How I Stay Organized: Blog/Business Binder

This post is about how I stay organized. Or at least more organized. When I first started blogging I wrote notes to myself on random sheets of paper and made lists on the back of homework or envelopes. Great way to be organized and run a blog business right? Wrong.

I invested some money into a binder, page dividers, and some notebook paper. [total cost $9.78] Then I took some time and made it cute! I used some twine and scraps of paper to make a pennant banner, printed the title “key lime” off on the computer, and use a little inspirational “ticket” to put on the front. [more on that in a min.]

I have all of my dividers labeled. Here is what’s in my binder….

• post schedule calendar – I love to schedule posts in advance! It makes it easier to manage my time! Plus sometimes I just get in a “good writing mood.” That’s when I crank out a bunch of posts and schedule them for a later date.
• post ideas- When I don’t have time to actually sit down and write a post, but have a great idea I write it down in this section.
• advertising – I have two charts: One chart that keeps track of who is advertising on my blog and their info and a second chart that keeps track of which blogs I am advertising on.
• goals – I  only just recently added this section. I have always had “goals” floating around in my head but decided to make them official.  I have a few short terms goals as well as long term ones.
• Pay Pal/Budget – This section is where I keep my monthly pay pal statements. I also keep a budget of gross income, my expenses [advertising, image hosting, web hosting, ect.] and my profit.
• inspiration – This portion of my binder is a place where I keep inspiring ideas, whether that means I write down a url or slip in a vintage post card. Just a fun place to reference!
• Last but not least…. The To-Do section. This is where I keep my to-do list. Not things that pertain to clients designs but “other” maintenance things like “update a link” or add “linkwith” to my blog [still on the list…]

Another way I stay organized is by using my email, gmail. I have a little system. Everything comes into my inbox. Junk mail get deleted immediately. Then I start sorting out the rest. After I read an email and respond I move it into the appropriate folder. I have a folder for [guest posts, custom projects, social media, comments, pinterest, pay pal] This way my actual inbox stays nice and clean. And If I don’t have time to respond to an email it stays in the inbox and gets “starred” meaning “this needs attention.”

Of course, these are just ways that I stay organized. I am a “write it down kind of person”. I know there are plenty of online resources that could help me calendar and make lists but I am a pencil and paper person when it comes to organization. Something else may work better for you but this is what works for me!

Oh and one other side note. On the front of my binder there is a little “vintage ticket stub” that says “Good for One Extraordinary Day!” This little ticket doesn’t really have anything to do with organization it has everything to do with attitude. Some days you just need a little reminder that every day can be a good one! Especially those days when you don’t get as many comments on a post as you might like or your sitemeter numbers are low. Those things don’t really matter. What matters is that you love what your doing and have a extraordinary day! Right?

So, how do you stay organized?

 

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