Since 2016 I’ve been running mastermind groups in Perth for small business owners, solopreneurs and creatives, and they are the most fun thing I do as part of my social media and blogging business. It’s such a privilege to get to work with these wonderful people on an ongoing basis – and to see their work results and businesses flourish!
UPDATE: I’ve had several people interested in joining a fully-online mastermind so you don’t need to be based in Perth. The format will be the same as below, but the face-to-face meeting will be replaced by a longer Zoom call. Email me if you’re interested in knowing more or joining us!
What is a mastermind group? (And why are they magical?)
While the concept of mastermind groups is becoming more popular, you may not really know what they are, so let me explain my take on them. In my case, I bring together groups of four or five women here in Perth, who are either small business owners, authors, artists, solopreneurs, coaches, or have an online presence as part of their work, and all of them want to do their work better.
Although initially my mastermind groups had a strong emphasis on the social media and blogging aspects of promoting your work, over the years they have morphed into a combination of social media training, more general small business advice, and questions about anything my clients think I know something about – podcasts, blogs, advertising, public speaking, writing, teaching, finances – I’ll help in any way I can! We also talk often about productivity and getting things done, because being self-motivated when you are working for yourself can be a tricky thing (I should know, I’m an expert procrastinator!).
But why are these groups magical? I think it’s because they are an example of the whole being far greater than the sum of its parts. When I first began a mastermind group back in early 2016, I knew that I could help the group members with information, and particularly that having regular meetings and a lot of accountability for tasks to achieve between meetings would help a lot, and it does.
But there’s more than that. In each group, the individuals have made strong and lasting connections with each other (four of the women in the photo above are still in this same mastermind group six years in!), and each of them now feels that there are other people nearby who have a thorough understanding of their business and a sincere interest in them succeeding. When you work for yourself, this feeling can be hard to come by, and that’s part of the magic.
How does a mastermind group work?
Each of my groups has either four or five members, plus me, plus a LOT of fun. Here are all the details:
- We begin each school term with a two-hour face-to-face session, at my home office in Duncraig. Times are usually 9.30am-11.30am or 12.30pm-2.30pm on a weekday, or 1pm-3pm on a Saturday, but we figure out what works for the group. At these kick off sessions we make plans and goals for the term, talk about specific training required, and these face-to-face sessions are also useful for creating a deeper social/networking connection. I will often have a particular training topic I want to share with the group, depending on what I know the group needs to be. At the end, each member sets their own homework – a task or two they promise to do before the next meeting.
- From there, we have four fortnightly check-in sessions online (on Zoom) over the rest of the term, of 30-45 minutes (depending on group size). Each of these sessions involves checking up on agreed tasks (your “homework”), discussing any wins or challenges members are having, and noting down your homework tasks for the following fortnight.
- When particular training topics arise (for example: “how do I make an Instagram reel?”), I’ll record a short video and keep them in a library accessible to all mastermind members – this means you can access them for as long as you’re a masterminder, even if it’s something you don’t need to know at that moment. These can even be really short and simple questions, such as “how do I update the plugins in my WordPress site?”, as I’ll do short screenshot videos to show you the answer.
- Each group has a secret Facebook group where you can chat with me and your fellow masterminders, and there’s also a “Mastermind Mash Up” Facebook group where all of my mastermind members get to know each other, ask questions, get feedback on your newest blog post or pretty much anything else you want or need. In the past we have had some wonderful real life meet-ups so you can get to know people from the other groups, and Covid-pending I’d like to do this again – in the meantime, we will definitely have some virtual events.
- The cost is currently $200+GST per school term, payable ahead of each term – which is great value, if I do say so myself! (School terms listed here!) I do ask members to commit to a semester (two terms) at a time so that the groups retain some consistency, and you can pay either by the semester or by the term.
Curious about joining a mastermind?
Get in touch! You can email me with any questions at all, or if you’re already convinced that a mastermind is for you, you can fill out this form with some details and your availability and I’ll be in touch ASAP.
Please note that taking part in the face-to-face groups from 2022 will require Covid vaccinations – I need to keep all of my clients safe.
More information?
You can read more about my mastermind groups in these posts:
What I’ve learnt from running three years of mastermind groups