I’ve been using Google Notebook for nearly a year now and although the product wasn’t perfect, I really couldn’t complain all that much about it. Any time I was on the computer and had a random thought or business idea I wanted to jot down, I’d throw it into Google Notebook and quickly be done with it. Although there is no real lack of Google haters, I find myself to be a very happy and content Google fanboy. Still, something didn’t feel quite right about Google Notebook and all my Twitter friends kept talking about this new software called Evernote. Often times when I’m under a barrage of tweet attacks I’ll find myself ignoring most of them due to stubborness (a trait I refuse to apologize for), but eventually I couldn’t withstand the attack and checked it out.

Note: Although Evernote offers paid “pro” features, this review features Evernote’s free functionality.

My first impression of Evernote was that the site was much better looking than I expected and it had that unmistakable web 2.0 quality to it. They had a cool logo (an elephant, totally cool) and the signup looked easy, so I gave it a spin. Mind you, this was about a month ago and I wasn’t even really looking to replace Google Notebook, just to voraciously consume every web 2.0 site I could get my hands on. What ended up happening however, was a battle so fierce that…well I actually can’t give it away yet because that would defeat the purpose of the review, but anyway I had a really hard time deciding which application I preferred. So in an effort to decide who would be victorious in the realm of web based notebooks, I matched them up head to head, and this is what I found:

Ease of Signup

The first thing that people do when they want to use a new web 2.0 product is sign up…easy enough right? Well Google Notebook is a very easy process, particularly if you already have a Google Account. You simply press a few buttons and boom, you’ve got a new notebook.

Evernote is fairly simple as well, you just click a button to get to the new user page, type in a few details about yourself, and off you go.

I’d call this one a toss up because both of them get you off and running in just a minute or so, which is how it should be.

Interface

Google Notebook’s interface is fairly straight forward, albeit a little bland. The left side of the screen lists all of your current notebooks with the note labels in a box below. There is a typical text editor and a few buttons to save or start a new notebook. Here is a screenshot:

As far as Evernote goes, the interface is more involved, which I believe to be a good thing. At first glance, the options are a little overwhelming, but at least there are options. The opening interface lets you see all of your notes combined onto one page in the form of little sticky notes. If you open an individual notebook you will find the same interface as well as the option to open up the text editor to add or change your notes. The interface allows you to customize the page to your preference, which is a far cry from Google’s simple interface. Here is a screenshot:

Overall, I’m going to have to give this one to Evernote because of the ability to customize the interface as well as the overall “feel” of the page itself.

Labels / Tags

Labeling and Tagging is a huge issue for me because I keep a ton of notes and without a good labeling system my notebooks become a cluttered mess. What’s the point of keeping notes if you can’t go back and find them easily?

Google Notebook gives you the ability to label every individual note at the click of a mouse. You can also comment on your own notes, which comes in handy if you want to monitor progress or add something to your original note. Although the feature isn’t fancy, it works well enough to keep a handle on your notes.

Evernote has tags as well, but they are a bit more difficult to access and record. However, once they are stored they are very easy to access via a menu on the sidebar.

I happen to like Google’s tagging feature better, but that doesn’t mean Evernotes is lacking in any way. Still, I’ll give this one to Google.

Browsing

This is where an online really defines itself in my book. Having to do the whole copy and past thing on a webpage, especially if I want to bookmark or stumble a page, is just an added hassle I don’t want. Luckily, both of these programs offer great solutions to this problem.

Both Google and Evernote require the Firefox plugin to make these features work, but they are a very quick install. Google’s is here, and Evernote’s is here.

Google’s plugin gives you the ability to pull up your notebook from the bottom of your browser window, which is really handy if you don’t want to open a new window. It pops up attached to the bottom corner of your browser and lets you add a quick note and close it in a hurry. You can also choose to go full screen if you wish. Also, when on a web page you can select anything on that page, right click and add to Notebook. The only problem I have with this feature is that it can be difficult to get the content into the right notebook and the loading time is a little slow.

Evernote has a nice concept with their plugin because although it basically works the same way, a small pop-up opens in your current window allowing you to choose the notebook, tags, and title for the note. This saves you the aggravation of loading time and waiting for a new window. Also, there is a very cool feature called web-clipper that lets you screenshot anything with a resizable box and then post the screenshot to Evernote.

Although I like Google’s innovation in this department, Evernote came out and improved on the design. Give this one to Evernote.

Extras

This is where things will really start to get fun and I’m so excited about some of these features that I’m going to go against order and talk about Evernote first. Evernote wasn’t happy with just a web interface and so they decided to go all out. If you visit their download page, you will find not only a Windows and MAC version of the software, but you will also find a mobile version and an Iphone version. Although I haven’t used either mobile version, I have used the Windows version and I love it even more than the web interface. For starters, you have the ability to synchronize your account from Windows which allows you to access and use Evernote from nearly any PC in the world.  The software has easy to use buttons for adding, printing, emailing, tagging, and deleting notes and lets you export them in a variety of formats. The software is flat out excellent.

Evernote also lets you email yourself notes in the event you don’t have access to the software online or on your desktop. You are assigned a simple email address and you can email notes, photos, and audio clips from your computer or phone right into an Evernote notebook. Emailed notes are placed into your default notebook. Although I haven’t used this feature much, having the option to is great.

Lastly, Evernote offers you the ability to import Delicious Bookmarks and their tags. Although I don’t use this feature a lot, its nice to know that I can hit up my bookmarks while going through my notes.

The only extra that Google Notebook really offers is a way to share your notebooks. This may be handy for collaborative projects or if you like to share lists (I use it to share Gift Wish Lists), but this really isn’t that special or irreplaceable.

Now, obviously I’m going to have to give this category to Evernote and although it looks like Evernote has the clear edge, I’m going to have to pause before my judgement. You see, even though Evernote clearly beats Google in several categories, I still find myself using Google Notebook nearly half of the time. As I’ve tried to find a reason for this I can only think of one reason: Google Notebook is cleaner, simpler, and really I’m just used to using it. Where Evernote reigns supreme, features and innovation, Google is weak. However, Google Notebook’s strengths lie in its ability to be used quickly and without effort for quick notes or ideas.

So there you have it, Evernote is the clear victor by category, but I’ll still be using Google Notebook for simpler note taking and random thoughts. If you haven’t yet, try them both and let me know what you think.

Google Notebook vs Evernote is a post from: Nathan Hangen

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Technorati Tags: caroline middlebrook, money, making money, web 2.0, stumbleupon

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Knewsroom Obituary 06.20.08

Well, no less than a week after I recommend Knewsroom as a killer way to make money online (I made another handful of money this week), Knewsroom decides to close their doors. The report says it was due to revenue issues, which I am guessing stems from the fact that it was easy to make money with their model. Namethis survived the cut, but I’m not a big fan of that site.Ah well, just as one opportunity slips away, two more will soon follow.

Tags: knewsroom, make money online, web 2.0, kluster

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Ok, so maybe not fame per-se, but you can use this service to make money and influence the news…which is close to fame right?

Kluster

Kluster has been around working on different startups trying to promote their brand, and I happened to find them through Mashable. Although they have come up with a new service called Namethis, their Knewsroom application has given me some very interesting results. For starters, I have barely put in 20-30 minutes worth of work on the site, and have made about $6. That income was earned without really even trying and I think that if I tune my efforts, I can make much more.

How it Works

But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves here, because I haven’t even told you what Knewsroom is yet. Knewsroom is a website where users can submit stories, via link to other site’s stories or by writing their own. You can submit categories, subjects, or both. Once you have submitted your story, you can invest watts (Kluster currency that you earn by signing up and by investing in stories) in stories that you think will make the front page. Now, this is where it gets interesting. If you submit a story or invest in one that makes the front page, you get a return on investment of watts as well as a share of that day’s earnings based on your share in the story. If it happens that an article you have written makes the front page, they pay $150! This gives budding journalists a chance to make some money and get their content published.

The Payoff

So far, I have been picky on the stories I invest in (I do submit categories of my own, which earns me a greater percentage), but it is really easy to make a guess. I’ve basically earned $18/hour by messing around with a new site. Overall, the experience is pretty fun and the game of picking and choosing has an appeal I cannot explain. I’d probably use it even if I didn’t make money.

So, check it out and tell me what you think…I’m interested in hearing if you have the same experience.

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Web 2.0

I hate to throw around the term web 2.0 often, but the truth is that we really are moving into the next generation of the internet experience. This movement involves the investors, the developers, and the users and in my opinion will be even greater than the original tech boom that happened in the 90′s.

At some point, I’d like to get into where I think the internet is heading and how we can all ride the wave, but for now I just want to get your feet wet by helping you get more involved in your browsing and social networking experience.

Social Networking

If you aren’t familiar with the term “social networking,” then I highly suggest checking out sites, such as The 30 Day Challenge, Mashable, or Del.icio.us to get a feel of what I mean. You are probably already familiar with sites such as Facebook(which just overtook Myspace) and Myspace, but those are early networks trying to adopt the new web interface and aren’t really what I am going to talk about here.

Social Networking is a way in which people can not only keep up with their friends, but also follow business associates or teachers, share websites, content, or ideas, and build networks of allies in their internet entrepreneurial efforts.

The keys to really doing this effectively, lie in using a variety of tools that not only heighten your experience, but also allow you to increase efficiency while doing so. So, with the what and why out of the way, lets talk about the how.

Tools

Twitter/Twhirl

My new favorite tool actually isn’t even used within the browser, although the engine itself does. Do you remember how popular Instant Messaging used to be? Well, now it is back with a fury…call it IM 2.0 if you like, but what makes this so special is that it allows you to be everywhere without going anywhere, whereas old IM clients limited you to just your friends.

The tool itself is called Twitter and at first glance, many people such as myself wondered, “why do I need to type what I am doing or thinking and who cares?” Then, I found how others use it an had one of those Viola! moments. Instead of just typing what you are doing and thinking (although you can and should do that when you feel like it), you can use this to get blog hits, diggs, bookmarks, or just share fun or interesting info. You can see how I use it here: http://www.twitter.com/nhangen. While you are there, go ahead and create a profile and login. Once you get comfy using it, then you can start searching for people to follow, but don’t worry too much about that now.

Now, here is the fun part…going to a website and typing something in just isn’t that appealing is it? Of course not, and so you have Twhirl - the answer to the problem. Twhirl installs just like an IM client and can be used just as easily if not easier. You simply enter your account info and you are ready to go. You can even use it for Friendfeed. I use this tool so often it has become a part of my life. I can’t tell you how many friends and partners I have made using this system and honestly, it will become the next “must use” item on the net…so grab it while its hot.

StumbleUpon

Do you ever have those moments when you want to kill some time online, but don’t know where to look? Maybe you’ve got a new site you’d like to draw some traffic to and have tapped most of your SEO resources (we’ll talk about SU traffic in another post). Well, look no further because StumbleUpon will change the way you browse the web…seriously. Stumbleupon is a toolbar that you can add to either Firefox, IE, or Flock (coming next) that upon creating a profile will ask you for your interests. Spend time going through this properly, because it will be important when you start “stumbling.” Once you have selected your favorites, you click the Stumble button and Stumbleupon sends you straight to a page based on your interests. The great thing about SU is that it is fantastic for finding sites I never would have. You can either give a thumbs up to save for later, a thumbs down to show you aren’t interested, or just Stumble again. Like any other tool, you can also follow friends and share sites with others. Here is an example of the SU bar:

If you decide to try SU, do me a favor and hit this post or my main page with a thumbs up…I sure would appreciate it (you can find a thumbs up button at the bottom of my posts). You can also add me as a friend.

Flock

Flock is built based on the Firefox engine, but has so many additional features that there is almost no sense in using Firefox any longer (note: if you still use IE, you are behind the curve big time). Some of the main improvements over Firefox are:

• Built in Media, such as Youtube, flickr, picassa, facebook, and Digg
• Built in RSS reader which makes it very easy to subscribe and monitor feeds
• Several Built in Social Bookmarking tools, such as Digg, Delicous, SU, twitter, facebook, etc

Flock has done a great job of integrating these features, and with some additional tweaking you can really get things done in this browser. So, check it out at Flock.com.

That does it for Part 1, in Part 2 we’ll hit head to social bookmarking and media tools.

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For those of you not aware of the 30 Day Challenge (or 30DC as it is often affectionately called), it is a contest designed by Ed Dale and Dan Raine to help internet entrepeneurs make their first $10 online. They use a small amount to make the goals easily attainable, although the program can easily help users attain higher sales numbers.

In my case, I’ve already gone through the last season’s episodes and learned everything I could from them. You’ll find some of the best tips revealed through this site from time to time, but for the full effect, I highly recommend heading over there and signing up. Check it out for yourself, it is free and Ed does an AMAZING job of breaking down web monetization in a way that anyone can get it right.

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Get the best and most relevant Triathlon Magazine Information at ThriathleteMagazines.net

I created this site in just under 2 hours, content and all, using Jeff Johnson’s Free SEO Blog Software. I used a few different affiliate sites to find the best prices available (don’t want your visitors to pay more than they should) and put every relevant magazine I could find on the site. I personally subscribe to a few of them, so I know quite a bit about what they have to offer, but that isn’t necessary. In just a few more hours of work, I’ll have created a solid PPC campaign, used some social bookmarking, and SEO strategies to bring an estimated 1,000 visitors in the next week. I’ll keep you posted on the results.

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