What I learned from my $20,000 Entrepreneur Mastermind Last Year

I just completed another year of my Entrepreneur Mastermind. Yes is costs $20,000 per person per year, yes I am embarrassed to say that, however its real and I want to give you a sense of why I have found a return on that money.

Also last year was my 4th year in this mastermind and I have signed up for my 5th!

If you aren’t familiar with the idea of a mastermind it’s where like minded individuals come together to share their tips, tricks and struggles making money online with their businesses. I believe most poeople site the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill as an inspiration for being part of a mastermind.

Of course masterminds don’t have to cost any money. In fact I run a local one with 6 friends who are all in about the same place as peers in our Entrepreneurship journey. This mastermind is pretty informal (since it’s free) and we meet about monthly but we often miss a month here and there. More on that later.

So why pay to be in a high level mastermind?
Well, this one is much more formal in that we have about 3 calls per month online, and then meet in person twice a year for 3 full on days of training and networking each time.

The mastermind has about 100 entrepreneurs each year, I am probably in the middle to lower half of the group in terms of where I am with my business. But that’s also how I know I am in the right room.

In our group we have plenty of 6 figure earners, a bunch of 7 figure, even a few 8 figure earners, and even people with 9 figure businesses and even access to one billionaire. That’s one of the reasons to pay is to level up and be around people doing big things.

The other reason is in addition to the amazing people in the mastermind, expert speakers and bad ass entrepreneurs stop by or jump on one of our calls and train us on everything from mindset, to facebook ads, to funnels and so forth.

I have learned so much over these past 4 years it is a little bit mind blowing. I am trying my bets to share it with you here on NightEntreprenurs.com. Also I truly love the people in the mastermind and you become a part of their success and struggles and celebrate their wins along the way.

Having said all of that – the piece that is the MOST valuable and the most under rated part of the mastermind is how you grow as a person and how you level up your mind set. I know this isn’t the sexiest answer as most people want a more immediate ROI on their investment than improving on their “inner game”, but in the long run that is the game.

Businesses come and go, I know people who have had very successful businesses and ended up no longer passionate about the work and their sold it or even shut it down in order to find something they were more excited about or more “in alignment” with who they wanted to be.

Sure – I have started new businesses and learned new revenue streams form the mastermind, and taken away ideas to build on my current businesses. But the main reason I believe most return each year is to grow into who you want to become holistically.

Also with so many successful people in the room it sounds like it could be a brag fest and everyone has their best image going, but really the opposite is true. Once you get in a room with all successful people, you no longer need to maintain an image of success. Everyone knows the people in the room are qualified. This is not a mastermind you can pay to just get in, you have to apply, interview and be accepted. 90% of applicants are turned away at this point.

And once you have that level playing field, the guard comes down, people open up on their wins and losses, they become real, they don’t have to play the successful entrepreneur role every day. They can be real, be humble, and learn from everyone. That’s how most really successful people I see act. They are constant learners.

You’ve seen the showy people, the salesman “always closing” and the problem is if you act like you always know the answer, you never learn anything!

So I love my mastermind. I love the people, I love the organizers, I love the tribe we are building. We talk about our whole selves and through this network I have become a better father, a better husband, and a better entrepreneur.

That’s a little of the background. If you are just starting out, find a small group of like minded people all trying to start making money online etc and share your best stuff with each other. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Oh – as you can see from the picture of our yacht party – we also have a lot of fun together!

Here are some thoughts of what I learned this past year from the #BestMastermindEver

I’m sure each could be a full blown blog topic on their own, so I will just bullet point the topics to give you a flavor

• Honor, integrity, love, leadership, humility
• We’ve been called to do more, to execute with all of our skills and knowledge
• People are crushing it with Amazon FBA and Online Courses (people will pay you for your knowledge)
• Entrepreneurship can be lonely. Most people in the mastermind are there to be around people who “get” them
• So many successful people in business suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts. Stay strong! Get Help!
• Relationships are like bank accounts, you can’t make a withdrawal before you make deposits. Meaning – you have to give value first before you ask for something in return.
• True viral videos tough the heart, they make the audience connect with emotion, so they want to share it
• Recurring revenue models
• Sales, closing an persuasion skills
• Put out your best work and people will talk about it
• Affiliate marketing for 2019
• Tell the truth- your mess is your message!
• How to prepare your business for a recession (like maybe 2021?)
• Multiple revenue streams
• IQ = Intellect, EQ = Emotion, AQ = Adversity Quotient! What’s your bedrock?
• Find deep relationships outside of your family was well (yay mastermind!)
• Sales and the Art of the NO
• Do what you are gifted in! It will impact all of humanity
• Generally our business takes a hit or is vulnerable to others when we try to take a short cut
• Create your own sense of urgency, you are literally trading your life (in time) for your work, make it count!
• Barriers: Fear, lack of belief in the result, “time” perception, being comfortable
• Leadership is the courage to show up authentically
• Don’t play small
• Try something new WITHOUT attachment to the outcome, it’s OK if it does’t work!
• Advanced sales training
• Only positive presuppositions
• Pricing – these are the magic prices, $9.99, $19.99, $49.99, $99, $199, $499, etc…
• Have a goal bigger than yourself
• Don’t be passionate, be obsessed about your goal
• The day you fall in love with yourself is the day the world falls in love with you
• Facebook Ads advanced course
• Leadership training from CEOs
• Every step of success means resistance, struggle to overcome