Learn how to start a website, learn how to blog, how to write articles, video marketing, effective forum posting, search engine optimization etc… And you cannot forget about listbuilding this is a crucial aspect where the majority of your money will be made. Getting started and actually doing the work and keeping at it seperates the successful internet marketers who actually make some good money from the lazy ones who are not motivated enough to succeed.

Great blog post, thank you!

Thanks for your comments. You’re right that there is legitimate middle ground between the two poles I mentioned — groups that anyone can join as long as they pay, and the groups that the gurus themselves actually go to to mastermind.

If you’re paying more than a few dollars to get into a group that isn’t being screened to ensure that the participants are worth masterminding with, and you’re not getting coached by someone who’s qualified, I’ll stand by my claim that you’ve been had.

I’ll also assert that even if you’re getting your money’s worth out of an expensive mastermind group, it’s worth considering whether you could form your own group and get as much value without the added expense.

If the organizer is doing an extraordinary job, that may not be possible. But if essentially all they’ve done is stick a great group of people into the same room, then do those people really need to keep paying thousands of dollars to get into the same room with each other again?

It’s a great way to collaborate on projects, promote each other’s products, share resources like web designers and copywriters as well as give each other feedback.

One point I didn’t completely agree on is what you wrote about being part of a paid mastermind.

“If they’re not going to coach — if all you’re getting for your money is the chance to mastermind with a bunch of other people who may have no other qualifications than that they paid a guru thousands of dollars — then you’ve been had.”

I agree with what you said before this about some gurus selling four to five figure memberships in their masterminds, there are people that are doing this right. Armand Morin comes to mind with his Platinum program. As does Dan Kennedy in his Inner Circle.

Neither of these groups are about group coaching. They’re paid facilitated mastermind groups where the wisdom of the group is given equal (or more) weight than the guru’s knowledge.

And there are paid mastermind groups where a facilitator is paid to run, not participate in, the meeting.

The facilitators usually screen the participants, set up rules and guidelines, deal with any issues like members being late, being too negative, etc.

In these groups, even if the facilitator is a qualified expert, they don’t share their opinions at all. Or they only share when everyone in the group has offered feedback first.

Bill Hibbler