The Fire Path 16: Creating your own mastermind: The how is a post from: EntrepreneurOnFire.com
Click here to listen to the audio version of this post, Episode 16 of Kate’s Take.
In the last chapter of The Fire Path, we talked about why masterminds are so integral to our success as entrepreneurs. We also talked about the “why” behind creating your own mastermind.
In this chapter, we’re going to dive into the steps necessary to actually create your own mastermind: the how.
Let’s dive right in!
1. Make sure it’s something your audience wants and needs
You’ll first want to be sure that the mastermind you plan on creating is something your audience is interested in. You can do this a couple of different ways:
1. Listen to your existing audience: What are they struggling with, and is there a way for you to create a mastermind community to help solve that problem?
2. Set up an opt in form to gauge interest. Then, drive people to that opt in form by including the link in your blog posts, in your podcast episodes, in your email newsletters to your list, and on social media.
Are you hearing specific struggles from your audience you feel you could help solve through a mastermind community?
Are people signing up to learn more via your opt in form?
If you answered yes, then great! You’re ready to move on to step 2!
If not, then perhaps there isn’t enough interest out there for your idea and it’s time for you to pivot. If a mastermind isn’t right for your business now, you can always revisit down the road once you’ve grown your audience.
Here’s what we did with Fire Nation Elite
We kept hearing from individuals in Fire Nation that they felt alone, and that they wished they had a community of like-minded entrepreneurs who they could turn to for support – others who were experiencing the same things they were and who would understand what they were going through.
So we started mentioning IGNITE, the idea we had for a mastermind that would provide support and accountability to the members within.
We created an opt in form and put it on our Website, and we simply asked people to sign up if they wanted to learn more. We drove people to the opt in in our podcast episodes, in our email newsletters and via social media.
We had a lot of people in Fire Nation sign up to learn more about our idea, and so we knew that it was something our audience not only wanted, but that they needed.
2. Get serious
If you have a few dozen people who have signed up and put their hat in the ring saying “yes, I’m interested!”, then it’s time to get serious.
Send an email to those who have expressed interest and tell them that you’ll be holding 15 minute, one-on-one chats to tell them more about the mastermind and what it will offer.
Be proactive in figuring out what people will want to know: be prepared for questions like:
“When will you launch?”
“How much will it cost?”
“How many members will there be?”
“What type of content will you offer?”
“What are the biggest value points?”
Don’t have enough time for the one-on-one chats? Then schedule a Webinar and start diving into the details of what the mastermind will offer so you can tell those who signed up to learn more about it. Then, have a recording of that Webinar to share with others who express interest moving forward.
Once people have a strong sense of the value they’ll receive as a result of becoming a member, they’ll be able to make a decision as to whether or not they’ll actually pay for it.
When you’re having these chats with people, it’s also a good time to be upfront about the cost involved in becoming a member – otherwise you could get to the end of your planning stage and suddenly have zero interest because you’ve misled people.
If your chats go over well, then it’s time to head on to step 3!
Here’s what we did with Fire Nation Elite
John held one-on-one chats with everyone who signed up to learn more. During those chats he not only talked about what we had in mind for the mastermind (what it would include), but he also used this time to set expectations, including what the mastermind would NOT include.
He talked about the cost, and he also threw out a proposed launch date.
He also leveraged the time to really listen to those who were most interested in being a part of the community. Those he spoke to and who were offered a spot were integral in shaping the community themselves, because the outline for the mastermind and a lot of the content ideas came directly from those chats.
Also, when you’re talking with people one-on-one it becomes very clear whether or not they’re the right fit for what you envision. If they’re not, then don’t be afraid to politely let them know that the mastermind is probably not the right fit for them at this time.
I believe this is an important step. By holding these chats, we not only started building strong relationships with those who were going to join, but we were also able to set expectations for the caliber of members who would be a part of this Elite Tribe.
It instilled our member’s trust in us as Tribe leaders, and it gave peace of mind to the other members already in the Tribe that we would only be filling it with the most serious and dedicated members.
3. Start creating your outline
Now that you’ve validated your mastermind idea AND had the opportunity to speak with those who will be the foundation of it, what will it look like?
Some important questions to ask yourself in the very beginning are things like:
“What content do I have to create in order to launch?”
“What content will I be creating on an ongoing basis to continue providing value?”
“How long will it take me to set everything up?”
This includes obtaining a platform for the membership site, a merchant account to accept payment, the welcome campaign that will trigger a welcome email once someone purchases, and anything else that will be a part of each member’s “welcome” to the Tribe.
“What is a logical launch date?”
“How many members do I want to launch with?”
“Will I have a Private Facebook group or other Forum for communication?”
“Do I have the right $ amount?”
Hint: how did people respond on the calls when you mentioned the cost associated with the membership?
“Where will I host the membership site?”
“What payment processor will I be using?”
“How will my membership site be integrated with my other platforms, like my email marketing system and my shopping cart?”
“What does the process look like from the time someone hits ‘purchase’ to the time they’re inside the membership site?”
Here’s what we did with Fire Nation Elite
We started creating a list of all the content we knew we needed to be ready for the launch, in addition to the content and the time it would take us to maintain the value in the Tribe on an ongoing basis.
This will look different for everyone depending on what you plan to offer your members and what medium you’ll use to distribute that content.
We then researched membership site platforms, order form/merchant providers to take payment, and we started laying out the email campaign we would create for buyers.
What information would someone want / need to have if they’ve just purchased a membership?
Then, we started brainstorming the format and came up with this:
Launch with the Founding 50 members
Monthly live Webinars with industry experts (this included a list of guests we would reach out to and invite on)
A private Facebook Group
A Forum on the membership site
Resources page with top recommendations for entrepreneurs who are just starting their own business
Private email access to John (*huge add – this is one of the top things people were looking for: access to John)
Profile for each member & an individual “welcome” day in the Facebook group, which would create that family feel and give everyone the opportunity to get to know one another
A Profile Page on the membership site so even our newest members could see who else is in the Tribe
Social proof days to help grow one another’s business (pain point expressed on our one-on-one calls)
Other regular Hangouts that focus on business-specific tips and tools for growing your business (pain point expressed on our one-on-one calls: people wanted to be held accountable for specific goals and timelines)
4. Ask for the sale
You know they’re interested, you’ve talked with them and laid out exactly what the mastermind will include, and you’ve even drawn up an outline of what it’s going to look like and the exact steps you need to take to get it launched.
What’s your number? How many members do you need to commit in order for this to be a win for you? Set that number.
Now it’s time to ask for the sale.
Until people have actually taken out their wallets and paid for it, it’s still not a proven concept. To save yourself precious time, you should set a hard launch date (however far out is necessary for you to be able to create the content you’ve identified as your “launch” content), and then send out an email to those who you spoke with one-on-one who said “Yes, I want in!”
Your email should include a very straightforward “Next steps” so that those who are ready to join know exactly how to do so.
Be sure you have a campaign set up to support those sales should they come through (i.e. a “buyers campaign” that will give them information about the mastermind, their log in details and any other information relevant to the launch).
Here’s what we did with Fire Nation Elite
We emailed those who we had identified as our Founding 50 members – that’s how many members we needed for this mastermind to make sense for us and for our members.
The email went out, and we had over 40 people commit by purchasing within 24 hours.
We had a campaign set up so that when someone bought, they were given further instructions on “What’s next?”, where we laid out everything they could expect between that point in time and the launch date.
The other 10 people in our Founding 50 bought within two days.
We stayed in touch with those members who had joined throughout our “pre-launch”, and we simply kept them up to speed on the progress we were making with the membership site. Remember, we hadn’t even launched at this point in time (we needed proof of concept first), so we were still working hard to put our membership site and our content together.
We also sent out Fire Nation Elite coffee mugs to our Founding 50 members, which helped make them feel a part of something – a tangible piece that solidified their membership – and that bought us a little bit of time.
5. Start building!
Did you hit your number? If so, congratulations!
Now it’s time to start building. This should be easy enough since you’ve already laid it all out and you know exactly what you have to do from here.
Here’s what we did with Fire Nation Elite
Once we had that proof of concept, we started putting the content in place.
First, we purchased a membership site via CustomerHub, which integrates with our CRM, Infusionsoft. CustomerHub would be where we’d host the membership site and all of the content, and Infusionsoft is how we would create the email campaigns and the order forms.
Other membership site options include:
Wishlist Member
iMember360
OptimizePress
Other CRM options include:
MailChimp
AWeber
Ontraport
Then, we connected our Infusionsoft with Authorize.net (our merchant) and CyberSource (our gateway), so we could accept payments.
Other merchant options include:
Gumroad
PayPal
Stripe
Next, we started created forms that would support receiving each individual’s bio so we could create a Profiles page and introduction email for each member. The forms were simple: we created them in Google Drive.
We gathered the resources we would include on the resources page, and started brainstorming topics for the Forum and the Facebook group.
Note: this last step will look different depending on how your mastermind is going to be set up. Just remember: deliver on what you’ve promised, and continuing asking for feedback along the way!
So, how are you feeling about creating your own mastermind after the last two chapters of The Fire Path??
It may seem like a lot – and it is – but when you create a mastermind that is truly helping people, the rewards are endless, and the experience is priceless.
This has truly been an amazing adventure, and I cannot believe The Fire Path has come to an end! But this definitely isn’t the last we’ll see of each other… :)
Let’s keep the conversation going!
I’d love to hear from you: What other information were you hoping to receive on The Fire Path that I didn’t cover? Let me know in the comments section below!
This is Chapter 16 of The Fire Path, where your passions and our guidance unite! You can subscribe to Kate’s Take: The EntrepreneurOnFire Audio Blog in iTunes today to get all the latest episodes as soon as they go live.
This post was written by Kate Erickson, Content Creator and Community Manager for EntrepreneurOnFire. Ready to connect? Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Google+
The post The Fire Path 16: Creating your own mastermind: The how appeared first on Entrepreneur On Fire Business Podcasts.