Starting and staying organized

[Clare Bowen]

Hi everyone

 

When I first started online, I had no idea that I'd be joining and getting involved in so many different programs. You can have a handful of income programs, but its incredible the amount of resources you gather and use.

 

Traffic sites, downline builders in many forms, marketing tools etc. Just those 3 categories alone are a big deal in my work. And within each is often some of the other :-) Traffic sites with tools and downline builders, affiliate programs for example.

 

Some years later, I wish I'd just started out (a lot) more organized. I have files in my email that are chaotic, and in some cases, I have huge files that I can't delete without freezing my system. For example, when the LFMVM viral mailers first came over, I started to redirect them to a file called "new script mailers". But there just came more and more and more of this type mailer. I join a lot of traffic sites. I have a similar headache with a file called "solos general". This wasn't so hard to manage, but a few months when I was offline, grew those files to hundreds of thousands of emails. My bookmarks are also in chaos, and I have many of those, my gosh, way too many. I would see something I like, bookmark, move on. Some I'd joined, and they're in among those.  And then all the sites I use, but not really in great order. I have a basic bookmark file system, which I'm using now, so its going a bit better with the current stuff.

 

Okay, admittedly, I'm on the extreme end of disorganized, but still, it would be nice if new marketers could be given some good pointers on starting and staying organized.

 

In my case, there is no other option than to stop everything I'm doing and focus on sorting this all out, and its not going to be a small job :-)

 

For example, this is what I'd have done differently from the start:

 

I'd have created a much more organized filing system for my incoming mail. One that, even if I have to be away for some months, will be easy to "housekeep"

I'd have created a much better bookmarking system

I'd fill in downline builders as I join new sites

I'd make sure my payment profiles are filled in on all sites that I use, including traffic and tool sites

I'd set aside an hour or so every week for housekeeping (at this rate, I'm going to need to take a week off my work for this)

I'd be saving all of my referral links for various programs that I join so that I can quickly give them out if someone needs them

 

Fellow experienced marketers and organized newbies, if you'd share your strategies for being organized I'd really appreciate it.

 

I know that not everyone is using the same email provider or operating system, browser etc, but still, any good advice could be helpful to someone.

 

Thanks :-)

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest mrclean0325]

Over the years I have accumulated over 5,000 bookmarks on a wide variety of topics. I have joined hundreds of "programs", forums,  and sites. I have also purchased hundreds of products that are web based. This is obviously a daunting task at times to try to keep up with and keep them organized. I have used and tried what seems like hundreds of different programs to help me do this. These are some of the ones I use and find work the best for me...your mileage may vary.

 

To keep my bookmarks organized, I have tried several different browsers, offline bookmarking tools, and online bookmarking tools. The absolute best browser (not available anymore) was the old Opera browser. It had a trash can so if you accidentally deleted one you wanted you could get it back. It also automatically alphabetized them. The new Opera browser is not bad, but there is no way to export bookmarks built into it. The Vivaldi browser is very close, but since it is new - there are some sites that don't work as expected and bugs to be worked out yet. So I use Firefox (never really liked Firefox because of its memory hungry tendencies and other cute problems).

 

The only online bookmarking site I found truly useful is Linkagogo.com. It used to be free, but is now a paid site (small fee) but works well and you can have your bookmarks on any device as easily as going to the site. It will show you duplicates and other nice features.

 

Offline I haven't found a good one to use from a thumb drive. There was one called "compass" years ago I used that was fabulous but they don't develop it anymore.

 

What I do to organize my bookmarks is to create folders and then one layer of sub-folder. For example I have a folder for all my "current" biz stuff. In this folder I have a folder for mailers, TEs, marketing tools, writing, etc. and place the appropriate link in each folder. I also put an asterisk in front of the name so it is the top folder. Like "*Current biz" and it will always stay at the top of the pack when you do an alphabetize on your folders. This technique works for any bookmark or folder in all known browsers as far as I know.

 

The easiest way to get from disorganized to organized is to create these folders and sub-folders and really give some thought to what your needs are. Then take 15 minute a day to move them from the other folders into the correct new folders. Besides the "current" folder I have one for business links and have broken down sub-folder such as: affiliate programs, drop shipping, ecommerce, business resources, purchase products, etc.

 

I then have a personal top folder with sub folders called: email, banking, work, cool stuff, geekery, etc.

 

I have a folder for "online goodies" that contains video, humor, education, research, weather, social media, forums, blogs, news, etc.

 

You will find lots of links you have no idea what they are or why you bookmarked them. These will take more time since you will have to go back to the site to see what they are. Keep or delete them as you see fit. I found it also helpful to not only have the time limit - but a link limit goal. To sort 50 links in 15 minutes or similar. You could spend more time, but you don't make much money doing it...

 

My most important folder is my "Look At Later" folder. When online and find something interesting, I put it into this folder. Once per week I take a half hour to go back through it. When bookmarking something, I rename the bookmark to something that has some meaning so I might remember it. Bookmarking a site that simply has "home page" doesn't help. With Firefox I can open the bookmarks in a separate window by using the "Show All Bookmarks", open a new tab, and double-click in the bookmarks window to go back to the site quickly to see if it is really anything worthwhile. If it is I will move the bookmark to the appropriate folder or if not - delete it.

 

Every 6 months I devote and hour to cleaning them up and checking them. Sites go down and don't work anymore, you get duplicates, and other manner of things. I mostly use an older program called "AM Deadlink" (a windows program you can use in a mac with either wine or parallels) and run it on the bookmarks and go through and check the sites it tags as questionable or duplicates. There are other programs that do similar.

 

One HUGE word of advice and a warning - NEVER, EVER just delete a link because it said it was bad. Passworded sites, private sites, sites that aren't set up right, and various other still work but will give an error. ALWAYS check to make sure it doesn't work, has changed completely, or is for sale before deleting it. You can also find some handy domain names for sale this way too.

 

Another tip is no matter what OS, browser, or program you use - once you have thousands of bookmarks it can really SLLLOOWW things down. I have puked a few browsers trying to import my bookmarks before. The biggest culprit to make your bookmarks data file huge is the site description. Some are only a few words and others are almost the whole site itself in the description. In Firefox, there is a little down arrow on the lower left side of the right window when looking at the "Show All Bookmarks" window. If you click that you can see the description. Just double mouse click in it to highlight the whole thing and hit the backspace or delete button. I will check this when they are in the "Look At Later" folder.

 

Checking them while trying to organize them is easy as opening up the folder and clicking the first book mark and using your arrow keys to go down through them. Just delete the description in ones you find it in. You can also export your bookmarks and open the file in your browser and you will see all the ones with descriptions to delete.

 

I use the bookmarks sync feature in Firefox so they won't get lost and are easy to import when you change computers. I also backup a hard copy to keep on my thumb drive and email it to myself each week. They are valuable to you and you should treat them as such.

 

For my passwords, I never use the browser. I use Keepass since I can create folders and sub folders to save the information from all my sites similar to how I have my bookmarks set up. I just find the site, right click, choose "copy password" or "copy username" and past it into my browser. I also keep a folder of dead or closed accounts. Once you create the stuff, it is easy to drag and drop them into another folder if you need to. I also backup the data file to my thumb drive and email one to myself each week.

 

Now some email tips and tricks.

 

Though there are many nice and cool email programs (ones you have installed on your computer) I recommend NOT using them for any business purpose. I don't even use one for my personal emails or from my domains. You are much better off using Gmail or another online email service. You can use a single one to have all of your emails delivered to a single inbox, or keep the separate accounts you log into.

 

Here's why: as Clare mentioned, folders can get way too big and will sometimes crash your program or even the computer if you try to do things with them. There is the virus, malware, bug thing to contend with in any program on your computer. Once you download them to your computer - what if it crashes? All of them will be LOST. GONE! It also makes it a pain to try to transfer them if you get a new computer or a new email program. Some programs will not transfer certain types of emails into them and then you are using two programs and it becomes a hassle. Sometimes the "newer" versions will not import older versions of emails (I had this happen before).

 

So I use Gmail and set up folders (like in my bookmarks) and create filters so all of the emails go into the right folders. There are tons of tutorials online how to do this so I won't go into it here. I have several emails all set up this way for various projects. I use Keepass to make a hugely long password and just copy and past it in when I use them. So much easier than trying to use the good ole memory which is not as good as it used to be. Using Gmail also makes it easy to use the calendar to get reminders for webinars, meeting, calls, and such so you can't forget them.

 

The other huge advantage is you can access your emails with ANY device. There are some emails I only check once per month to clean them up. Others I check once per week, and others I check more often. I can do this from any device from anywhere in the world - even a library computer. They continue to scoot along without any worries of losing an important email.

 

In my emails I also have a "Look At Later" folder. i spend an hour in the morning going through my emails and deleting the ones that I have no interest in or unsubscribing. I put the ones that kinda interest me into the "Look At Later" folder and replying or taking care of the ones that need it and once per week go through the "Look At Later" folder and if it is an email that is a good and well thought out sales piece, I put it in my "swipe" folder to model at some point.

 

Remember that all of the above is considered "busy" work. It is not productive work and it may well suit you to find a VA who will do it for couple bucks an hour than spend your time doing it. There is necessary maintenance with all of this so you don't end up with a mess.

 

I hope this might help those who need a bit of organizing...

[Clare Bowen]

Mr Clean, where have you been all my (online marketing) life. I wish I'd met you years ago

 

I'm going to come back this afternoon and spend much more time reading through your great reply. There's a wealth of experience, advice and info in there, thank you so much. I'm very grateful to you for this.

[Guest mrclean0325]

"Shucks ma'am...twernt nothin' ", as he tips his hat and rides off into the sunset...

[Clare Bowen]

The easiest way to get from disorganized to organized is to create these folders and sub-folders and really give some thought to what your needs are.

 

 

Well, my Look at Later Folder is rather huge, but I have now created my folders and sub folders and moved everything I know I want to keep into them. Deleted a lot of bookmarks. And now, I'm on my way to getting organized. Its really an awesome feeling   I'm motivated

[Guest mrclean0325]

HOORAY!! It is just like eating an elephant - one small bite at a time...

[Clare Bowen]

HOORAY!! It is just like eating an elephant - one small bite at a time...

 

Oh my gosh, it almost seems as impossible when it comes to the email story :-) I have a plan though, and I've started already. I've almost emptied my main inbox, and brought my volume down by 3% (now 95%). Its been a big task because I do everything from this email, not only marketing stuff, there's a lot that I can't chance wiping out by accident.  Next, I will create my new folders similar to the ones that I did for bookmarks (as you've advised), and then go one by one through my filters and clear their settings, and then I'm just going to have to send them all in the right direction as they hit my inbox, creating new sub folders as I go and deleting all the credit mails until its under control. Does this sound viable to you, or do you think there is a better way. I have a massive amount of incoming mail. Thank you for your time

 

ps. I hope I don't seem tricky. I really did post this thread originally to try and help new marketers, but its turning out that I'm also motivated to put my stuff right for once and for all (something I vowed to do before the new year started)

[captkirk]

ps. I hope I don't seem tricky. I really did post this thread originally to try and help new marketers, but its turning out that I'm also motivated to put my stuff right for once and for all (something I vowed to do before the new year started)

 

Nope, It don't seem tricky at all, it's nice to see that top leaders are human too. The hardest part of getting things done, is getting started.

[Clare Bowen]

Nope, It don't seem tricky at all, it's nice to see that top leaders are human too. The hardest part of getting things done, is getting started.

 

Thanks Tommie :-) You know, in this "work", there are so many ways to build on what you have, every time you write an article, or put out ads, every referral you add, every connection you make is a step forward. And time is really the only real limit on how much of this you can do. Taking the time to organize things is good for the overall health of your business though, and this is the lesson I've learned. I'm not afraid to show my weaknesses to others if I think it will help them to do better

[Guest mrclean0325]

Clare, everyone needs help every so often. I am just glad you found my suggestions to be of value to you.

 

Just be wary of the other insidious, sneaky, and deadly disorder of becoming a digital hoarder. Even though you may be organized, you start getting "close to your storage limit" or "disk getting full" by saving a bunch of stuff that may be useful later. "Later" doesn't usually come though and it accumulates rather quickly.

 

Then there are the "freebies" you accumulate... I mean who really needs "A Guide to Ranking on Excite" or the "Ultimate Guide To MySpace"?

[Clare Bowen]

Clare, everyone needs help every so often. I am just glad you found my suggestions to be of value to you.

 

Just be wary of the other insidious, sneaky, and deadly disorder of becoming a digital hoarder. Even though you may be organized, you start getting "close to your storage limit" or "disk getting full" by saving a bunch of stuff that may be useful later. "Later" doesn't usually come though and it accumulates rather quickly.

 

Then there are the "freebies" you accumulate... I mean who really needs "A Guide to Ranking on Excite" or the "Ultimate Guide To MySpace"?

 

I understand this, and its even worse in my case because of my disorganized ways But last year my terrible ancient laptop died. And my other terrible one, not soon after (I just had to keep them alive until they were really, no more, that's typical of me). Now I have a new pc. Its already a bit chaotic, but I avoid downloading too many things. Bitcoin blockchain takes a fair chunk of my space though

 

Thanks also for this warning, which I suspect comes from experience

[essentialsoflife]

I too use folders and sub-folders in both email and bookmarks.  I also have a digital organizer (Efficient Lady's Organizer - there is a "man's" version too ) to keep my passwords, software registration codes, and a copy of my bookmarks; plus it has my contacts, calendar, and task lists (yeah, they have their own folders and sub-folders too! lol).  I haven't quite gotten the knack of backing everything up on a regular basis... and even when I do, when I have a crash, I discover that I didn't save important stuff (like email and sql files )  More than once I've had to start my site from scratch.  I'm getting better though... I didn't lose a single important file this last time! 

[Guest mrclean0325]

Thanks also for this warning, which I suspect comes from experience

 

Yes, it unfortunately does.

 

A good file duplicate finder is also handy. All too often you get several reports, ebooks, or other such things that have a different title or file name, but are the exact same file.

 

A backup plan you actually use is the most useful thing you can have. Used to burn a lot of CDs, then DVDs, now using thumb drives and cloud storage. The main drawback for digital is when the electric is off - you got nothin'....At least with a book or paper you can read it by candle light

[Clare Bowen]

I too use folders and sub-folders in both email and bookmarks.  I also have a digital organizer (Efficient Lady's Organizer - there is a "man's" version too ) to keep my passwords, software registration codes, and a copy of my bookmarks; plus it has my contacts, calendar, and task lists (yeah, they have their own folders and sub-folders too! lol).  I haven't quite gotten the knack of backing everything up on a regular basis... and even when I do, when I have a crash, I discover that I didn't save important stuff (like email and sql files )  More than once I've had to start my site from scratch.  I'm getting better though... I didn't lose a single important file this last time! 

 

You've really helped me a lot.. I didn't forget your mention of the Efficient Lady's Organizer. Suddenly as new admin in a TE, I have all these events lined up, some over a few days, some recurring, and some beginning as far in the distance as July. The information that I've been given, and keep getting given, seems so well suited for your digital organizer, its quite uncanny lol. I would be lost, so thank you! so much