A couple of weeks ago my buddy “Tea-Bag Smith” came out for a visit to the LaJolla Headquarters. Tea Bag is Frank Kern’s derelict cousin Trey from Macon Georgia.

His website is ultra famous in somewhere like Bulgaria or something I think. It’s incredibly informative and really does a great job of giving away valuable content. See for yourself at… http://www.treylives.com

Anyhow, just to prove to you how idiotic Trey is I submit to the jury… Evidence piece number one… http://twitpic.com/zgk

Now who in their right minds would think those dudes were pulling in millions of dollars on the internet while acting like Eric Cartman 90% of the time? This blog post does have a purpose, trust me. I’ll get to that now.

So Trey and I were talking a bit about “masterminds” and how effective they really were. Both of us agreed they were great ways to spawn new ideas, and the banter between like minded people was great. But there still seemed to be something missing in most of the masterminds that I’ve been a part of or witnessed.

And that missing piece is a “brotherhood”.

It’s a step beyond the mastermind. Because let’s face it, even in the mastermind sessions most people don’t expose everything. Everyone is usually holding back on revealing all their cards no matter how close the mastermind group is. Inevitably there will always be a few people who don’t respect the entire group and are there to rape and pillage ideas and profit from them.

Luckily for Trey, he’s in a wicked killer mastermind group. One that most would salivate to be part of. But not all mastermind groups are of the same value.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that you should steer clear of mastermind groups. Far from it. But I do encourage you to be very selective about who you choose to share your ideas with. And preferably, pick a lot of people that are way smarter then you!

Ultimately though, you want to craft a “Brotherhood” of guys or gals that you feel 100% secure with. I’ll admit, it’s not always that easy to find this type of click or gang to attach yourself to, but when you do it’s even more powerful then the mastermind.

And when you are in the brotherhood, there is no doubt that you are there for genuine purposes and not to leach ideas and money from the others. When you find this type of brotherhood, everything changes. Everything becomes easier all the sudden. And it creates a atmosphere where real ideas can freely be shared and built upon without fear that someone is going to ape your invention and run off to the marketplace with it by next week.

Even better then the networking, ideas, and money the brotherhood can yield is the old fashion “fun factor”. I’d take fun over money any day of the week. Give me ten dollars and a surf board and I’m a billion times richer then some schmuck stuck in traffic to his corporate suit and tie gig that pays him 5 million a year. No thanks.

I’ll just chill with the brotherhood and relax.

In the next couple years things are going to get really crazy online. Heck, they are already crazy, but I sense a HUGE shift in the marketing world, and if you don’t have some brothers on your team, it may be much harder then you are prepared for.

So if you are currently in a mastermind, or thinking about getting into one, I urge you to think a bit beyond that as well. Try to pinpoint some other folks who match your ideals, lifestyle, and aspirations and see if you can evolve that into a “Brotherhood”.

The key is finding people “like you”. A church preacher is very unlikely to join the brotherhood of the “Hells Angels” just as a multi millionaire is probably not going to be spending a ton of time with a newbie with too many questions.

Gauge where you are at, where you want to be, and whom you can align yourself with that makes sense in the long haul. Look for brothers, not just mastermind dudes who don’t respect the mastermind.

I’ve been very fortunate to be able to see some incredibly successful masterminds develop in front of my eyes. ie Eben Pagan, Frank Kern, Jeff Walker, and others in that circle all have some deep stuff going on. I’ve been even more fortunate to bypass the whole mastermind thing and get right down to joining the brotherhood.

And let me tell you, the perks are much better.

And heck, the fridge is always stocked with cold Mexican Beers when you’re with your brothers.

Peace,

J-Mo