Website Creation Rule #1: Think First

I have to admit: I've used mind mapping software for years. And yet, when I decided to create a website for my freelance writing business, the first thing I did was try to come up with a good home page headline.

Strong words are vital to a home page--any home page. But what makes a site work is the overall design and navigation, and the content you provide to visitors.

So the second thing I did was to open up a ConceptDraw MINDMAP and start figuring out what I wanted on my site. Here are the general areas I broke my site into:

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wasn't presenting myself the way I wanted to be seen by potential customers. The two main things I specialize in are developing strategies that help companies get noticed, and creating content--all kinds of content. Very often, the strategy involves content creation. But not always. So I keep them separate:

So now I have the basic skeleton of what I want my website to communicate. I'll post again soon (I'm not going to commit to tomorrow just in case...) on how to use MINDMAP to capture and organize in one place all the content and links you're going to need for your site.

CS Odessa Reduces Price on ConceptDraw MINDMAP v7

Many have discovered the benefits that mind mapping brings to their work, studies, and personal development. Mind mapping helps manage all daily tasks faster than ever before. Use mind mapping to power through obstacles, leap from one work scenario to another without missing a beat.


Professionals after seeing the benefits of mind mapping, have also seen software prices climb. The cost to be more efficient has just gone up. Want the increased productivity, but the thought of paying more is not appealing.

In response to customer feedback, CS Odessa is reducing the price of ConceptDraw MINDMAP to the pricing of our previous product version (single quantity) from $219 USD to $199 USD. We are rolling our prices back to the same level as our previous products. Now buy our newest version, and get:

- Apple® OS X Lion® compatibility

- Microsoft® Windows® 7 (32bit/64 bit support) w/ ribbon interface

- Import and export Microsoft Project® files

- Built-in presentation mode with export to Microsoft PowerPoint® or Apple Keynote®

- Import and export Mindjet® MindManager® maps

- Generate, publish and track Tweets from a mind map

- Embed documents into your mind map file for easy sharing of information with others

- Multiple display capability

- ConceptDraw Solution Park adds valuable plugin solutions to core ConceptDraw MINDMAP

- Generate task and milestone reports based on project data

• Organizational Charts *
• Risk Diagrams *
• Fishbone Diagrams*
• Etc.

Continue to receive our no charge technical support (phone and web-based tickets), all minor upgrades at no charge, and access to new ConceptDraw Solutions as they are released. The combination of product functionality, exemplary support, innovative solutions, and lower cost of ownership make ConceptDraw MINDMAP a winning strategy for any individual or organization.



* also requires ConceptDraw PRO v9 to be installed

ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7; imports and exports Mindjet MindManager files



ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7 has powerful import and export capabilities.
All ConceptDraw products are equally adept on Macintosh and PC computers.



Open your mind mapping options! ConceptDraw MINDMAP version 7 imports and exports Mindjet MindManager files. With ConceptDraw MINDMAP you have great flexibility in working with others. Plus ConceptDraw MINDMAP closely integrates with ConceptDraw PROJECT that allows you to professionally manage your resources, tasks, phases and milestones. Both ConceptDraw MINDMAP and ConceptDraw PROJECT are integrated with ConceptDraw PRO inside of ConceptDraw Office to build dynamic dashboards; and design and document any workflow or process.

CS Odessa’s INGYRE2 technology shares your data between applications, improving your productivity. In addition to Mindjet MindManager, ConceptDraw integrates closely with Microsoft Office.

Mindmapping for writers

If you're interested in learning more about how to use mind mapping as a tool for writing, check out my 3-part series. It can be found at:

1. The Writerly Life: Mind Mapping for Writers: If you're more artist than engineer, this approach is for you.

2. Nick Daws' Writing Blog: Mind Mapping for Writers: If you're more artist than engineer, this approach is for you.

The series takes you from brainstorming and organizing ideas to progressing from ideas in a map to words on a page.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP Tutorial: Improve Your Meetings PART 2

This is the second tutorial about using ConceptDraw MINDMAP to improve your meetings. In the first tutorial, we talked about how to use MINDMAP to prepare a rich agenda of an upcoming meeting. This tutorial will focus on how to use the same basic map from meeting to meeting to save time, improve the efficiency of your meetings, and to keep all of your projects on track.



You can also watch the YouTube version of Part 2 of using ConceptDraw MINDMAP to improve meetings.

Subscribe to CSO: The World of ConceptDraw.

ConceptDraw Products “Compatible with Windows 7”

CS Odessa has just been notified that its ConceptDraw products passed the standards of compatibility, reliability and performance for use with the Windows 7 operating system. ConceptDraw Office 1 - ConceptDraw PRO 8, ConceptDraw MINDMAP 6, and ConceptDraw PROJECT 5 are now "Compatible with Windows 7," and have earned the Windows 7 logo for both the 32- and 64-bit versions of the Windows 7 operating system.

Read more about how ConceptDraw products are now compatible with Windows 7.

PC World Likes ConceptDraw MINDMAP 6.2

PC World has great things to say about ConceptDraw MINDMAP in its Feb. 2, 2010 review. " As one of the premiere tools for business planning and organization, MindMap offers users comprehensive, powerful features in an application that doesn't demand the latest CPU or gigabytes of memory in order to function well, which will appeal to laptop-toting business users."

The reviewer also highights the fact that: "ConceptDraw Mindmap's 30-day demo offers users a full featured version of the product, including online and phone support--a surprisingly helpful and welcome addition in an era in which support isn't always available even for paying customers."

Just to be clear...Online and phone support is, of course, available not just for those who download the trial. It's there for you when you purchase MINDMAP too! :o)

Read PC World Review of ConceptDraw MINDMAP 6.2 .

Selling Solutions

In any economic climate it is important that your sales force stays focused on the tasks at hand to maintain product sales and development, be well trained in product and business processes, keep motivated, and communicate in consistent and effective languages and format.

Training is critical to sales force alignment. Having your sales team go through continued sales training gives everyone on your team a boost in performance and motivation.

My personal favorite type of sales training is “Solution Selling”. Unfortunately, many organizations are unable to budget time or money for this.

With time and money being a universal roadblock with most companies in this tight economic period, a good alternative and cost effective training program is a seminar by Fred Pryor Seminars called “The Ultimate Sales Workshop”.

The seminar is one day in length and is very affordable for even the smallest of businesses. By sending a group of trainees, the cost per individual goes down significantly, making it even less expensive.

With enough attendees, an interesting learning dynamic occurs at the seminar, as groups learn from their participation and the participation of others.

Below is a ConceptDraw MINDMAP that outlines the content covered in this budget sales seminar. To see the entire interactive mind map please click here.

For more information on the “Solution Selling” seminar by Fred Pryor Seminars, please visit their website at http://www.pryor.com/

Business is all about Accomplishment. ConceptDraw Office is all about Business.

To accomplish something, is to bring about a desired result. The individual components of accomplishment can be broken down as either tactical or strategic. Tactical is often viewed as small-scale actions that contribute to a larger purpose, while strategic accomplishment is more focused on the integrated planned effect of a company. Strategy comes in many shapes; likewise there can be varying levels of impact. The one given is that attaining a successful strategy is critical to any business.

A Strategic Accomplish Map can be used for keeping your strategy visible at all times. This example [http://www.mindmappedia.com/?id=121847551] may be used as a template. A company’s strategic plan must be broken down to department and individual levels. If this is not done, the company’s strategy may never be effective, as participants will not understand their roles.

“If the building blocks are clearly defined, the essence of even the most complex strategy can be expressed on one page.” ----An excerpt from, Execution. The Discipline of Getting Things Done.

At CS Odessa our version of this quote is:
“If the building blocks are clearly defined, the essence of even the most complex strategy can be expressed on ONE MIND MAP. “

Mapping Strategy Implementation
Many times strategy, after the initial planning stage, is elusive in its identification and implementation. Mind mapping is a great starting point to sort through this, as many of our customers use ConceptDraw Office to assist them in attaining their goals.

ConceptDraw Office is a business solution that combines business productivity methods and data visualization with project management technologies. There is no other product on the market equipped enough to enable one to observe and analyze accomplishment processes inside and out. ConceptDraw Office makes it a snap to plan, develop, manage, and document quality processes. ConceptDraw Office is comprised of ConceptDraw MINDMAP, ConceptDraw PROJECT, and ConceptDraw PRO and is packaged as one seamless software tool kit.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP
ConceptDraw MINDMAP is an excellent tool to record observations and development of goals. Moving from observation stage to early process development is as easy as dragging-and-dropping items or objects that can be used to structure a process and then immediately assign resources.

ConceptDraw PROJECT
With a single push of a button, all observations and task information are automatically moved over from ConceptDraw MINDMAP to ConceptDraw PROJECT. From a project vantage point it is then easy to manage all the resources available to you and ensure proper management of all the processes put into place.

ConceptDraw PRO
ConceptDraw PRO is a professional business graphics and drawing tool that is an integral part of ConceptDraw Office. ConceptDraw PRO is well known for its ability to produce eye popping business graphics and flow charts in professional formats, and to build score card documents that report on project status.Plan, Do, CommunicateConceptDraw Office is a proven and powerful software solution that can assist you in the common challenges you are faced with when working towards accomplishing your company’s defined goals.

Works Cited
Bossidy, Larry, Ram Charan, and Charles Burck. Execution The Discipline of Getting Things Done. New York: Crown Business, 2002.
Hunger, J. David, and Tom Wheelen. Essentials of Strategic Management (4th Edition). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2006.

Mind Map Topic Relationships Inside of ConceptDraw PROJECT

In the January 29, 2009 post on this blog which can be viewed at http://mapthink.blogspot.com/2009/01/building-relationships-between-mind-map.html, I described how one could build different types of project management relationships between two different topics in a mind map. In today’s post I am going to show you how those relations that are visually represented in a map, are depicted in a Gantt chart.

Start to Start
The first of these is a start to start relationship in a Gantt chart. Both tasks need to start on the same day, but their ending dates depend on the size of the task and the level of resources assigned. Here both tasks start on March 27th with one of the tasks scheduled to take one day for completion and the other taking three days for completion. You will notice that Task Two occupies 5 days because the 28th and 29th are weekend days and with the current project settings there is no work scheduled for the weekend.

Notice the relationship arrow between the two tasks signifies that they both start at the same time. The task relationship can be unlinked or changed by highlighting the two tasks in ConceptDraw PROJECT and doing a right click to view the “Tasks Link” option.

Finish to Finish
The second of these topic relationships are the finish to finish relationship in a Gantt chart. Both tasks need to finish on the same day, but their start dates depend on the size of the task and the level of resources assigned. Here both tasks end on March 27th with one of the tasks scheduled to take one day for completion and the other taking three days for completion. You will notice that Task Two occupies 3 days in this example, because Task Two does not cross a weekend. Notice the relationship arrow between the two tasks signifies that both tasks end on the same day.

Finish to Start

The third example is a finish to start relationship in a Gantt chart. One task starts, when it is completed the next task starts. Task One occurs on a Friday and is only one day long, Task Two starts on the next Monday (no work is scheduled in this view for weekends). Notice the relationship arrow between the two tasks signifies that when the first task is completed the second task starts.

Start to Finish

The forth and last example is a start to finish relationship in a Gantt chart. One task finishes, when it is completed the next task starts. Notice the relationship arrow between the two tasks signifies start to finish relationship.

Now if only it was that easy for people to establish a great relationship! Next post will be on using ConceptDraw MINDMAP for presentations.

Gaining Group Consesus

Map showing importance of fire safety to management team looking for new office location

Making a decision can be a hard task to accomplish, add more people and it becomes MUCH harder. As you add people the task becomes exponentially harder. Using a mind map is a great way to work with a group of people and to identify what is really important. We recently had this map shared with us on an exercise that a local company’s management team went through to determine where would be a suitable place for them to locate. Each member of the management team was given points that they could allocate to a set of criteria that was determined by a brainstorming session. Nineteen criteria were identified and then randomly placed on the map. No topic could receive more than 100 points. They then had each of their managers determine how many points they wanted to spend in each category. This company broke the decision into two small meetings a day apart, but the decision could have been made in one meeting. The marketing person who built the map added clip art to each item, which helped them visualize what the criteria was and kept everyone on track.

The brainstorming session was finished in 10 minutes. The allocation of points among the managers was 15 minutes, with the CFO putting most of her points on the cost factor. The points were added up and placed in the task portion of the topic as a percentage complete of that topic, then ConceptDraw MINDMAP’s auto numeration was turned on and the topics were sorted by percentage complete. Starting with the largest percentage of completion at the 1 o’clock position and moving clockwise to the smallest percentage of completion.

Next the managers had a discussion among the team. Was a variety of places to eat lunch really number two in their selection criteria? Is not the type of landlord more important than a last place ranking? By looking at each of the criteria and seeing where it fell in relation to the other criteria they were able to make better assessments. Once the criterion was ranked in an appropriate manner it became easier for the company to conduct their site search, and make a decision based on the reasons they identified. They were happy with their final results.

The decision map that was built can be downloaded from here http://www.mindmappedia.com/?id=100268315

ConceptDraw MINDMAP Top Selection in March MacWorld

ConceptDraw MINDMAP was selected as “Our Pick” by MacWorld. MacWorld tested and compared nine mind map candidates in the March edition. We are very proud of being selected.

Porter's Five Forces in a ConceptDraw Mind Map

Porter's Five Forces in a Mind Map

Like analysis tools? How about a mind map template for Porter’s Five Forces which is often used for industry analysis?

I have placed a ConceptDraw MINDMAP template here http://www.mindmappedia.com/?id=113810816 for anyone to download that is setup to help you capture and display your data using Porter’s Five Forces. I placed a small example in the same map on page two so you are able to see how to build the map. I used Ford Motor Company as my example and I would like to place a disclaimer here that I am not an automotive industry expert, but built it to show how the data could be structured and displayed.

One other benefit from this map is that when you use this template and get it setup for your industry it exports really well into a PowerPoint slide presentation using the ppt outline mode export. I find this very handy for presenting observed results.

Using Maps Not Built With ConceptDraw MINDMAP

Importing into ConceptDraw MINDMAP

Occasionally you might have the need to open a mind map that was built in a software product other then ConceptDraw MINDMAP. With ConceptDraw MINDMAP you have the capability to import mind maps with different file formats. Many products have the ability to output to either text outline format or Outline Processor Markup Language (OPML). Both of these formats can be easily imported in to ConceptDraw MINDMAP for review and editing purposes:

If you use FreeMind, there is an easy export function that that can provide an OPML structured file which can then be imported into ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

• File -> Export -> Using XSLT...


• Choose XSL File -> browse to the directory where you installed FreeMind -> then to 'accessories' -> select 'mm2opml.xsl'


• Choose ExportFile -> browse to wherever you want and give a file name ending in .opml

If you use Mindjet MindManager, you can utilize the direct import function within ConceptDraw MINDMAP to import and edit mind maps from MindManager in ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

Building Relationships Between Mind Map Topics

Screen shot from ConceptDraw MINDMAP showing how to setup a relationship type

In ConceptDraw MINDMAP there are many ways to establish a relationship from one topic to another topic. The simplest is a visual representation that this topic here has a relationship to this other topic over here. For instance you need to get budget approval to make that new hire. It is easy to draw a line between the two topics to show that there is a connection. We call this a general relationship.

When you are looking at relationships from a project manager’s point of view there are four other types of relationships that can be built between topics in a ConceptDraw MINDMAP map. These different relationships determine the order of how things are done. For instance the example I have used, about hiring someone is a “finish to start (FS)” relationship in project management. One would not start the hiring process, until the budget for the position was approved.

There is a “finish to finish (FF)” relationship where to finish either task they need to finish together. For example you cannot receive final payment for a project until the client has signed off, or you are not able to see the last commercial of the Super Bowl, until the Super Bowl ends.

The next type of relationship is a “start to start (SS)”. Here both tasks need to happen in the same timeframe. An example of this is that project outcome goals need to be approved by stakeholders before project management activities are started.

And of course “start to finish (SF)”. Here a task does not finish before another task starts. An example of SF would be that in a factory the next shift of workers can not start until the current shift ends.

The ability to setup these relationships in a map is very handy for maps that pertain to project management tasks. To establish a relationship, just click on the “Insert relationship” icon. Click on the first topic in the topic pair you want to build a relationship with, and then drag the line to the second topic in the topic pair. Release the mouse button, and you have just setup a general relationship.

It is also possible to click on the “Insert” menu item and then select “Relationship”. Click on the first topic in the topic pair; drag the line to the second topic in the topic pair. Release the mouse button, and a relationship has just been established.

By clicking on the relationship line to bring up the related menu for that relationship it is then possible to determine the type of relationship that exists between these two items. That is all there is to it. It is very simple. Now if only it was this easy to setup relationships between people.

Individual Brainstorming Using Mind Mapping

FIgure 1: Sending brainstormed topics to a map page.

Mind mapping software can be a great tool to make all of us more productive.

How? Mind mapping software provides us with the ability to capture our thoughts, shape them into a visual format that is useful to us, and then enable us to make changes as our thinking evolves.

With the right software, you can communicate, plan, resolve, and view. Mind mapping is a great tool that is metaphorically similar to an electronic file drawer with some relative Post-It notes attached. Mind mapping is a very visual technique of creating and organizing ideas. With mind mapping you have the ability to transofrm linear data into a mapped representation of thoughts and ideas.

“That is exactly what I was thinking about.”

There are many aspects of a mind mapping tool that are helpful to us. I am going to start with a very basic benefit and describe how I use it, and why it benefits me.

This diatribe is from the perspective of ConceptDraw MINDMAP version 6. Not all mind mapping tools are the same, and not all of them provide the same benefits.

ConceptDraw is in its 6th release and provides great value without burning through your pocketbook.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP is available as a native application for both Windows and Macintosh. The file structure for both platforms is exactly the same and is a great benefit to people who use a Macintosh and want to share with people using Windows, and vice versa. The application and the user interface are completely different, so this is not a PC application that was ported to Macintosh.

(I will always try to include at least one image on each posting, and at times will switch from a Windows image to a Macintosh image.)

OK, now on to the subject at hand: Using ConceptDraw as a personnel brainstorming tool.

When I am at the starting point of a new project, I like to think through all of the elements that will make up that project. I like to also consider what alternatives there might be. I find that by using a mind map, I can capture the overall plan (and many times one or more contingency plans), this improves the quality of the end product.

As a side note, I like to think about many of the alternate plans upfront, because if I do not care for any of the contingencies and their associated outcomes, then I will sometimes modify my primary plan.

Brainstorming with ConceptDraw PRO is easy to do. On the PC you type (Ctrl+Alt+B), or press the jagged lightning bolt icon at the top, or start brainstorming mode from the tools menu. With ConceptDraw products, you will find there are many times two or three ways to go about and do something. I suggest you look at two or more ways and then figure out what works best for you.

Once you have placed ConceptDraw MINDMAP in brainstorm mode you will see the words “Theme of Brainstorm” at the very top of the page. This is the title of your map that identifies what you are going to brainstorm about. It could be “Product Launch”, “Merger Plan”, “Finding a Job” or “Planning a Vacation”.

You then enter the words that describe part of the idea or process in very high-level terms, and keep entering until you are satisfied that you have addressed all of the variables.

I do not set the timer when I do individual brainstorming, as at times I will get called away, without looking at the time remaining. Without setting the timer I can just come back and finish what I started. The timer is great for when there is a team brainstorming session, but for now I am just going to cover how to use the tool as an individual.

By dragging and dropping items, I can start to build up a structure for the most recent brainstorm session. To link one topic to another topic, just drag it over the topic you want to link to, until the parent topic has a blue outline, then drop it.

You can “rubber band” a number of topics and drop them to make a connection to a single topic in one single move. Organizing has never been easier, and if I make a mistake I just go back and move it to where I want it placed.

One other neat thing that I like about ConceptDraw MINDMAP is the ability to right-click a word, and send it to another page. I will give you a quick example, let’s say that “Communicating to Champions” has a separate team managing it. just send it to another page and a hyperlink is established between the topic on your primary map and the topic that is now on another page. This is a powerful way to segregate topics that may have a lot of structure that goes into one idea.

This is just the start of the entire formulation process, but you can see from this example how easy it is to go from your ideas, to a visually organized structure in just a matter of minutes. With mind mapping you can take very complex and involved problems and processes and break them down to manageable size.

That is the end of my first posting on brainstorming. You can now plan to your heart’s content.