Mastermind groups come up with new, fresh, thought provoking ideas that sometimes make my head swivel. Some ideas are small, some are big, and some of them are off the wall!

Out of all of these great ideas, very few Mastermind groups follow through with their ideas. What? Isn’t a Mastermind group supposed to come up with new ideas? Yes. However, once you have all these great ideas, you have to act on some of them and develop them into your business or business model. I have seen too many groups not do anything with them. They just sit there on a sheet of paper, never to be looked at again. But all the members will go home and say “Man, we came up with some great ideas today…”

Here’s a simple guide to what my Mastermind groups go through:

1. Brainstorming: Come up with 20-30 ideas and write them down on a sheet of paper. It doesn’t matter where the idea came from, what it’s about, or how silly it seems. All ideas have a place in business, it’s just finding where they fit.

2. Think it through: Take some of the best ideas and develop them more. After you have your list of 20-30 ideas, agree as a group to evaluate 3 or 4 of the ideas. Find out how it can be implemented into someone’s business by either a new product, a new service, or a new process to make business easier. Write this down and incorporate it into one of the group memebers business plan.

3. Take action: Finally, you have this new idea and you’ve put it into your business plan, what to do now? Take action! Utilize this new product, service, or strategy. That’s what this is all about! See how it works for a month. Then evaluate if it’s working as planned. If not, go back to the group and let them have feedback and modify it a little. If it’s working, let the group know and everyone will be excited that their idea brought results.

Too many times I have seen Mastermind groups not do anything with the ideas that they’ve thought of and discussed. The best groups follow through with their ideas and turn them into action and results.

Mastermind Groups are a great way to meet creative, innovational, and thought provoking people. You bounce ideas off of each other and collaborate and elaborate on each of the ideas. Some of the best discussions have come from seemingly “ridiculous” ideas, but once you start going through the process and discussing the idea, it actually creates a positive and energizing dialog.

What happens after you’ve been in the same group, with the same people month after month? It starts to get boring!

There are a couple of things you can do to prevent this problem.

The first is to make sure your mastermind group is constantly introducing new people each month. With these new people coming in, there are constant streams of new thoughts and ideas. In larger groups like this, there are people from every industry that can bring in fresh perspectives.

I belong in one group that has only five people, and it will always only have five people. Once a month, we invite someone to come join us for a meeting. This type of meeting is just to let the guest come in and inject us with new ideas and playing devils advocate. This allows our group members to think in new and different ways, keeping us sharp and focused throughout the year.

I’ve been involved with another small group like this (that didn’t want to grow its membership) and it failed. It failed because after some time, we couldn’t come up with more creative ideas to bounce off of each other. We had all come to “think alike” and in any mastermind group, this is not good.

Whichever type of Mastermind Group you join, you must make sure that they have a process of introducing fresh ideas. Hopefully these two tips will help you achieve just that.

Copyright (c) 2006 A Marketing Connection

Before redoing or beginning any new marketing piece it’s
important you take the time to think about what role it’s
going to play in your sales process.

Always remember every marketing piece, from your business
card to a simple flyer you hand out at events, should move
a prospect forward in your sales cycle.

Let’s look at a few ways you may be “moving a prospect
forward” and some marketing tools that may help you do
that…

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Copyright © 2006 Leni Chauvin

Business networking is all about forming strong relationships built on mutual respect and trust. Those relationships are the basis for the single most important tool that we all need if we want to survive in the competitive 21st century.

I’m talking about referrals.

And today’s savvy business professionals know that–just as night follows day–networking leads to referral business.

Opportunities to network–to meet people for mutual support (and eventually referrals)–are everywhere. Here are just a few places to consider starting your networking efforts:

Professional Associations–Join your professional association.  It’s a powerful source for richly rewarding contacts  that can result in a tremendous number of referrals from people with a different specialty than yours.

If possible, join the professional association of your target market.  Form those relationships.  See and be seen among them and before you know it, you will be considered the “go-to” person in your industry.

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Copyright © 2006 The Edventures Group

The New York M.I.N.I.T is an energetic framework for busy professionals that taps into the root of networking…relationship building!  When you are asked to go to a networking event, keep the New York M.I.N.I.T framework in mind. I promise you’ll leave the event with not, 20 useless cards for your rolodex…but one or two cards that WILL RESULT IN BUSINESS or a top shelf referral!

The framework requires you to be genuine and authentic as you set out to network. Remember, the personal connection, even without scoring another business card, can have  a lasting benefit for networking beyond the LARGE room you make SMALL talk in!. Keep focused on the moment, and the energy gained from  targeting the right people will help you not to glaze over in a frenzy of business card collection!

When you approach the first move in event networking at a conference or meeting…remember the image of an octopus on rollerskates…you don’t want to appear that way, do you? Think of the octopus on rollerskates trying to cross the  event ballroom or conference room floor…lots of activity and plenty of motion expended…but nothing is happening that is productive…the octopus isn’t making progress. Go farther with this picture.Think of each arm with a business card tucked into it…the octopus wants to mix and mingle, to get those cards out…but is thwarted by his own frenetic energy.

Now, you can do better.

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Associations and trade organizations are great places to meet individuals. Usually organizations have a common theme, and it is an understood implication that all members participate to improve themselves and their businesses.

Whether it is a chamber of commerce or a trade association, members have common problems, issues and concerns. By sharing issues and resolutions, members can benefit by the experience of others. Many business owners participate in organizations, not only to network, but also to hopefully circumvent some of the pitfalls encountered by other small businesses–learning from others.

Networking Tips.

Many trade organizations provide forums for networking. In some cases, these might be private online newsgroups, casual meetings, or even professional events with speakers. In order to take full advantage of these networking opportunities consider these tips.

Who You Know.

It is often not who you know, but who they know. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen someone put-off someone who is clearly a beginner only to learn that the “beginner” is the brother or friend of a contact they’ve been trying to meet for weeks.

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Copyright © 2006 Ike Krieger

Do your employees and staff really know and understand your core marketing message? How effective are they at sharing that message?

If you really want your business to grow… the people in your organization need to be taught the most effective way to network.

You’re pretty good at representing your company. You believe that networking is a powerful business building tool. You understand the value of creating new business relationships. You attend business networking events. You are personable, professional, and you know your stuff.

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Sometimes your referral marketing effort just needs the right hook or offer to get people to pay attention and participate. Draw from my top 5 referral offer starters and think of ways to creatively wrap your business around one or more of them.

1) Offer special pricing

If you are looking for referrals from your existing clients, you can develop a special price for those clients who refer a set amount of new business. Then, when a new client asks what the price of a product or service is, you can respond, “Do you want the full price or the special referral price?” This encourages repeat business and can provide a strong incentive to refer on the spot.

2) Will work for referrals

If you can target a referral source that has influence with your target market, you can offer a trial service or product in exchange for an endorsement of your products or services, a testimonial or a place in the next association speaker panel.

Seek out the leaders in trade groups and organizations you would like to target and offer to perform a service or let them try your product free of charge. Get them to agree that if they like your product or service as much as you know they will, they will send a letter to the membership of the organization promoting your offer. Then write the letter for them.

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Copyright © 2006 Marketing Maven

Networking is, without a doubt, one of the best and most cost-effective ways to build long-term relationships with prospects and referrers. With remarkable networking, you also build a super powerful sales force that will work tirelessly for you to spread the word about your business and services. Their referrals hold more weight than you might know.

Remember, EVERYONE you speak with is a potential client, referrer, center of influence, or joint project partner. Once you start viewing each person you meet as one of these assets, it becomes easier and easier to talk. Don’t be shy – speak from your heart about what you do. It’s what you believe in, so speak with passion. Get out there and TOOT your horn! Why keep yourself a secret?

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Copyright © 2006 Red Ladder, Inc.

As a Consultant, I attend a lot of networking events, industry association programs, and one-on-one meetings for breakfast, coffee or other food-related events. Whenever I network or attend events, I always tell people that it was worth my time and money if I gained just one creative idea or contact from the experience. This past month I really put that concept to the test by attending numerous networking meetings, including one tele-networking event!

Here are a few nuggets that I picked up as I networked my way through the past month.

1. Be Bold! The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis recently featured motivational speaker Ann Ulrich, who said, “We create our own possibilities for success by boldly creating opportunity from possibility.” According to Ann, combine possibility with perseverance and professionalism and you have your own personalized recipe for success. How do you create your own possibilities? By being bold of course.

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