Resonator #3 - Evernote

My "Resonator" blog series highlights companies who build products or services that resonate. Learn the 3 rules of developing a resonator here. This week I am highlighting Evernote, the Inc. 2011 "Company of the Year".

Evernote Company Overview

What is Evernote?

Evernote has had success on a global scale. The reason is simple, it resonates. Their concept is simple. Make it easy to capture everything, find it fast, and access it anywhere. My introduction to Evernote was from a close business friend. I was always taking notes on my legal pads and he was always taking notes on his computer or phone using Evernote. He could take a picture from the whiteboard and put it right along side his notes. He would grab concepts from the internet and put them alongside his notes. He had everything in one place. Something my legal pads of paper never did. I now use Evernote everyday and am a huge fan, a brand fanatic. I could not live without it.

Resonator Test

1. Painful Problem: We take notes on legal pads of paper, mole skin notebooks, post it notes, loose papers, napkins, whiteboards, and many other things. All our great ideas and notes are scattered. They are not in one place. This is a big problem when we want to find those great ideas, those strokes of genius. I have spent countless hours trying to remember where I wrote something important down. What notebook was it in? The stacks of notes get higher and higher. Evernote solves a real painful problem. Now, all of my notes are in one place. It passes test one.

2. Pervasive: In the world, billions of people take notes each day. So billions of people feel the scattered notebook pain and so billions of people could use Evernote. So, they pass the pervasive test. Big problem, big market. 

3. Willing to Buy: Yes, yes, yes and yes, but it is free. What? Yep, Evernote makes the basic version free. It is part of their vision, their mission to help the world remember and be great. Even though it is free, I would pay a monthly fee to use Evernote, but I don't have to and I get tons of value out of it. The CEO of Evernote said this in a interview with TechCrunch, "Make people fall in love with your free product and they'll be all the more willing to give you their money without even having to ask." You can read the interview here.

Evernote is a real Resonator and I highly recommend it. I would like to hear from you. What are the products or services you know that pass the resonator test?

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