Marketing

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Call for logotype. We are in need of a good logotype. If you think you can make one, please attach it here at wiki yourself, or send it to Dan Polansky. Together with a logotype, you should provide a short description of why the logotype represents FreeMind. There is no need for you to take into account the current icon of FreeMind; it is expected that you choose any design as you see fit. As we'll appreciate to have several logotypes to choose from, we will wait until we receive suggestions from more people. If your logotype is chosen, you'll of course get full credit for it.

What is marketing and what it is good for

Marketing is an activity directed toward understanding and maybe conquering the market. But which market? What is there to understand? Of course, there is a need to understand demand and supply. To understand demand, you may inquire about what the users or people want and what is most critical to them. Or better, you may try to understand who your potential users are. What kind of people are they? What are their roles? To understand supply means basically to understand your competitors.

Understanding your competitiors is beneficial for several reasons. Firstly, when you understand your competitors, you are able to say what it is that you do better than they do. If there's nothing you do better then they do, drop the project. You may then concentrate on that which you do really well rather than trying to do something, which somebody else already does pretty well. Secondly, you are able to explain your users what your added value really is, because the added value of your solution for a particular purpose is the basic value of your solution minus the basic value of the best alternative. You should be able to tell what the best alternatives to your solution are, otherwise you're in a project not really knowing why. Maybe you're just having fun, but that's not what users are really interested in.

To conquer your market means to provide the added value of your solution to people who can really make use of it. You can consider your solution as a resource. A resource which cannot be found is often practically equivallent to a resource which you do not have. That means that you have to make it as easy as possible for people to find your resource, and to decide if the resource does what they really want. Unfortunatelly, this question cannot be ultimately resolved until you really try the solution out. This is also one of the reasons why easy installation is of crucial importance. If the users already knew your product is what they want, they would take the pain to install your product even if the installation is difficult.

Who writes about FreeMind on the web

  • FreeMind, 14.04.2004 (German TV station SAT1, in German)
  • Freemind, 14.07.04 (Soulsoup - blog) - Not available anymore


  • According to Mark Twain, "Never pick a fight with a man who buys his ink by the barrel." Did you use FreeMind to make your thinking difficult to attack by writing your thoughts down, and reviewing them and criticizing later?
  • According to some philosophers, all phenomena are manifestations of one thing only. But perhaps it is the other way around: all things have only one manifestation: FreeMind.
  • We help you think clearly. FreeMind.
  • We help you get articulated. FreeMind.
  • Brain washing for the hard of thinking. FreeMind.
  • Mind your steps. Freemind.
  • FreeMind - when no one will think for you.
  • FreeMind - just as you thought.
  • FreeMind - Does exactly what it says in your Brain.
  • FreeMind - When you absolutely must THINK.
  • FreeMind - Think before you thunk.
  • FreeMind - Thoughtless Software.
  • Freemind - Don't think without it.
  • Freemind - Thoughtful.
  • Think free - FreeMind.

FreeMind competition and relatives

The main alternatives to FreeMind are discussed at the main page. Some of these and others are further discussed here.

  • Microsoft OneNote. Well, that does not compete. It is surely more powerful in many areas, but essentialy weaker in the core area of organizing and information hiding.
  • ShadowPlan.
  • Thinkgraph. Free, however, not free as in freedom, with a licence which is not even open source, not to mention GNU. And using FreeMind or Thinkgraph feels very different. With FreeMind you work much faster, but in Thinkgraph you have some different display options and the positioning of elements is more free (free also means that you have to do it, which makes it slower).


tgMain_topicmap_small.png

  • VYM - View Your Mind. Vym is a GNU PGL licenced mind mapper running on Linux and Mac OS. VYM has not been reported to run on Microsoft Windows. VYM's main branches look more like in a mind manager than FreeMind. VYM stores data in XML. VYM claims to support images; it is not clear if better than FreeMind. VYM is implemented using C++ and QT toolkit. Main advantage of VYM is probably its speed.
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  • ABC FlowCharter by MicroGrafx and Microsoft Visio are considered to be good mind mapping tool by some people.

There is a FreeMind file listing most competitors with links to screenshots, sites and very brief comments. Browse or download it. Feel free to update it and then change the link (I wanted to upload the file here, but it didn't work).

Websites using FreeMind Applet

http://mambo.mamboforge.net/RoadMap.html