Lessons To Learn From Evernote
Thursday, February 5th, 2009After yesterday’s post detailing how Evernote has changed my life, it’s no secret I’m a huge fan of the service. Evernote isn’t the only option for storing data in the “cloud”, but why is it such a great one? I think there are a few key lessons that can be learned.
1) Focus on creating an awesome product
I was listening to Managing the Gray with CC Chapman, and Evernote CEO Phil Libin was being interviewed. Something that he mentioned was the conscious decision to focus on product development and spend on engineers and creating an awesome product instead of spending on marketing. Instead, they let it evolve organically by word of mouth. It’s something I personally believe in. Make sure your product is the best it can be, and doesn’t suck, before even thinking about marketing it or reaching out.
2) Freemium model
When you look at other “cloud” storage apps like Hordit and gasp at unlimited storage, Evernote’s 40MB per month for the free version and 500MB per month for the paid version ($45/year) may seem far away in comparison. However, I’m convinced Evernote has it’s business model planned out correctly. I use Evernote daily and I have used 0.1MB out of my 40MB free, with 2 days left to go. Unless you’re an obsessive hi-res photo-uploader, there is no reason why 40Mb isn’t enough. As a student, I don’t need a premium services (yet), so I appreciate the effort to cater to both the free and the paid user segment is something
3) Participating in the online space
Whether it’s participating in podcast interviews like on Managing the Gray, having an Evernote blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook page or a Friendfeed page, there’s no doubt Evernote’s presence online is both everywhere and value-adding
4) Listening to their fans
Of course, there’s no use just having a presence online if you don’t use it to engage with your fans. Their most recent email update reads:
As many of you know, we’re big fans of Twitter. A while back we asked you to tell us what you liked about our @Evernote tweeting and what you didn’t. The response was clear: more suggestions on how to use Evernote and fewer links to media coverage. So, for those interested in the latter, we just launched a second Twitter account focused solely on media and blogosphere coverage. Check it out: http://www.twitter.com/evernotepress
As a company, the desire to push out your press releases is overwhelming, but I think being receptive to fan’s opinions and actually changing behavior, is a huge plus and shows great respect for Evernote users.
I’m sure there are many other things Evernote is doing right, but these are the four that really jump out at me. What else do you think Evernote has done right?
Tags: cc chapman, cloud, evernote, facebook, freemium, friendfeed, hordit, managing the gray, Marketing, phil libin, product development, twitter
