For the past two weeks, we’ve talked about mastermind groups pros & cons, and how you can join these groups via Facebook.

However, we missed out on one, crucial part of the mastermind group discussion: you don’t actually have to have a Facebook account or actually use your Facebook account to participate.

Facebook is only one of many ways to be an active participant in a mastermind community. If you want to reap the benefits of a mastermind group, you might want to consider being part of both online and offline mastermind groups.

This is especially the case if you want to take advantage of in-person mastermind group benefits such as networking and collaboration.

So what other options are out there for those that don’t want to rely exclusively on Facebook-based mastermind groups?

Here are some places you can look, if you want to join a mastermind group, without registering for or using an existing Facebook account.

1) The Success Alliance Mastermind Group Listings

The Success Alliance has a database on its website of mastermind groups that’s updated regularly.

If you’re looking for a mastermind on success and business topics this is a good place to look.

All of the listings quickly address common questions such as who the group is for, how to contact the administrator, etc:

If none of the listed groups appeal to you, the site also offers a training program for readers that are interested in starting their own mastermind group.

However, the training program is optional. Regardless of whether or not you decide to participate, you can also use the site as a forum for advertising your mastermind group.

2) Meetup Groups

I’m an enthusiastic supporter of the MeetUp website because it does such a great job of bringing people together, who have mutual interests and values.

But did you know that it’s also a great place to find out what mastermind groups? Yeah, not even kidding!

For instance, here’s what happened when I did a very general search for mastermind groups:

You can also narrow down your search and find ones in your area. I’m Toronto-based so I did a search for masterminds within 2 miles of my city:

I highly recommend Meetup if you want to meet people that live in your area, in person, and effectively network with like-minded professionals.

3) Eventbrite

Eventbrite is a bit like meetup, except it’s a lot likely to list events that are expecting a large audience.

However, it’s also a great place to find mastermind groups in your area. Any mastermind groups that you don’t find on Meetup will likely be on Eventbrite, and vice versa.

In fact, my search on EventBrite produced completely different results:

Did I mention that these were only a few of the results? When I hit the “See More” button, hundreds of other relevant suggestions showed up on screen.

4) Your Community

Stop for a second, and think about what there is to do in your community. Here are some questions to help you with your brainstorming process:

• Is there one or more community centers?
• Is there a nice church that lets people use some of their rooms for community events?
• Are you affiliated with an academic institution in some shape or form?
• What about the local library? What kinds of events happen there?

On a day when you’ve got nothing to do, go talk to leaders of the community environments that you have at your disposal, and/or pay attention to brochures and posters on community bulletin boards.

Check out related social media groups as well for any updates on what’s new at your library, local “Y”, or any other place that’s open to members of the community.

Sometimes all you have to do is pay close attention, to find out about mastermind groups in your community.

5) Check out relevant forums

Forums for business owners and freelancers are a great place to find out about mastermind groups because sometimes group leaders will advertise that they’re looking for new members.

Fizzle.co and Freelance Folder, for instance, are two great places to look to find out about the latest community news and mastermind groups that are looking for new members.

If you’re interested in joining a mastermind group, sign up for a membership on a forum that’s niche relevant or search for masterminds in your area on Reddit.

6)  Do some digging on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is actually a really great place  for mastermind groups.

For instance, here’s what happened when I searched for mastermind groups:

LinkedIn masterminds are structured a lot like Facebook Mastermind groups, except you don’t have to have a Facebook account to join.

7) Do a Twitter Search

If you want to join a mastermind group, and you want to focus exclusively on a specific one that interests you, you can always search Twitter.

A lot of mastermind groups and mastermind information databases create Twitter accounts to attract new members.

First things first, log in to your twitter account and then type in “mastermind groups” + a demographic or interest. See below for an example:

Then, do some digging. See what’s out there. And try a wide variety of relevant keywords. If you can’t find what you’re looking for reach out to the Twitter community, and ask if they know of any cool mastermind groups out there. You never know what you might find.

8) Google Mastermind Craigslist Listings

I know what you’re thinking: “Ew, Craigslist! I’m not spending any more time on there!” And believe me, I get it because I’ve also had bad experiences on Craigslist.

But if you filter out all the bullshit, by doing a quick Google search, you’ll find ads from actual masterminds, looking for new members.

First google “craigslist”:

Then, under the “results from craigslist” tab, type in “masterminds for freelancers”:

And then hit enter, and voila, info about Canadian mastermind groups will show up on screen:

You can follow the same steps, in order to find mastermind groups on any popular online classified site.

When all else fails just ask around. Ask all the creative people that you’ve met on places like Twitter chats, blogs (including this one), networking events, and even your friends, and friends of friends.

Although mastermind groups take a bit of work, digging, and research to find them, I guarantee that you won’t regret it all.

Where else have you found out about mastermind groups, and which ones were the most useful to you? Feel free to comment in the comment section below.