Mastermind Source: Insiders Update

At this point, all but the most-recent of you to sign up here have gone through the entire e-mail article course.

Once early-in people were getting into the real meat of that series, those who really understood the power of Mastermind groups wanted to move forward on creating one of their own, and asked me to create a resource that would help them do it. What I came up with was the "Insiders" group -- the Mastermind Group for Mastermind Group Leaders (and those who want to be).

The Insiders Group is Rolling

The new group got started at the first of this month.

The idea is to leverage my knowledge and the power of the group to help each other design and launch new groups, and then support each other in keeping them running well to ensure each group's success. What determines a group's "success"? That the members reach success too -- at least, if they actually work to apply what they learn there.

It's already working. There are nearly 700 posts in the forum -- and the group isn't even a month old yet!

Because I knew I'd be out of town, and busy getting the new Insiders group up and running, I limited membership to 50 max; my goal to get at least 20. People only had two days to register since I wanted to leap out of the starting gate. When it was over we ended up with 34 members (not counting me or a special contributor from my main group), which is a great number to get things rolling, build a community, and start everyone off toward their goals.

What really has kept me busy is using all of my free time to help guide the forum conversations, answering Insiders members' questions as they come up in the forum (and reading with interest other members' ideas on the topics raised), and -- when the questions need more in-depth answers -- creating "articles" that give really detailed solutions to the most pressing needs Insiders have had.

In addition, I know that not everyone has time to read that many messages, and I want to accommodate them, too. To that end, when particularly useful forum threads conclude, I'm condensing the wisdom expressed there into an articles to summarize the main lessons -- the "gold nuggets" of the conversations -- so that people don't have to go searching for those nuggets.

The Articles

Here are the most recent of those two kinds of articles:

• The Hotshots Application Process -- How do you get really, REALLY qualified applicants? By being really, REALLY specific with your application process. Here's how I do it with my own Mastermind group.
• What Does It Take to Be a 'Leader'? -- The Mastermind Source program is all about being a good Mastermind group leader. OK, great: what IS a leader in this context? I think it all comes down to one specific ability -- aided by a number of qualities.
• "I'm Not Worthy of This Group" -- It's common for group members to look around at the talent in the group and think they suffer by comparison. Here's how leaders need to address it.
• What's the Ideal Group Size? -- The minimum number for a successful group is probably larger than you might think -- and the maximum is probably smaller. In between: the sweet spot! But there is a notable exception to the rule....

Of course, those articles are only available to the members of the Insiders group.

Want In?

I'm not taunting you, though -- really. I am so excited about this stuff I want to share it with everyone! But I know I can't: I'm only one person and can't work directly with very many people, even if I wasn't so busy already. And while the articles I've been writing for the Insiders are really meaty, the real action in Insiders (just as in every other Mastermind group) is in the group discussions, and there's a limit to the number of people that can comfortably fit into a group (yeah, there's an article on that!)

I'm following my own advice in the Dues Report. (You have gotten your free copy of that and read it at least once, right? It's critical information! So grab it now if you haven't already!) In the report, I show how charging "significant dues" not only helps the leader want to spend time helping the group, but the members -- having made a "significant" investment -- put more into it too. That synergy pushes the group toward success like few other tools. Thus I've set the Insiders dues at $129/month, which is "significant" for most, yet not out of reach of most. As I also say in the report, while the group is finding its feet and relationships build, the leader should provide a significant discount for up to the first year; especially if the leader is unproven, the discount can be as much as 100%. I don't suffer that last issue myself, but I'm still offering a significant discount on the dues.

What to Do to Join the Insiders

After I closed registration, quite a few of you have sent me notes saying you weren't ready to join during those two days, or were out of town, or had Internet trouble, or ...well... whatever! and really want to join us! I'm sure just as many more feel the same way, but haven't contacted me.

I'm ready to accommodate a limited number of those folks. I want to get to that original maximum -- 50 members. That means only 16 of you! At least that many have expressed disappointment that they missed out, so I'm willing to stretch it a bit more. Just like last time, I'm only going to open up registration for two days, or to a total of 68 members (a doubling of the current membership), whichever comes first.

Registration opens on Tuesday. You don't have to get on a special list: I'll send the announcement to the main list -- where you registered to get the article series. I don't know exactly what time registration will open, since I have to do some programming on the site to take registrations again, but I'll let you know the exact time I expect it to open as soon as I know it; it will likely be in the afternoon. Then I'll send a note to say it's open, and one -- maybe two -- more messages to let you know when it's shutting down.

Who You Would Join

I urge potential Mastermind group leaders to have a focus that brings people with similar goals together, yet have diversity so you get a wide variety of viewpoints to help you succeed. The Insiders are all interested in Mastermind groups as their common focus, and indeed the diversity is there. We have...

• People from all across the U.S. and Canada -- and outside North America, for instance from Australia, England, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Wales.
• Geeky techie types -- and some who have no idea how to put up a web site. Artists.
• Retired people -- and people in their 30s.
• Two doctors -- one specifically worried about what will happen with "Health Care Reform" and what that will do to his future.
• Entrepreneurs and regular employees. (Example: administrative types who want to move on to new challenges.)
• A currency trader -- and a guy whose mission it is to help military veterans.

...and I've only gone through the first page of introductions to gather that list: there are plenty more very interesting members. See what I mean by diverse?

The doctor who sees changes in his profession's future really intrigues me. He's pretty smart to start thinking about that, and preparing for it, wouldn't you say?! Here's something to think about: what profession or business is not resistant to change? If being a doctor isn't stable, what is? That's right: none of our businesses and professions are set in stone. The economy has been stuck in neutral (or reverse!) since 2008, and it doesn't look to get better anytime soon. Can you think of a better way to prepare yourself for future success than to gather the most brilliant people you can find that are like you that can help you get there? I sure can't.

Note in that list of attributes, I said nothing racial diversity. I don't care -- and don't ask -- anyone about their cultural backgrounds. What matters is, are they willing to work together to achieve massive success goals?

That's really the key, isn't it? I'm sure you have a dream. "If only I could..." or "If only someone would..." -- right? You'd be a big success? You could develop your great ideas? A Mastermind group will help you get there -- a good one will, anyway. I know how to create them. If you want to learn how so you, like me, can gather brilliant people around you who will help you succeed, well "someone" is stepping up to help you. But I'm not going to do the real work for you, I'm just offering to show you how to get there.

Feedback From an Insider

This morning, an Insiders member made this aside in a longer post:

To be completely honest, I didn't join the Insiders group to learn how to start and run a Mastermind group of my own.

I have a stable of trusted advisers that I have assembled over years as a result/benefit of operating businesses, traveling, being married, addressing health issues (mostly of friends and family members -- knock on wood, I've been pretty healthy myself), playing various sports and competing as a triathlete, etc.

I didn't really think I needed to form and lead a mastermind group, or even necessarily be a member of one.

I considered I was "covered" by my current "mastermind like" resources.

I joined the group because I considered that given Randy's intelligence and prolific publishing history, that a group he was leading would attract other interesting, smart people that I would enjoy getting to know and explore possibilities to interact with in ways that appealed to me.

With that said, I have expanded my initial orientation and have in fact decided to form and lead a group of my own.

As I said: there are some awfully interesting people there.

In Summary

Here's how I said it this morning, on the Insiders forum:

The bottom line is, no matter what way you work it, you do have to actually do the work to make this happen. Others will help, but the hard part is up to you. Help me help this group succeed: tell me (on the forum or privately, as you wish) what help you need. There will be no sympathy for anyone who doesn't, and later whines they "didn't get anything out" of this group when they didn't bother to participate in their own success goals!

Or, as a member of my own Mastermind group says more succinctly, "Doers get what they want, and everyone else gets what they get."

Watch for my e-mail on Tuesday.