Something From Nothing: How To Make Your Audience Love You
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to just give a gift to the people on your list, just to email them out of nowhere and say “here’s something great for you, no strings, no charge”?
That’s a great way to build a relationship.
Doing something great usually takes time and energy and you have to charge for it to recoup your investment.
There is a way to create that valuable gift for free: Mind Mapping.
By extracting the essence of your content and putting it into mind maps, you can easily repackage it into a visual PDF handout that is easy to understand and print.
Your audience will love you for giving them this gift. They will become more engaged, and even buy more from you. Based on the reciprocity law, they will also want to help you more.
A Case Study: Engagement from scratch!
Engagement from scratch! is a 223-page book written by Danny Iny, co-founder of Firepole Marketing.
It is filled with actionable advice on how to create a loyal audience. 30 experts contributed to this book, besides Danny and C.C. Chapman who wrote the foreword:
- Alexander Osterwalder
- Brian Clark
- Danny Brown
- Guy Kawasaki
- Mark W. Schaefer
- Mitch Joel
- Randy Komisar
- Stuart Mills
- Anita Campbell
- Marlee Ward
- Tristan Higbee
- The Blog Tyrant
- Derek Halpern
- Onibalusi Bamidele
- Adam Toren
- Gini Dietrich
- Marcus Sheridan
- Corbett Barr
- Evan Carmichael
- Sean Platt
- Kristi Hines
- Linda Bustos
- Natalie Sisson
- Steve Kamb
- Ana Hoffman
- Dino Dogan
- Jeff Bullas
- Jk Allen
- Steve Scott
- Tyler Tervooren
The result is a 33-page mind map PDF handout. You can click on each expert to go to their one-page summary.
Here’s the process I used to create this document.
Step 1: Read the book
Step 2: Highlight the most important information
This can be done at the same time as you read the book. In my case, I started highlighting around page 110, which is when I decided to create this map. So I had to read the book almost twice. This extra time I took was not lost, since I had a better understanding of what was being communicated the second time around.
Only highlight what you want to include in your mind map.
Step 3: Create the structure
First create the structure. In this book, there are 30 experts, plus Danny Iny and C.C. Chapman. I created the overview page that you see above with each expert. At that point, I asked Danny for the pictures of each contributor. Then, I created one map for each expert. I also linked the overview page with the maps for each expert.
Step 4: Fill in the mind maps
Take all the highlighted information and copy it into your mind maps, one at a time. Since I had a PDF version of the book, I could select the text I highlighted in the physical book and copy it into the mind maps. However, because I had to rephrase a lot of the content to shorten it and so that it made sense in the mind map, I re-typed all the information into the mind maps.
Step 5: Format the mind maps
Adjust the maps’ design so that it matches the book’s design. Choose the right colors, and make those colors consistent between the overview page and each child mind map.
Step 6: Review the mind maps
As you create your maps, there will be typos and inconsistencies. This step is crucial. Take the time to review every branch of every map.
Step 7: Send a draft and get feedback
Welcome feedback, comments and criticism. You can also ask for feedback from people other than those who wrote the book.
Step 8: Apply the suggested changes
Based on the feedback you get, make the final touches to the maps.
Step 9: Submit a final version
You’re done!
If this sounds interesting, why not pick up my e-book on mind mapping and do it yourself?
Here’s what you will learn:
Part 1 : Mind Mapping Techniques to Create Your Mind Maps
- Fast ways to insert a new element on the same level, reorder elements, and insert a parent branch
- The best practices with relationships, callouts, boundaries, free floating elements and icons
- The 3 components you can increase your speed with
Part 2 : Navigation Using Mind Maps
- Expand, collapse and close branches quickly
- Show X levels, and all levels
- Right click to move the map
- The best way to show a branch alone
Part 3: Power Mind Mapping With Formatting
- Color-code your maps
- Break your maps into sub-maps in only a few seconds
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Tags: adam toren, alexander osterwalder, ana hoffman, anita campbell, brian clark, corbett barr, danny brown, danny iny, derek halpern, dino dogan, engagement from scratch, evan carmichael, firepole marketing, gini dietrich, guy kawasaki, jeff bullas, jk allen, kristi hines, linda bustos, marcus sheridan, mark w. scaefer, marlee ward, mind map summary, mind mapping, mitch joel, natalie sisson, onibalusi bamidele, randy komisar, sean platt, steve kamb, steve scott, stuart mills, the blog tyrant, tristan higbee, tyler tervooren
Wow, what a great way to summarize the book. This is pretty neat. Thanks a lot!
Enjoy your holiday season!
Thanks Josh! I’m glad you enjoyed it : ) I wish you great holidays as well!
This is really great Matt. Thank you for sharing how you created these mind maps…especially one on Danny Iny’s book / the topic of engagement which is especially interesting to me at this time. I’m a new fan! All the best. ;)
Hey Connie,
You are very welcome : ) I’m happy you got value out of it. By the way, I love the design of your site, as well as the analogy with Sherpas ; ) There might be a fit between our businesses, especially around brainstorming. Perhaps we should connect offline. Feel free to email me at matt@FluentBrain.com to schedule a short call.
Regards,
Matt
You’re surely right, everyone likes free stuff, especially if it’s good and useful. II’ll read your book and then prepare a mind map on how to hypnotize yourself, which is the core of my website, to give to readers. Great idea, and thanks for the book.
Have a great day!
Hey Hypnodude : )
Sounds like a great idea! Let me know if you have any questions and need help at any stage. What software are you planning on using to create the mind map?
Regards,
Matt
Matt,
Your mind map is beautiful and oh, so useful. I was delighted to find the list of all the contributors with their websites at the end of the book. You can imagine how pleased I am to see — and receive — your mind map.
Thank you.
I especially appreciate and applaud the simple elegance of the whole thing — visually and functionally. Your explanation of how you approached it is remarkable — both from a share-the-knowledge point of view but also from a value statement point of view. Thank you again for both.
So it makes me want to pay attention to everything you do and how you do it. I’ve hankered after mind mapping before. I like it, I envy the competency. But it always seems so “involved” and time consuming. I know, it must be worth it — I just haven’t crossed that bridge — so far.
So I’ve downloaded your e-book and subscribed to your blog. This must be the first step.
Thank you . . .
sharyn
Hey Sharyn,
First of all, thank you for your kind words : ) I appreciate it!
The mind mapping concept is very simple. The basics are easy to learn, and you can be up and running in a an hour – especially if you are moderately computer-savvy. Software companies usually provide good tutorials. The section “Let’s Get Started” on my website’s Mind Mapping page (http://fluentbrain.com/mind-mapping-e-book/) is a good place to start. I link to basic tutorials on Mindjet’s website.
My E-Book will give you more tips with Mindjet MindManager to become more fluent with the tool.
I am fluent with other software tools so feel free to ask me questions no matter the software. Do you know which software you’d go with?
Then there is always the training/coaching option if you want to master mind mapping fast and benefit from it in your business : ) I usually combine both intensive training with coaching. The coaching part consists of regular follow-up to answer your questions, and help you implement and practice what you learned.
Cheers!
Matt
Nice job, Matt! Special thanks for the mind map of the “engagement from scratch” PDF — I knew that thing was chock-full of awesome, but just couldn’t make myself sit down and wade through it. Using your mind maps, it’s a lot faster drilling down to the stuff I really want to know more about.
Not sure how much the mind map thing applies to my projects, but am intrigued. Will probably download your e-book and browse your site a bit to see how it works. I’m all about making info easy and accessible to people. We’re all so bombarded by information that we need things that make it SUPER easy to grasp the core idea and quickly decide where to spend our time/attention.
Maybe a mind map approach addresses that a bit…
Hi Teddi,
Thank you for your comment! : ) I’m happy that you liked the mind map of Danny’s “Engagement from scratch!” book. I agree that it makes drilling down to what you’re interested in a lot faster!
A good way to start with mind mapping is to just start doing it. You can do it on paper – be it a regular sheet of paper or a big one – and there are dozens if not hundreds of videos on YouTube on how to mind map. I still mind map on paper once in a while, especially in my notebook, but most of the time I use Mindjet MindManager. There are several other softwares on the market. iMindMap, Novamind, XMind (this one is free with a premium version), MindMeister and many more. You might also consider SmartDraw.
If you decide to go with Mindjet MindManager, the mind mapping page on my website is a good place to start. Go through the four tutorials at the bottom. Then play with the software for a few days or weeks before going through my e-book. The purpose of the e-book is to supercharge your mind mapping, so you’ll benefit from it more if you have made several mind maps before.
I’d love to connect offline as well, so I’ll send you an email so we schedule a quick call to connect – if you want : )
Matt,
Very interesting! I know that there is so much more I could learn when it comes to mind mapping …
I want to check out your e-book and see your mind mapping techniques in action!
Cheers,
Timo
Hey Timo,
What has been your experience with mind mapping so far? And have you used any software?
Cheers,
Matt
[...] that I came up with the content, strategies and ideas, but the actual map was designed by my friend Matt Tanguay at Fluent Brain. But yeah, the first step is to write a great book, and building relationships. The relationships [...]
[...] that I came up with the content, strategies and ideas, but the actual map was designed by my friend Matt Tanguay at Fluent Brain. But yeah, the first step is to write a great book, and building relationships. The relationships [...]
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Hi : )
Thank you for your message. It is the first time that I hear about an issue like what you mentioned. I will look into it with my host! Thank you and I wish you an amazing week!
Cheers,
Matt
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