One of my favorite tools for business and home management is Evernote. Evernote is a powerful, low cost tool for any small business wanting to get more
streamlined and process oriented.
It helps me manage all the paper in my life, capture ideas, visual or audio notes and lists.
Writing with Evernote
I curate a lot of content and put it into Evernote in my Research area. When I want to write a blog post, I comb through my research by searching on topic tags. I skim through and see if there's something of interest, or a statistic or more in-depth article that I could cite in my post or link to for more information.
I also tend to get ideas for articles when I'm in my car. I quickly (not while driving), open Evernote, and record an audio of the idea. It's like the mini tape recorder from the 80s (yep, dating myself), but better. It's the HIVE mind, of YOUR mind, so you don't have to keep it all in your head.
Organizing with Evernote
Like you, I have a whole running list of topics that may make great courses, or an ebook, or some sort of product that I might want to flesh out. I put all those ideas in one Notebook within Evernote. Then, if I want to create an outline or structure, I flesh out each area, group stack them and assemble these in one master note (with links to all individual notes), kind of like a table of contents in a book. It helps for me to see a structure of what may be needed or missing and what can be left out.
Everyday Uses with Evernote
I am notorious for forgetting things at the grocery store–even with a list. It's usually the thing I most desperately needed. Evernote to the rescue! I created a master Grocery List template list with check boxes. I grouped it by how I walk through my grocery store. Yeah, that's a bit OTT, but it saves me time not having to double back, which I previously had to do a lot!
Each week, I copy the template to a new note, walkthrough the pantry and fridge and check off all the items I need that week. If I don't have something on the list, I add it to the list and the template.
When I'm at the store, I open the list on my phone, and uncheck the items as the are put in the basket. I'm a visual person, so this scrolling through to see if anything's not unchecked really works for me and I can quickly grab it.
I also use it as a wish list tool when shopping with my kids. I'll take a photo of the item and the barcode, make a note which kid and what store we were in. No more trying to remember which kid liked which Monster High doll–Evernote stores it for me.
Fast Tracking with Evernote
I'll be honest–I installed Evernote at the beginning of the year and made a bit of a mess with it. Then I read a book or two to dive deeper. I improved my skill, but alas, I still had a rat's nest. None of the books told me how to actually set it up for my business.
Luckily, in a Facebook conversation, a friend of mine asked about using Evernote. Someone chimed in with a link to Natasha Vorompiova's website www.systemsrock.com. Now, I've been a reader of hers for some time, and when I saw she'd created a product called “Evernote for Small Business”, I grabbed it. It is one part ebook, one part video walkthroughs, and a whole lot of useful Evernote templates. It's a whole entire course wrapped into one tidy little powerful package. Easy to consume and implement.
I liked it so much, I asked if I could be an affiliate. That's how much value it brought to me and my business. I invite you to check out Evernote for Small Business to see if it's right for your business. This is an affiliate link, which I do receive a small bit of compensation from Systems Rock on purchases made with it to say thank for helping spread the word about her course.
I also made you a short commentary video so you can see what my system looks like, and a sneak peek at the course.
