Your Secret Marketing Weapon
In this post, we'll show you how to use mind mapping as your secret marketing weapon.
Mind mapping is a powerful tool of planning and creativity that allows you to visually organize all your thoughts, ideas and concepts around a central key word or idea. Mind maps can help you deal with issues that seem too big to tackle in the linear format of traditional outline organization.
The combination of visual layout and thinking process makes mind mapping extremely effective for brainstorming sessions because it helps generate multiple solutions to any given problem--literally at the speed of light! Your team then has more options from which to choose, resulting in better outcomes for everyone involved.
So, how can you use this "secret marketing weapon" to bring more leads, sales and income to your business? Just follow these three simple steps.
If you are in a service industry or your Creative Niche is in graphic design, Web design or any other creative field, then Mind mapping is required for you. The truth is, if you don't know how to use mind mapping then your competition does. And that means that they are getting all the clients you could be getting with it. Even if some people call us nerds for using mind mapping software because we are artists and creatives...we still have to learn how to use this thing in order to compete.
If you don't know what mind mapping is, then click here . Learn more about the power of mind mapping .
First, set aside 1-2 hours for yourself and all those people who are important for your business. Don't drag these people with you because the results will only be disappointing, meaning it'll take you 1 hour of your time and they will get nothing out of it except a headache.
You might want to get a pen and some paper or use that little white board in your office. (What not even some stickers could do, we want to make this as hands off as possible. I love the whiteboards because they are fun to use and they are easy to clean afterwards).
The second step is to find a place without distractions. You can go to a quiet room, go outside in your backyard or something like that. Just make sure there are no distractions like phones, as this will interrupt your creativity.
Mind Mapping can be done on many different platforms including the pen and paper method or using simple software (like Inspiration or MindJet ). I am going to show you how I do it using the software I wrote called Inspiration . It's free, highly customizable and has the best interface for mind mapping.
Step 1: Find a Key Word Or Idea
In this step, we are going to find a major keyword or idea that you want to solve during your brainstorming session. For example, if you wanted to target new customers for your business, then finding a keyword such as "new customers" will be a great place to start. This is crucial because it helps you focus on the issue or problem at hand rather than making everything too broad. It's also nice because if it's not clear what that one idea is yet, then you can always find it later on.
Step 2: Break Down the Keyword/Idea Into Multiple Sub-Headings
In this step, we are going to break down the idea into subheadings by using a technique called Topic Maps. If you want to learn more about Topic Maps, click here . "Topic maps allow you to organize ideas and concepts, creating a hierarchical organization that allows users to locate information much more quickly. They are particularly good at organizing complex topics." (via Wikipedia).
You can do this step in different ways. You can use a simple outline mapping website or app like Mind Manager or Super Mind Mapper . Or you can use Inspiration , which is free, highly customizable and has the best interface for mind mapping.
The key is that you want to show all these major topics or ideas on a single map. This will help you organize your brainstorming session in a logical and organized way.
I use Inspiration for mind mapping, but the app that comes with Inspiration is also good for this purpose. It's called Mindjet . You can check it out for yourself here .
Step 3: Fill In the Bigger Circles
In this step, we are going to fill in each of these major topics or ideas by using different colors to represent each of them. As you fill in each topic, don't try to organize them immediately because this will only result in chaos. Imagine "new customers" as a big circle and then fill in sub-topics under it. It is a great idea to start with titles for each of these subtopic circles—a name for each of these circles that makes sense and is easy to remember.
I use colors instead of numbers. If you have ever tried using colors as your brainstorming tools, then you know that colors are way more effective than numbers in your creative endeavors .
As an example, let's look at the Mindjet screencast I created on how I use mind mapping to increase sales . As you can see in the screencast below, a key idea is "causing an increase in sales"--this would be represented by a purple circle. Then you break down that circle into a bunch of sub-topics, such as "lead generation," "creating the right image," etc. Each of these circles will then be represented by a color.
For example, if you are trying to create an image online so that people can think you are trustworthy and dependable, then creating the right image would be represented by blue; if you are trying to lead more people to your website then lead generation would be red; and so on and so forth.
To learn more about using colors for brainstorming (including how I use them), click here .
We are going to be working on the Mindjet software, so I will be explaining briefly how you can use Inspiration with Mindjet.
Open up Inspiration and set it up as follows:
All the important information will be on your toolbar, so all you have to do is sit back and work with it. It is that easy.
The key thing to understand here is that these brainstorming sessions have little value if you don't use Mindjet's new feature called "MindManager" because, in my experience, any time you are using Inspiration without MindManager in it, then your brainstorming session will only yield one main idea--and it's usually not the one that could solve your business problem. Mindjet also has a free app that you can use for brainstorming called Super Mind Mapper . If you aren't using Inspiration and are using only an app like Mindjet, then save yourself the time of trying to understand this by visiting my other blog post on the subject.
I highly recommend that you don't just read the product overview or use their name on your website as it makes them look like they don't have many features.
Key Features (in order of importance)
Mindjet's new feature called MindManager is a very powerful idea-management tool that helps you capture ideas, brainstorm and ensure you have recorded all your thoughts in one place. You can access MindManager from this site .
Conclusion
I think that brainstorming is one of the most under-rated techniques because everyone thinks it sounds complicated—and it is. Mind mapping takes a lot of time, effort and patience to master. You have to first learn how to brainstorm effectively. Once you get used to the process, then all the results will come flying out at you at once.
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What are your favorite tips for brainstorming? Please share in the comments section below.