raindropCreative minds are a beautiful thing but maintaining the same level of creativity throughout the day can be difficult, exhausting and just all around rough. Thankfully, online resources that fuel your creative side and keep that sharp focus are plentiful. From productivity tools, design inspiration, free stock photo websites and interesting articles, I am constantly bookmarking web pages for later use.

Lately I have been using the Raindrop.io bookmarking tool to compile all of my treats in one place. As soon as I laid eyes on their minimal, flat design accompanied by visual thumbnails and cute little icons, I had to check it out.

The introduction and initial walk through their interface is impressive as well. Raindrop allows you to create your own unique “collections” of bookmarks and lets you choose from their icons or upload your own to go with each collection. I know this may be a small thing, but really, it’s the small things in life you have to learn to appreciate. I mean look at that adorable little space alien icon.

The piece which ties this all together is the Raindrop browser extension.

raindrop_extension

It’s simply lovely the way Raindrop slides in from the the left side of the browser window and makes saving your favorite websites easy and enjoyable. Each time you use the extension to save a website you have the option to edit the description and add tags. There is also an option to take a screen shot of the website to use as the thumbnail so the whole bookmarking experience becomes much more visual than simply saving a URL link in your browser bookmarks.

Another nice feature is the ability to make your collections either public or private. For example, you could compile a list of your favorite tools and make it public so other people can subscribe to your collection. On the flip side you can browse other users’ public collections and subscribe to the ones that interest you. There really are too many resources out there to keep track of, so a bookmarking tool with extended features and way to see what other people are saving is just too good to pass up. Oh! did I forget to mention it’s free? I am actually using Raindrop to compile a public collection of other bookmarking tools to check out if this one is just not for you.

If the ability to create yout own library full of thematic collections of smart bookmarks peaks your interest, give Raindrop.io a try.

Have all of your favorite tips and tricks bookmarked? Don’t forget to favorite our free strategic planning guide to help reinvigorate and recharge your business!

StrategicPlanWorksheet