Posts Tagged ‘Evernote’

Cool Apps: Springpad – Your New Personal Assistant

By John Thompson | December 3rd, 2010 0 Comments

There’s no shortage of cool apps out there designed to help us remember stuff. That’s great news for agents who lead busy, mobile, hectic, independent contractor lifestyles. How else would you remember to call back client A, email client B info on the listing you just saw while out with client C, make lunch reservations, get the car serviced, order more business cards, read that interesting article on new housing policies, and record your receipts for the dreaded tax season?

We’ve reviewed several apps out there already that can help with some of this. But would you believe me when I tell you there is one app that can help with all of this? It’s called Springpad – and it can act as your own personal assistant if you let it.

How does it work? First off, Springpad is very similar to Evernote, which we wrote about here. But Springpad’s MO is threefold: save stuff, organize it and act on it. To get started, you need to create an account at www.springpadit.com, then download the app to your smart phone and log in.

Once you’re in, you’ll notice a dashboard that enables you to create “notebooks,” which essentially helps you organize things by folder. You can navigate your stuff and also add things like notes and tasks. When adding things, you’ll see the ability to “look it up” which searches for related information. So for instance, your colleague mentioned a great book the other day and you want to buy it. Add a note to your Springpad so you don’t forget, then click “Look it up.” Springpad will then return relevant information you can act on like places to buy the book.

It’s that last function that Springpad really emphasizes as a differentiator from other notes and reminder apps. Other features include:

  • Sync between all your devices: make notes online on your computer to refer to later on your smartphone and vice versa.
  • Save notes while you’re out and about. You can scan barcodes, look up nearby information or take a picture of something so you remember later. It can all be incorporated into your Springpad account for easy remembering.

If you’re already convinced to try out this app, I highly recommend watching the “Getting Started with Springpad” video at the Springpad homepage (http://www.springpadit.com). It includes easy navigation instructions to help you get used to what you need to make the most of this app.

Springpad: your lovely assistant that doesn’t cost you anything but a few minutes to download and set up. Happy recording, organizing and living!

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Cool Apps: Total reQall

By John Thompson | May 28th, 2010 2 Comments

For the most part, most of the tech stuff that I look at and test falls under the heading, “Mildly Interesting.” Every so often, though, I stumble across something that absolutely blows me away.

I had that experience a couple of weeks ago.

I have been blown away…by reQall.

Before I get into the ins and outs of what it does, though, let’s chat. Now, I’m sure that there are those of you out there who are hyper-organized, who never have any trouble remembering anything. All of your ducks are in their respective rows and every tiny detail is in its place. Well, most of us are not like that. Most of us have great ideas, but we have them when there are no Post-Its on which to jot them down. We make appointments, but can’t remember them. We know that there was … something … that we were supposed to do, but we can’t quite remember what it was because we haven’t had a quad shot gargantulatte (no whipped cream on that, thanks) with a side of Red Bull.

For those of us who are dealing with that grim reality? reQall is at our beck and/or call.

With applications for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Outlook, GoogleApps, email, Evernote, SMS, IM, and even an extension for Firefox, reQall is there, wherever and whenever we need it.

What it is is a high-toned, get-your-backside-in-gear memory aid that’s an organizer, a reminder system, and a productivity assistant, all rolled into one. Have an earth-shattering idea while on the road? Call reQall from your mobile phone and your recording is transcribed into text. Suddenly remember an appointment that you forgot? Record it with reQall and it’ll appear in your Outlook or Google calendars.

reQall is smart. If you say, “Meet with Jack Bauer every Tuesday night at 8,” reQall knows that it’s a meeting, and that it’s every Tuesday night at 8. It’ll also record it accordingly in your calendars. If you say, “Remember to buy milk” it’ll record that in your shopping list.

Here’s where it gets scary smart, though: reQall will remind you of things at the precise moment you need to remember them. Let’s say, for example, that you want to buy flowers for your wife on your anniversary. Create a reminder in reQall and when you’re near the flower shop, it’ll remind you to stop. Right then. I know. Crazy, right? But in the best way.

There are a ton of things that you can do with reQall, each of them cooler than the thing that came before it. Sign up for an account today and see just how organized you can become. You’ll have total reQall.

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Have You Landed On An iPad?

By John Thompson | May 14th, 2010 3 Comments

Love it or hate it, the iPad, Apple’s latest shiny technogadget, has taken the world not just by storm, but by virtual F5 tornado.

For most of the folks snatching them off shelves like they were loaves of bread in Russia, circa-1980, they’re just awesome, hyper-beautiful, super-slick … toys. But for REALTORS? The iPad holds a wealth of creative new ideas and opportunities to provide new services for customers and clients.

For starters, the iPad’s display is absolutely gorgeous. Really. It’s second-to-none. Imagine taking your clients on showing appointments and presenting them with splashy, hi-res, full-color photos on it. If you’re out and about and they suddenly decide that there are other properties they’d like to see, you can show them right on the iPad. No more carting around that heavy, cumbersome laptop. With it, you’ve also got a terrific way to take notes as you go with them from house-to-house, or with which to give a listing presentation the likes of which they’ve never seen.

And it’s a pretty cool tool outside of client interaction, too!

Some of the great tools that are available to enhance your business are:

  1. Evernote. We’ve talked about this fantastic app before, but the version that’s available for the iPad is fantastic. The app itself is free, and basic memberships to Evernote are free, with upgrade options that, at their most expensive, are a minimal $45 annually.
  2. iWork. Apple’s answer to MSOffice, iWork is a suite of tools — Pages, Keynote, and Numbers — that is incredibly easy, incredibly intuitive. Pages (iWork’s word processor) is a breeze to use, and the iPad version is really slick. Keynote simply blows PowerPoint out of the water in terms of the quality of presentation it produces. Numbers, which is similar to Excel, doesn’t have quite the juice as its Microsoft counterpart, but it’s still off to a pretty good start.
  3. Things. Hands-down, this is the best organizational software out there. It’s a little pricey in terms of apps (most people are still used to paying $1 for things from the AppStore) at $19.99, but it’s worth every penny. If you’re a Mac user, this is a must-have.

There are tons of new apps being added each and every day, so be sure to check back for your favorites.

The iPad isn’t for everyone, but for us? For REALTORS? The iPad’s going to provide a very happy landing.

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Intero Cool Apps: Remember Everything…With EVERNOTE

By John Thompson | November 6th, 2009 0 Comments

evernote“I just had the BEST idea!”

“I’m meeting so many great people at this conference! I hope I don’t lose any of these business cards!”

 “Wow! That was a great bottle of wine. I hope I can remember its name the next time I’m at the store.”

 Do you ever say things like this to yourself? If you’re human, then the answer is, mostly likely, yes. Constantly on the go, constantly inundated with new information and new bits and pieces of paper, it’s a wonder that we can keep it all straight. Chances are, something has slipped through the cracks. Chances are, somewhere along the way, you’ve said something like, “Shoot! What was the name of that guy with that cool thing?”

For these reasons, and so many others, there is EVERNOTE.

Now, EVERNOTE isn’t exactly new, but for some reason, not a lot of people seem to know about it. This doesn’t make it any less cool, though. How can EVERNOTE help me, you ask? How can it help my business?

Simple. By helping you organize everything. By getting all of your stuff in one sock. Here’s how it works:

If someone gives you a business card, snap a picture of it with your phone. You can upload it to EVERNOTE, and it’ll save & index it. It’ll even be searchable. Do the same thing with wine labels, Post-Its on which you’ve scrawled thoughts and musings … anything.

Leave yourself voice messages. Create to-do lists. Keep track of those random “world-changing” ideas.

Take notes from meetings. Were you and your team super-productive on your whiteboard? Take a picture of it, send it to EVERNOTE and have it in your records forever.

The possibilities are endless. Tag any entry that you make with categories that are easy for you to remember. Expenses. Meetings. To-Dos. You name it. With EVERNOTE, everything becomes searchable and is immediately available.

EVERNOTE is web-based, and also has mobile applications for iPhone, Palm Pre, as well as other SmartPhones. Basic use is free, with Premium service that allows for larger uploads for as little as $5 per month.

Get control. Get organized. Get it together with EVERNOTE.

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