There are three philosophies about setting your membership fee for your mastermind group.
The first is to simply calculate the total number of hours you’ll spend each month working with the group (in meetings, on message boards, and with group administrative tasks), and charge the group for your time. For instance, in one mastermind group that I run, I spend about 5 hours a month. If my hourly fee is $200 per hour, the total I need to charge is $1,000. If there are 10 members in the group, each member would pay $100 per month to get to the $1,000 a month I want to earn. (If there are six members in a group, then the monthly fee would be 1000/6 or 166.66 a month.) This is great for the members, as they get to work with you in a mastermind group at a reduced rate compared to the cost of working one-on-one with you.
The second is to charge a low monthly fee ($14 – $49 per person per month) and have larger groups. My experience tells me that large mastermind groups are a poor investment on the part of the member. The beauty of a mastermind group is that everyone gets time to bring forward their personal challenges, decisions and situations. This can’t happen in a large group because you simply run out of time. What’s the point of a mastermind group unless all members get to give and receive in each meeting?
The third is to charge based on your value and the value of the group. There are some mastermind groups that charge $15,000 a year, and include one or two weekend events that are free as part of the fee, plus weekly phone meetings, special guests, discounts on the mastermind group facilitator’s products/classes, etc. If you have guru status and are an expert in your topic, you can charge more for your mastermind group. If you add more valuable features to the group (like live weekend events, free training classes), then you can increase the fee accordingly. And if someone is going to invest $15,000 a year and get $100,000 in additional revenue to their business, it’s worth the investment to them. Ask yourself: what would make it worth it to them?
Do a cost-benefit analysis, factoring in your time, expertise, and the value of the services and products you are offering. Then choose a price that is best for what you’re offering the members.
When Offering a Free Mastermind Groups Works for You
Also consider charging NOTHING for your mastermind group.
Nothing??? Yes.
If you want to do a pilot group where you will ask for in-depth feedback, consider charging nothing for the first one, and limit the group size to four members. It takes a lot of pressure off you to do it perfectly, and members love the opportunity to be involved with the birth of a new group.
Also, if you are doing the group as a way to market your other services or products, a free group works wonders! The last time I did a free group, over 50 people signed up.
Should You Charge for Your Mastermind Group?
The short answer is Yes. Mastermind group facilitation is a skill and it takes a lot of work to run a successful group. Check out my blog post, Can I Charge For My Mastermind Group? It outlines the pros and cons to help you make the decision.
2 Comments
Excellent article Karyn. Thanks for laying out the key points so well.
I have been facilitating mastermind groups for the past few years and have learned what works for me. ( It might be different for each person) I find that eight is the best number. There are always people who don’t show up to every meeting and the variety of people allows for better feedback and interactions. However more than eight will not allow for enough sharing time.
I do spend a lot of time on the message forum and tend to give a lot of value so I figure the price by the month X number of months.. My groups are $895 for six months. Way less than one-one-one and sometimes even more value if there is a lot of expertise in the group members. I do like that people get help from each other and not always from me.
I have also done what you suggested and have offered one for a very reduced price while I am researching a new program. Thanks again for the good tips!
I think the part I like about mastermind groups the best is that their isn’t just one guru, there’s a who roomful of people who have ideas and suggestions. It creates incredible value.
I love that you’re including message forums with your mastermind group, Kaya. It really adds to the whole group process.
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