AP 0236: How Do I Find a Mastermind Group?

AskPat 236 Episode Transcript

Pat Flynn: What's up, everybody? I don't know why I did that, but I am just so happy to be here, and thank you for joining me today. As always, I'm here to help you by answering your online business questions five days a week and this is Episode 236 of the AskPat Podcast, and we have a great question today from Rowland.

But before we get to that, I do want to thank today's sponsor which is FreshBooks.com, the super easy to use cloud accounting solution to help you keep track of all your business stuff, your finances, your money coming in, money going out, all the invoicing. They have super easy to use, easy to implement, easy to initiate invoicing. So if you are a coach or you have clients of any kind and you need a bill and invoice people, FreshBooks makes it super easy. And tax season is right around the corner, and you need to make things easy for you or your bookkeeper or your CPA, whenever that stuff needs to get done which we don't like to always do, FreshBooks makes it super easy and less confusing, so you can worry more about your business and what you have to do. So head on over to GetFreshBooks.com and enter “Ask Pat” in the “How Did You Year About Us” section to get a seven-day free trial. Again, GetFreshBooks.com and enter “Ask Pat” in the “How Did You Year About Us” section.

Sweet! Now let's get to today's question from Rowland.

Rowland: Hi Pat. This is Rowland from WineStorageGuide.com. First of all, thanks for all the interesting programs. I'm not a newcomer just starting and running businesses by any means. I always feel like I learn something of value from every single one of your podcasts, and I get to put it into practice. In learning from other people is the topic of my question. I hear a lot from you and other entrepreneurs and other podcasts about mastermind groups and how helpful they are. It all sounds great, but how do you find one? The ones that I've come across really just look like paid training groups with a fancy name. Thanks for your answer, Pat, and thanks for continuing to inspire us to build our businesses.

Pat Flynn: Rowland, thank you so much for your question. I really appreciate it. Thank you for all the kind words. And yes, mastermind groups are something that we hear all the time, and a lot of people might actually get sick of how many people talk about mastermind groups, but people talk about it because they are absolutely valuable to say the least, and that is why I am in three different groups myself. And it might seem crazy, like, “Wow, why would you waste your time with three different groups?” Well, within each of those groups, I get to share the issues and the problems and the things I have going on in my business in front of honest people who will give me honest feedback. Within each of those groups I get totally different perspectives, or I get consensus among all the groups on certain directions that I need to take in my business. I get accountability from each of them. I get to utilize all their own special talents.

Not all of them are in the same space that I am. Actually, most of them are not. We've had people who are hypnotists and sorts of people in the personal finance space to people who run some of the biggest conferences in the world. So this kind of thing when you can get your mind together with other minds and all focus on one thing at a time, it's incredible. So I don't think I need to pitch why mastermind groups are so important. But let's try and figure out how do we find the great ones out there.

And yes, there are ones out there that there are a lot out there that you have to pay to get access to. I know a few that a lot of my friends are in that they paid to get access to because it also gives them access to these really successful people, and you want to be around people who are where you want to be or where you are at so you can altogether grow and get to the next level.

Not all of them are paid. And actually, all three that I'm in are completely free except for the time that I put into them, and obviously it's an investment. But I don't pay a dime to be in there. The only thing that I could say that I spend money on with regards to this group are the times that I had to fly out to see everybody, and I say that because I want to do it and because I know it's going to be useful. We meet sometimes once or twice a year each of these groups, and we fly to certain locations to all meet together and have these really crazy, intense, extensive mastermind sessions. Usually each week we just meet once a week.

So I'm not going to go over the format of mastermind group right now. The typical mastermind meetings which is once a week and one person in the hot seat and that sort of thing. But I am going to go over how to find a group, and a free one, not one of those ones that might seem like they're paid training or might actually be sort of paid training where one person just says, “Hey you can spend this much money and we can get on a call every week.” No, you want to find a group . . . Not to say that those are bad. I mean if you can get connected with the right people, it's totally worth paying that kind of money if you know that you're going to to get something and more out of it, but you don't need to do that. You can find the right people who are going to together with you help take all of you to the next level by giving you sound advice, honest advice, brutal advice, and help hold each other accountable, really squeeze each other for your goals every week and things like that.

The way that I found my group . . . Actually, one of the groups, somebody asked me, but the other groups I formed one with my buddy Cliff Ravenscraft, so you can find somebody who really aligns with your values. I align with Cliff's values over at PodcastAnswerMan.com. We really connect, and we do business in a similar way, so I knew that he was a good person to be with. We together decided to start our own mastermind group, and then we started inviting people.

So that's one way. You can find someone . . . you might have somebody that you know who can be your sort of partner with that. And I don't say partner like you're sharing any sort of profits or anything like that, but just the person that you are going to start working with and then try to get other people involved. And again, about 4 to 5 people max is the sort of optimal level in each group so that you can each be in the hot seat once per month and really start to understand each other's businesses and things like that.

Another way you can find people and a great way to start a mastermind group or get into one is to go to meetings or conferences with people in and around your space. And it doesn't necessarily mean you're niche, but together with other people who are trying to achieve the same thing as you . . . I've found a lot of people who could potentially be in a mastermind group with me or people who I've talked to, who I've met, who could potentially . . . I could see myself doing that with at conferences like New Media Expo, Social Media Marketing World, at the Platform Conference with Michael Hyatt and those types of conferences because those are sort of the same people who are doing the same stuff as me. For you, it might be something else, so think about which niche you're in and what conferences or meetings are available either in person or even virtual that you can get together with those people. And sometimes in a similar way, you might be able to start relationships with people and then do something similar in forums or Facebook communities or Linkedin groups and things like that.

Once you start being active in those groups, you're going to start to find people who you can mesh and gel with and then you can just reach out to them and say, “Hey. Would you like to do this?” And sometimes, they might be in one already and might think you're cool and invite you in, or you might want to start one with them as well. That's kind of how it goes. That's really how I'd find it. There aren't really any sites where you can go to. I've heard of a few and I know a few are starting up because this is sort of a very big pain that people have. The same thing that you're talking about Rowland, you know, finding the right people. There are services out there or sites that you can sign up for, sort of like a dating site for mastermind groups, I guess you can say. But the best way to do it is just put yourself out there where those people may be and start to talk to people, build relationships, see who you mesh with, and if you can't find a group that's already in existence, start a group of your own. That mastermind has been going on for three years now, and we love it and we've been inviting new people on, and it's just been incredible.

The other one that I'm in is with Jaime Tardy from EventualMillionaire.com, and you may actually want to find her site . . . Again, EventualMillionaire.com. She has a podcast episode she published recently which was a live recording, or a recording of a live mastermind session one that I was in. So myself and a few other people in the group, she actually recorded that with our permission and then posted that as a podcast episode to give people an understanding of the structure and what it was like and sort of what it was like to really help somebody. She actually brought somebody on to be the person who was in the hot seat, and we all kind of broke that person's business down and helped that person out. So you can check that out at EventualMillionaire.com.

But, Rowland, that's how I'd go about finding people in a mastermind group and really just connect. It's all about the people that you meet. You know I feel if I could go back into time and give myself, my younger self, you know fly back in the Delorean and give my younger self a piece of advice, it would be talk to and meet as many people as you can because you never know who that next person might be and how they might affect your life. You know what I'm saying? Like, I was that shy guy who would just camp out in the corner at social events, and who knows? Some of those people who I could've spoken to and built relationships with, they could've played a major role in my life. And it wasn't until I eventually realized how important that was back in college in my senior year, when I was Student Director of the University of California's marching band, where I was almost forced to talk to people all the time that I started getting comfortable and started meeting people. That's how I got my job in architecture was through a marching band connection, which then led me down this whole road into the LEED exam stuff into what I am doing now, which is pretty crazy. And again, it is all because of the people that I've been building connections with, and that's how you can find the right people for your mastermind groups, too.

So Rowland, I hope that answers your question, or at least gives you some ideas or inspiration. You might also want to check Meetup.com. I know a lot of people who have established relationships with people in person at local meet ups that they go to at Meetup.com. You can check that out too. Thank you again for the question, Rowland, and an AskPat t-shirt is headed your way. You'll get an email from my assistant very soon to get your information on that. And for those of you listening, if you have a question you'd like potentially featured here on the show, all you have to do is go to AskPat.com. You can ask right there on that page.

I also want to thank today FreshBooks.com, today's episode's sponsor. Super cool, super easy to use cloud accounting solution. Again, keeping track of all your money coming in, money going out, so with a couple clicks you will have all your statements and everything you need, profit loss statements, how you're doing through the year, maybe where you might be able to find improvements with your business as well. They also have an award winning mobile application so you can check your accounts on-the-go. too. And it just makes it super easy for getting any other users in there who might be important to help you and your business, like your CPA, your bookkeeper, other things like that. And again, super easy to invoice people as well using that software. So again, if you want to go to GetFreshBooks.com and enter “Ask Pat” in the “How Did You Year About Us” section, that will get you a 7-day free trial. Check it out: GetFreshBooks.com, “Ask Pat.”

Cool. Now I'd like to end with a quote, and today's quote is from Steven King, and he says, “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

I couldn't agree more. Cheers! Take care, and I'll see you in the next episode of AskPat.