If you’re suffering from information overload (and who isn’t these days!) or are having trouble managing all of the projects that are part of your workload, then you ought to check out a groundbreaking e-book written by Chuck Frey that offers a practical solution - mind mapping software.

As my clients and friends know, I’m a great believer in mind mapping. I use mind mapping to:

• Plan my articles, blog posts, and newsletters, and books
• Schedule my days and weeks
• Take notes during my online client coaching and consulting calls
• Research topics for clients
• Display information during presentations and webinars

I recommend Chuck Frey’s Mind Mapping Manifesto as an easy way to learn more and get started!

You’ll learn:

1. The true cost of information overload and multi-tasking (it will open your eyes to a looming crisis)
2. What research proves about the benefits of mind mapping software in business (the productivity impact is substantial!)
3. Perspectives from 10 mind mappers on the impact this type of software has made on the way they think, plan and work.

It also contains:

• A list of over 20 business applications where mind mapping software can be used to increase your efficiency
• Ten tips on how to select the right mind mapping program for your needs
• A checklist to help you identify your needs
• Reviews of 5 top mind mapping programs that I personally recommend
• Chuck’s “best of” list of the programs that offer the greatest performance in 8 key areas.
• A collection of over 50 resources where you can discover the best tools, resources and advice about mind mapping software

Invest in your future by ordering The Mind Mapping Manifesto today!

Graphic designers and copywriters searching for title ideas for their clients’ brochures, newsletters, reports, and white papers, are invited to attend Roger C. Parker’s free 10 Essential Characteristics of Title Success teleseminar, presented by Rick Frishman and Robyn Freedman Spizman’s Author 101 series.

There are 4 titles in the Author 101 series:

• Author 101 Bestselling Nonfiction
• Author 101: Bestselling Secrets from Top Agents
• Author 101 Bestselling Book Proposals
  
• Author 101 Bestselling Book Publicity

The right title attracts readers like a magnet!
During this teleseminar interview, you’ll learn the crucial role that book titles play in a publication’s success. You’ll learn how to analyze titles in terms of:

• Promise
• Change
• Targeting
• Specificity
• Metaphor
• Transparency
• Alliteration
• Expandability
• Testing

For years, Roger C. Parker has been analyzing successful book titles, and helping other use the knowledge to generate more effective marketing solutions. The interview takes place:

Wednesday, March 26, 2008
8:00 PM to 9:00 PM EST
Call: 712 338 8100
PIN: 222089#

Published & Profitable is a writing community and resource for authors who want to improve their ability to plan, write, promote, and profit from a published book. Members enjoy access to hundreds of articles, assessments, audios, critiques, templates, videos, and worksheets. Visit Published & Profitable and download a free 16-page Write Your Way to Success report.

Technorati Tags: brochure titles, graphic design, titles for white papers, white paper marketing

Design to Sell friends and Published & Profitable members are invited to listen while I interview Garr Reynolds, the author of Presentation Zen. Presentation Zen is a recently published book with important lessons to teach. This interview will be of interest to a graphic designers and their clients who must frequently speak from the front of the room. During this question, I’m going to be asking Garr Reynolds questions like:

• Positioning. How did you position your book against the existing successful books
• Proposal. How did your proposal sell the publisher on your vision for the book?
• Message. What your book’s “elevator speech” and main points, and how do you develop them?
  
• Branding and promotion. What attracted your publisher to your blog?

My interview with Garr Reynolds takes place Tuesday, March 25th at 8 PM, EST.

If you’d like to attend, please contact me as soon as you can. Attendance at Published & Profitable interviews is limited, to keep the setting informal and interactive. Published & Profitable members, of course, can access recordings of the calls at their convenience.

Newsletter marketing becomes easy when you prepare an editorial calendar in advance. An editorial calendar helps you the unnecessary costs and stress associated with last minute production.

Identifying the titles of upcoming issues puts your subconscious mind to work, so that, when you begin to prepare your newsletter, you’re usually surprised to find how much work has already been done!

Editorial calendars made easy
Mind maps, such as those created using Mindjet’s MindManager, permit you to display a year’s worth of newsletter titles on a single screen–or print them on a single sheet of paper.

Mind maps permit you to display your project’s “big picture”–such as the titles of upcoming issues of your newsletter–or you can examine the details associated with individual issues.

You can also add details like project starting and completion dates, assign responsibilities, or–even–begin writing your project in your mail.

Download a free 21-dayMindManager 7.0 sample here.

Technorati Tags: brainstorming, creativity, Mind Mapping

Entrepreneurs and graphic designers interested in improving their website’s search engine visibility are invited to attend, as Roger C. Parker’s guest, a special Guerrilla Marketing Association interview with Jerry West, a leading search engine optimization expert and publisher of the SEO Revolution newsletter. A consultant to leading firms, like General Electric, Sun Systems, AT&T, Monster.com, and dozens of other Fortune 500 companies. Listen as we discuss issues like:

• Discover. Take a fresh look at your firm’s existing search engines presence.
• Plan. Create a program for ongoing improvement.
• Tips. Learn what you can do yourself.
• Locate. Discover how to evaluate sources of SEO information and guidance.
• Changes. What’s going on at Google, Yahoo, and other search engines?
• Delegate. Learn what you can safely delegate, and how to select the right assistance.

During the call, you can ask questions about your website and your experiences with search engine optimization and visibility. You can also submit them in advance via e-mail.

The Jerry West interview with Guerrilla Marketing Association host Roger C. Parker takes place:
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
7:00 PM to 8:00 PM EST

To attend, contact Roger C. Parker.

Technorati Tags: driving website traffic, guerrilla marketing, jerry west, search engine optimization tips, seo

On Wednesday, February 13, Michael Stelzner, author of Writing White Papers, will be interviewing me on a special teleseminar, Mastering White Paper Layout and Design: How Layout Improves the Perceived Value of a White Paper. This interview is your opportunity to find out how white paper design affects readability–the measure of the ease with which prospects can access your message.

Michael and I will be discussing topics like:

• Columns. How to choose the right layout.
• Type. Which typeface is best for me?
• Size. What type size is best?
• Leading. Does line spacing really make a difference?

The interview takes place Wednesday, February 13, at 2:00 PM EST, 11:00 AM, PST.

Click here to learn more, and to reserve your place!

Technorati Tags: interview, michael stelzner, readability, white paper design, White papers, writing white papers

Boundaries visually unite topic and the subtopics associated with it by adding a border and a background. Boundaries are one of the most noticeable ways you can enhance the appearance of your mind maps while helping them communicate more effectively.

The easiest way to add a boundary to a selected topic is to use the CTRL+SHIFT+B keyboard shortcut.

You can also Right-click a topic, followed by Insert, Boundary. You can also open the Insert menu at the top of the screen, and choose Boundary.

Formatting boundaries
After adding a boundary, Right-click it, and select Format Boundary. When the Format Boundary dialog box appears, you can select a desired:

• Boundary style, or shape, i.e., Straight lines, Curved lines, or Rectangle.
• Line color for the border of the Boundary.
• Line weight, or thickness.
• Pattern, i.e., solid, dashed, dotted.
• Fill color, or background color.
• Fill transparency, or color saturation.

Deleting Boundaries
To delete an existing Boundary, Right-click it, followed by Delete Boundary.

See related topic

Technorati Tags: adding and formatting boundaries, branding mind maps, mind mapping layouts, MindManager

Keyboard shortcuts can save time for users of Mindjet’s MindManager 7.0 Pro mind mapping software. In general, mind mapping saves you time planning and writing by helping you see details–like chapter contents–in the context of the whole book. To help you work as efficiently as possible, MindManager offers numerous productivity-enhancing keyboard shortcuts. These allow you to perform repetitive editing and formatting commands without removing your hands from the keyboard, reaching for the mouse, and selecting commands from menus. The time savings quickly add up.

Many personal computer users are familiar with “universal” keyboard shortcuts, like like the shortcuts used to undo, cut, copy, and paste (respectively, CTRL+Z, CTRL+X, CTRL+C, and CTRL+V). In addition, MindManager 7.0 incorporates numerous other keyboard shortcuts. I describe several in my recent Design to Sell newsletter describing my 12 favorite MindManager keyboard shortcuts, which you can download here, for free.

You can save even more time with the MindManager Format Painter keyboard shortcut. The Format Painter shortcut allows you to copy formatting from one element to another. To use it:

• Select a topic, for example.
• While holding down the CTRL and SHIFT keys, press the space bar.
• Select another topic. MindManager reformats the topic to match the original.

To learn more about mind mapping in general, and MindJet in particular, visit my mind mapping resource page. Or, visit MindJet and download a free, 21-day, trial version of MindManager 7.0 Pro.

Technorati Tags: , copying formatting, format painter, keyboard shortcut, mind mapping tips, Mindjet, MindManager tips

Most mind maps created with software like Mindjet’s MindManager 7.0 Pro position with topics and subtopics around the Center Topic in the middle of the map. However, you can easily select a different map layout to brand the appearance of your maps or to accommodate different types of information.

To choose an alternative layout, right-click the Center Topic, and select Format Topic. When the Format Topic dialog box appears, click the Subtopics Layout tab. You can now adjust the map’s Growth Direction and Line Style.

Growth Direction
In this area of the Format Topic dialog box, you can choose from among several layout options:

• Map, the default
• Organization chart, with horizontal topics below the Center Topic
• Up organization chart, with horizontal topics above the Center Topic
• Split Organization chart, with horizontal topics above and below the Center Topic
• Tree. with topics below, pointing to the right
• Split Tree, topics below, point to both the left and the right
• Right map, topics to the right of the Center Topic

You’ll soon find that some layouts are ideally suited to specific tasks. The Split Tree layout, for example, is ideal for comparing pros and cons. The Right map layout is especially suited for mapping websites.

Line Style
From the Line Style options, you can modify the shape of lines connecting Center Topics, Topics, and Subtopics together. Options include:

• No lines
• Straight lines
• Arcs
• Curves
• Elbows
• Rounded Elbows
• Sheared Elbow
• Angle

Finally, when you select the General Layout tab, 2 sliders appear. These permit you to choose thick or thin lines of consistent thickness, or lines that vary in width depending on where they’re located.

See related topic

Technorati Tags: branding mind maps, formatting mind maps, mind mapping layout tips, Mindjet, MindManager 7.0 Pro

Previously, I described how you can brand your mind maps by adding an image to the Center Topic of your Mindjet MindManager 7.0 maps. I shows how to add your logo or a distinctive photograph to the Center Topic, and adjust the image’s location in the Center Topic.

There’s an even simpler way of adjusting image location within the Center Topic, however. You can simply select it and drag and drop it into a desired location. This works with graphic images added to any Topic, too.

Technorati Tags: , Branding, mind mapping tips, Mindjet, MindManager

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