You’re ready to invite your audience to join your mastermind group, or you’ve hand-selected people you want to be in your group.

What do you say to them and how do you approach them?

Be clear about the purpose of your group

Prospective members will want to know if the purpose of the group matches what they need at this point in their personal and professional lives. Is it a group for professional reasons, or personal? Or both?

Be clear about the benefits

• What is a mastermind group?
• What topics will be covered?
• What outcomes can people expect?
• Why do people join a mastermind group?

You need well thought-out and well-written answers to these basic questions, because your prospective members are going to ask. It would be helpful if you had a page on your website that answers these questions, and definitely helpful that you can verbally answer these questions as well.

Be clear about the commitment

Mastermind groups are not for weenies or the feint of heart, because your group relies upon you showing up and participating. Your group relies upon you being willing to give and take advice. Your group will ask you to grow, which means you have to be ready to take on challenges to achieve the success you want.

Explain to your prospective mastermind group members that they will be asked to commit to the mastermind group and the process.

Be clear about the logistics

Nothing will scare away prospective group members faster than not having the details.

• Determine how often you’ll meet, where you’ll meet, and for how long.
• Describe how the Hot Seats will be constructed.
• Tell them how many members will be in the group.
• If you are charging for your mastermind group, tell them the fee.
• Explain to them how to register for the group. Make sure they have all the facts.

Invite them

Now that you’ve gathered all the information to share with a prospective group member, invite people to join your group.

If you have a short list of hand-selected people, call them. Mastermind groups are all about personal relationships, so an email will not suffice as an introduction to a group when you have hand-selected the people you want to invite. It helps to create a bullet-point list of how you want to approach the conversation so that you don’t forget what you want to say.

If you haven’t hand-selected prospective members, an introductory email to your list, or a post on social media, might be the best place to start.

If it’s a long-term mastermind group with a big commitment (say, a 12-month group), consider meeting your prospect in person, if possible. Discussing your mastermind group over lunch or dinner could be helpful, as it gives each of you time to talk about it and answer any questions.

Then follow-up with an email and a link to your website

People rarely make the decision to join a mastermind group immediately, and you wouldn’t want them to. You want them to consider the commitment level required before they say “yes.”

While they’re thinking about it, it’s helpful if they have something in writing to use as a reference and a guide. If you have a website, add a page that describes the mastermind group. If you don’t have a website, follow up with an email listing all the pertinent information and benefits.

As you can see, it’s helpful to plan ahead. For instance, if you want your mastermind group to start in January, you will need to approach people in November. This means your script and your website need to be updated in October. Plan for at least a three-month marketing cycle to get your marketing materials ready and implement your marketing…that way, you’ll fill your groups!

Want to learn how to start a mastermind group? Click here to get my free video tutorial on how to create a mastermind group of your own.