Tips on why virtual masterminds are so cool!
Yes meeting in person is fantastic! And I do like getting hugs. However, there are many advantages to a virtual mastermind. In 2 minutes you’ll know them.
Category: Brain Storming
Fear and the Entrepreneur
By Stephanie Angelo and Adrianna Huff
Adrianna once wrote, “I had been talking with #HighStakesMastermindGroups about signing up for the mastermind groups and getting my real estate license for months, possibly years, but as my cursor hovered over the “Submit” button I was still full of fear. Thoughts like: Can I do this? Is this the right move?, What if I mess up?, ran through my head.”
According to Psychology Today,
“Fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger — if we didn’t feel it, we couldn’t protect ourselves from legitimate threats. But often we fear situations that are far from life-or-death, and thus hang back for no good reason. Traumas or bad experiences can trigger a fear response within us that is hard to quell. Yet exposing ourselves to our personal demons is the best way to move past them.”
Fear is a normal human reaction. It originally protected us from lion attacks, but is still present in our everyday lives. I’m not exactly running from wild animals in my home in the suburbs, so why do I (did I) feel fear in this situation? In reality, it is because I was jumping into an unknown situation.
According to an article from the Harvard Business Review, “How Fear Helps (and Hurts) Entrepreneurs”, for many entrepreneurs, fear is a constant companion. Not only do you have fear of losing business, but all of your employees could also be hurt if the business is not successful. However, if entrepreneurs get stuck in this fearful mentality, they may find a more challenging climb for their business.
So, that begs the question, what should an entrepreneur do? Have a healthy level of fear. Simple enough, below are a few suggestions.
- Reach out to peers in business or your fellow High Stakes Mastermind Group These individuals have either been in a situation of fear or are feeling fearful. Either way, a supportive and understanding peer advisor or colleague can talk you through possible scenarios and brainstorm situations. Sometimes the hardest part of entrepreneurship is being responsible for all of the decisions. Talking with a like minded individual can be powerful support.
If fear is gripping you – this is not the time to lash out, make knee-jerk decisions, or be dishonest. It’s the time to talk it through. Help and compromise are there to be had. Remember your reputation could be at stake. - Recognize the fear that you have and acknowledge the worst that could happen. Use this fear and understanding to propel yourself forward and push the business in a positive direction. By looking for all the potential issues in the company, you can fix these issues and greatly reduce the fear involved. Consider including steps to mitigate issues and fear in your High Stakes Mastermind Group goal plan.
- Power through. Sometimes fear can lead to paralysis by analysis. When there is such a fear of failure (or success for that matter), it can be easy to analyze over and over again. Instead of getting into this loop of analysis, preventing any actual work, make a decision and move forward. It is likely that most decisions can be modified and reversed if necessary.
Fear is a double edged sword. It can propel entrepreneurs to greatness, or it can prevent them from getting any work done. How do you handle fear?
Handling “Stuckness”
By Adrianna Huff
A few years ago, I started to feel stuck. I didn’t just wake up one morning and feel stuck, but rather it snuck up on me slowly. Since it felt like more of a professional “stuckness”, I started frantically applying for jobs, looking for classes, and haphazardly trying to change my professional world. I wasted a lot of money, and ended up feeling a little burnt out before I found my right direction.
I learned some valuable lessons on feeling stuck and how to handle “stuckness”. Here are the suggestions I would give to myself in the future.
- Assess the current situation:
For me at least, feeling stuck drives from not being challenged. Instead of making a drastic movement to get out of “stuckness”, take a minute and review the situation. Talk about it with a friend, co-worker, or fellow High Stakes Mastermind Group member. Is there a new role or challenge that I can be taking? Can I find a new niche within what I am doing that will give me the challenge? Sometimes, it just takes a little thinking outside the box to find a new opportunity to get unstuck.
- Complete some outside of work training:
While I would like to think I get my entire professional fulfillment from work, this isn’t true. In the future, I would look for classes to take to broaden my career knowledge or personal interests. There are opportunities through Skillshare.com (including those taught by High Stakes Mastermind Group leader, Stephanie Angelo), Coursera.com, local community college classes, and even webinars online. Not only could I have continued to develop myself professionally, but I may have found personal fulfillment in the training. - Research, Research, Research:
I sound like my music instructor from my childhood (practice, practice, practice), but I can’t stress more the importance of research. If you decide to change roles or the way you structure your business, read about the benefits and implications. Make sure it is a good fit, before jumping. - Step away:
One of the best things for me when I feel stuck is to step away from the situation. I don’t mean to completely avoid it, but instead I try to stop focusing on it. Stepping away for a short break provides me with clarity, and allows me to think clearly. Instead of feeling like I must fix the problem, I am able to make sure I know what I need. Again, speaking with a friend, co-worker, or your fellow High Stakes Mastermind participant may provide you with a new perspective. - Make a plan of action:
Instead of acting in panic mode, slowly and carefully make a plan of action. I don’t know of any situations that have been well handled in a reactionary state. Draft up a goal plan (like we do in our High Stakes Mastermind Group) and make logical steps to complete those goals. Either have your High Stakes Mastermind Group hold you accountable or a friend or co-worker can keep you accountable to your new action plan. - Give yourself grace:
If in the end, if you take what you believe to be a well considered leap, and it doesn’t work out, give yourself grace. Everyone makes mistakes, I firmly believe it is better to try something new (and later find out it was not right) than to live in constant fear of not making the right choice. I would rather learn my decision did not completely meet my needs than to live in a state of “if only”.
How do you handle “stuckness”? Do you have any additional suggestions on how to make professional or personal changes?
Adrianna Huff is a member of High Stakes Mastermind Groups
Your Facebook Questions Answered- Part 1
During a High Stakes Mastermind meeting a few weeks ago, we got onto the topic of social media engagement, and especially Facebook. The Facebook platform has 1.4 billion daily active users, and with this tremendous reach, it can be highly useful for entrepreneurs and business owners. During this discussion, there were many questions that came up about Facebook, and I took it as my mission to jot down those questions and get some answers to you. Thus, we have “Your Facebook Questions Answered- Part 1”. Any follow up questions, I will answer in a part 2.
Before I jump into the actual questions and answers, Facebook has training for anyone interested called Facebook Blueprint. There are 90 different webinars, and I have not had a chance to see all of them, but they have a vast amount of information about how to work in Facebook as a business owner. The link to Facebook Blueprint is here.
Let’s jump into the questions:
- Tell me more about the Facebook algorithm. How does it work?
Facebook posted on its newsroom platform in January of 2018, that in 2018 the Facebook algorithm would be focusing more on bringing its users closer together. Instead of just curating the news feed based on user reactions to content, now meaningful posts and comments from family and friends will be ranked higher on individual users news feeds. For example, a user will see in his or her news feed more of the posts that are likely to have or have significant discussion.
In addition, according to a video from Adam Mosseri, Head of News Feed for Facebook, the ranking algorithm focuses on inventory (available Facebook content), signals (age of posting, who posted, your internet connection, etc.), predictions (comment or share likelihood), and relevancy (how interested a user will be). Relevancy, and the age of the content is then used to create a user’s personalized news feed.
So in effect, if content does not have as much engagement, it may fall off a user’s news feed. Users can always choose “See First in News Feed Preferences” to receive all of a page or group’s content, so this will always appear on the news feed.
- How do personal and professional or business Facebook pages work together? What linking is required?
To create a professional business Facebook page, you need to have a personal page. Based on the new Facebook algorithm, posting on both your personal and professional page, and even sharing your professional post from your personal page, would be a reasonable way to increase your reach and create engagement with the content. If your personal page creates discussion about your professional page’s post, this could make its way higher onto the news feed of your Facebook friends and make it more of a highly engaged and shared posting.
- How do you find and analyze your Facebook demographic information?
A Facebook help article, “How do I see data about the people who like my Page”, explains Facebook Insights and how to use that information to look the demographic and like information on your Facebook page. Facebook Insights is a special feature for non-personal Facebook pages that allows you to export data that contains the following: engagement with your page, page performance metrics, and what posts receive the most Facebook engagement.
- How frequently should I post per day?
It depends, which I know is not a great answer, but it does. Depending on what article you read or your goal, it could be anywhere from 1-3 times per day. I would suggest testing different posting strategies to determine optimal engagement for your page. For example, test with one post for a while and see what the engagement looks like. Then test with adding a second post, and see if or how engagement changes.
The most important thing to remember is that creating quality content and driving strong engagement will be the best ways to showcase your posts in the news feed.
- When are the best times to post on social media platforms like Facebook?
According to an article on Sprout Social, “Best Times to Post on Social Media- 2018 Industry Research”, the best times to post on Facebook are Wednesday at 12 and 2 PM and Thursday at 1 and 2 PM. Thursday is the optimal weekday to post on Facebook. Saturday tends to be a low engagement day on Facebook, since users tend to be out and about enjoying their weekends.
Although, I would add, that just like how frequently to post on Facebook, it would be advisable to test how your posts best reach your intended audience. Your Facebook users and audience may be different from the industry standard.
- How do Facebook likes really translate to engagement?
With the latest algorithm, the back and forth of discussion is one of the greatest ways to increase engagement and notice for your work on Facebook. Clicking on content, viewing, and watching content won’t get you the reactions you need. Commenting, sharing, and having a discussion will drive the most engagement. Likes fall somewhere in between. They can be used as a way to gauge if the user finds the content useful, but unless the user comments or engages, that may be the end of the interaction.
Some possible ways to increase engagement, outside of just “likes”, are to create a poll for your audience or include questions on your posts are a great way to encourage comments and interaction from your audience.
- Should I be posting videos on Facebook?
Yes, you should definitely be posting videos into Facebook, and live videos are better than pre-recorded videos. Based on Facebook research, “live videos on average get six times as many interactions as regular videos”. Videos are what drive Facebook interaction, and to work with the latest algorithm, videos are going to be one of the best ways to get your content noticed.
Additionally, posting videos directly in Facebook, instead of posting an external link, for example, may aid you in getting your posts seen by more users in the news feed.
Facebook is a constantly evolving social media platform, so it’s always a good idea to continue to check into the Facebook Newsroom for updates. With that in mind, how do you use Facebook? What other Facebook questions do you have?
Written by guest writer Adrianna Huff in collaboration with High Stakes Mastermind Groups
Taking the Silo out of Solo
What does it mean to take the “silo out of solo”?
You’ll often hear me say that in High Stakes Mastermind Groups we take the “silo out of solo”. But what exactly does that mean? Here’s the thing: it is lonely at the top.
What that means is that when you’re at the top of an organization, whether you have lots of employees or just a few, maybe you’re a solopreneur with no one around but your office cat, you’ll frequently find that you don’t really have anybody that you can talk to. Especially when it’s within your own company. You’re solo – going at it alone. You’re not going to tell your employees your insecurities, that you have doubts, that you’re debating about signing a new contract, or about a choice that you might make with marketing, or a new product, or any number of things that happen in the day-to-day.
There are hundreds of choices that business owners have to make. And there’s an uncomfortable feeling of having to keep up appearances. Typically that of confidence. How can a team leader, or company leader, show their employees and coworkers that they have occasional doubts and insecurities? We are all human, and we all have these emotions from time to time. But there’s a really difficult stigma, when you’re at the top of an organization, to show these vulnerabilities. But here you are; solo, and in a silo.
Tales from a Bad Experience
In High Stakes Mastermind Groups we welcome those vulnerabilities at the times they occur. I had my own personal experience years ago when I was a member of my very first mastermind group. A friend of mine had invited me to be in this group and it was led by one of the members, which in and of itself is the first mistake because I strongly believe that all mastermind group should be led by an outside facilitator that isn’t a part to the actual mastermind itself. But getting back to the story there was a day when I was under tremendous stress and I was feeling extremely emotional as a result of it. During the meeting I vented. I cried and I was emotional. I felt that of all people, these were the ones that would have my back.
Or so I thought. Imagine my shock when three days after that meeting I got a call from the so-called “leader”, who told me that she and the other members had decided that they didn’t want me in the group anymore. I was shocked and deeply, deeply, hurt. The only person who really didn’t support that choice was the same person who had invited me to the group in the first place.
Going Forward
That experience taught me that in my own mastermind groups I will never let that happen to a member. I’ve told all members when they begin a group that I never allow anyone to be abusive to anybody else, but should the day occur where somebody is having particular trouble, and they need the rest of us to support them, we would be there for them. No questions asked. And we’ve had to be there for our members from time to time. But truthfully it doesn’t happen very often. Our meetings are business based. We conduct business and we hold one another accountable to meeting our business goals. We are a group of strong achievers. But even a strong achiever feels like they’re in a silo from time to time. And that is my why to take the “silo out of solo”. You can even hear a little clip where I reference that during a radio interview: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0gq8tyogjtbte1y/Take%20the%20Silo%20out%20of%20the%20Solo.mp3?dl=0
If you ever find yourself feeling like you would be stronger if you were part of a tribe, and that your business would benefit by having like-minded achievement-oriented individuals around you, who would accept you warts and all, give us a call: 480.646.2400 We’d love to hear from you.