How to create a successful virtual mastermind group

When was your enthusiasm last ignited by a group of like-minded business peers, friends or colleagues? Do you regularly spend time with others who fire your motivation and encourage you to think big and bold? A virtual mastermind group is a unique opportunity to connect with the expertise of others whilst sharing your own skills and knowledge, collaboratively working together to achieve success.

Originating from the work of Napoleon Hill, masterminds are increasingly popular. You’ll find many entrepreneurs praising the benefits of masterminds and crediting at least some of their success to the inspiration masterminds have created.

Geographical distance doesn’t have to derail the creation of your mastermind group, many people are part of a growing number of virtual masterminds, enabling a greater flexibility and scope for members. Virtual masterminds create huge benefits for all involved but where do you start when creating one? Maximise the success of your group by considering the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of your mastermind group? Think about what you expect the group to achieve, will you focus on professional topics or will the remit of the group be wider?
2. What is your vision for the group, for example do you want to invite members from the same profession or cast your net wider to include a greater range of different ideas and expertise? Maybe the group will focus on very specific goals, what will they be? What can people expect to gain from membership of the group?
3. What will your group offer that marks it out as a group that will enthuse others to commit time and energy? When people become involved in masterminds they want to know that the aims of the group are broadly aligned with their own aims and objectives, consider what will motivate others to join your group.
4. What commitment will you expect from group members? Will you connect weekly, monthly or somewhere in between? What format will the meetings take and how long will they last? You’re asking people to commit wholeheartedly to your mastermind so it’s important they have a realistic idea of what’s involved and how long each mastermind will last.
5. For virtual masterminds consider how you’re going to connect. There are plenty of free platforms, such as Google Hangouts that will do a great job of getting your mastermind group together. Once you’ve chosen how you’ll connect, make sure that everyone is familiar with your preferred platform and how to use it.
6. Who do you want to invite as a member? A virtual mastermind has a broad scope for membership, if you don’t already have specific people in mind then think about the general profile of potential members, who else are you already connecting with online within forums, membership groups or more generally?
7. How do you ensure that your potential members are the right first for your group? As a virtual mastermind you might choose to use an online survey, there are plenty of basic, free online surveys like SurveyMonkey that can help you out here. Arranging time for a short chat to ensure potential members are a good fit for your mastermind is another option, let them know what you’d like to discuss in the call and how log it will take.

When you spend time creating your virtual mastermind group you’re more likely to reap the benefits of accelerated learning and progress when you focus on the above questions.