4 Benefits of Joining a Mastermind Group

The question of “why should I join a mastermind group?” is a great question, but you can’t answer it until you understand what a mastermind is…and what it isn’t. 

Who is in a mastermind group?

A mastermind group includes several people, usually more than five, who come together as a meeting of the minds. These people often share an element that creates a homogeneous, curated commonality of their experiences or goals. Meaning….they have something in common like everyone is a creative freelancer, or everyone is a photographer or graphic designer. 

If you put together a number of people who have had the same training, they will have had the same experience. The same background. The same skills. Maybe you are even co-working or collaborating on projects with others. Although this offers some value, incorporating some diversity in the perspectives amps up the value of a mastermind group.

Many times, participants in a mastermind group come from very different backgrounds or are at different levels in their business even if they are in the same industry. Or from various industries with similar challenges – like creative services industries in a gig economy present the same challenges in things like pricing, marketing, or mindset regardless of if you are a graphic designer or copywriter.  

It is this combination of similar challenges and diversity of perspectives and experiences that brings value to minds coming together.

What is the structure of a mastermind group?

A mastermind group is generally facilitated by one person at a time. Although they may change from meeting to meeting, the facilitator is there to keep the mastermind focused on providing a valuable experience for its members.

Different from group coaching or group training, a mastermind group leverages the contributions from the members (as opposed to just one voice or perspective) to generate ideas, referrals, connections, new ideas, valuable feedback, and build community. 

Many people do casual masterminds where they get together with a few connections, maybe from a Facebook group or going for coffee at a meetup. You may even see something on social media that sparked your interest in meeting up to hang out or discuss business.

This type of loose connection can work. Although, my experience has shown that having a skilled and dedicated facilitator helps each member of the group both give and receive more value and maintain a framework and focus. Mastermind groups typically have a consistent meeting time – weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and sometimes include meetings that don’t follow a mastermind format. These hybrid groups (like our BAM) are great at giving the benefits of mastermind groups with the added support of additional training, ask the expert, and group coaching.

Benefit # 1: Community & Influence

I truly believe that we are influenced by our peer group, and the quality of our lives is a reflection of our peers and who we’re hanging out with.

Being a freelancer or solopreneur can get lonely. It is hard to do everything, all the time, all by yourself. A community of people that come together for an aligned purpose of support and collaboration can reduce that sense of isolation. 

The other potential cost of being totally self-reliant or turning to friends and family for advice and support is staying stuck in the same patterns of thinking and same level of success.

You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with” – Jim Rohn

When you look at a mastermind group, one of the biggest benefits is that you can be surrounded by a group of peers that you have chosen to be influenced by. Joining a curated, facilitated mastermind group can help to raise your own standards, make better and more informed decisions, and become the best version of yourself through the influence, contribution, and support of others. So one of the major reasons is community  

Benefit #2: Feedback On Your Ideas

Another  reason to join a mastermind group is getting feedback on your ideas. Most of us are solopreneurs. Most of the time, we are working on our projects by ourselves. When we do things alone, it can be hard to know: Does this idea really work, or is it just something I think is fun and shiny? Are there things about this idea that I am missing? 

Within a mastermind group, you get different perspectives, life experiences and ways of thinking about solutions. You have people who can give feedback on your ideas, and you can hear their ideas. You can get inspired and you can offer feedback.

And as a bonus, as you help someone else, you will also  find yourself going further and reaching goals faster. 

Benefit #3: Elevate Your Skills

Another benefit of joining a mastermind group is to elevate your skills. Often, when we’re in a mastermind group people have different skill levels. Somebody might be really great at social media while someone else is awesome at email marketing. Or someone might be really great at SEO as someone else excels at sales conversations. 

You can leverage the skills of the other members in your mastermind group to be able to learn new skills yourselves. The ability to ask for expert advice from a whole pool of possible experts on all different kinds of business areas and life, and to have access to those people on a weekly basis, to use them for information and have an opportunity to learn skills from them is an incredible value.

Benefit #4: Get Support

The final reason to join a mastermind is to get support. I talk about support a lot on Coaching for Creatives. The reason I talk about support so much is because in my two plus decades of running creative entrepreneurial businesses, having the support of others, the support of my own mastermind group that I participate in, and the support of my business coach, has made a huge difference in staying motivated when I didn’t feel like it.

The mastermind group that I am in gives me a different perspective, giving my head a shake when I have felt completely stuck in one way of looking at things. They are able to support me when I don’t have the motivation, or when I’m having a bad day.

Even this morning, in a mastermind group that I attend, I was able to share that I wasn’t doing great. The ability to be fully authentic and genuine with these people, especially when there is a code of conduct or a structure to it, made me feel supported and accepted for who I am. What a gift!

Your mastermind group can help you understand your failures. They can help you feel like you’re not alone in having made those mistakes or experienced those challenges – there will always be hurdles in your freelance business. 

And…they are there to help you celebrate your success. 

So many times we step over what makes us awesome or amazing, or we just hustle onto the next task instead of celebrating what we’ve already completed and been successful at. A great mastermind group helps you celebrate those successes as well. 

So, the main benefits of being in a mastermind group:

• You have the power of community and influence to raise you up.
• You have the ability to share your ideas and get expert feedback on them and feel more confident moving forward. 
• You can elevate your skills by learning new skills from other members or through training in a hybrid style mastermind You can be supported and understood in your failures and celebrated in your successes. 

So we have looked at what a mastermind is and the benefits of why you should join one…. Let’s look at what a mastermind isn’t. 

What A Mastermind Group IS NOT 

Knowing what you are NOT going to get in a mastermind group is just as important knowing what you are getting. 

A mastermind group is not group therapy – real challenges with your mental and emotional health deserve real attention from qualified professionals. In the Business Accelerator Mastermind we absolutely look and mindset, energy levels, maintaining boundaries, and building confidence as part of our focus on doing less, feeling better, and earning more in our creative businesses. And some things need more than what is available inside a mastermind group. 

A mastermind group is not a done for you service – the value in a mastermind group comes largely from the other members and how you leverage the experience. It is not up to the group leader to solve all your problems, write your marketing emails, and set up your social media content calendar. However, in BAM we add in co-working sessions, Ask Aura Anything sessions, and training sessions to support you in having everything you need. 

If you are considering joining a mastermind, do check out our group of committed creative freelancers and the framework available in BAM (Business Accelerator Mastermind). Or book a call with an advisor to learn more.