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Small Business Marketing

Should You Really Join A Mastermind Group? (A Potentially Contrarian Opinion)

Should You Really Join A MastermindI had a chat about mastermind groups today. You know – mastermind groups, networking groups, meetings with alliteration in the name. (Women Who Work! The Wednesday Wowers! The Networking Nerds!) Basically, we’re talking formalized methods of getting together to support one another.

The person I was talking to is on the fence. She dreams of a mastermind group that truly supports her. She wishes for a group of business owners who are her “right people”. She is hoping to find her tribe.

Her conflict stems from two places. One, she doesn’t know if those people exist. Two, if they do exist, they might be hard to find.

The process of separating “right people” from “Oh my God, I hate these people” might be gruelling.

This is a common issue. The perks of a great mastermind group are, well, great. And bad mastermind groups are the ninth ring of hell. Sorting through an unknown number of bad ones to maybe find a good one is unpleasant.

So what should you do? Here’s my advice…

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What If You Tried Really Hard?

What If You Tried Really Hard?

When I was in the process of quitting smoking, I was having a discussion with somebody and heard myself say this:

“God, I’m just trying SO HARD, you know?”

After making this (in hindsight quite self-pitying) statement, I had a thought.

“Am I trying hard?”

Like, I’m certainly thinking about it a lot. I’m guilting myself a considerable portion of the day. I’m embroiling myself in the drama a lot.

Sure, I’m putting a significant amount of effort into talking about how difficult it is, self-flagellation, whining, reading endless articles on the Internet, and sundried other ignoble pursuits, but am I putting a comparable amount of effort into not putting a cigarette into my mouth and setting fire to the end?

On observation, it would appear that I wasn’t. I wasn’t trying very hard at all.

So, what would trying really hard look like?

It would look like this…

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Success Happens AFTER This Part

Success Happens AFTER This Part
A few weeks ago a client brought me two domain names and asked which one he should choose.

Both names were perfectly fine – one was a little more geared towards SEO keywords, and the other leaned towards being better for personal branding.

Which one to choose? What choice would give better results?

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4 Ways To Clean Up Your Email List

4 Ways To Clean Up Your Email List

List bloat! The bane of online marketers everywhere! (Or so it’s said.) For the uninitiated, we’re talking about inactive subscribers on your email list.

These may be truly inactive subscribers (abandoned email accounts or people who filter out your email) or de facto inactive people who tend to never open – or respond to – your emails.

These inactive individuals create what’s called “list bloat” (well, at least that’s what we call it), and from time to time a little spring cleaning may be in order.

Beth asks:

“I know for CERTAIN that I have bloat on my list, and I’m not sure what to do about it. So my question is, ‘How can I get rid of the non-buyers who are clogging up my list and inflating my numbers?'”

So let’s talk about that, shall we?

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