Now that we know our destination it’s time to start planning our trip. This is probably one of the most important steps in the process. First thing we’ll need is a map. The better the map the easier the trip. On the CI podcast, Chris and I began our trip by preparing a mind map. If you’re not familiar with mind mapping or missed the episode I highly recommend going back and giving it a listen (check out CI-ep-206).

We chose to record our journey using MindMeister. It allowed us to collaborate online and update each other with email alerts. We recorded our ideas for the show, this site, and everything else we could think of related to future plans for CI. We refer to and update our mind map all the time. It is in a constant state of evolution. Each time we have a great idea or a shift in direction we refer to the map. Without it we would more then likely forget half the ideas we’ve had. It keeps us focused and also allows us the flexibility to build and grow.

The mind map will be the main building block for the next several lesson plans. In the next post we’ll take a look at how to construct a mind map of your very own.

Homework: Download FreeMind or the free version of MindMeister and begin messing around with them a little bit (I believe you can find tutorials on both sites). Either program will work well for future posts. MindMeister has recently announced a tie in with Google Docs.

Authors note. Do to unforeseen and unrelated events for both Chris and myself we’ve had to take a little time away from CI. Sometimes life just throws you a curve ball and all you can do, is do your best to roll with it. I am slowly but surely getting caught up with all the projects I had to put on hold and am pretty much back to my normal routine. I hope to be able to continue adding to this blog regularly and posting new episodes of the CI podcast in the near future. Thanks for patience and understanding. Pod On!

Creative Independence cohost, Illustrator Bob Ostrom of Bob Ostrom Studio

Welcome to Creative Independence where we look at the many ways that creative professionals from around the world have found to create independent lifestyles by leveraging their talents and skills.

Thank you for visiting our site. My name is Bob Ostrom I am a professional  illustrator. I   co-host the podcast Creative Independence along with multimedia designer Chris Wilson.

Cohost Creative Independence, Multimedia designer Chris Wilson

If you are not familiar with our podcast please feel free to check us out on iTunes.

We are in the middle of a very exciting time here at Creative Independence. We are in the process of building and launching the new Creative Independence Network. Rather then wait to launch the site at a later date. We’ve decided that this is an incredible learning experience and have invited you, our listener, to follow along with us as we go. Each new podcast episode will feature a task in the chain of events it takes to launch our new site. We will begin by discussing our basic strategy and continue right through to the end where we will build and launch our brand new website. Chris and I will both be blogging about our experiences along the way.

Thanks for joining us, we hope you will find this collection of information helpful in you own quest for Creative Independence.

Sounds good Bob, how do I get in on the action?

First: Send us an into for the show. You can elaborate however you like but basically we’d like you to introduce yourself, tell us who you are, where you’re from and how we can find you (website, blog, twitter… you get the idea). This part of our show is dedicated to you, our listener, so go ahead and promote yourself.

Next, Let our listeners know they are listening to Chris and Bob on Creative Independence. Again, you can intro us however you like. Be creative, but please make sure to mention the name of the show….Creative Independence.

Finally, give us your best, “THAT’S AWESOME!!!”... It’s kind of trademark for us at the end of the show. You’ve probably heard it before. It comes right after the thump and glass crashing.

Rules, please send us your recorded message as an mp3 and we’ll place it in the next ep. Please remember to keep it brief, we love you guys but anything over 20 seconds and our listeners tend to get a little restless. Make sure you promote yourself or your business and have fun… and oh yeah please try to keep it rated G.

Don’t have any recording equipment? No worries, we now have a call in line where you can leave us a message.

If you are a regular listener of our pod-cast Answers for Freelancers/ Creative Independence then you’ve probably heard us mention it a time or two. If you’re new to our show then welcome and thanks for listening.

I’ve started this blog to give you a behind the scenes, bigger view of our development process. Think of it as sort of a backstage pass. Here I’ll attempt to chronicle our many  our successes and failures as we continue to grow and evolve. I hope you’ll find the info here useful and thanks again for joining us.

Next Entry: Growing Pains