Tina Tower [00:00:00]:
Hi friends. Welcome to her Empire Builder show. Today we are talking all about magical Mastermind experience. And as course creators we can have so many different offers in our office suite. The one that I love the most is where you have a low cost, high volume Evergreen offer. Then you're going into a signature offer and then there is a back end membership and a high level mastermind. That is the whole ascension model that I have seen work to create million dollar businesses for so many different people. And I will often get asked, what is the difference between a membership and a mastermind? How can you run a mastermind that really, really people stick around for year after year? And so that is what I'm going to share with you today.

Main Episode

Tina Tower [00:00:48]:
Let's get to it. But let's start with what is the difference between a membership and and a mastermind? It is really to me just the level of scalability and the level of touch points that you are having. So I would say my for Empire Builder is a membership, not a mastermind. We started out, when we first started it, it was designed to be a mastermind because it had smaller group touch points and it had a higher price point and it had a lot lower numbers. So we would treat it as the mastermind experience because it was. We didn't have one on one sessions. But everyone is known, everyone is connected. We have a lot of live events in there as well.

Tina Tower [00:01:32]:
Whereas when that reached 100 people, I got to the stage where I was like, you know what, this is really unsustainable for me. And I had a choice to make. I could either keep it at 100 and just only open a place when somebody dropped out and keep the model exactly the same, or I could change the model and scale. And because of everything that we created in her Empire Builder, I mean, you know, to toot my own horn, but we have such incredible systems and templates and processes and so much information and knowledge there that can do so much for so many people's businesses that I didn't actually just want to limit it to 100 people. And so that is why we dropped the cost from $15.97 to $5.99 and went bigger with the membership model instead of the mastermind. And so the difference with those two things was we didn't have small group sessions. We have the group calls where everybody is on and we didn't have small intimate events included in there as well. And so what I did was those original people that I had, they became my Empress Circle Mastermind members.

Tina Tower [00:02:39]:
And I have Been running that for nearly, it'll be five years in June since we started that. So I've been running that Mastermind for a long time. A lot of the members have been there four or five years with me. And I started a new Mastermind this year as well. So what that one is is the Impact Mastermind. And I want to share this with you in case you're thinking of introducing a Mastermind into your own business office suite. And how I came up with the offer itself. And so the Impact Mastermind was created because I wanted to have a space where other seven figure 4 creators could connect.

Tina Tower [00:03:17]:
And traditionally. So in the past I have gone to America to be part of those groups. But what I have found is there are awesome people right here in Australia and the people that don't want to fly to America all the time, how are we connecting? And no one had that all connected together. And so I had to do it because I wanted it for myself. And so I started the Impact Mastermind. It was never advertised, we didn't have a landing page or anything created for it. I made it on a Google Doc and put all of the information and then I had hand picked 12 people that I wanted to be part of that Mastermind. And the whole setup of it very different to Empress Circle which is quite information heavy.

Tina Tower [00:04:00]:
This was a lot more peer to peer sort of designed. So rather than me leading, it's me facilitating. And so inside the Impact Mastermind what we do is a once a month Mastermind call that goes for two hours and then two four day retreats every year. And then in Empress Circle for example, they have access to our whole her Empire Builder program. So we've got five live sessions every month plus their small group accountability calls with 8 so really nice intimate groups that that to get all of those questions answered and two live events every year. So a lot more information and a lot more of me teaching rather than the peer to peer that's happening in Impact. So both of those models can work inside a Mastermind model. It's really looking at what is the purpose.

Tina Tower [00:04:50]:
So is the purpose of your Mastermind connection? Is the purpose for strategy? Is it to provide support? All of those are really valid connections. The other thing, because the Mastermind is a lot smaller and a lot higher price point. So to give you an example, like I said, my harem paid builderman ships $5.99 a month. Empress Circle mastermind is $15.97 a month. So very different in terms of price point because of the deliverability that they get and also the transformation that they get and access to me is the big difference in that as well. So what you've got to work out is when you go to create the office for your mastermind, who is it actually for who is your hell yes client and only create it if there is a subset of your market that is not being able to be served by your other products. So I looked at mine and going for me, her empire builder is a lot of people that are wanting to, they might have started their online course, they're in the very beginning stages, Maybe they're at 50 grand, 100 grand a year and they're wanting to build up to half a million, a million dollars in there. So for that stage, perfect for home payer build up.

Tina Tower [00:05:56]:
Where Empress Circle comes in is people that have already been running launches, they already know their numbers quite well, they're looking for that extra 2% conversion on this and they're really looking to geek out on all the finer details of running an online business and to talk to other course creators that are also got big massive goals and really going for it. Like it's not a placid place for people that I am on a growth trajectory, I am being unapologetic about it and I am going for it. Whereas the market for Impact Mastermind were people that had ran not just hit a seven figure business once, but had ran seven figure businesses for years and years and years. And so we are really used to that level of business and wanted to connect with one another and talk about the issues and the problems that we are trying to solve in our business and our lives for this stage in there as well. So. So a couple of different motives that we have with each of the different groups in there as well. You also want to with a mastermind, curate your community. So I think whereas it's a membership, anyone's welcome.

Tina Tower [00:06:59]:
We've got a space for you, we've got something that can help you in your transformation. When it goes into a mastermind though, because it is a lot more of a smaller, intimate settings, you want that to be curated so you want to get really clear on who is your Helios client and then have people apply for that so that you can accept people that you know are going to gel with the rest of the community that have the right goals, that have the right values that you're looking for of a group. Because when you get that group together, magic absolutely happens. So you want to make sure, like the impact, for example, there were other seven bigger Cloth six that were there. But I had a no asshole policy. And so I was going, if people are a bit on the arrogant wanky scale, no, not going to come to that. Because that can throw off like when you're living with people for a retreat for four days, that energy can be really like, it can affect people a lot. So I wanted to have a really safe space, a really strong.

Tina Tower [00:08:04]:
A space where people could be themselves. You didn't have to put on airs and graces and pretend everything was going great if it wasn't. Like I wanted people to feel safe in that environment. And so that takes a certain sort of person in there as well. So I will often go for application process for masterminds. I have seen people do open enrolment, but I would recommend, if you're going to keep it small, like under that 50 people, then definitely go for that application process. Because you want it to be exclusive. It's going to feel exclusive because it actually is exclusive in there as well.

Tina Tower [00:08:40]:
So there's diversity and strength, but there is very much unity in ambition. That is what I was always looking for. We want a really diverse group of people, but we want the commonality to be nice, kind, happy people, better resources, really, really unapologetically ambitious, going for big things. Then you want to create your curriculum. So like I said, I have two masterminds that have very different goals in terms of curriculum when we're looking at monthly themes. So I will base that based on where my clients are at so that I can give them exactly what they need at the time in there as well. I've also found that when it comes to masterminds, it really starts to move to that facilitation over teaching. There is still always going to be a little bit of teaching in there when you're leading those groups.

Tina Tower [00:09:28]:
But for a lot of people, when they get to that level, they don't need more information. They need help in implementing it, interpreting it, connecting with other people. So I see myself very much as the guide of that in going, how can I facilitate? How can I connect people together? How can I guide people from where they are to where they want to be? So I hold the space for them in there. I think of the questions that I can ask people to help them get clarity over what they really want. Because I am a very big believer that there is no one right way to success. And even we recently had our impact mastermind retreat where everyone's at fairly similar levels of business, but everyone's doing it very, very differently. I Am a big fan of live launching, but someone who does no live launching and they're a big fan of Evergreen. There's so many different ways in which you can do things.

Tina Tower [00:10:23]:
We always look at what are the things that people need to learn and how can I give them them as well. How can I ask people questions so that they can realise what it is that they really want and make the decisions that is going to be right for their business and not get caught up in doing what they think they should be doing, which is, you know, a trap that we're always going to fall into as well. I really want with masterminds to create that psychological safety. I think that that is one of the most important parts of running a really highly effective mastermind is really taking that seriously. So that members can feel seen and can be heard and can feel brave in the way that they show up and the way that they interact with others in their as well. The other thing is unforgettable live experiences. Now, I know that we're in the online world here and I know that there are a lot of online only masterminds and memberships. However, especially as we are coming into the age of AI and a lot of information being available, I would say that live events have become even more important than what they previously were.

Tina Tower [00:11:29]:
I know with live events I credit live events to the connections that my community really does create with one another. I know that when people come to live events they're more likely to stay inside my programs. They're also like, I see people that have made friends that maybe were part of my programs five years ago, that have made friends, that are traveling together, that are doing collaborations together, all because of those connections that they made mostly at live events and they were sitting next to that person, having a drink with that person, having dinner with that person. So to me there are a few different fundamentals that make live events unforgettable. One of them is when people first sign up in doing a new member onboarding survey. So asking everybody's favorite things, ask them things like what is their favourite flower? What is your favourite book? What is their favourite drink? Alcoholic and non alcoholic. What is their favorite snacks? What is their favorite meal? Ask them all of those things so that when you have those live experiences like we just had our impact Mastermind and when everybody arrived and opened the fridge, everyone was like, oh my gosh, you've got my favorite here of the smile. Because no one has remembered actually writing it down.

Tina Tower [00:12:42]:
When they first joined at the end of last year and so everyone just throws this beautiful coincidence, everyone's favourite drink there, which it was not. And I said straight away, it was not. I did not get that lucky. But I asked, and that's why we have it there. And those little touches, they seem like insignificant details, but those details are the things that make people feel like you actually saw them, like you actually listened. And they matter. And it's so comfortable. Like when you're away for a few days, being able to have your favorite things is so comfortable.

Tina Tower [00:13:14]:
So always have people's favourite drinks, always have people's favorite snacks available, have a lot of food available. That is one thing that I will say. People are always happy when they're fed. Well, one of the funniest things. So I did a mastermind with in Hawaii. We had 10 people in Hawaii for a week. We had seven different types of milk, like almond milk, oat milk, like all the milkshake. So you do have to ask people that so that you can give them what they need, but people will appreciate it.

Tina Tower [00:13:44]:
I also do a lot of gifting, so I love to have welcome gifts, I love to have a gift bag, I love to have a personalised gift. At our recent retreat, everyone had personalised pyjamas, which I have done at a couple of retreats before. They're just beautiful. Having people's names on their jammies and having a pyjama night. Pizza and pyjama night, one of my favourite things. So you're getting to do things like that. You're getting to give people gifts that matter. Not crappy things, but gifts that matter, that are meaningful to that group that you've created there as well.

Tina Tower [00:14:15]:
So I think always when you're having live events as well, like structuring your settings so that you've got enough balance of flow and structure coming into it. This, I will say, is one of my most difficult things, because the way that my personality works, I want to make the most of the time available. So, for example, we have our conference for her and table. We're coming up in June, so very soon. And I always want to jam pack the schedule. I'm like, you know what? People have paid a lot of money for this. They've got so many logistics coming out of areas. Like, I know that for a lot of my members, they are parents.

Tina Tower [00:14:56]:
And so the logistics involved in getting their families looked after and getting away, I'm like, I want to give them everything, you know, I take it very seriously. And so I can jam pack the schedule so much because I Want them to learn as much as possible. And what I have learned over 13 years of running live events is to pull that back a little bit. So to give people enough downtime. And in saying that, I think I did a lot of downtime and still people safe, oh, we could have just had like the whole afternoon off to just chat and sit by the pool. I'm like, no, you can do that later on your own time. But I do like to have some gaps in there. We always have long lunch breaks, so at least an hour for lunch, at least two hours between the day finishing and the dinner starting so that people have enough time.

Tina Tower [00:15:42]:
And I always like to finish the dinners nice and early. So I call it the Nana sitting where we have dinner from like 6 till 9. And what I have found is most people really appreciate that because some people love to stay up late and party, but others do not. And so if you push people too late for days, consecutive days that are not used to staying up late, they can get really, really tired by day three. And so having enough time for people to recover and have that solitude is going to make it a lot more enjoyable for you and, and for them as well. Connection is definitely the client. So when you're doing any sort of mastermind, you want to do as much as you can to help people connect and form those deep relationships that will naturally move beyond business in there as well. So to keep a lot of connection alive during the off times, like when you're not having those live events, when you're not having those live calls, you want to have some sort of mentally for that.

Tina Tower [00:16:39]:
So traditionally a lot of people have used Facebook groups. If it's a bigger membership, I would always say Facebook group is the easiest. Or if you're on Kajabi, you can use Kajabi community. But for a smaller group, I would actually have something like a Slack channel, WhatsApp or Voxer. Voxer is my favorite. That is just personal preference. I know most people like a Slack channel. I find Slack quite confusing, so that's why I go for Vox.

Tina Tower [00:17:04]:
But it is easier to search and find fast things in there as well. You want to do as much as you can to encourage collaborations, encourage referrals, and to curate those friendships that are going to last well beyond the program after they've finished with you as well. So a few different things to consider with some magical touch points is it starts day one like day one when someone signs up, you want to make sure that you are getting that day one right. Like having that onboarding process. Minty, have that new member welcome form there. Have a gift that you're going to send out to people to welcome them, especially if it's a high price, low numbers program that you've got in there as well. So you could do surprise snail mail. I find, you know, most of the mail people get is bills.

Tina Tower [00:17:53]:
So when someone gets something nice in the mail, it's be a very exciting occurrence. Personal shout outs. Just remembering that it's the small things. It's the small things that often in an experience like a Mastermind make the biggest difference. The more you can look at each person as an individual and not look at the group as a whole, but each individual person and think, how can I serve them better? What do they need? What can I do to show them how much I appreciate them, to connect them to another member, to put them forward for opportunities. If, say, I see an award that they'd be good for, I can nominate them or a publication where someone's trying to find someone to write about and I can put them forward any time. You can elevate the people inside your Mastermind is going to be a win, win situation in there as well. So I would think, like celebrate wins publicly, celebrate growth privately.

Tina Tower [00:18:44]:
So one of the biggest considerations in a Mastermind is privacy. Getting people straight away to commit to what happens in the Mastermind stays in the Mastermind, because unless people feel safe in sharing that, they're never going to share. So one of those things is people always don't like missing out on life calls. But I have the rule that I will never record a Mastermind call and that is very difficult for people that can't make it live. However, in this day and age with our trust level, no one's going to divulge massive personal things that they're going through in their business if they know it's being recorded and kept in a library for years to come. So you want to really focus on the privacy and the confidentiality aspect in there so that people can feel safe as well. And then how are you going to congratulate people on the way are they going for goals and milestones? Do you want to be able to recognise that having something in there that can, can increase that retention, that can get more of a celebratory vibe within there as well. So how you show up is going to set the tone for the whole thing.

Tina Tower [00:19:48]:
People are coming to your Mastermind for you. I had a friend that said to me once when I started for Empire Builder, they'll come for you. They'll stay for the community. And that is something that has proven time and time again is, yes, people trying to our programs because they're attracted to my energy, but it's also the people that I attract and the way that other people relate to each other and the vibe and the tone that we set inside our programs that makes people either think that's something I want to stay a part of. Is this something that vibes with my values, that I know I can show up as a better human, as a better business leader if I'm part of this or if in other cases it's like, this isn't my vibe of. Which is great, because we don't want people in there. That's not the vibe. And so how you show up is really going to set the tone for that energy in there as well.

Tina Tower [00:20:41]:
But remember, that transformation happens in a lot of the in between moments. So the beautiful thing about a Mastermind is it's a lot less structured than a course and a membership. So you have to provide the outline and the curriculum and the people and the way that connects connects all together. But the magic will happen if you've done all of those details. The magic will happen that you can't even anticipate. So have a beautiful experience. And hopefully, if you already have your course going, if you already have a membership going, a Mastermind might be the next logical offer for you to pop into your essential model. Have fun.