Turn Brain Dust into a Brain Trust

Seemed a fair question. A few articles ago (11/28/12),  I asked you kind readers whether or not I should join Dan Kennedy’s Titanium Group. Let’s not mention that none of YOU has to pay the annual fee that is more than I spent for my daughter’s “nearly new” Honda Accord.

Some of you felt the fee was a bit of a rip-off. Of course, you answered fairly, based on what information I supplied. This was Unfair to you, since I do get extremely energized at the meetings, and felt more “one-on-one” would be helpful.

Yet most of you said – and I’m paraphrasing here – “Just shut up and join, then extract many nuggets of wisdom, and cast them my way on demand.” So yes, dear readers, I joined.

And a funny thing happened that I cannot explain, but will try: Though I have not yet attended a single meeting…

I’ve already extracted value beyond the entire year’s fee. And here it is…

Let me back up a second. Years ago when I began giving live seminars for various groups, an odd exchange took place. I was discussing arrangements with two different distributors, same time of year, same number of reachable dealers, same marketing topic, with the same fee quoted.

But their responses were quite different.

One said, “I have such a hard time filling the room, so that fee is pretty expensive.” Another said, “We’ll have no issue filling the room, so your fee is fine.” What was the difference?

The first one – surprisingly enough – didn’t charge his dealers anything. His assumption was “no barriers” meant a higher turnout. He saw dwindling, largely disinterested audiences of “about 20 or so” at his meetings, too often there for the coffee or to complain about the seating arrangements.

The second one – wisely enough – charged $59 a head, discounted to $40 each for additional attendees. He regularly put 50-70 eager contractors in a room who were more qualified, more interested and actively seeking a business advantage.

The lesson ended up being that dealers put a value on what they were there to learn; each formed a “you get what you pay for” mentality. The “free” 4-hour seminar reeked of low value, and perhaps a misuse of time. A slight fee elevated the value, the attention and the will to extract knowledge.

Lesson learned.

Since my newfound MasterMind group meeting was to be an “investment” of about $7,000 a meeting, a certain “value seeking missile” was ignited in my brain. (Or perhaps my “cheapness gene” went into self-protection, hard to say.)

Regardless, I adjusted our annual goals. This was eye-opening. I dropped one product entirely, but added focus to another. Later, an idea about subcontracting a troublesome part of Hudson, Ink to a better-qualified off-site expert emerged.

Then it became wise to extend “my” mastermind to include my managerial brain trust at Hudson, Ink, so I put 3 managers on a “Net Profit” bonus. This ignited their value-seeking missiles. Soon, ideas were formed out of this discussion on how we (Hudson, Ink) could build a better product launch for Spring in a more efficient, effective way. One example:

Instead of time and effort for Direct Mail that pointed recipients to a Landing Page, we decided to employ our Affiliate Partners to help us launch a video training series using email first. Based on the results of that, then a push using Direct Mail made more sense. (Direct mail, by the way, is still experiencing a rather large comeback, returning the best ROIs we’ve seen since 2007 across the board.)

So, before the first meeting, our focus began steering toward more meaningful goals, to be reached faster with greater overall benefit. Yet there’s a second reason I began doing this little exercise that has nothing to do with the money.

Competition.

In the room with other high achievers, I didn’t want to be the weakest link. I wanted to show up prepared and – if necessary – quantify reasons to belong, and share as I could. Maybe that’s my ego, but that’s what I was feeling.

I am now completely, thoroughly, positive that I’ll extract even more value, well in excess of the fee paid. There is indeed something magical and internally motivating about being in a MasterMind group. If belonging to, sharing with and being accountable to other success-minded people was NOT in your 2013 goals, I encourage you to add it. How?

• Have a monthly “meeting” either online, in person, via phone/email where you provide an orderly exchange of ideas, goals, challenges with others.
• Join an existing “best practices” group – could be one of the larger paid groups with “Live” events, a more casual ACCA Mix group or our MegaMarketers. (If you join in January, you get the whole first month complimentary, PLUS 2 training videos and downloads.)
• Plan to attend at least 4 smaller, focused seminars and at least one large national seminar within your trade. 
• Other? Tell me what you plan to do in 2013 to turn your brain dust into a brain trust: goals@hudsonink.com

My promise: The rewards of any of the above will far exceed your time and investment.

Here’s a no-cost video on the MasterMind concept explained more fully.