The hardest part about using a service where there is no defined way to use it, is making a system of your own. While there are features built into Evernote that will make it easier to keep your information sorted, you will still want to keep it pretty organized. Here are some ways that business owners can make use of Evernote.
1. Vendors
You can use Evernote to keep the contact info and terms for each vendor you deal with for easy access anywhere you may need it. Any bit of information you can keep about a vendor is good to have access to from anywhere. You never know when you may need to contact one.
2. Outsourced employees
If you run a business where you may have several outsourced employees or services, you can keep the terms of your agreements in a separate notebook for easy access if you need to recall the terms of your agreement.
3. Event planning
Create a checklist of tasks to do and keep it in a notebook along with people involved in each part of the event. Having tags assigned to each task may help you easily sort who is accountable for each part of a task.
4. Marketing ideas
While you are on the go, you will likely see an ad that you could mimic to promote your product or service. Either using a picture or a voice note, you can log the details of this great marketing idea.
5. Meeting notes
If you have an important meeting with a client coming up, you can review the details of your last meeting, or even the personal details about your contact (like their kid’s names or any special events that may have recently happened).
6. Products
If you are in a business where you have the freedom to add new products at your leisure, you can keep notes on potential products to carry. You could also look at how your potential competitors are marketing the same or similar products. This may help you decide what to sell and what to leave be.
7. Business Cards
An important part of any business is networking. When you network, you meet new people and need to keep their contact information handy. Evernote is a great place to store a copy of all those business cards. Take a picture of them and store them under a tag like business card and the event you met them at. When the time comes, you can search for that person by the text on the card or any tags you may have added.
8. Travel itinerary
Some businesses require travel. One big headache of traveling is remembering flight and other confirmation numbers. By saving a screen capture, PDF or by simply copying and pasting the information into an Evernote, you can set your mind at ease on your next trip.
9. Take photos of receipts
Anyone in business knows you need to keep a copy of a receipt for pretty much everything. Taking a picture of each receipt may be good enough for proof of your purchase.
10. Billable hours
If you are a freelancer, you can use a note to keep track of your billable time spent on each project for a client. I use this technique a lot because I usually have my Android phone with me when I am not in my office. Other times I have the web or desktop version where I can jot down billed time spent.
How do you use Evernote for your small business? image: Evernote blog
