This blogging world can feel so lonely at times. I know there are a dozen and one Facebook groups out there designated to help bloggers find their “tribes” and to network and communicate with each other, but let’s be honest for a moment – how “connected” do you really feel to those other bloggers?

I know that for me, I can and do sometimes still feel very alone within those huge Facebook groups. Sure, many of my questions are being answered but I’m still lacking the accountability and “in-depth” help and support that I sometimes need.

That’s why I love being in a Mastermind Group. I know that I’ve mentioned mastermind groups before and that my first ever public speaking gig was on mastermind groups, but seriously a mastermind group is the single best way to grow your blog.

As a blogger, chances are you are sitting at your computer typing away and spending many of your days tucked in a little corner of your home or office, with no one to talk to about your blog. Sure, you may have a spouse or children running around you, but how interested are they in your blog? How many of your friends and family just don’t “get it” when you attempt to tell them how you can make money with blogging?

That’s why you need a mastermind group. They’re the people that come alongside you and walk this journey with you. They aren’t there to be your friend; they’re there to be your drill sergeant, asking the tough questions and lighting a fire under your tail end.

All the incredible entrepreneurs that we’ve heard about countless times growing up — Carnegie, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, JP Morgan, and the list goes on — all had a mastermind group. They knew the power of accountability, and they knew that if they could harness that power, they would achieve great success with their enterprises.

That’s why you need a mastermind group — to hold yourself to a higher standard of “done.” But how to do you actual create a mastermind group? I receive that question often about masterminds.

Finding Members

There’s really no right or wrong way to create or find one but for starters, you could just ask in one of those Facebook groups if anyone would be interested in creating a mastermind group with you.

But a word of caution with doing that. You’re going to want to make sure you have an application process for prospective members because 1) you don’t want to have 50 people emailing or commenting that they want to join and 2) you’ll want to be able to quickly weed out the ones that aren’t going to fit well with your group.

Here are just a few things to look for in a “perfect member”:

1. What level of business and personal ambition are you looking for?
2. What types of commitments do you want to see in them? Personal growth? Health?
3. What character traits would you like (sense of humor, honesty, integrity, communication)?
4. Are they someone that you respect and want to learn from?
5. Are you inspired by this person?
6. Do they have any skills or qualities that you want to develop for yourself?
7. Do you like this individual as a person?
8. Would you be friends with them?
9. What are their interests?

I suggest that after having them fill out an application (you can just use a Google Forms doc) to join your mastermind group you complete your own questionnaire based on the questions above so you can quickly assess their “fit”.

Need an application template? Click here to grab my free Mastermind Handbook: Your Guide to Creating Your Mastermind Group ebook!

What to Talk About

So now that you have your group, what are you going to discuss? I suggest that before you plan any meetings, that you come together as a group and create a list of potential topics to be discussed. You can host a voting process (through Google Forms or a private message on Facebook) or you can simply discuss.

Once you have your topics decided on, make a meeting schedule around those topics. Also make sure that you assign each person to one or two topics (preferably something that fits their area of expertise) so they can be the lead on that discussion.

For example, in one of the mastermind groups that I’ve been a part of, Rosemarie of The Busy Budgeter (a.k.a. the “Pinterest Queen”) lead the discussion topic on using a Pinterest strategy to generate more traffic to your site. That was honestly one of the most informational meetings I’ve ever been a part of and led me to hiring her as my Pinterest coach (she no longer offers coaching but she does have a strategy guide based on her coaching available here.)

This is why it’s wise to ask members to led the discussions on topics that they are experience in and interested in. You’ll learn amazing stuff that way!

Here are some more topic ideas:

• Have everyone read the same book and then plan to discuss it during one of your meetings.
  • Some great books to start with:
    • Building a Framework by Abby Lawson (great for beginner bloggers)
    • Money Making Mom by Crystal Paine
    • Strategies Worth Sharing by Brittany Ann
    • Launch by Jeff Walker
  • Create a list of topics that everyone in the group is interested in learning more about.
    • Some topic ideas:
      • How to write an eBook
      • How to work with a VA (or hiring help)
      • How to build up a social media following.
      • Have a feedback session where everyone takes turn going through each other’s sites and then reports what things could be changed to make it more user-friendly.
      • How to curate better content.
      • How to host a webinar.
      • How to be more productive even with little kids at home.
      • How to [insert your area of specialty here].
    • Have a planning session! Have everyone create their upcoming year’s business goals and then discuss. (I did this with one of my mastermind groups and it was so helpful in getting my mind clear on so many different things!)
    • Have everyone create a vision board and then share with the group the top three things that they want to accomplish this year to bring them closer to fulfilling the vision on their board. 

How to Hold Meetings

Regular meetings are key for creating a rocking mastermind group! For a virtual group, I suggest meeting up once a week for about an hour. Use this as not only a time to discuss your topic but also as a “check-in” with where you are with your goals.

It’s incredible what happens when you have someone holding you accountable to achieving your goals. But don’t think that you have detail out every single goal you set in place for the week. I like to have only set out three big goals for the week and then to break them down into three more goals each, but I only share with my mastermind group my three big goals for the week.

You don’t have to use my fancy book to keep track of your goals, you could use a spreadsheet or a sheet paper. The point is to keep track of your goals because it does no one any good to tell your mastermind group that you’ll complete XYZ by next week only for next week’s meeting to happen and you don’t remember what goals you told your group you’d have completed.

If you’d like a more detailed approach to forming a mastermind group and some templates to work with, my free eBook is below! And if you’re interested in how my Mastermind Group keeps up with everything, this is the guide book we use here. 

What tips can offer someone looking for their tribe?

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