Be honest.

Do you know where your content is? Not the stuff residing on your web pages. Not the stuff lying in temp files on your hard drive. We're talking about your actual paid-for content and the documentation that goes along with it. Where is it right this moment? How long would it take you to find it and sort it into some discernible order? Do you still have licenses you haven't signed and sent back to the producer? How bout them TITLE 18 records? You got any hard proof that the models you display on your page are of legal age? Have you even taken the time to make backups of the images and videos you paid good money to get?

"Organizing your content inventory isn't just a smart idea. It could save your ass one day."

What if someone accused you of stealing content? What if someone said your models weren't of legal age? What if the Feds slammed down your door ten minutes from now? Would you be able to calmly show them you are a law-abiding business owner or would you come off as a disorganized fool? What if you found out you were going to be audited by the IRS? Where are all those receipts for the legitimate business expense for content? Are they sitting in your mail program's inbox just waiting for the next hard-drive formatting fiasco?

Cool weather's coming and it's a perfect time to settle down with all your images, video clips, licenses, email receipts and get organized. Organizing your content inventory isn't just a smart idea. It could save your ass one day.

First off, perhaps you're like many adult webmasters. You buy downloadable content.

In the past, even image files were too huge to download on the dial up connections of old. Webmasters who bought content had to wait for their goods to be delivered through the mail. In other words, adult content used to come on disk. If one lost their hard drive to a software screw up or virus, they had a backup.

Nowadays we download content in zip format with snappy-fast broadband connections. When was the last time you took the time to burn backups of your investment? If you take anything from this article take this: BACK UP YOUR CONTENT!

As for the other pertinent documents and files, you'll have to adopt your own special system for keeping track of all your virtual paperwork. Perhaps you'll choose to put everything on disk, possibly disks for each content provider.

You'll want to include payment conformation emails and TITLE 18 info in a folder with each image set. You'll also want to include scanned copies of license contracts you've signed/returned in each folder. This would be a good time to remind you that if you've received a license in the mail from a content provider, sign it and mail it back. Those licenses protect you and your provider. They won't sign or mail themselves.

If you want to get more sophisticated with your content "bookkeeping", you might try software.

A spreadsheet program such as EXCEL is fairly simple to use and puts everything neatly into columns. If you want to get really advanced with your content inventory, a database program like ACCESS will enable you to create detailed information in an amendable, searchable format. With a database program, you can catalog and query your content by date of purchase, hair color of model, URLs you've put it on as well as who you bought it from.

However you do it. Do it. At today's crazy prices, content is more affordable than ever. It's pretty cheap and easy to collect a buttload of site filler. Take a regular, proper inventory of all your content and commit it to file. Back it up and do it again a few months from now.

Be a responsible webmaster and sign/send back your darned licenses. If one wasn't sent to you, find the file on your provider's site, download it, print it, sign it and send it. Make copies of all those conformation emails and sales receipts. File them away in a smart place. Back them up as well.

Take an extra moment to add up all the money you spent just for adult content. If you were running a brick and mortar shop, you'd do the same.