Even if you’re new to affiliate marketing, you’ve probably already discovered just how quickly the details can get out of hand. Getting organized, and staying organized can be tougher than making a profit. So can cutting the cord on unproductive sites that suck away valuable time, getting rid of waste, backing up files, and setting the stage for new ventures.

But the fourth quarter of the year is one of the best times to start revamping, remodeling, and revitalizing your business – right before the holidays take you away from your computer, and well before a new year of business activity gets started. Here’s our Q4 affiliate marketing checklist — it includes maintenance as well small innovations which can make a big difference.

1 – Get organized!

2 – Get rid of, or monetize, unproductive domains.

3 – Review your product offerings and merchants.

4 – Analyze ROI.

5 – Update “aging” sites.

6 – Try a new niche.

7 – Revamp your site design.

8 – Clean up your mailing lists.

9 – Prepare for the unexpected.

10 – Make new friends!

In future posts we’ll talk about each of these items in detail, with tips for making each one easier and more efficient. Today we’ll look at the first one.

Get Organized

Even if your desk is neat and your surroundings spotless, what about your affiliate IDs, passwords, to-do lists, email folders, ads and campaigns, address book, site blueprints, article submissions, bookmarks, spreadsheets, and computer files? We thought so !

Successful affiliates can immediately put their finger on their affiliate IDs, and have all their important files a their fingertips. But unfortunately, many of us still spend way too much time sorting through old emails or searching our hard rives for important business data.

If you think it would take you more than one working day to collect all your affiliate IDs and passwords and make a complete list of your business projects, then you’re probably losing at least one hour every day on these inefficiencies. And if the idea of slogging through all those old files to collect information sounds like a horrible chore, it’s time to develop some simple project management skills.

Use Tools to Get Organized

You can try a free online project management tool like Zoho, or an Open Source desktop application like OpenWorkbench. Or you can keep it simple, and simply create separate spreadsheets to list affiliate IDs and passwords, track progress on site development, manage link partners, track ad campaigns, and record article submissions.

And don’t underestimate the basic time management tools that come with Microsoft Outlook. They can help you keep to-do lists and remind you of deadlines. Free reminder tools like MyMemorizer can be a way to keep the daily routine tasks off your priority list. The system sends you an email or text message reminder — it’s simple, efficient, and makes all those “little things” simple to remember.

If getting organized sounds like a lot of work, remember this: dealing with the backlog of disorganization is really the toughest part. After that, it’s a matter of maintenance — and discipline! Setting it all up is one thing, but training yourself to be more organized every day is another.

To motivate yourself to stay organized, think of it this way: If you waste just half an hour a day digging for lost items and fiddling around, that’s two and a half hours a week down the drain. That’s serious time you could spend watching a movie, reading, relaxing, enjoying nature, hanging out with friends and family… or making more money!

Next in this series… what to do with those domains that are just “sitting around.”