There are over 600 million blogs existing today. If you are the owner of one of these blogs, it can be a real challenge to stand out. There is a lot to learn about how to grow your audience and how to make money blogging. It takes time and requires a lot of hard work.
If you search for blogging help online, the results can be overwhelming. Some articles might be helpful, but a lot of them won’t be.
Many will be empty promises about how you can start a blog, quit your job, and instantly start making a six-figure income working from home in your spare time.
Others will be the same advice you’ve already heard telling you what you need to do, but not how to actually do it. You are still left to figure most things out on your own.
A “secret” to blogging success is: don’t do it alone!
Relationships with other bloggers is one of the key elements of blogging success, which is why many successful bloggers are part of a mastermind group or blogging community.
Joining a mastermind group of highly-motivated and like-minded bloggers is one of the easiest ways to get the support, guidance, and knowledge needed to grow your blog and master everything blogging entails.
What is a Mastermind Group?
A mastermind group is essentially a peer-mentoring group. Members collaborate and support each other by answering questions, solving problems, brainstorming, giving advice and most importantly, helping each other grow.
A blogging mastermind group is an incredible resource for any blog owner. Whether you’re wondering how to make money blogging or how to increase your audience (or social media followers, email list subscribers, etc.). Or maybe you need support with the technical side of blogging. Or simply want some encouragement. You will find whatever it is you need within the group.
Why Join a Mastermind Group?
Blogging can leave you feeling isolated and lost at times. Most of us are trying to navigate this ever-changing online world alone. There’s only so much you can learn or do by yourself to grow, improve or make more money from your blog.
Your friends and family are probably supportive and try to be helpful, but they are looking at it from an outsider’s perspective. What you need are blogging insiders.
As a member of a blogging mastermind group, you have a whole motivated team behind you who understand the challenges of blogging. By pooling your resources and sharing your expertise, you learn from each other and support each other so that you are not left doing this alone.
Not to mention, working with other bloggers makes it a lot more fun!
Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
How Can a Mastermind Group Help Me Make Money Blogging?
A blog of any size has the potential to earn money. However, the more traffic and engagement your blog has, the easier earning money becomes.
By working with other bloggers and taking advantage of the incredible wealthofgeeksth of information, skills and strengths each member brings to the group, there are numerous ways joining a mastermind can help you make money blogging.
It can also help you save money, too.
Increase Your Blog Exposure & Engagement
The goal of working with a mastermind group is to grow your blog. This could mean reaching new audiences, increasing engagement from your existing readers, or both.
A mastermind group will help you increase your pageviews, subscribers, and social media followers through the power of sharing. You share each other’s content through emails, newsletters, social media, and on your own website through links, quotes, collaborations, guest posts, or syndicated posts.
This exposure drives traffic directly to your blog. It turns their readers and subscribers into your readers and subscribers.
By sharing resources and expertise, you also learn how to grow traffic and engagement on your own, confidently. Group members help you implement the right strategies, which you can then replicate and grow even more.
Their advice and feedback will point you in the right direction so that you spend your time and energy focusing on the things that are proven to make money.
Increase Your Blog Stats
Increasing your behind the scenes numbers is another way a mastermind group can help you better monetize your blog. Things like your Domain Authority, Domain Rank, Page Rank, site speed, and the number of backlinks probably don’t matter much to your readers, but it matters to search engines like Google and Bing, and to advertisers and sponsors.
Link building is an important factor when growing your blog, but it’s one of the hardest things to do properly. There are questionable techniques and practices that are commonly used that do more harm than good. A mastermind group will not only show you the right way to get quality backlinks but also how to improve your overall search engine optimization (SEO) so that your blog posts rank higher.
Don’t believe me?
Within 1 year of joining The Money Mix Insiders Mastermind group, my Domain Authority more than DOUBLED from the lowest it’s ever been (29) to the highest (63)!
JOIN THE MONEY MIX INSIDERS
Start your 3 Month Trial now for only $3!
Sponsorships, Advertising & Affiliates
Sponsored posts, advertising, and affiliate marketing are 3 of the most common ways to make money blogging. How much money you can make is largely dependent on your blog’s engagement, exposure, and statistics.
Better numbers lead to more advertising revenue, access to ad networks that pay better than Google Adsense, and makes your blog more appealing to new sponsorships.
It also gives you a better chance of being accepted into affiliate programs (like the Amazon associates program). Because you’ll also have more organic traffic and an engaged audience, this increases the likelihood of turning those affiliate links into consistent affiliate sales, too.
Mastermind group members can connect you with the advertisers, affiliates, and partners they are or have previously worked with. They can give you a personal recommendation to these companies or refer you to the right contact person so that you’re approved quickly.
Better yet, some mastermind groups will negotiate group deals and provide you with paid sponsored post opportunities.
Freelancing & Consulting
If you’re a freelancer or consultant looking for ways to make money online, a mastermind group is a great place to find clients and earn extra income.
First of all, it’s not uncommon for bloggers to come across tasks or specific aspects of their blog that they want to outsource. It could be because they don’t have the time or the knowledge needed to do it themselves, or it could be something that requires a group of people, such as a marketing campaign.
As mentioned, one of the benefits of being part of a mastermind group is that the other members have skills and expertise in areas that you don’t. But the reverse is also true – you have skills and expertise that they don’t. Skills that you could get paid for.
Whenever bloggers are looking to hire, whether they need a freelance writer, virtual assistant, email marketing consultant, or affiliate program manager, they turn to the people they know first. If you have the time and skills they need, you can turn your group members into clients and start making money online by taking on these gigs and side hustles.
Secondly, those personal references and recommendations from your group members extend beyond advertisers and affiliates. They can also help you find new clients by connecting you with others in their networks that are looking to hire freelancers or consultants.
Partnerships & Collaborations
Members of your mastermind group can also become your online business partners.
If you have a great idea for a digital product, service, YouTube channel, or even a whole new blog, why not find a partner or two to collaborate with? You already have direct access to talented, credible entrepreneurs who are looking to grow.
By strategically working together, you can turn your ideas into reality much quicker and more efficiently by utilizing each other’s connections and strengths.
Access to Tools, Resources and Expertise
Rather than rushing out to hire someone anytime something glitches with your site or paying for an online course because you want to learn about one specific thing, ask your mastermind group for help. Someone in the group has probably been there before. Even if they don’t know the answer, they can help you troubleshoot or recommend another solution.
The specific tools, resources and expertise each group offers will vary. These “extras” might be offered for free, at a discounted group rate, or are included as part of the membership fees.
They can include:
- Private message boards and forums
- Webinars, online courses, workshops and facilitated lessons
- Conference calls and meetings (in person or online)
- Coaching and mentorship
- Premium SEO tools such as keyword research and optimization
- Website tools like themes and plugins for your WordPress blog
- Blogging resources such as guides, ebooks, and templates
- Paid sponsorships and advertising opportunities
By taking advantage of the tools and resources available to you and implementing what you learn, your blog will grow which in turn can make you more money. But you also save money by not having these additional expenses.
Motivation, Confidence and Accountability
When you blog on your own, the only deadlines and accountability you have are the ones you put on yourself. It can be easy to become complacent without having a manager to report to.
Since I joined a mastermind group, The Money Mix Insiders, I have finally started to treat my blog like an online business. I thought I had been all along, but in reality, my motivation and confidence wavered a lot over time, as it does for most bloggers.
We launch a blog full of ideas and aspirations but lose that momentum when we don’t see the “get rich quick” results we were promised. It makes us think we’re doing something wrong. Our motivation and confidence levels suffer because of it.
The truth is a lot of bloggers end up quitting. Some statistics say that as many as 99% of new blogs will fail.
Joining a mastermind group is one of the best ways to avoid being part of that statistic. Your group can keep you accountable and motivated to put in the work and can give you the confidence boost you need exactly when you need it.
JOIN THE MONEY MIX INSIDERS
Start your 3 Month Trial now for only $1/month!
Honest Feedback
Another way many bloggers make money online is by selling something – an online course, webinar, ebook, physical products, digital products, or other service. Although these are commonly referred to as passive income streams, it takes a lot of initial work to set up and promote before it becomes passive.
Since most of the content on blogs is free, anything you want to sell has to be worth paying for. Your mastermind group members can become your focus group, test audience or beta tester, proofreader, fact-checker, contributor, and promoter for this type of content.
You can trust them to provide the honest feedback you need to succeed.
This is true for anything you create, not just what’s for sale.
Having access to diverse members means having diverse perspectives and viewpoints. They can point out things you may have overlooked or weren’t aware of. Or help you brainstorm new ideas or ways to develop and improve the things you’re already doing.
They’ll also tell you when something weird is going on with your blog, or if you’ve accidentally made a typo.
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
How Do I Find a Mastermind Group That’s Right For Me?
Every mastermind group will operate differently, from the way they are organized, who leads them, how many members are involved, how group members meet and communicate with each other, and what other benefits they offer.
In order to find one that’s right for you, make sure your level of energy, commitment and expectations matches what the group can offer. You don’t want to be the only casual person in a highly engaged group or vice versa.
Some things to consider are:
1. What do you want to gain from the group?
- Are you a hobby blogger looking for casual help and support?
- Or is your blog your business and you’re looking for professional assistance and insight?
2. Who leads the group?
- Do you want a leader to facilitate the group?
- Does the leader need to be an expert?
- Or do you want a group that runs more autonomously or has dynamic leadership?
- Do you want to be the leader of your own group?
3. What commitment can you make to the group?
- How much time can you commit?
- How do you want to meet – in person, online, or both?
- Do you want regularly scheduled meetings or have an open message board or forum that’s available any time?
- Are you able to invest money into a mastermind group?
Once you know what you are looking for, you can either start your own mastermind group or find one to join or apply to.
Start Your Own Mastermind Group
If you are a natural organizer or leader, starting your own mastermind group is one way to go. The benefit is you are in control. You decide who joins, how many people join, and what the group focuses on.
The downside is that there is a learning curve involved with setting one up. It takes work to find committed members to join and to keep the group’s momentum going once they do.
You can find other bloggers to reach out to in a few different ways. Write a blog post about your plans to start a mastermind group and include an application. Ask the bloggers that are active in the Facebook, Pinterest or LinkedIn group boards you belong to. Or ask the bloggers that regularly comment on your posts.
Find a Mastermind Group to Join
Finding a mastermind group to join can be a little tricky, too, especially in the blogging world. Many successful bloggers don’t talk about being part of a mastermind group because they are private, “closed” groups.
Sometimes they are even called elite blogging groups or exclusive blogging communities.
Some mastermind groups are free to join, while others will have membership fees. There are costs associated with running a group, particularly those that offer extra benefits (like free Premium SEO and website tools) or those that are run by experts.
Paid mastermind groups are typically better suited for those that are committed and looking for a higher-level of support. If you’re willing to invest your money into it, chances are good you’re also willing to invest the time and effort needed, as well.
There is an application process for many mastermind groups, especially for paid groups. The application is designed to make sure that the group is the right fit and that members will benefit from joining. No one wants to be part of a mastermind group that isn’t going to be helpful.
Some also limit the number of members they accept so that everyone gets the support and attention they need. You can’t get that from an over-saturated group.
So Where Can You Find Groups to Join?
One place to look is through websites like Meetup or through blogging Facebook groups.
Another is to ask other bloggers in your network if they are part of a mastermind group, and if so, is the group currently open to new applicants or not.
Apply to The Money Mix Insiders
The Money Mix Insiders is a blogging mastermind group that is currently offering a 3-month trial for only $1/month. If you are highly motivated and ready to take your blog to the next level, why not apply?
Although the group focuses on the money and personal finance niche, we have members that write about pretty much everything including lifestyle, wellness, career, travel, weddings, and more. We are currently also actively looking for more Food Bloggers to join. So if you write about any of these topics, you’ve got nothing to lose!
Within the exclusive network, full members get access to benefits including:
- A wide selection of SEO-friendly content
- Diverse set of bloggers with different targeted audiences
- Free web hosting on their own dedicated server
- Free and discounted access to a growing collection of SEO and website tools (like Moz and Ahrefs) to help with keyword research, chart domain performance, and build colorful, fully-responsible pages in WordPress
- Hands-on coaching and access to premium Webinars
- Endless potential to expand your reach and social engagement
- Active social media sharing (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) of each member posts
- Paid sponsored blog posts opportunities
- Actionable items you can implement immediately
- All the support and encouragement you can ask for!
Once your trial is over, there is a fee for membership (which is only payable upon application approval), but it is worth every penny! The full membership has a value of over $5,000 between the access to tools and personalized attention the group provides.
Personally, I have made more money thanks to the Money Mix Insiders than I have spent on the membership fees. And that’s not accounting for all the growth that’s yet to come thanks to their help establishing the groundwork I needed.
If learning how to make money blogging the right way sounds appealing to you, sign up for your $3 trial with the Money Mix Insider, contact the group for more information, or ask me! I’m happy to help!
JOIN THE MONEY MIX INSIDERS
Start your 3 Month trial now for only $3!
How to Get the Most From Your Mastermind Group
The specific requirements and commitments that mastermind group members are expected to meet will depend on the group.
The more you participate in your group, the more you will benefit.
To get the most out of your membership you should:
- Ask and answer questions
- Brainstorm and bounce ideas off each other
- Discuss the latest blogging and niche news or changes
- Share your own tips and insights
- Provide quotes or resources for articles or posts
- Help each other set and achieve goals
- Share and promote each other’s work
- Share opportunities, such as partnerships and paid sponsorships
- Celebrate successes together
- Provide motivation and confidence boosts when needed
- Keep each other accountable
- Cross-promote each other’s blogs, products and services
- Point out those pesky typos or broken links that somehow got passed you
It doesn’t matter if you blog to make some extra money outside of your day job or if you ultimately want to replace your day-job and make money from home instead.
If you are ready to take your online business seriously and want to learn the quick – but correct – way to make money blogging, don’t do it alone. Join a mastermind group!
Technology photo created by gpointstudio – www.freepik.com
Amanda Kay, an Employment Specialist and founder of My Life, I Guess, strives to keep the "person" in personal finance by writing about money, mistakes, and making a living. She focuses on what it’s like being in debt, living paycheck to paycheck, and surviving unemployment while also offering advice and support for others in similar situations - including a FREE library of career & job search resources.
Good to come across you and knowing your niche. It’s a helpful post. U marketed them well. I’m convinced. I’ll check on them. Thanks for sharing xx
Isa A. Blogger