Just read a great summary in Digital Photography School of the complete process from the time you take the picture to the final photo. They discuss these steps:
Capture – Composition, lighting, exposure, focus
Pretty happy with my focus, work to do re. exposure, always learning
Import – Storage, file naming, database, backups
I used to have this compulsion to include in the file name one letter reminders of the stock photo sites each photo got into, my workflow got a lot simpler then I realized it didn’t matter… I use Carbonite as my back-up because it just happens automatically, you don’t have to remember to do anything. SO glad I had it when it looked like my hard drive might have been fried. Turned out to just be a bad cable, but good to not have to sweat it while waiting to have it looked at, and not having to worry I could have lost pretty much my whole photography business…
Organize – Selections, ratings, collections, metadata
I don’t go with folders, maybe I should, but the first word in my file is typically the location or key word, works for me…I definitely include the metadata
Develop – Crop/straighten, tone & color, sharpening, remove artifacts, creative effects
They cover this in great detail, nothing to add.
Output – Destination?, file settings, delivery
In my case, as you know, it’s the stock photo websites, starting to explore some framing…
To read more details and see some great photo examples, see Digital Photo Editing Workflow – Better Images From Capture to Output
Susan Montgomery Photos 