Well I did some research and after speaking with a new friend of mine, Michelle Ward from When I Grow Up Coach, I found my new favorite time management tool – Batchbook! It may not be all encompassing but it has all the tools that I was looking for to organize my stream of information.

You can visit the BatchBook website for a look at everything they offer but here are a few of the options that really got me excited!

• Contact management with sync ability with Freshbooks and Survey Monkey!
  This means that every time you create a new contact in BatchBook you will also be creating a new contact in these 3^rd party applications. Such a time saver!

  There is also a web form option that is handy when you want to create a form for a website and collect the information. You can link the form with specific contacts and have all of the information in one place!

• Communications Tracking
  With BatchBook you can link contacts with conversations and To-Dos so you can have all the information in one neat bunch!

  They also have e-mail forwarding where you can forward messages and attachments from you inbox to BatchBook and link those to a specific contact as well. I use this feature a lot to follow a conversation and link with my To-Dos instead of having to rewrite everything or link back to another program.

• Super Tags
  Ok it sounds like a superhero and it kind of is, except for information instead of damsels in distress! Tags are like labels or folders, so you can tag conversations or contacts that are related together and then by looking at that tag you can see everything associated with a specific group or project.

  The cool part is the Super Tags. These are special tags that will add additional information to that contact. For example, the Social Media Super tag will add the option of including a Twitter name, blog feed, and even Flickr feed! Not only do you now have the names and web addresses in their contact, BatchBook actually places the feed into the contact so you can see their profile and their latest blog posts! Very Cool!

I highly recommend giving BatchBook a once over, especially if you’re looking for a really simple tool to organize your conversations! Compared to other project management options out there I found that BatchBook was a great price. Plus, if you follow @batchblue on Twitter you get an additional 30 days free! Be sure to let me know what you think!

Happy Organizing!

Sara Carbaugh is a wife, a mother and a virtual assistant working with entrepreneurs. Visit her website at www.rightclickofficeservices.com for more information on Sara and how she can help take some of the stress off you and your business!

My name is Jill Claire, president of MBSN and owner of Secretary to the Public. I started my VA business in 1996 and over the years have developed my niche in association management. It is a labor of love and that’s always my advice to new VAs; do what you love.

It takes self-discipline and drive to be a successful VA. If you are considering starting your own VA business because you think it’s sweet to work from home and set your own hours, think again. VAs who depend on their business for steady income know that is the gravy. Hard work and dedication to the client are the meat and potatoes. That’s why it is so important to love what you do – it’s the best motivation.

MBSN is a great place for VAs to exchange ideas and we challenge each other to grow (see me blogging?). MBSN is a valuable resource to business owners seeking administrative assistance of all types. We’re glad you stopped by and welcome your feedback!

Jill Claire
www.SecretaryToThePublic.com