The Mindmap Blog

Mindmapping Contest: Win a Free Copy of MindManager 9!

Chance Brown — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:37:21 +0000

Over the past two years, I’ve shared my thoughts, ideas and resources about mindmapping via The Mindmap Blog. From the beginning I said The Mindmap Blog would focus on “sharing visual mapping tools, resources, and ideas.”

Well, in the spirit of sharing visual mapping ideas, I want to hear from you.

I want to hear how you’re using mindmapping software for education, business or just in your personal life. I want to hear how you’re leveraging mindmapping software to increase your creativity and productivity.

So what’s in it for you?

I will award the top 5 entries (as judged by me) with a free copy of MindManager 9 ($349 value per license). You do not have to use MindManager currently to participate in the contest. However, you do need to use a web-based or computer based mindmapping software program.

As you may or may not know, MindManager 9 is a very robust industry standard mindmapping software program. If you don’t own it, should you win, I am certain it will maximize your mindmapping experience. For more information about MindManager 9, click here.

(Click image to enlarge)

Contest Entry Process

To collect the information about how you’re using mindmapping, I’ve created a form that asks the following questions:

In which area do you primarily use mindmapping software?
In this area, what would you say is the most creative and productive way you’ve used mindmapping?

I am also asking for your name and e-mail address to contact you should you be selected as one of the five winners. Your e-mail address will only be used for the purposes of this contest.

Click here to make your entry.

Contest Duration

The contest starts today and will end on Monday, September 20, 2010. Once the five winners are selected they will be contacted via e-mail and provided with MindManager 9 product key licenses.

I will also feature the winning entries in upcoming blog posts on The Mindmap Blog.

I look forward to reading your entries! Good Luck!

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Become a Better Mindmapper: Chuck Frey Shows You How

Chance Brown — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:33:57 +0000

Chuck Frey, Founder and Publisher of The Mindmapping Software Blog, recently published the 3rd Edition of Power Tips & Strategies for Mindmapping Software. It contains nearly 50 pages of new content, designed to help users of mind mapping software to be more productive, decisive and creative with the programs that they use.

Whether you are new to mindmapping or a pro, this is a great mindmapping resource to have. Personally, I’ve used the book as a collection of best practices in mindmapping.

It is also quite comprehensive, including:

Advanced Mind Mapping Strategies
Interviews
Ask the Experts Section
Case Histories
Mind Mapping Resources

For those of you interested in learning more about mindmapping and expanding your skills, I highly recommend it.

Click Here! (affiliate link) to purchase book.

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A Mindmap for College Freshmen: Ensuring Your Success

Chance Brown — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 23:20:46 +0000

As college freshmen from all over the country prepare for their first year of college, their ultimate goal is to graduate 4 years from now with a degree in hand.

Toni Krasnic, author of “Concise Learning: Learn More & Score Higher in Less Time with Less Effort, recently created a mindmap to help college freshmen excel and graduate.

The mindmap covers 5 key areas essential to success in college and life. These areas include:

Accepting personal responsibility for your learning and success
Re-examining everything
Setting goals and pursuing them
Committing to lifelong learning and growth
Discovering and following your passion

In addition to detailed information on each area, the mindmap also includes motivational quotes for inspiration.

(Click mindmap to enlarge)

Click here to download mindmap from Biggerplate.com.

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The iPad: A Great Platform for Mindmapping

Chance Brown — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:12:48 +0000

I recently purchased an iPad and I must say it’s one incredible device.

For using the Internet, checking e-mail and Twitter, and reading eBooks, I’d say it’s better than my laptop.

It’s also a great platform for mindmapping. I’ve been using iThoughtsHD and I’ve been getting a lot of value from it. What’s particularly nice about iThoughts HD is the Wi-Fi transfer feature. With this feature you can copy mindmaps between your computer and your iPad using a web browser and a Wi-Fi connection.

So no matter if you’re using MindManager, Freemind, Novamind, XMind, iMindmap, or Mindview – you can upload your mindmap over Wi-Fi directly into iThoughtsHD. You can also create mindmaps directly on your iPad using iThoughtsHD. Additionally, the tap gestures for cut, copy, paste and adding and deleting sub-topics are very simple and intuitive.

I highly recommend iThoughtsHD for the iPad. It takes mindmapping to a new and exciting platform.

For a video guided tour of iThoughtsHD, click here.

For more information on mindmapping with the iPad, I suggest you read two articles by a couple of mindmapping thought leaders:

“Momentum is building for mindmapping apps on the iPad” by Chuck Frey, author of The Mindmapping Software Blog
“iThoughts HD: Mindmapping for the iPad” Brian Friedlander, author of the Assistive Technology blog

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Concise Learning: Using Mindmaps to Improve Learning

Chance Brown — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:22:37 +0000

There is a new book out entitled “Concise Learning: Learn More & Score Higher in Less Time with Less Effort” by Toni Krasnic. Simply put this is a transformational book. It teaches a methodology which has the potential of transforming the way students learn (i.e. all students – those in school and life-long learners).

The Concise Learning Method (CLM) has two main components: 1) The 5Ps Process and 2) The 4 Repeating Steps Within Each P.

I’ve created a mindmap to illustrate CLM:

(Click mindmap to enlarge)

Throughout the book Professor Krasnic uses mindmapping to help students learn more efficiently and effectively.

He states:

“Visual mapping is essentially an all-encompassing system to capture all your information. It’s a matter of taking information that you have and with which you are presented and then organizing it in a more useful and meaningful way.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

I highly recommend this book. After reading it, you will never look at learning the same way.

The book is available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Borders. And if you’re interested in a great electronic version, you can purchased it at the Apple iBookstore.

Note: I purchased the book for the Apple iPad and the visual maps and illustrations are incredible! You can even double-tap a visual map and expand it to full screen view. It’s pretty impressive.

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Biggerplate Member Story: Catherine Franz

Chance Brown — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:48:12 +0000

Biggerplate, The Visual Thinking Library, recently featured Catherine Franz, author of Out of the Blog, Into the Light blog in their Member Story Series.

It is a great article about Catherine Franz and her interests. I’ve enjoyed her mindmaps on Biggerplate for a while. So, it was great to learn more about the person. I encourage you take a look at some of her mindmaps on Biggerplate. She does great work.

As is stated in the article:

Catherine has certainly got into the spirit of the site [Biggerplate], and has (to date) uploaded 16 maps and generated over 2000 downloads. Her most popular upload so far has been her “Plan for Developing a Success Mindset” but the range of topics covered by her maps includes advice for aspiring writers (40 Writing Ideas to Pull from Life), social media and online marketing advice (Online Tone of Voice) and general business know-how (Where to get endless referrals).

Previous Biggerplate Member Stories have included Luciano Passuello, author of the ever popular Litemind blog and myself.

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Download Mindmaps, Increase Productivity

Chance Brown — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:54:38 +0000

It used to be that mindmaps were simply about organizing your thoughts spatially with pictures and colors on a piece of paper. Of course, there is still benefit in that. The benefits of mindmapping on a single sheet of paper have been well documented by Tony Buzan in his work on mindmapping.

However, with mindmapping software, mindmapping is a great deal more than that. Today, you can organize and manage all sorts of information quickly and efficiently to increase your productivity.

For many, however, the challenge with increasing productivity comes when trying to create midnmaps using the software. With most mindmapping software programs when you click “new” to create a new map, there is just a blank screen with a central topic box in the middle. This can be rather daunting if you’ve never created a mindmap using mindmapping software.

This is where mindmap libraries can help.

There are mindmap libraries where you can download other people’s mindmaps to create your own. By using other people’s mindmaps as a starting point, you’re able to quickly add and delete topics and sub-topics to create your own unique mindmap. This process of reviewing and editing mindmaps created by other people also gives you insight into the program features they used to create the map. This expands your knowledge of the software.

To find mindmap libraries, simply Google “mind map libraries”.

I recommend Biggerplate.com. That is where I download most of my mindmaps. I also upload mindmaps there as well. Back in February of this year, I wrote a blog post entitled “Biggerplate: A Great Place to Get Mindmaps“.

Since joining Biggerplate.com in 2008, I’ve uploaded 23 mindmaps on a wide-range of topics including financial management, time management, book reviews, and other topics. Apparently my mindmaps are providing value on Biggerplate.com, as I was recently informed by Biggerplate staff that I am the #2 contributor by download with my mindmaps being downloaded a total of 9,329 times as of July 12, 2010.

So, go to Biggerplate.com and download some mindmaps (they don’t have to be mine) to get started mindmapping. Search on topics that interest you and find a map to get started creating your own mindmaps. Also, if you’ve created mindmaps that you’re willing to share, by all means upload it to the community. As the saying goes, “It’s better to give, than to receive.”

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Guest Post: A Mind Map Diet

Alexis Bonari — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:12:38 +0000

I’ve watched my morbidly obese father struggle for decades with his weight. This unbelievably intelligent man has run several successful businesses, but can’t seem to figure out how to shed the pounds he needs to live a healthy life. After trying every diet on the market, failing (multiple times), knowing that losing weight is undeniably psychological, I suggested Mind Mapping how to eat, exercise and live.

Breaking it Down

Scientists have proven that men concentrate on one thing at a time while women are born multi-taskers, so Mind Mapping can work for either gender. Beginning on a blank sheet of paper, in the center, we wrote down his goal, “to lose weight”. Connected to this goal are several related sub topics such as “healthy foods I like”, “foods to avoid”, “exercise” and “reasons to lose weight”. This separation of subjects helps your brain to break down and figure out ways to achieve the ultimate goal of weight loss and healthy living.

Constant Reminders

Connecting the next step sub topics are the “reminders”, for example, attached to “reasons to lose weight” are topics like “playing with my grandson”, “to feel better” and “to live longer”. Drawing pictures of these foods and using visual photos on the map also helps you to remember what you should and should not be doing. Although he is perfectly aware of these things, seeing something in its simplest form on a tangible piece of paper, helps to keep this goal and how to reach this goal at the forefront of your mind. This latest form of simple self help may sound elementary, but has helped many people lose weight and keep the weight off. As for my dad, thanks to Mind Mapping, he is seven pounds lighter and that’s seven pounds more than any other past diet has helped him lose!

About the Author: Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at onlinedegrees.org, researching areas of online colleges. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

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Chuck Frey’s Mind Mapping Insider Program

The Trust Agents Mindmap

Chance Brown — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:24:42 +0000

Recently, I finished reading “Trust Agents” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. I purchased the book because I wanted to gain a better understanding of social media tools and techniques.

After reading the book, I can say without a doubt it provides all kinds of strategies and approaches for effectively leveraging social media. But there was something else I gained from the book that was unexpected.

The authors provided me with a much better understanding of the true potential of the web as it relates to helping people and working more constructively with others.

Though the authors provide detailed explanations of how to leverage Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, what is perhaps more interesting (and important) is their discussion of the Internet as a tool for providing value to others.

This idea of “being human” and doing right by others is a central theme that runs throughout the book. And it is this part, if embraced by enough people, that can transform the way we use the Internet.

In the book, they share their knowledge and experience via six major concepts:

Make Your Own Game
One of Us
Archimedes Effect
Agent Zero
Human Artist
Build Armies

I’ve created a mindmap that summarizes these key concepts:

(Click on Mindmap to Enlarge)

I highly recommend this book. It is one of those books that will expand your thinking about the Internet and social media. But perhaps more important than that, it will expand your thinking about the Internet as a vehicle for helping people and doing good work.

For those interested in downloading the mindmap, go to Biggerplate.com.

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The Mindmap Blog is now a Mindjet “Trusted Voice”

Chance Brown — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 22:46:28 +0000

Today The Mindmap Blog was selected as one of 14 to be a Mindjet Trusted Voice.

Mindjet is one of the leading visual mapping software companies in the world with over 1.5 million professionals using their products.

Additionally, major Fortune 100 companies use Mindjet products including 3M, Philips, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, IBM, Wells Fargo, and Siemens.

In Mindjet’s letter to me, they stated:

“It is individuals like you who help to champion the mapping way of life. And because of your dedication to the mapping community we here at Mindjet want to recognize you. You are just one of 14 people receiving this exclusive invitation to join the Mindjet Trusted Voice program.”

I’ve written many posts about Mindjet’s products over the past two years. I can say from personal experience that their products enable you to increase your productivity and manage information more effectively. So to be recognized as a “trusted voice” by Mindjet is a special honor.

The Mindmap Blog will now display the “Mindjet Trusted Voice” badge (on the right panel). Thanks again Mindjet. I appreciate it.

And obviously I’ll be talking about Mindjet in the future.

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