Organizing Your Internet Marketing Business

You're all fired up and excited, having just made the decision to start an internet marketing business. That's fantastic, as it is an exciting and lucrative world, however, calm down just a little and remember that internet marketing, just like any off-line business does need some work and organization.

Yes, you do need to be organized. So, take a deep breath and let's get down to some of the nitty-gritty stuff, I promise you it will save you time and money and an awful lot of teeth gnashing!

First, emails. All email programs have a few folders built-in, which are just fine and dandy for personal use, however, you are now in business you will need to set up quite a lot more folders and sub-folders. For example, you have probably signed up for everything going to gain as much information, help and advice as possible. Now that's great, you're keen and willing to learn but what you will find, unless you create new folders for each new account, is that your in- box will be overflowing and you will not be able to find a single thing.

So, start right now to set up folders and sub-folders for everything and I mean everything. The easiest and least time consuming way is to create the folder and the message rule as soon as you receive the email. That way you will not have to go through masses of emails sorting each individually. You will find after a period of time that some of the newsletters you have subscribed too are really not worth keeping (see my blog Sorting the Wheat from the Chaff), then you can just delete those folders, or rename them which ever is applicable.

Another point to keep in mind is the name of each folder. Unless you have a super-human memory, or are well versed in using initials, then I suggest you use the full name of each person/newsletter or at least an easily recognizable abbreviation. Otherwise you will, a few months, maybe less, down the track be scratching your head as to what XYZ is meant to stand for, trust me it happens!

By now you will have set-up your email folders and subfolders and have that well and truly organized, so that when you log on all you have to do is watch how many emails are coming and if your eyes are quick enough, which folders they went into. If you didn't spot the folder, it only takes a few seconds just to click on each folder and check if new mail has arrived.

Let's now move on to another important part of organizing your brand new internet marketing business, the My Documents folder.

If like most people you have all manner of personal items stored in My Documents, then I suggest you first move them all into one folder, labelled for example Personal. From there you can create sub-folders if necessary. That way you do not muddle personal with business.

Now having moved all your personal things into one folder it is time to set up a folder(s) for your internet marketing business. Just stop for a moment and consider exactly the type of material you will be storing, each individual business is different, however I am sure you will be downloading a lot of reports, free e-books etc. so I would start with the following folders:-

• Compressed Downloads
  
• Brandable E-Books
• Non-Brandable E-Books
• Programs
• Reports
  
• Videos
• Free Giveaways

Within these catagories, I also create sub-folders, as in my Brandable E-Books folder I have a sub-folder which has the Branded E-books, this way I am not continually opening an E-book to see if it has been branded or not. This is also why I have two folders Brandable and Non-Brandable, it may seem a bit pedantic but honestly it does save hours of time and frustration.

I have to confess, I am a sub-folder fanatic but experience has taught me to create folders and sub-folders for everything, even if it is just a small amount of data. The two main reasons are that at one time I had a massive computer crash, had my computer not been so well organized in the first place, the bill to the chap retrieving my lost data would have been horrendous. As it was he was able to retrieve and in most cases, restore everything back into it's rightful place.

The other is a little more personal:). My partner is wedded to the 'biblical' filing system "seek and thou shalt find". On the rare occasion I do venture into the depths of his computer I am left totally exhausted and in need of a stiff drink!

Again, as with your email folders, use a clear and concise labeling system. One of the things you are probably already aware of is that when you download something the title is usually in an abbreviated format. This is fine if you are running for the Mr Memory title, however, once you start downloading masses of e-books, reports etc. you will make your life a lot easier if prior to downloading them you rename them. There is nothing worse than knowing you have downloaded a certain book, then not being able to recall the abbreviations used in the title.

You will find that, boring at times as the basics are, they do make life so much easy. So hop to and start organizing your email and My Documents. Remember, if a file proves unnecessary you can always delete or rename but finding data which has gone astray is not only frustrating it is also time wasting and time is money.

Good luck with your internet marketing and if you are looking for a very informative book which details some wonderful free, simple and easy ways to start making money on the internet, then why not check out The Newbie Blueprint.