Set up a Business and Blog Filing System | ProductiveandFree

Note: G Suite is a tool that’s extremely helpful for me to run my business so I’ve included my affiliate link in this post so that you could try it out yourself. If you click and sign up or purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you but as always, I only recommend tools and resources that I use or trust. Enjoy!

It’s no secret that being unorganized can easily and quickly eat up your time and energy.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever spent minutes looking for that one image you need or searching for that one file you have to send immediately.

Keep your hand raised if you’ve ever suddenly realized your desktop was completely full and you had the urge to organize everything… even if you had more important things to do.

If you’ve experienced any of this, then you know how important, convenient, and productive it is to set up a filing system for your business and blog.

The only problem is that it isn’t enough to simply create folders and dump files in them (that’s what I did when I started out!). It’s better to set up an actual system—one that’s organized, streamlined, and easy to maintain.

Fortunately, this is where Google Drive comes in.

Google Drive is an online file storage and synchronization service developed by Google and here are just a few reasons why I highly recommend it for your business and blog (just in case you aren’t using yet).

01. You can securely store all kinds of files in Google Drive from PDFs to video files, and .jpg to .psd files, and everything in between.

02. You can share your files with your team or anyone you give the file link to. You can even choose to allow them to view, comment, or edit the file if necessary.

03. You can access Google Drive from anywhere—your smartphone, tablet, or computer—and even edit some files offline or on-the-go (using the proper apps).

04. You get ample storage—15 GB for free with a Google account but more if you have G Suite or if you upgrade to Google One.

05. You can use it with other tools such as Asana and the G Suite apps (Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Calendar, etc.).

Now, if you feel a bit uneasy about setting up new tools and streamlining your systems, don’t worry.

Here are 8 simple steps to set up your business and blog filing system using Google Drive:

Step 1. Sign up for Google Drive using your Google account.

Note: If you aren’t using a professional business email yet like hello@yourbusiness.com, you can sign up and purchase one through G Suite here (the first 14 days are free!).

Step 2. Create folders for your main business functions: Operations, Marketing, Accounting/Finance, plus others you use to run your business.

Step 3. Use numbers when naming your folders to better organize them (Ex. 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 and so on).

Step 4. Color-code your folders for easy reference.

Step 5. Add a star to folders and files you use often so you can access them easily from the left side bar menu.

Step 6. Share relevant folders and files with your team members and set up their access so they can view, comment, or edit.

Step 7. Integrate Google Drive with your other tools and apps (Ex. Asana).

Step 8. Maintain your organized filing system.

To give you ideas on how to set up Google Drive for your business and blog filing system, here’s a look inside mine.

My Google Drive contains the following main folders based on my business’ main functions:

1.0 Operations

2.0 Marketing

3.0 Products

4.0 Services

5.0 Accounting

Google Drive for Business | ProductiveandFree.com

As you can see, the simple act of numbering my folders allows me to organize them in a way that’s most convenient for me, and not alphabetically as a default.

Also, color-coding helps for easy reference and I prefer to view my folders and files using the ‘list view’ as opposed to the ‘grid view.’

Next, my [1.0 Operations] folder includes:

1.1 Tracking (goals, analytics, stats)

1.2 Templates (master copies of files, questionnaires, workflows)

1.3 Forms and Surveys (inquiries, market research, customer feedback)

1.4 Branding

1.5 Legal

1.6 Strategy (learning materials, projects in progress, and future projects)

Obviously your business and blog will look and operate differently from mine—for example, you might have separate folders for ads or sponsorships and not have folders for strategy or forms—so feel free to add or subtract folders as you see fit.

Next, I implement content marketing to attract and convert customers so my [2.0 Marketing] folder includes:

2.1 Blog

2.2 Social Media

2.3 Email Marketing

My [2.0 Marketing] > [2.1 Blog] folder includes:

2.2.1 Current - blog posts scheduled for the current month

2.2.2 Upcoming - blog posts scheduled for the next month

2.2.3 Future Posts - ideas, outlines, and drafts I have in my blog pipeline

2.2.4 Archived Posts - blog posts I’ve already published plus a spreadsheet containing all the titles, links, categories, and content upgrades I’ve included in each blog post

2.2.5 Book Notes - I read at least one book a month and publish a blog post about it so this is where I keep my notes if the book is a hard copy

Here’s a look inside my [2.0 Marketing] > [2.1 Blog] > [2.2.1 Current] folder:

As you can see, I prefer to write all my blog posts first in Google Docs and then once completed, I transfer them to Squarespace, my website platform.

Instead of simply naming the files by their corresponding blog post titles, I use the dates I intend to publish them (Ex. “09.03” for September 3rd, “09.04” for September 4th, etc.) so that they’re arranged in order of publish date and not alphabetically.

Lastly, I integrate each blog post file with an Asana task (complete with subtasks and deadlines) in order to make my blogging process actionable and scheduled directly in my calendar.

There you have it—my Google Drive business and blog filing system. Hopefully this post gave you ideas on how to set up, organize, and streamline your own. I know it will take some time and effort at first but it will definitely pay off later.

You’ll know exactly where to find each folder and file, saving you both time and energy. You’ll have a clear and solid structure which is helpful when you bring in assistants or employees. You’ll even have a foundation set up for when you scale your business in the future with more projects, products, and customers.