This is my wheelhouse but unfortunately I am heads down putting the final touches on my MastermindTalks event. If this hasn't been answered in the next 2 or 3 weeks, I will come back in to reply... Good luck!

People obviously pay for perceived value. Use the free meetups as fodder for your monetized product.

1. Take the questions/topics talked about at the meetings
2. Host paid calls / web conferences / teleseminars answering those questions
3. Sell access to recordings, slides, or transcripts of those calls
4. Host expert interviews related to the above, record them, repeat step #3.
5. Repackage Steps #2, #3, and #4 into your own business consulting business
6. Funnel the leads from Step #5 into a paid weekly call or one-on-one consulting.

If you have other questions, or need a more detailed outline, feel free to book a call.

To your success,
-Shaun

I think you need a marketing funnel that adds successive amounts of benefits/value in exchange for successively larger payments. You have the right objective. I'd be happy to discuss it with you. I use the same type of ascension model for my own businesses, some of which use group coaching and mastermind concepts. I have studied this extensively for my own purposes and I'm happy to discuss with you. The concept you have will expose a wealth of content opportunities for monetization if you design it correctly.

After hosting Masterminds since 2000, here's the groove which seems to work best for me.

Since I'm very lazy or efficient, if you're willing to work hard this formula will work even better for you.

:::: My Bias

Turn each Mastermind into multiple + escalating income streams.

Think about booking 1,000,000 into your room rather than 10.

:::: General Flow

1) Hold Masterminds

2) Publish recordings + transcripts for free

3) Arrange for increasing income over time

:::: Holding Masterminds

This might be live with a group of people like http://Meetup.com groups, which is how I started.

Format which seemed to work best - creating most energy in room + most buzz afterwards from attendees to their friends is...

Get together 3+ very smart people as a panel. Put them in front of a room, then do the normal 1st Round

Round #1 - attendees have 60 seconds to state their name + top priority to solve + any background info required. I had someone use an egg timer to beep when 60 seconds were up.

Round #2 - moderator + panel members answer have <5 each to answer how they'd resolve each top priority.

Round #3 - optional, each panel member has 5 minutes to talk about something which seems useful to attendees, based on Round #1 + Round #2 conversations.

Record everything.

I use to do these in my living room, so I'd just drop several HD digital records in 2 places in room. Do one loud clap after all records are recording, so audios can be synced.

:::: Mastering

Be sure to normalize all audio, so all people speaking have same volume level.

:::: Publish Mastermind Content

Post recordings in YouTube (add a resource block as single video frame to transform audio into video). Be sure to turn auto transcript on.

Post recordings in iTunes.

Post recordings on your site + transcripts.

:::: Monetization

YouTube - turn on advertising.

iTunes + YouTube - be sure recordings promote your brand (preferably a Website which can be typed in a browser bar easily) + your channel info contains links to your site.

On your site, buy traffic from OutBrain + place Ads from Adsense to start + add other traffic sources + Ad Networks over time.

:::: Wrap Up

This allows you to run any type of Mastermind either for free or paid (to reduce attendance to manageable levels).

The publish recordings/transcripts for free + generate some massive income via Ad Networks monetization.

I am the organizer of three local meetups and host 5 meetups a month through my groups. This puts me in front of 100 plus people a month. To monetize your meetup, I suggest you add a monthly 1-2day paid event where you provide a higher level of value to the attendees and use your free meetups a feeder for prospects to get introduced to you and your services. The feeder meetups will give you a platform to book up your paid event. Also, as the organizer of your group you can provide weekly tips to add value. Offer every new member a free consultation to introduce to the group and your services. I generate weekly inbound calls just from my meetups. Book a call with me if you would like more info or to explore other options to monetize your meetup.

Define the target for your group and what pain point you are solving for them.
You can work on a lead sharing concept and can charge for that.
Also, you may want to start a sponsor slot where external business can present their offering in this group.

We tried starting one with our chapter of NAWBO. Everyone seems interested in it, but yet no one is willing to sign up or actually participate in it. As far as pricing goes - we are priced a few hundred dollars cheaper than other groups in the region.