” led
Paid vs. Unpaid
Specific vs. General
Continuous vs. Time-specific
Frequency
Peer-led vs. “Master” led
When it comes to a Mastermind, there are two different ways it can be “run” or organized. The group could be a group of peers who come together to encourage and learn from each other. There is no specific leader and each person hold equal responsibility for the group, scheduling, and meetups. In contrast, there are often Mastermind groups who are led by a specific person. This person would be considered to be the coach or leader of the group.
Paid vs. Unpaid
Typically, if there is a Mastermind being led and organized by a certain person, there will be an investment for that group. The leader is preparing content and information to teach the participants and coach them in their business. This person would be considered the “Master” who is bringing together a small group of people in order to lead and teach them. Unpaid Mastermind groups are typically those that are peer-led and everyone comes to the table with their own insight. These groups are typically more for encouragement and to bounce ideas off of one another. Whereas a Mastermind that is being led by someone will typically have specific lessons and content to learn.
Specific vs. General
Whether you are joining a peer-led or master-led mastermind, paid or unpaid, there will either be a specific topic or type of participant or no specific topic or type of participant. For example, you could be in a paid mastermind for product shop owners, or a paid mastermind about owning a business. One is much for specific and the content will only be about owning a product shop. Whereas, the other type will have a range of participants in all different types of industries. In addition, you could be in an unpaid mastermind with only wedding photographers, and no specific leader. If you haven’t noticed yet, the possibilities are endless!
Continuous vs. Time-specific
Finally, the last category of Mastermind groups is the amount of time you will be doing your group. For either peer-led or “Master”-led, you need to have a expectation for how long the group will last. Do you want to be in a group for 6 months? A year? Or maybe you want something long-term. When joining (or starting) a Mastermind, make sure all the participants are aware of the time commitment. And while on the topic of time commitment, there’s one more thing to consider....
Frequency
Mastermind groups can meet monthly, bi-weekly, quarterly, etc. There’s really no rule here. Weekly would probably be too much, as most people don’t have that type of time.
Purpose of a Mastermind:
I touched on it briefly above, but there can be all sorts of “purposes” behind a Mastermind. Overall, the purpose is to come together with a small group of people (5-10) in order to grow your business, support one another, and gain feedback and insight.
Beyond that, there can be specific topics you cover or you can simply meet up and just ask questions and check in with one another.
Ultimately, you are joining a mastermind to both learn AND support others. A mastermind is intended to bring people together, because we all know: “many hands make light work.” When you have input and collaboration in your business, you will be able to grow faster, smarter, and support others in the process.
What do you do in a mastermind?
The format of a mastermind can be determined by the leader or the collective group. There is no perfect way to do this. You can have an organized type of meeting where everyone has 15 minutes to talk about where their business is at. Or you can have casual conversation and just talk about business a life. You can pick certain topics for each meeting and discuss those. Or you can give one or two people “the floor” for each meeting. This means they would have a long period of time to share about their business, what’s going right, what they’re working on, and get feedback. There’s endless options here! Ultimately, you want to make sure there is time set aside to give each person feedback and actionable steps for business growth. Some Mastermind groups meet up from time to time. You can have a yearly meetup to just spend time together in person talking about business and life.
How to get started:
Maybe you’re ready to join a Mastermind, but don’t know how. I am a full believer in creating what you don’t have and making it happen. So, if you’re ready to join a Mastermind, why don’t you just start one? The first step is making a list of other individuals who you feel would be a great addition to your Mastermind. Next, decide what type of group you want it to be. Peer-led? Specific topic? One year long?
The next step is actually inviting some amazing people to come together to form a group! I LOVE reaching out to people to invite them to things like this because no matter what, you make that person feel loved and cherished and valued. And what’s better than that? Nothing!
If you sometimes don’t know what to say or how to star emails like this, enter your email below to get a template for emails and Instagram DMs. It’s mad-lib style and will make it ultra easy to find those dreamies!
Cheers to mastermind-ing!