It may seem like an oxymoron, but why would you need to create a filing systems for your online business? "Online" somehow suggests that nothing is offline. If ever there was a case for a paperless office, a business that is entirely on the Internet seems like the ideal case. Is it?

Let me ask you something: What would happen if you lost your internet connection? You say that that couldn't possibly happen. You have guarantees with your supplier. You have a dedicated line. Your signal arrives via fiber optics. Or maybe you get it by satellite.

There are no end of ways that you could lose your connection completely, and you need to think about what you'd do if that happened.

There could be a brown-out. That's journalist-speak for a widespread loss of electricity. It's not uncommon in some parts of the world for thunderstorms to knock out the power, snow or ice to start pulling down power lines.

A heat wave could cause you to lose your electricity. When everyone starts running their air conditioners, that puts a huge strain on the electricity grid. In Britain, there used to be a noticeable dip in the nationwide electricity supplies when everyone made a cup of tea. It's true.

Another way you could lose your connection is if your ISP was hacked. Big sites have this happen all the time. There are numerous rogue programmers who like nothing better than to break into the most high profile sites; and some of them, who have an axe to grind find themselves at the mercy of a group of people who are determined to crash the site. The entire anti-virus industry, by-the-way, began as a result of malicious programs roaming around the Internet.

Or, may be a careless workman cuts your line while digging up something else. Less frequent, thankfully; but it happens. I can remember a time when an underwater cable across the Mediterranean, I think, was cut in half. It was weeks before the Internet was available for thousands of people.

Another possibility is sunspots. These are known to disrupt communications. Atmospheric disturbances can occur for no apparent reason, too. It just isn't possible to know.

And if you just happen to have all of your computer files, you know, the ones that you used to back up onto the hard drive on your desk, in an Internet cloud, then you're at risk of not being able to access anything.

You have probably discovered already that your online business generates a lot of paper. Funny that. So, how do you create an offline filing systems for your online business? How do you keep track of all that paper that seems to come spilling out of your printer. You know that it's important; so what do you do with it?

Hands up if you have as much space on your desk to work as you'd like!

That's what I thought. I don't have enough room either. And one of the most annoying things is that the family seems to think that the mail and anything else that they can think of ought to get dropped on your desk as well.

How can you create a place for everything you need without losing it before you even get started.

Here are some suggestions.

1. Decide what categories will be easiest for you to remember.

Obviously, you can't have a separate file for everything that you print. That means that you need to create categories for similar documents.

2. Products

You probably will want a file for each of your products. That would include all of your development notes and any information about your prices.

3. Web pages

You may want to print each of your web pages and file them as well. If you lose your connection, these backups will enable you to see what you have. You may also want to keep a list of all of the URLs you have, the login pages with their login details. This would include your web host, autoresponder, shopping cart, and blog. Few things are as frustrating online as not being able to login to a site that belongs to you.

4. Suspense files

This is something I observed when I was in the US Air Force. The unit clerk had a folder for every day in the month, numbered from 1-31. Whatever was due on a particular day of the month was put into that folder. Then each day, the contents of that file were taken out.

All of us were able to use it. I used it for, among others things, to remind me to ready various regulations so that I would stay up-to-date on current and new policies. But for your online business, it could be to remind you to review your analytics, for example.

5. Other activities

Files for marketing, list building, or ideas for follow-up messages could go here.