Disaster Proof Your Business!
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE WINNING ADVANTAGE eZINE
Friday, March 11, 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published by Earl Savage
ES World Marketing
http://www.esworldmarketing.com/blog/ezine/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Privacy Policy:
You are receiving this publication because you subscribed to it.
Our subscriber list is confidential and we respect your privacy.
If you wish to unsubscribe, the directions for doing so can be found
at the end of this issue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In This Issue:
-----------------
Feature Article - "Disaster Proof Your Business"
by Dave Collins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Reader,
Thanks, and WELCOME to all our new subscribers!
As always, I hope you'll enjoy and profit from reading "The Winning AdVantage".
Please feel free to post your comments at the bottom of this blog post.
Please contact me with any questions or comments. I am here to help and welcome
any help or advice you may offer.
Cordially yours,
Earl Savage, Publisher
The Winning AdVantage eZine
winning@esworldmarketing.com
P.S. If you like this ezine, please forward it to your friends, downline, upline, etc.
If you have ideas for improving it, please let me know. I'd love to hear from you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=>> SPONSOR AD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=>> Feature Article
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disaster Proof Your Business
Copyright 2005 SharewarePromotions Ltd
Who cares about which side of the toast hits the floor
first? If it's your toast, and your floor, then the answer
is probably you. But fate may have a lot more than a dirty
breakfast in store for you, especially when it comes to
your business.
The disturbing fact is that those of us who run our own
small businesses are more at risk than our corporate
comrades. They can enjoy the luxury of choosing whether to
put all their eggs in one basket, but most of us only have
the one egg, and there's no shortage of ways to break it.
Chances are that your business is reliant on one single
person in one single office. So taking precautions
shouldn't just be a habit, it should be a way of life.
What If Something Happened To You?
Let's look at the first link in the chain. You. If your
business relies almost completely on your name, knowledge
and capabilities, have you considered what might happen if
something were to happen to you? If you catch a cold,
you'll probably be able to keep things ticking over. But
what if you need to go away unexpectedly for a few days? Or
need some kind of longer break? Is your system setup in a
way that your partner can keep things ticking over? Or is
most of it in your head? If you have a lot of time-based
commitments, and rely on your business as your main source
of income, then it might be worthwhile showing someone how
things work now, before it becomes vital to do so. Try to
imagine explaining to someone on the phone how to create a
mail-merge from your database and word processor. Nasty.
As with most things in life, an hour or two of preparation
could be a sound move, and time well spent. Showing your
assistant or spouse how your email client works, where you
store your client list, and how to process an order might
take you an hour. But this could well save you a great deal
of time, stress and money at some point in the future.
Think ahead, and plan for the worst. Caution is not
paranoia.
Your Equipment Is Vulnerable
The next link in the chain is your equipment. 99% of the
work that I do is carried out on a computer. To describe a
PC as vulnerable is something of an understatement.
Viruses, power-surges, hardware breakdowns, lightning,
idiocy, coffee, bad-software, dog-fur, theft . the list of
potential enemies is endless. No-one likes computer
problems, but when they can grind your business to a halt,
they're a whole lot more important.
And let's face it. Call me superstitious if you wish, but
you know as well as I do that these problems always happen
at the worst time. When's the last time you had a system
crash when you just wanted to browse the newsgroups,
fire-off a letter to a friend, or test your skill behind
the (virtual) controls of a Concorde? It doesn't happen.
The problems strike when you're working. The night before I
had to hand in a business proposal for funding was the
first (and only) time that my Windows 2000 went belly-up. I
couldn't get it going - not through safe mode, using
start-up disks, emergency repair - nothing worked.
So take precautions. A basic UPS device can protect your
computer from a power surge or power-cut, and as such might
well save your data one day. If you haven't yet got one, my
advice would be to put it at the very top of your list,
especially if your area is prone to power fluctuations or
electrical storms. Weigh up the cost of buying one against
the cost of losing your data. Worth it?
Backups Are your Best Friends
Backups have become a way of life for me. I backup my
critical data every night onto a ZIP disk, and use a set of
three in rotation. I have never and will never miss a
backup. While I've only had to use them four or five times
in as many years, they've been a real life saver each time.
Make it a habit. Slapping your forehead saying "I wish, I
wish" after the event is no good; trust me!
On top of that I make a more thorough backup once a week
onto a CD-R. Other options include FTP storage and
backing-up over a network. Look into all of them. Off-site
storage is also a good idea. If you're ever unlucky enough
to experience either a fire or theft, you may realise the
pointlessness of keeping your backups in the same room.
Sending or mailing a CD once a month to someone in your
family takes minutes and costs almost nothing. If you never
use the backups, what have you lost? If the day comes when
you do need them, you'll be grateful.
In terms of what to backup, it couldn't be simpler. Imagine
that your hard drive has just died, right now, and you
can't access any of the information on it. What do you wish
you'd backed up? Now's the time to do so. Setting up a good
backup system and routine shouldn't take longer than an
hour or so. Doing so could save you days of work, chaos and
lost income in the future.
If something critical happens to your main machine, and you
can't fix it yourself in minutes or hours, what then?
Having a separate "spare" machine might be worth looking
into. It doesn't have to be a top of the range powerhorse;
an old 486 will be enough to at least deal with emails and
process orders, while your main machine gets fixed. If you
already have one or more in use, then you might want to
look into how usable they are as a spare machine. Do you
have some way of transferring your backup data into them
for instance? A parallel-port ZIP drive is an odd shaped
lifesaver, but it does the trick. A little forethought can
make the difference between an inconvenience and a
full-blown disaster.
There's also no shortage of software to make your life
easier. Personally I swear by PowerQuest's Drive Image,
which allows me to make a complete image of the whole of my
hard drive. If my system dies unexpectedly and can't be
fixed, I can use it to restore either a just-installed
fresh Windows 2000, or my system as it was one or two
months ago. This should take no more than half an hour -
think how long it takes to format your hard drive, install
the operating system, then all your software. Time and
money well spent.
Is Your Web Connection Reliable?
The next link in the chain is your web connection. Almost
all my work involves some use of the web. Take away my
internet connection and I'm blind, deaf and soon to be
broke! Because of this I have a permanent high-speed
connection with one of the main phone companies in Finland.
I also have a separate account with a different server,
that can use my old 56 modem on a regular phone line. It
costs me all of $9 a month, but if/when my permanent
connection goes down, I can still work - a little slower,
but it's certainly usable. I look at it as a very cheap
form of insurance.
A few months ago I experienced a real-life nightmare. My
website went down one morning; the site was unavailable,
and email was getting swallowed-up. That's right - not
bouncing, but somehow vanishing. So anyone writing to me
assumed I'd received the email but never replied. My server
assured me that the problem would be fixed within a few
hours. It wasn't, in fact it still wasn't fixed a week
later. This problem cost me dearly in time and income. It
won't happen again.
I now have a backup site, on a different server. My main
site is at www.sharewarepromotions.com, but if this ever
goes down for any length of time, a letter will go out to
all my clients, and everyone who has ever contacted me,
telling them to use the www.shareware-promotions.com site
and email addresses. The site itself isn't yet finished but
a basic version is already in place, and the email is fully
functional. If I ever need it in an emergency it's there,
and I even have the letter ready to go out. I pay around $4
a month for the web space, taking advantage of the low
price and reliability available from SWREG.ORG. If I never
have to use it, I'll be happy. If my main site goes down,
it'll be business as usual, and this time I won't lose any
income. Again, a very cheap form of insurance. Be prepared.
A few final common-sense tips. If you have a large number
of downloads each day, don't rely on one single location
for your files. If they go down, you go down. Also make
sure you have the contact details for your server. If your
server's site also become unavailable, you won't be able to
find their emergency phone number on their site either.
Keep these details somewhere safe.
Think through every single problem that could happen, and
work out exactly what you'd do if each should actually
occur. While the chances of your office being hijacked are
fairly remote, the chance of you experiencing some sort of
server or hardware problem are high. If the website is a
critical component of your business, and your business a
main source of your income, then you don't want to wait
until the server goes down before looking for a new host
and registering a domain name. Be seen, be sold.
About the Author:
Dave Collins is the CEO of SharewarePromotions Ltd., a well
established UK-based company working with software and
shareware marketing activities, utilising all aspects of
the internet. http://www.sharewarepromotions.com and
http://www.davetalks.com
Additional articles available for publication available at
http://www.davetalks.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's all for this time - thanks for reading!
To contact us, winning@esworldmarketing.com
Your success is our success!
(c) 2001-2005 ES World Marketing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=>> OUR MISSION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We, at The Winning AdVantage, are devoted to helping our subscribers
develop their marketing skills and promote their home-based Internet
marketing businesses and affiliate opportunities. This publication
features tips, techniques and how-to articles on such topics as ad copy
writing, finding good FRËË or inexpensive places to post ads, finding the
best available resources, and other issues related to making money on
the Internet. The Winning AdVantage eZine is dedicated to the
enhancement of your home-based Internet marketing business success.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=>> Subscribe & Un-subscribe Instructions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit our Web site at:
http://www.esworldmarketing.com/blog/ezine/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***************************************************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE WINNING ADVANTAGE eZINE
Friday, March 11, 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Winning AdVantage eZine is dedicated to the enhancement of your
Home-based Internet Marketing Business Success.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Home-based Internet Marketing Business Success.
Published by Earl Savage
ES World Marketing
http://www.esworldmarketing.com/blog/ezine/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Privacy Policy:
You are receiving this publication because you subscribed to it.
Our subscriber list is confidential and we respect your privacy.
If you wish to unsubscribe, the directions for doing so can be found
at the end of this issue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In This Issue:
-----------------
Feature Article - "Disaster Proof Your Business"
by Dave Collins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Reader,
Thanks, and WELCOME to all our new subscribers!
As always, I hope you'll enjoy and profit from reading "The Winning AdVantage".
Please feel free to post your comments at the bottom of this blog post.
Please contact me with any questions or comments. I am here to help and welcome
any help or advice you may offer.
Cordially yours,
Earl Savage, Publisher
The Winning AdVantage eZine
winning@esworldmarketing.com
P.S. If you like this ezine, please forward it to your friends, downline, upline, etc.
If you have ideas for improving it, please let me know. I'd love to hear from you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=>> SPONSOR AD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Unlimited Music Downloads No Monthly Fees! Fast Downloads.All Your Favorite Artists available |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=>> Feature Article
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disaster Proof Your Business
Copyright 2005 SharewarePromotions Ltd
Who cares about which side of the toast hits the floor
first? If it's your toast, and your floor, then the answer
is probably you. But fate may have a lot more than a dirty
breakfast in store for you, especially when it comes to
your business.
The disturbing fact is that those of us who run our own
small businesses are more at risk than our corporate
comrades. They can enjoy the luxury of choosing whether to
put all their eggs in one basket, but most of us only have
the one egg, and there's no shortage of ways to break it.
Chances are that your business is reliant on one single
person in one single office. So taking precautions
shouldn't just be a habit, it should be a way of life.
What If Something Happened To You?
Let's look at the first link in the chain. You. If your
business relies almost completely on your name, knowledge
and capabilities, have you considered what might happen if
something were to happen to you? If you catch a cold,
you'll probably be able to keep things ticking over. But
what if you need to go away unexpectedly for a few days? Or
need some kind of longer break? Is your system setup in a
way that your partner can keep things ticking over? Or is
most of it in your head? If you have a lot of time-based
commitments, and rely on your business as your main source
of income, then it might be worthwhile showing someone how
things work now, before it becomes vital to do so. Try to
imagine explaining to someone on the phone how to create a
mail-merge from your database and word processor. Nasty.
As with most things in life, an hour or two of preparation
could be a sound move, and time well spent. Showing your
assistant or spouse how your email client works, where you
store your client list, and how to process an order might
take you an hour. But this could well save you a great deal
of time, stress and money at some point in the future.
Think ahead, and plan for the worst. Caution is not
paranoia.
Your Equipment Is Vulnerable
The next link in the chain is your equipment. 99% of the
work that I do is carried out on a computer. To describe a
PC as vulnerable is something of an understatement.
Viruses, power-surges, hardware breakdowns, lightning,
idiocy, coffee, bad-software, dog-fur, theft . the list of
potential enemies is endless. No-one likes computer
problems, but when they can grind your business to a halt,
they're a whole lot more important.
And let's face it. Call me superstitious if you wish, but
you know as well as I do that these problems always happen
at the worst time. When's the last time you had a system
crash when you just wanted to browse the newsgroups,
fire-off a letter to a friend, or test your skill behind
the (virtual) controls of a Concorde? It doesn't happen.
The problems strike when you're working. The night before I
had to hand in a business proposal for funding was the
first (and only) time that my Windows 2000 went belly-up. I
couldn't get it going - not through safe mode, using
start-up disks, emergency repair - nothing worked.
So take precautions. A basic UPS device can protect your
computer from a power surge or power-cut, and as such might
well save your data one day. If you haven't yet got one, my
advice would be to put it at the very top of your list,
especially if your area is prone to power fluctuations or
electrical storms. Weigh up the cost of buying one against
the cost of losing your data. Worth it?
Backups Are your Best Friends
Backups have become a way of life for me. I backup my
critical data every night onto a ZIP disk, and use a set of
three in rotation. I have never and will never miss a
backup. While I've only had to use them four or five times
in as many years, they've been a real life saver each time.
Make it a habit. Slapping your forehead saying "I wish, I
wish" after the event is no good; trust me!
On top of that I make a more thorough backup once a week
onto a CD-R. Other options include FTP storage and
backing-up over a network. Look into all of them. Off-site
storage is also a good idea. If you're ever unlucky enough
to experience either a fire or theft, you may realise the
pointlessness of keeping your backups in the same room.
Sending or mailing a CD once a month to someone in your
family takes minutes and costs almost nothing. If you never
use the backups, what have you lost? If the day comes when
you do need them, you'll be grateful.
In terms of what to backup, it couldn't be simpler. Imagine
that your hard drive has just died, right now, and you
can't access any of the information on it. What do you wish
you'd backed up? Now's the time to do so. Setting up a good
backup system and routine shouldn't take longer than an
hour or so. Doing so could save you days of work, chaos and
lost income in the future.
If something critical happens to your main machine, and you
can't fix it yourself in minutes or hours, what then?
Having a separate "spare" machine might be worth looking
into. It doesn't have to be a top of the range powerhorse;
an old 486 will be enough to at least deal with emails and
process orders, while your main machine gets fixed. If you
already have one or more in use, then you might want to
look into how usable they are as a spare machine. Do you
have some way of transferring your backup data into them
for instance? A parallel-port ZIP drive is an odd shaped
lifesaver, but it does the trick. A little forethought can
make the difference between an inconvenience and a
full-blown disaster.
There's also no shortage of software to make your life
easier. Personally I swear by PowerQuest's Drive Image,
which allows me to make a complete image of the whole of my
hard drive. If my system dies unexpectedly and can't be
fixed, I can use it to restore either a just-installed
fresh Windows 2000, or my system as it was one or two
months ago. This should take no more than half an hour -
think how long it takes to format your hard drive, install
the operating system, then all your software. Time and
money well spent.
Is Your Web Connection Reliable?
The next link in the chain is your web connection. Almost
all my work involves some use of the web. Take away my
internet connection and I'm blind, deaf and soon to be
broke! Because of this I have a permanent high-speed
connection with one of the main phone companies in Finland.
I also have a separate account with a different server,
that can use my old 56 modem on a regular phone line. It
costs me all of $9 a month, but if/when my permanent
connection goes down, I can still work - a little slower,
but it's certainly usable. I look at it as a very cheap
form of insurance.
A few months ago I experienced a real-life nightmare. My
website went down one morning; the site was unavailable,
and email was getting swallowed-up. That's right - not
bouncing, but somehow vanishing. So anyone writing to me
assumed I'd received the email but never replied. My server
assured me that the problem would be fixed within a few
hours. It wasn't, in fact it still wasn't fixed a week
later. This problem cost me dearly in time and income. It
won't happen again.
I now have a backup site, on a different server. My main
site is at www.sharewarepromotions.com, but if this ever
goes down for any length of time, a letter will go out to
all my clients, and everyone who has ever contacted me,
telling them to use the www.shareware-promotions.com site
and email addresses. The site itself isn't yet finished but
a basic version is already in place, and the email is fully
functional. If I ever need it in an emergency it's there,
and I even have the letter ready to go out. I pay around $4
a month for the web space, taking advantage of the low
price and reliability available from SWREG.ORG. If I never
have to use it, I'll be happy. If my main site goes down,
it'll be business as usual, and this time I won't lose any
income. Again, a very cheap form of insurance. Be prepared.
A few final common-sense tips. If you have a large number
of downloads each day, don't rely on one single location
for your files. If they go down, you go down. Also make
sure you have the contact details for your server. If your
server's site also become unavailable, you won't be able to
find their emergency phone number on their site either.
Keep these details somewhere safe.
Think through every single problem that could happen, and
work out exactly what you'd do if each should actually
occur. While the chances of your office being hijacked are
fairly remote, the chance of you experiencing some sort of
server or hardware problem are high. If the website is a
critical component of your business, and your business a
main source of your income, then you don't want to wait
until the server goes down before looking for a new host
and registering a domain name. Be seen, be sold.
About the Author:
Dave Collins is the CEO of SharewarePromotions Ltd., a well
established UK-based company working with software and
shareware marketing activities, utilising all aspects of
the internet. http://www.sharewarepromotions.com and
http://www.davetalks.com
Additional articles available for publication available at
http://www.davetalks.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«»
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~That's all for this time - thanks for reading!
To contact us, winning@esworldmarketing.com
Your success is our success!
(c) 2001-2005 ES World Marketing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=>> OUR MISSION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We, at The Winning AdVantage, are devoted to helping our subscribers
develop their marketing skills and promote their home-based Internet
marketing businesses and affiliate opportunities. This publication
features tips, techniques and how-to articles on such topics as ad copy
writing, finding good FRËË or inexpensive places to post ads, finding the
best available resources, and other issues related to making money on
the Internet. The Winning AdVantage eZine is dedicated to the
enhancement of your home-based Internet marketing business success.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=>> Subscribe & Un-subscribe Instructions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit our Web site at:
http://www.esworldmarketing.com/blog/ezine/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***************************************************************
Copyright 2001-2005 The Winning AdVantage Ezine All rights reserved
The Winning AdVantage is a publication of ES World Marketing.
The Winning AdVantage is a publication of ES World Marketing.
posted by The Winning AdVantage eZine at 3/11/2005 07:13:00 PM
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