Journaling software - how a baby boomer turned an idea into 35,000 sales

Ruth Folit, founder of LifeJournal

Vibrant baby boomer Ruth Folit, owner of LifeJournal Software likes journaling. Journaling clears her mind. Journaling allows her to think deeply through issues surrounding her. Journaling had a problem, though, says Folit. It used to be cumbersome in a lot of ways.

Some non-scientific statistics, way informal, indicate that journaling is performed repeatedly by about one in six people. Half of all people interviewed admitted to having journaled at least once. Journaling software like LifeJournal involves a computer and is a fascinating aspect of home technology.

Folit began journaling in college, circa 1970s. She never even considered a little pink diary when all her childhood friends toted them about.

"But on the college campus, everyone walked around with their Book, like a black book, leather bound, unlined pages," she recalls. It was part of the uniform.

How baby boomer Ruth Folit invented LifeJournal

She thought the Book-carrying must be something, so she got herself a little notebook that she remembers paying 29 cents for, and she began writing in it. Folit still has that first journal.

Her plan was to have a notebook not only for school, but to jot down life reflections. She did it for the entire semester, noting thoughts, dreams, notes for class. Problem was, the order was, necessarily, chronological and hard to search.

Folit was 20 then. She has kept a journal since. Not fanatically, but consistently. It's always a part of her life. And like your life, hers grew complicated and busy. In the mid 1990s, Folit had small children at home. The family had a cool little Mac computer. Like many families, the Folits worked with family photos and other files.

"Around this time, I wanted to do something new. I went to school and took software design. I wrote in my journal, took classes, and longed for a new career - I wasn't enjoying mine in the environmental industry," she said.

A classic forehead-smack moment.

Of course! Ruth Folit could invent journaling software. And so she did.

First, clipboard in hand, standing in the Riverwalk Mall in New Orleans, Folit did market research. asking anyone who would speak to her, maybe hundreds of people, about their journaling habits. That's where the statistics above came from.

One in six people were actively journaling. Half had kept a journal at least once. Those stats gave birth to a viable business, successful for a decade and still thriving.

About LifeJournal software

The goal was to make journaling software better than hand-writing tools, using the power of computer storage, its immediacy, and its organization. Folit planned an enticing user interface, to overcome procrastination and compel journalers to, just do it. She hired a programmer and a graphic artist. Two years later, she had LifeJournal, in editions for writers, Christians, educators, for staying sober and for everyday journaling.

The structure is same for all versions but the default content differs. The user interface is familiar, Windows-centric. There's space to write, with important word processing features. You can assign the writing to searchable categories. Included 2000 prompts and quotes give you a little kick start and overcome writer's block.

"The prompts," said Folit, "can move you in a new direction or bring you back to what you wanted, but lost focus."

Sheila Bender, author of several books on journaling, wrote the prompts and quotes and came up with the default topics list, which the user can change and customize. A Daily Pulse function allows you to track and monitor your behavior, activity, attitude, and productivity. You might chose to record stress levels, energy or mood on a subjective scale of 1-10 or measure hours slept, hours worked, or number of words written. All dated entries are automatically put in a chronological timeline.

It's easy to create separate users so you and your spouse or partner can journal separately with password protected accounts. LifeJournal has structure to keep you on track and organized, but it's totally customizable.

Ruth Folit's company, creatively born of her need for a solution, has sold 35 thousand software packages in ten years. The baby boomer entrepreneur diversified into other products, including webinars developed for women's personal growth. Folit, inventor, podcaster, lecturer and writer, lives and works in Sarasota, FL. She feels personal satisfaction in having created one of the longest-thriving software programs for journal fans and writers.