How to Improve Your Business Planning in Five Minutes (or less)

Brainstorm Business Ideas and Plan Your Business Quickly Using Idea Webs or Mind Maps

What if I told you that there is a powerful tool that may be implemented immediately and inexpensively (practically free) that is currently being used by virtually all of the leading corporations in America?

Charles Haanel author of The Master Key success course states that we must visualize what we want in order to achieve it.  An idea web can be a very useful tool in helping you to plan, and visualize your business down to the smallest detail.  

In the time it takes you to read this brief article you will be on your way to improving your business planning. 

In the 1970’s mind mapping devised by Tony Buzan.   Mind Map © is a trademarked name but there are other similar names such as Idea Web or Idea Tree.  For the sake of simplicity I will refer to the process used in this article as being an Idea Web. 

Materials needed for Idea Web: Colored felt markers and paper or White board with erasable felt markers. 

Advantages of Idea Webs

• Quicker than traditional list because the way it is set up closely resembles our actual thinking process.

• Will allow you to diagram or illustrate a complicated project or process on one page.

• The use of drawings or images will make Idea Web more easily comprehended and stored by our subconscious mind. 

• Different colors may be used to rank items on map by importance or urgency.

• Costs almost nothing to use.

• Computer programs are available for creating Idea Webs but this process may actually be more effective if you write it yourself and draw symbols or icons that make sense to you.  web.  Research tells us that we are more than six times more likely to recall something that has been written down.   Symbols or icons are much more readily processed by our brain because we tend to think in images instead of words.

Uses of Idea Webs

• Can be effectively used to determine business or personal goals and to help visualize and realize these goals.

• An effective tool for business planning.  

• Can be used for daily To Do List or daily activity planning.

• Can be effectively used for holding or recording meetings.

• Can be used for note taking in school.   Proven to be more effective than traditional note taking.  More quickly and easily constructed.  Pictures or images help improve retention of information.  Forces one to listen for and focus attention on keywords better than traditional note taking which is slower and less effective.  

• Can be used to diagram a complicated idea or concept on one page that can be viewed all at one glance. 

How to Construct an Idea Web

• Start with a main idea or thought and place it in the middle of the page.

• Next draw a line or branch from this main idea. 

• Connect this line or branch to a keyword

• Next connect this keyword to other branches that hold ideas or thoughts relating to the keyword. 

• You will find that this is a quick way to record your thoughts regarding any topic you choose.   

• There is no right or wrong way to do a mind web. 

• Try making one for yourself and see how quick, easy and inexpensive it is to plan for your growing business.

 © 2007 Paul Shope, Laser Direct Marketing