Mastermind groups can be an amazing help to building a business – yet most groups fail. Randy will discuss WHY, and how to form a successful group to help you succeed. Experience level: Intermediate Target audience: Affiliates/Publishers Niche/vertical: Development Randy Cassingham, Founder, Mastermind Source

1. Affiliate Summit West 2011 Las Vegas Creating a Successful Mastermind Group Mastermind groups can be an amazing help to building a business – yet most groups fail. Randy will discuss WHY, and how to form a successful group to help you succeed. Randy Cassingham Founder, MastermindSource.com

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9. Hill’s Description of a Mastermind Group GAINING POWER THROUGH THE “MASTER MIND” The “Master Mind” may be defined as: “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.” No individual may have great power without availing himself of the “Master Mind.” In a preceding chapter, instructions were given for the creation of PLANS for the purpose of translating DESIRE into its monetary equivalent. If you carry out these instructions with PERSISTENCE and intelligence, and use discrimination in the selection of your “Master Mind” group, your objective will have been half-way reached, even before you begin to recognize it. So you may better understand the “intangible” potentialities of power available to you, through a properly chosen “Master Mind” group, we will here explain the two characteristics of the Master Mind principle, one of which is economic in nature, and the other psychic. The economic feature is obvious. Economic advantages may be created by any person who surrounds himself with the advice, counsel, and personal cooperation of a group of men who are willing to lend him wholehearted aid, in a spirit of PERFECT HARMONY. This form of cooperative alliance has been the basis of nearly every great fortune. Your understanding of this great truth may definitely determine your financial status. The psychic phase of the Master Mind principle is much more abstract, much more difficult to comprehend, because it has reference to the spiritual forces with which the human race, as a whole, is not well acquainted. You may catch a significant suggestion from this statement: “No two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.” Keep in mind the fact that there are only two known elements in the whole universe, energy and matter. It is a well known fact that matter may be broken down into units of molecules, atoms, and electrons. There are units of matter which may be isolated, separated, and analyzed. Likewise, there are units of energy. The human mind is a form of energy, a part of it being spiritual in nature. When the minds of two people are coordinated in a SPIRIT OF HARMONY, the spiritual units of energy of each mind form an affinity, which constitutes the “psychic” phase of the Master Mind. The Master Mind principle, or rather the economic feature of it, was first called to my attention by Andrew Carnegie, over twenty-five years ago. Discovery of this principle was responsible for the choice of my life’s work. Mr. Carnegie’s Master Mind group consisted of a staff of approximately fifty men, with whom he surrounded himself, for the DEFINITE PURPOSE of manufacturing and marketing steel. He attributed his entire fortune to the POWER he accumulated through this “Master Mind.” Analyze the record of any man who has accumulated a great fortune, and many of those who have accumulated modest fortunes, and you will find that they have either consciously, or unconsciously employed the “Master Mind” principle. GREAT POWER CAN BE ACCUMULATED THROUGH NO OTHER PRINCIPLE!

10. A Much More Workable Definition Mastermind Group: “ A small club of like-minded advanced talents who meet periodically for mutual brainstorming/accountability sessions.”

11. Taking That Definition Apart Small: One of the keys for making a group work, since if the group is too large, you can’t really keep track of who is truly contributing — and active contribution should be a requirement for the group, or why bother having them there?

12. Taking That Definition Apart Club: Simply, a dedication to be part of a group and work together under a set of agreed-upon “rules” or guidelines.

13. Taking That Definition Apart Like-minded: The group should have something in common. They might be “real estate agents” in a particular town. They might be “top commercial property real estate agents, limited to one per area so that there is no competition.” The very successful group I founded was “successful Internet-based entrepreneurs.” There could, and should, be a common religious, political, lifestyle, business sector, or other interest that ties the members together so there’s a strong sense of community.

14. Taking That Definition Apart Advanced talents: On this point, I disagree with Hill. “Success” is a nebulous concept, and can be measured by fame, income, market share, or many other factors. But a great group can be formed from beginners who support each other to get to “advanced” levels. (Then the question becomes, “Then what?”)

15. Taking That Definition Apart Meet periodically: The key here is some level of communication. In 1937, this pretty much demanded that members live in the same geographic region so they could get together in person. The Internet has changed all that greatly — for the better.

16. Taking That Definition Apart Mutual: Groups work best if everyone participates, putting in ideas and help and support, not just getting it.

17. Taking That Definition Apart Brainstorming: The key to actual interaction. The whole idea is to give each other ideas and, most importantly, get synergy by combining ideas.

18. Taking That Definition Apart Accountability: When you make a commitment to someone else, rather than just think to yourself “someday”, you’re more likely to actually complete the task. Tasks like “launch the new web site” or “develop the new product” or “quit my job and finally work for myself.” If you miss too many commitments, the group will call you on it (and they should!)

32. (Sorry, But No!) The point of this is not to recruit you to my group! My group is full. (There is no waiting list: must be sponsored by an existing member.)

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