When I first started my affiliate marketing business, I didn’t think it would grow as much as it did. To say I wasn’t prepared for the logistical nightmare would be an understatement. Over the years, however, I’ve learned a few tips for taming my business through proper organization.
To start, you need to create a list of the websites you’ve already purchased. Go through the list and ask yourself, “What is the purpose of this site?” Based on your answer, add the domain to a specific category, for example Affiliate Network or Personal/Just for Fun. Since everyone is different, it’s best to come up with categories which best suit you and your organizational style.
After you know more about the domains, the next question to ask yourself is which stage of the developmental process is each of the sites in, then organize them into sub-categories of the main categories. For instance, if you’ve only registered the domain of a site you know will be in the Affiliate Network category, then create a sub-category called Undeveloped and add the domain name to it. Other sub-categories might include In Development and Fully Developed.
Once you’ve finished going through your domains and websites, it’s time to start the filing. As wonderful as computers are, sometimes I like to have something tangible I can reference, even when I’m not online, so I prefer to use a three-ring binder for this method, however, you can use whatever you feel most comfortable with.
That said, in my three-ring binder, I’ll add dividers for each of my main categories and then color-coded dividers for each of the sub-categories. Now, this is where things get interesting, because I write notes directly on the divider pages–the important thing to remember is write in pencil so it can be easily erased and updated later if necessary.
On the primary category divider pages, I’ll write the domain name and a short overview of the site with a quick note about its stage of development. On the sub-category divider pages, I’ll write the domain name, and more elaborate notes on its development stage. For each of the individual sites, I’ll then fill out a general information sheet which outlines the login information for various parts of the site (hosting, email, database, etc.), a break-down of the operating costs, and overall website goals.
Whenever a site moves from one stage of development to the next, I simply move those pages from one section to the next and update the necessary sub-category divider pages.
Like I said before, this is a method which works for me and it may work for you. But it’s important that you use an organizational method which feels most comfortable to you and your style of work.