06th Feb 2008
Getting your thoughts on paper
Your mind is buzzing, your senses are on fire as the ideas come to you thick and fast - you can’t write them down quick enough and you just know that some gems are going to disappear into the ether.
Or you’re listening hard, you want to capture every ounce of wisdom you’re hearing but as you write you’re missing other vital information. Sound familiar?
It was certainly a familiar scenario for me when I used to make my notes in linear form. When I discovered Tony Buzan and his mind mapping it opened up a whole new world. I could capture my ideas, brainstorm creatively and remember what I’d heard with simple keywords on a mindmap.
I remember attending a seminar in 2002 where Ivan Misner was speaking about business networking. I made notes; on a mindmap in a notebook that was no more than 10cm x 6.5cm - that was pretty small! I transferred my mindmap, complete with images to a larger map when I got back to my office. I still refer to that mindmap and in fact have written articles and given presentations to business groups using the material as my foundation.
But I’m not aiming to convince you about how wonderful mind mapping is as a business tool - you may already know that. No, what I want to share with you today is the mind mapping program that has been created by Tony Buzan and his team.
You see, up to now I’ve used Mind Manager from Mindjet. And I’ve got quite proficient at using it for most of my creative work. But today I discovered iMindMap, which has a more organic feel that ties in with Buzan’s concept of mind mapping and the way our brains function.
So I downloaded the evaluation 7-day trial copy and gave it a whirl. And I love it! It is extremely easy to use and - for me - looks just right, completely organic like the mind maps you’d draw by hand.
And, just to show you what I mean, I created a mindmap to match one of my earlier posts: 8 elements of a compelling sales letter. Here it is:
The other point that impressed me is the reasonable cost - just £58.69 per user license compared to £199 for Mind Manager.
I think I’m converted 
If you like the flow of hand-drawn mind maps you’ll love this software too.
You can download a free trial copy at www.iMindMap.com/drwriter and test it for yourself. And yes, that is an affiliate link. If you’d rather not use the affiliate URL you can just go straight to www.iMindMap.com
I’m off to get some more ideas down using my new mindmapping software, ciao for now
~ Carol Bentley
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Carol - thanks for this blog - very useful. May be worth checking out FreeMind which I’ve found to be a good alternative for mind mapping and is Open Source (i.e. free). http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Best wishes, Peter
Reply from Carol
Peter - thank you. I did download FreeMind a while ago but I never really got on with it, certainly not enough to entice me away from Mind Manager at the time.
Hi Carol, This looks great when you do it but I bought Tony Buzan’s book years ago and thought he was a charlatan. Maybe I’ll give it another whirl as clearly - you are writing and I am not!
All the best, Jeannie
Reply from Carol
Hi Jeannie,
to be honest - apart from buying Tony’s book Get Ahead - I haven’t had much to do with the guy himself. But I have found the mind mapping process very energising and stimulating. For example I use it when I’m creating headlines. I’m sure that without it I would never have come up with the 237 headlines I crafted for a client’s new campaign a few months ago.
I also use it when developing new products, such as the book publishing guide I’m currently working on. For me, it just makes it easier to organise my thoughts and add ideas as they occur to me.
As I said, I really like the software they’ve developed but if you’re not keen on dealing with the Buzan company then try the FreeMind program suggested by Peter in the previous comment before deciding if buying a software tool is the right step for you.
Kind regards
Carol
[…] Getting your thoughts on paper […]
Hi Carol, did you check out NovaMind? It has the best of both worlds - flexibranches give you the organic look, and you can move your branches around wherever you like, and they have great graphics libraries etc so you can make great looking mind maps. In novamind you also have the ability to make your mind maps really quickly with hotkeys or with their “branchstorm” mode, which is one thing I don’t like about iMindMap - it’s too slow to make the branches.
So you get great looking mind maps as well as quick and easy creation. I use the platinum version of NovaMind on Mac (they have a windows version too), and love the presentation system - much better than any other mind mapping prog.
All the best
Katia
Reply from Carol
Hi Katia,
thanks for the info. It’s great that so many people are sharing their experiences with the different mind mapping programs available. This is not one I’ve come across but sounds interesting from how you describe it. Certainly worth a look for anyone hasn’t yet decided.
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Hiya - Found this page googling for discussions on sales letter…. on my way to that post now - looks interesting!
Sarah
This looks quite interesting. I can see how this would help to make sure all critical elements get included.
Especially when you’re first learning how to write dynamic copy. It can be daunting when you’re looking at a pile of research and wondering where to start. Sectioning it off could certainly make it an easier - more systematic approach.
If you want to know some lethal copywriting techniques I’d suggest Shaune Clarke’s freelance copywriter’s coaching - it is the best I’ve been through.
It’s here…
copywritingseminars
Lee