Ros' Ramblings

Please forgive me for being a day late to get this issue of the NPT out to you.

I got home late yesterday after spending six days in Toronto and unfortunately, home maintenance had to take priority on my return.

Here's a tip.

Don't forget to arrange for lawn care prior to an extended absence if you want to avoid the neighborhood lynch mob.

Either that, or move into a 'hood' where folks are less particular about their lawns. :-)

I jest of course. I'm pretty particular about such things, and 99.9% of the time, I'm much better organized.

Speaking of which... today's main NPT topic is about how to get and keep your affiliate business organized.

Read "How to Keep Your Affiliate Marketing Business Organized" along with other news in today's NPT, and avoid having the time you spend on your affiliate business 'lynched'.

Cheers,

---

Rosalind Gardner is author of the best-selling "Super Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in ONE Year Selling Other People's Stuff Online.

Super Affiliate Handbook

Revenue Magazine

I just received my latest copy of Revenue mag... oh and did I tell you that I'm writing the "Affiliates Corner" column for them now?

Like just about a dozen times, eh? :-)

In my first column, I discuss the subject of providing customer service as an affiliate marketer... something few affiliates do, but SHOULD.

Other good stuff in this issue:

Well-Traveled:
Travel Affiliates in for Meta Challenge

Customer Connection:
Knowing Your Audience Earns You Big Bucks

None of Your Business:
Why Affiliates Love Consumers and Fear B2B

Keeping Secrets:
Successful Affiliates Don't Share or DO They?

Pimp My Shopping Cart:
Bells and Whistles that Bring the CHA-CHING

Be sure to get your own copy of Revenue magazine.

Article Equalizer Update

In response to last week's NPT, in which I discussed the perils of article 'scraping', Jeff Alderson wrote to let me know that EzineArticles.com was removed from Article Equalizer over a month ago. I KNEW Jeff would do the right thing. So, have no fear, you may use Article Equalizer in good health.

How to Keep Your Affiliate Marketing Business Organized

I'm fairly anal about keeping my business, and almost all aspects of my life, well-organized.

For example, open my closet and you'll see my clothes sorted by garment type and color (according to the spectrum from white to black).

Sick, eh?

How about a food cupboard sorted into soups, veggies, snacks, sauce mixes, pasta and rice, etc? Oh ya, and the labels ARE turned out.

Are you ready to have me committed yet?

Wait just a moment, please. There's method in my madness... really and truly.

Surely you know people who can't organize their way out of a paper bag. They come home and leave their keys in a different place each time. Then whenever they want to go out, they need to spend 5 minutes searching for their keys... and/or shoes, or jacket, or paperwork...

What a huge a waste of life!

I use the term 'life' because life is comprised of, and measured by, time.

Nothing is more precious than time and making each of your moments count. Spending time on trivial matters like looking for keys when you could be having fun with friends and family, helping others through your business, saving the planet, or even taking a nap - is a waste of time.

Likewise, looking for a merchant's affiiliate interface login and password when you want to install one of their links on your site, is a waste of time.

Scrap that... it's a waste of time to have to look for the link itself.

All the details relating to your affiliate marketing business need to be at right at your fingertips.

I stay organized by keeping everything in one big Excel file accessed from my desktop.

The file has a number of worksheets, each with its own set of information.

All the programs I'm affiliated with are listed on one worksheet, with headings for program name, username/login, password, network association (if any), primary links, my own redirect links, broker (2nd tier) links, link for the affiliate interface, manager's name and contact info, commission rate and other important info.

Another sheet logs all monies owed and received, and tallies income by program and category, as well as by month and year.

On another worksheet I've listed software information including purchase date, registration numbers and login details.

Still another keeps track of information for subscriptions such as forums and membership sites.

Everytime I come up with an article idea, it gets entered on the 'Article Ideas' worksheet. There's yet another sheet with a list of article submission sites.

I log interview, presentation, and teleconference dates and details in that file.

Testimonials and success stories have their own separate sheets.

The Net Profits Today newsletter is laid out in advance on another sheet, with suggestions for topics and articles.

Last but not least, my project (to-do) list is on another worksheet, filed by domain name and sorted by date due.

The 'Big File' is always open.

When I join a program, the details get entered right away. While reading my email, I cut and paste testimonials right into the file, and jot ideas for future NPT topics ... as they pop up.

My site files are organized by domain name - not generic terms like 'dating site', or 'book site', as I've seen some webmasters do.

As soon as I join a program I enter all the details on the relevant sheet, and create a redirect link, which I know I'll use if I promote the product via email.

I create email filters for every webmaster I do business with, and messages go straight into their personal folder. One quick filter - no more filing.

Setting up - and keeping up with - such a system may seem like a lot of work.

It's not.

Do it often enough and it becomes second nature.

Staying organized sure beats the heck out of wasting five minutes trying to find the email with that merchant's affiliate program login information just so you find your affiliate links.

Do YOU Have Trouble Staying Organized?

Do you have trouble keeping track of every detail of your affiliate marketing business?

Well, there IS help!

Software developer, Jon Mills, has just released 'Affiliate Organizer'. On hearing about it, I immediately took it for a test drive.

The software was extremely easy to install and an icon appears in the bottom right-hand corner (the system tray) of your desktop making it really simple to access.

'Affiliate Organizer' allows you to store all your most important information from your day-to-day business.

Here's a list of all the information you can input into 'Affiliate Organizer':

• Hosting
• Websites
• Advertising ( ppc.. my favorite)
• Merchants
• Outsourced Work
• Adsense
• Tasks/Alerts ( This is a life saver )
• Projects and Ideas
• Keyword Lists
• Domain Registrars
• Forums
• Link Partners
• Blogs
• Year Plan ( this was cool.. plan everything out ahead of time)
• Services
• Training
• Resources
• Software ( anything you have purchased)
• Autoresponder
• Memberships
• Contacts

Everything is simple to use. Just fill in the blanks and save.. it couldn't be much easier.. so a real thumbs up regarding how user friendly it is.

The tasks/alerts and advertising section is a real life saver.

I can setup any upcoming events in the tasks/alerts section and it will notify me both by email and on-screen. How cool is that?!

Everything can also be backed up and restored at the click of a button! So, no more lost data, which is a major relief for me... and anyone else who's ever lost data before. :=)

Overall I was thoroughly impressed with the amount of detail that has been covered. John has covered all the bases with 'Affiliate Organizer'. I can't think of a thing that needs to be added or changed.

Whether you do affiliate marketing or just want to keep track of the important aspects of your online business... I HIGHLY recommend you check out 'Affiliate Organizer'.

Note: I took a commission cut to get you special discount on your own copy of 'Affiliate Organizer'... but it's only good 'til July 9th NOON Eastern.

If you need to get organized, pick up your copy of Affiliate Organizer NOW!