I was talking to my friend Peter Shankman last week about his amazing masterminds event series ShankMinds. Peter is one of Social Fresh Conference‘s highest rated speakers of all time. He inspires audiences more than any speaker I’ve seen.
And his ShankMinds events magnify that experience into a full day immersion. It’s a really great networking and strategy reset for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and small business owners.
The more we talked about some of the things Peter facilitates at his events, the more I wanted to share a taste of his insights in this week’s Tip.
MasterMinds are an investment I recommend for anyone in marketing or running a business. These kinds of events are great for confirming what you know and stretching your creative legs.
Plus, the networking and relationship building is a huge long term win.
One of the things I think Peter is great at and really helps others with, is getting smart marketers and business people to think about their challenges from a new perspective. To reset their thinking. To get out of a rut, marketing, creative, or otherwise.
Let’s walk through just a few of the ways Peter and his event do this. You can attend one of Peter’s next MasterMinds or you can just add these to your repertoire in your own way.
1. Connect With People Outside Your Industry
At ShankMinds events, there are business owners, startups, agency pros all working right next to each other. Technology, retail, consumer, healthcare, education, non-profits, ecommerce, etc.
Every day you work on your business, on your clients, on your specific challenges and industry constants. When you work with people outside of your space, you learn things from them, from their industry, that you would otherwise never think of.
2. Help Someone Else Solve A Problem
At mastermind events, everyone contributes to help solve everyone else’s challenges. Whether you are at an event like ShankMinds or stuck at home trying to finish writing the next great American novel and getting nowhere with it — helping someone else solve a problem can do wonders for opening up your mind to new ideas.
3. Become A Part of a Diverse Network
If you know me, you know that I find online networking groups incredibly valuable. Especially when they are geared towards mutual problem solving.
One of the things I love about what Peter is doing with his events is that there is an online alumni network attendees can sign up for after the event to keep the benefits going.
Join a group like this. Preferably more than one. And the more diverse the community, with smart people from inside and outside of your industry, the better.
4. Let Other People Solve Your Problems
We all have blind spots. We all, occasionally, get too close to our business, to our challenges, to see the solution staring us in the face.
A group of self starters at an event like ShankMinds can help you break open the challenges you are facing and get a new list of solutions to test. They might reaffirm what you already know, or point out solutions you never saw coming.
5. Volunteer Your Time Once A Month
One of the things Peter practices, and a tip he gives all ShankMinds attendees, is to volunteer for something once a month. Whether it is helping at a dog shelter or helping build a house for someone in need, get your hands dirty.
Go do something for something bigger than yourself.
I love this tip. And it falls right in line with my believe that in order to be more creative, we all have to constantly and intentionally brush up against life.
BONUS. Test A Lot
One result of an event like ShankMinds is you’re going to get a lot of advice. A ton of ideas.
And you’re going to judge many of those ideas harshly, for better or worse. We all do.
Instead of exalting the ideas you immediately believe in and writing off the rest, search for a larger list of ideas you can test. Especially as a marketer.
We paint ourselves into a corner too often in doing what we’ve always done. Try something new. Test it all. Even some of the absurd ones. Even the obvious ones.
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All of these experiences build up the raw materials that help us make better connections, help us achieve more happy collisions.
I get no money out of this. I just believe in the benefits of these actions and events like Peter’s. And the success I have seen Peter create, over and over, for years. Check out ShankMinds and see when Peter is coming to your city next.
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