TextMyJournal

Journaling shouldn't be difficult. With TextMyJournal you can write your story one message at a time.

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TextMyJournal

TextMyJournal started when I heard someone say "I really should keep a journal... It's just so hard!" I wanted to find the best way to make journaling ultra convenient.

This desire was fueled by my late grandmother. She was a remarkable woman, and after she passed away I realized her stories had passed away with her. There was no documentation or recording of many of her stories. I didn’t want this to repeat itself with the generations, so I aimed to develop something that would make the preservation of stories and memories easier – or at least more convenient!

Your story — One message at a time

The concept behind TextMyJournal is simple:

  1. Each day, at a time you specify, you receive a text message reminding you to journal
  2. Reply to that text with text, pictures, audio, or video
  3. The message you send is stored on a secure private server as your journal

You can download a .csv file of your journal at any time

Creating TextMyJournal

I began by researching options for keeping a journal. There are many great options, but nothing that embodied the ease and convenience I envisioned. I then began researching text message options. My search began with Google Voice and eventually led to Twilio.

Once I discovered Twilio, I created a pilot study. I used Twilio, Zapier, and Google Docs to set up a pilot study to test out. I had about 20 users test out the pilot version for a month. I surveyed each user at the beginning and end of the month. Using their answers I discovered there was, indeed, a market for this service. I also learned through the surveys what worked and what could be improved. I took this information to a developer who I hired through the Twilio do-ers website. I interviewed several developers and found one with whom I was excited to work. Three months later, we launched the beta version of TextMyJournal.

Challenges

TextMyJournal has seen many challenges. The first was the time it took to develop the service. Initially I had hoped to launch January 1 of 2015, but there were hiccups with the development that pushed it back a month.

TextMyJournal was picked up by a blog with a great following in March, only a month after launch. There was a sign up increase of over 1000%. Though this was wonderful, it also helped us discover a major gaps in the system. TextMyJournal is currently available to phone numbers in the US and Canada. There were a few individuals from overseas who signed up. Our system was not prepared to handle numbers from outside the US or Canada, and it jammed the system. Everyone who signed up for a free trial didn’t get their texts. It required a tremendous amount of courage to respond to the mistakes and let people know exactly what was happening. This challenge allowed us to repair a major glitch in our system and get the service functioning for our customers.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

TextMyJournal is working. People are journaling – they are preserving their stories – and that matters to me! In preparing for the next phase of updates I downloaded my own journal I’ve kept by texting every day. It was remarkable to see my journal. Significant events in my life, small conversations that meant something to me, and pictures of moments I didn’t want to forget were all there in one document. I didn’t have to think about it – I just texted my story – one message at a time.

What I learned

  • Be patient with myself and with those helping me
  • Customers are patient when you’re honest with them
  • Launch even when the product isn’t perfect
  • Be unafraid to ask questions
  • The importance of having a team of people to talk through the process
  • Be confident, understanding, and kind in talking with customers

What's next for TextMyJournal

I’m thrilled for upcoming improvements for TextMyJournal. Updates and improvements have been sorted into two phases:

Phase 2:

  • Create a downloadable and editable PDF from your journals
  • Categorize text prompts (This will allow different users to receive specific prompts. Entrepreneurs want different prompts than parents do!)
  • Journal prompts posted on blog and Pinterest

Phase 3:

  • Connect with book printing companies to turn journals into a physical book
  • Subscription offered for text prompts only (no reply feature)
  • Allow multiple people to contribute to one single journal - this can be used by parents or companies
  • Multiple numbers per user - this can be used by individuals who want to keep separate journals for different areas of their life, such as an entrepreneur wanting to document the start of a business while keeping track of their personal life elsewhere
  • Allow phone numbers outside the US & Canada

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