Hi there, Small Biz Tech Girl here, ready to help you put the power of the Internet and technology to work for your business.
Are you the kind of person who can understand something better when you draw a picture? Or do you have clients who want to see a diagram of what you're telling them? Mind mapping software could do the trick.
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Back to mind mapping software.
I'm the kind of person that likes to draw diagrams to explain everything, but my freehand illustration skills are lacking. So I've been searching for the perfect software to create flowcharts and flexible, colorful diagrams to get my point across. That's how I learned about mind mapping. What is Mind Mapping?
Mind mapping software has a lot of the features I need to create the diagrams I need. According to Wikipedia, a mind map is "a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks and other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea." Phew! People use mind maps to
Generate ideas and brainstorm, Better visualize their ideas, or Create a structure out of their ideas.
People swear by mind mapping as a way to solve problems and make decisions, particularly when there are a lot of tasks or ideas involved in a process.
Using Mind Maps for Business
I have found several uses for mind maps for small business owners like myself. You can
Illustrate your company's lines of business or revenue streams to see the big and small picture; Create an organizational chart for your staff or independent contractors to understand your company infrastructure; Diagram out your client list and add related tasks for each client to get a sense of your workload; Show a step-by-step process map to help people - like your staff or clients - understand how something works such as work flow; Illustrate a concept because as they say, "A picture is worth 1000 words." Helpful Mind Mapping Software
Some of my favorite mind mapping software is free online. I like Bubbl.us at B-U-B-B-L-dot-U-S because you can start creating a diagram immediately without having to read complex instructions. The simplicity of a tool really wins me over every time and Bubbl.us is so easy to use. Just click and add connecting bubbles, quickly change the bubble colors, and drag parts of the diagram or the entire image around on your screen to achieve the look you want.
You can export your finished Bubbl.us diagram as a JPEG or PNG image or as XML or HTML. You can also lift the HTML code for your diagram and embed it into your Web site or blog or share your diagram with others as read-only or with permissions for them to collaborate.
A very elegant mapping solution is Spinscape. Like many online tools, Spinscape is platform independent so you can work on the Web with any current Web browser or even with your iPhone. While Spinscape's diagrams are far superior to the simple little Bubbl.us, the learning curve is that much steeper. If you have never used a mapping or flowcharting program before, I'd start with the simple and graduate to the more complex and feature-rich. You can export your gorgeous Spinscape diagrams as PDF files or MindManager maps. MindManager is a mapping product of MindJet and costs about $129 for the desktop software for individuals. Prices go up as you add collaborators. Spinscape has a free level with 30-days of premium features to whet your appetite. Their premium level costs $9.99 a month or $100 per year.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Flowchart.com when talking about online diagrams. Flowchart.com is a much more traditional flowcharting program and provides helpful templates to get you started. I didn't find this online software to be as intuitive or flexible as I needed, but when it comes to software, it ends up being about your personal preferences so it might be perfect for you. Another mapping software product that I recently downloaded to test is called MindMap and is part of a larger package of planning, diagramming and project management software called ConceptDraw. You can purchase MindMap individually for $199.
Bottom Line: You can use mind mapping to illustrate concepts, tasks and information to help you, your staff, clients, and others better understand the things you want to explain.
Contact Me
That's all we have time for today. Visit the show's website at smallbiztechgirl.quickanddirtytips.com for links to all of the sites mentioned in the show and a few extras including some of my mind maps. If you'd like to ask a question or request a topic for Small Biz Tech Girl, e-mail me at smallbiztechgirl@quickanddirtytips.com or leave a message by calling 206-339-6279. And remember to get your web hosting and domain name needs taken care of at GoDaddy.com and use the code POD111 for a 10% discount on any product at GoDaddy.com.
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Small Biz Tech Girl's Quick And Dirty Tips For Boosting Your Business With Digital Tools is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips network at quickanddirtytips.com. Tune in for another business boost from Small Biz Tech Girl, the host who's not afraid to go under the Internet's hood & get a little dirty!
