Now for Part 2 of my series “What happens when the digital goes out of your Digital World” In part 1 I told you how to protect your devices and some of the data. In this post I will share with you some apps I use to make sure if my device is stolen, your data will be safe and recoverable.
Notes
- Being in marketing how many meetings do you have a day? How many notes do you take in each of these meetings. I know, especially in an agency or freelance, your notes are one of the most important things you have after a meeting. It has all the details, to do lists and more. How
do you keep those notes not matter what? The best app I have found for this is Evernote. It is one of those little apps that could. You can store pictures, webpages, pdfs, voice memos and a lot more. I would also recommend getting the paid yearly service. This will increase your upload limit every month. It will also increase the types of files you can upload. When I was in Vegas, I luckily took my notes from 30+ people in Evernote and allowed it to synch after each meeting. Evernote will synch over wifi or data connections. If you just do text notes using data will not eat up your bandwidth. The best thing with Evernote is you can organize your notes in notebook and tags. This makes it extremely searchable. I have been in plenty of meetings only to have them run together and not remember which meeting had the right note. Evernote will let you search and does a great job. I can’t remember a time when Ever note couldn’t find what I needed. Just make sure you synch before closing. You can access Evernote on your phone, tablet and computer. It’s cross platform with IOS and Android. Lastly, for an added measure of security you can have a passcode to access Evernote on launch/sleep on our phone or tablet. - An alternative is the built in notes app for IOS.
Contacts:
- Going to Vegas I met about 10 new contacts. I had the business cards in my bag to follow up the week my bag was stolen. These contacts are
hard to get again cause I” having to contact people who were at the show and go “hey did you talk to brand X? Do you have their contact info?” Which is not only time consuming but makes you double you work. My answer to this is Hello. Hello is a CRM app from Evernote that keeps track of people. You can take a picture of their business card and it will geotag where you are and automatically import them into your Evernote. So even if you lose your bag or card, it’s safe in Evernote. This is not only handy for having something stolen, but how often have you gotten a card from someone and misplaced it. The app uses charter recognition and makes it the phone number and email a link to email or call them directly from your phone. This app does a lot more then just save business cards. I would suggest giving it a try and see how you can best use it. - An alternative is Cardmunch from LinkedIn
Receipts:
- Receipts are one of those things that are important to everyone. I had all the receipts in my bag in an envelope to be put in my files for next years taxes. I will admit this one is totally my fault. I should have done this right when i got home from my trip. I now have to go through bank
and credit card statements to try and find all the expenses from the trip. I have tried a few apps, Shoebox, Lemon Wallet, but the one I like best is Piikki. The things I like about Piikki is first it ties into Evernote. Once you “scan” in the receipt it will geotag and add it to your Evernote. To use Piikki you put your receipt on a table and it will automatically detect the receipt and take a picture. It does a pretty good job in finding a receipt. I would recommend not doing it on a white background. The app doesn’t always find the edges. Once in you can categorize, organize and share the receipt. Once you have expended the receipt you can archive it so it doesn’t show up in your main screen. Like Evernote you can also pass code protect the app so if anyone gets your device they won’t have access to the data. - An alternative is Lemon Wallet or Shoebox
I hope this series will help you protect your data. A few last tips are: Use different pass codes for locking the screen and apps. Because if they get your code they can open your apps easier. Next, take your bag with any device with you. Granted it doesn’t make it 100% theftproof but you won’t have to worry about it being taken from your car. I’d rather look like a geek then be out another MacBook and iPad. Lastly, if you have an expensive computer or carry around a lot of gear get a rider on your insurance to cover them. Especially if its your own devices and not one from work.
These are a few suggestions that work for me. I would suggest find a system that works for you. Yes, some of these things aren’t convenient but once you get into the habit of doing them they become second nature.
