Pre-Social Media Mania
Before I started my social media marketing business, at my old job as editor of a newspaper and magazine, I would write down reminders on Post-its. Even though I had a nice, big-screen iMac, with the electronic version of Post-its, it was easy to grab the little yellow blocks of paper and stick them on my monitor.
During that time, I also took notes on legal pads to keep lists of things to do, story ideas or people to call. Believe it or not, it was a wonderfully methodical and useful way to keep track of things. However, any important phone numbers or other information eventually had to be inputted into electronic form. And who has time for that? As an owner of my own business now, I certainly don’t.
Keeping Track in a Fast-Moving Online World
I have to keep track of various social media networks and blogs for my clients, and the handwritten method doesn’t cut it in this fast-moving online world. So, in my journey with Crackerjack Scribe, I’ve researched, tested and implemented various applications and tools to help our team keep track of and manage our work.
Below are a few of my recommendations of those useful tools. Keep in mind, while there are many programs, apps and tools out there to help you keep stay on track, whether for managing your business or marketing it with social media, the best thing to do is have a clear idea of what you need.
Evernote
This super useful application is supported on a wide array of platforms. You can type or take voice notes, add images and links, or “clip” notes from Web pages complete with the content and links. These notes can be organized with tags, locations, and notebooks. I use Evernote mainly to keep lists of story ideas for my client’s blogs. Each client has a notebook, and whenever I have an idea or come across something on the Web, I type a note, or clip a page, tag it (architecture for one client), and then save it into the appropriate notebook. You can also “pin” notes onto a map, if location tracking is important. The app has free and premium versions, and you can also share your notes with other Evernote users, or via social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Notepad, Reminders and Siri
While Apple’s iPhone voice command app Siri might not be at the top of anyone’s list for personal or business use, I have found it to be a very handy tool for taking notes and creating reminders. I use it to create to-do lists for my daily social media work schedule. And rather than typing on the frustrating screen keypad, I tell Siri to write the note for me instead, and to schedule a reminder. Apple’s Notepad replaces the legal pad method of days gone by. When meeting with clients, I use Notepad on my iPad during social media strategy sessions.
Taskboard for iPad
This is a simple, easy-to-use application for iPad, which only costs a few bucks. The program uses notecards to manage lists of ideas and tasks. The notecards can be organized onto “boards.” Cards can be labeled however you wish, and they can be reordered by dragging them into a different order, or onto another board. I’ve used it to create an overall social media posting schedule for each of my clients. You can email or print the boards, which keeps it in an orderly text format.
If you’ve got any great apps or tools you use, let us know by commenting below.