Why Notepads Still Rule

Make those fleeting ideas stick by providing sticky notes and flags to your conference goers.

“What tools do you use for your blog idea ‘brain dump?’ Lists, journal, software, etc.” That was one of the questions on the January 2011 #SOBCon Twitter community chat. For those of you unfamiliar with SOBCon, “SOB” is the acronym for “Successful Online Business,” and the online community is made up of some of the best and brightest in both online business strategy and blogging. As such, you might think that the answers to this chat question would have included a wealth of high tech gizmos, gadgets, and software. Check out these mentioned “brain dump” tools used by some of today’s active bloggers:

Voice recorder
Evernote (which I am trying out as a result of the chat)
Livescribe (smartpen used with paper to capture writing electronically)
Highlighting and scribbling in books
Whiteboards/corkboards
Notepads, notebooks, index cards and pens, often keeping by the bed for those middle of the night inspirations.
Sticky flags or notes

Help conference and tradeshow attendees capture their thoughts in the moment with a handy pen on a lanyard.

Honestly, I was shocked at the number of bloggers who chimed in that they use things like notepads, sticky flags, and the like. Expected more apps, software, and gadgetry. One idea that I really loved from Jeff Wilson (@jeffthesensei on Twitter; blogger for The Mountain Top) was keeping a pen hanging around his neck on a tether so that it’s always handy for ideas.

Had to ask myself whether the responses were indicative of an older demographic (and I use that term loosely, like anyone over 35). If the chat had been a bunch of Millennials, would this be the case? I’m not sure. Might be an interesting case study.

In any event, I think this is something to consider when deciding on a promotion for your company. If you have a large customer or conference demographic of writers and idea generators, especially if they aren’t kids, promotional notepads and pens still work. The Baby Boom generation, coupled with the much smaller Generation X, is a large component of our population and will continue to be for at least the next couple of decades. They grew up in the pre-PC, pre-smartphone, pre-there’s-an-app-for-that era. So writing, actually writing, with a pen on paper is a learned and natural reflex. Don’t feel that you are so-last-century if you use promotional pads and pens. They will still rule this promotional landscape for some years to come.

Product Info

Related Posts and Resources

Share and Enjoy: