A few months ago I wrote a post about a tool I use in my business – I use Batchbook as my CRM tool.  Today I want to talk about another tool I use on a regular basis.  This one is Evernote.  Essentially Evernote is like an electronic notebook and filing system all rolled into one.  Their tagline is “Remember Everthing” and that is exactly what this tool helps me do.

See an article online that interests you but you don’t have time to read it?  Cut the URL and paste it into Evernote.  Think about something while you are away from your computer?  Make a note on your smartphone.  Get an annoying error message on your computer that you want to include in your email to support?  Grab a screenshot and save it.  See a great billboard while you are driving around town?  Take a picture and file it in Evernote.

To me there are a number of really cool things about Evernote:

• You can make notes on one device, say your computer and pull them up on another device, for example your smartphone or iPad.
• There are many ways to make “notes” – text, pictures, screenshots, voice messages, etc.  You can choose whatever method works for you at any given time.
• You can create “folders” to store your notes, just like in the paper world
• You can also tag your notes in any way you want so you can search on topics across folders.

What do I do with Evernote?

• I keep a log of all my blog posts, the URL and topics so I can easily find them and use the URLs for linking.
• I also use it to keep ideas for future blog posts and newsletter articles.
• I have folders on topics I am researching.  The folders have notes as well as saved URLs so I can find reference articles in a flash
• I also use it for non-work stuff too – it is my new recipe/cookbook tool.  I read a lot of food blogs and cook a great deal and I use Evernote to keep track of the recipes and the URL where I found them.  I can use tags to identify what sort of dish it is, what part of the meal it would be applicable for, etc.

I have found this to be a great tool for my small business and it really helps me cut down on the amount of paper I shuffle.  Oh, and it is free!  Give it a try and let me know what you think!