How To Mind Map
Your Business
-- by Michael Southon, http://www.ezine-writer.com
-- http://www.redtienda.com/english/newsletter51.htm#1If you're doing
business on the Web, sooner or later you'll
probably begin to feel like a juggler trying to
keep ten balls flying through the air at the same
time. There are just too many elements in your
business plan to keep them all going at once.
The
solution?
For many
people the solution would be to make a list of
all the key elements in their business plan. But
lists are linear and the Mind doesn't think in a
linear fashion. The Mind thinks in terms of
associations, hierarchy, image, color, form, and
pattern. So to organize your ideas and generate
new ideas, a Map is much more effective than a
list. In fact, at the back of your Mind, you
probably already have a vaguely-defined map of
your online business. A Mind Map is simply a way
of putting that structure down on paper.
Mind
Mapping, also known as 'Radiant Thinking', is a
technique that was developed in the 1970's by
Tony Buzan. A Mind Map consists of a central word
or concept, with 5 to 10 main ideas radiating out
from that central concept.
Here's an
example of a Mind Map for an Internet Business.
At the
center of a blank page are the words 'My Internet
Business Plan', circled. Radiating out from those
central words are seven key ideas, or Basic
Organizing Ideas (BOIs): Search Engine Listings,
Ezine Ads, Newsletter, Link Exchange, Writing
Ezine Articles, Website, Affiliate Programs. Each
of these BOIs is connected to the central circle
by outward-pointing arrows, like the branches of
a tree. You can see an illustration of this Mind
Map at:
http://www.freezineweb.com/mind-map.html
Each
Basic Ordering Idea sprouts a further set of
ideas, also connected by outward-pointing arrows,
like twigs at the end of a branch. For example,
the Basic Organizing Idea 'Ezine Ads' gives rise
to four more ideas: 'Paid Ads, 'Ad Swaps', 'Free
Ads', and 'Ad Tracking'. 'Ad Swaps' in turn gives
rise to two more ideas, 'Newsletter' and
'Website' and so on. Each Basic Organizing Idea
can become the center of another Mind Map.
In one
sense, a Mind Map is simply a map of what you
know about a given topic, in this case your
online business. And so it's a very effective way
of taking an 'inventory' of what you know about a
particular subject at a given moment in time.
But a
Mind Map also causes your brain to make
associations. Because each Basic Ordering Idea
can become the center of another Mind Map, a Mind
Map is capable of producing endless associations.
In fact, if you use a Mind Map, whether you're
writing an Ezine Article, writing an eBook,
designing an entire website, or writing a sales
letter, it's virtually impossible to get
'Writer's Block'; the very structure of a Mind
Map keeps giving rise to new associations.
Another
key benefit of a Mind Map is that it helps you
organize information hierarchically, in a way
that is not possible with lists. The tree-like
structure of a Mind Map is a hierarchy and in the
process of arranging your information along the
'branches' and 'twigs' of a Mind Map, you'll get
a much better grasp of the information you're
dealing with.
So, to
sum up, here are the basic techniques for drawing
a Mind Map:
- 1.
Place a central idea or concept in the middle of
a blank page, and circle it.
- 2. Jot
down 5 to 10 Basic Ordering Ideas, radiating out
from the central concept.
- 3.
Connect each Basic Ordering Idea to the central
concept with outward-pointing arrows.
- 4. As
an aid to creating your Basic Ordering Ideas, ask
yourself: "If the central concept of my Mind
Map were a book, what would be the chapter
headings?"
- 5. Each
Basic Ordering Idea can become the center of
another Mind Map.
You can
find more information about Mind Maps at the
following websites:
http://www.peterussell.com/mindmap1.html
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative/Mindmap/Radiant.html
http://www.shared-visions.com/explore/literature/mindmap.htm
http://www.tsd.jcu.edu.au/netshare/learn/mindmap/howto.html
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