If you're doing business on the Web, sooner or later you'll probably begin to feel like a juggler trying to keep ten balls flying through the air at the same time. There are just too many elements in your business plan to keep them all going at once.

The solution?

For many people the solution would be to make a list of all the key elements in their business plan. But lists are linear and the Mind doesn't think in a linear fashion. The Mind thinks in terms of associations, hierarchy, image, color, form, and pattern. So to organize your ideas and generate new ideas, a Map is much more effective than a list. In fact, at the back of your Mind, you probably already have a vaguely defined map of your online business. A Mind Map is simply a way of putting that structure down on paper.

Mind Mapping, also known as 'Radiant Thinking', is a technique that was developed in the 1970's by Tony Buzan. A Mind Map consists of a central word or concept, with 5 to 10 main ideas radiating out from that central concept.

Here's an example of a Mind Map for an Internet Business.

At the center of a blank page are the words 'My Internet Business Plan', circled. Radiating out from those central words are seven key ideas, or Basic Organizing Ideas (BOIs): Search Engine Listings, Ezine Ads, Newsletter, Link Exchange, Writing Ezine Articles, Website, Affiliate Programs. Each of these BOIs is connected to the central circle by outward-pointing arrows, like the branches of a tree.