Internet Marketing Business Continuity Management - 10 Tips For Avoiding Disasters

Your internet marketing business, and all the time and money you put into it, is at risk unless you take some critical disaster-avoidance steps. Here are ten tips that will help you stay in business.

First, here are 5 tips to avoid disasters due to loss of data, including websites.

Loss of Local Data

1. Use an on-line backup service

You need to back up your local data in some way. Backing it up to another hard drive or another computer - or indeed to anywhere in your house - is not secure enough. The best solution is to use an on-line backup service. You can schedule it to run incrementally as well as daily, so you can set it and forget it.

But make sure you now how to recover a backup. Do not wait until disaster strikes to discover that you cannot recover your backups.

2. Use a good anti-virus system

I would hope this point is not necessary, but I include it for completeness. You should never connect to the internet without an anti-virus program up and running. Like you should never enter a nuclear reactor chamber without an anti-radiation suit on!

3. Always password protect your computer

Do this even if you are the only person who ever uses your computer; even if you live alone and never invite anyone into your home. Burglars do not need an invitation, and access to your on-line data could be hugely more valuable to them than the basic value of the hardware - and much, much more disruptive to your life.

Loss of On-line Data

4. Backup your websites and own hosted data

Take regular backups of each website you own, including databases. Better still, get this process automated so you can again set it and forget it (until you need access to a backup).

If you backup this data onto your local computer, it will automatically get re-backup on-line via your on-line backup service.

5. Backup your other on-line data

If you have data on sites that you do not own, such as e-mail lists on an auto-responder service provider, or customer and sales information on a third-party hosted e-commerce site, use their download / backup facilities on a regular, scheduled basis.

If they do not provide such download facilities, move to another supplier immediately.

Finally, here are 5 tips to help ensure continuity of service.

Service Continuity

6. Have a backup hosting provider

Most web hosting companies provide a very high uptime - but how willing are you to bet that their service level will stay high? This is exceptionally important to you at certain times, such during a launch or special promotion. You could lose a lot of money even if your site is down for only 30 or 60 minutes.

So, particularly at those critical times, set yourself up to be able to switch very quickly to another hosting provider - at the very least to enable you to put up a message for your visitors.

7. Secure your PC

Use security devices to make it hard for someone to remove your pc easily

8. Hide your laptop

If you go out and there is no-one in your house, hide your laptop, Of course, a determined thief will find it, but much household theft is opportunistic and/or requires the thief to act quickly. A laptop on a desk is an obvious target that takes 5 seconds to bag. A laptop hidden under a settee is likely to survive.

9. Have a second computer available to use if your primary computer fails.

Life will be tough enough if your primary computer becomes inoperable. But having your business grind to a halt is something you can avoid quite easily. Simply ensure you have another computer immediately available, and can restore information to this machine from your on-line backups.

10. Have a backup internet connection service available

Between you and the internet there are multiple possible points of failure, such the cable, your wireless router, and all the items of equipment used by your ISP.

Losing your internet connection at any time can damage your business and lose you money, but at certain critical times - such as when you about to present an important webinar or dealing with JV partners during a launch - it can be a minor disaster.

A simple backup solution to this is to purchase a mobile dongle that gives you internet access via a mobile phone connection.

Alex Goodall develops tools and services that help internet marketers improve their efficiency of operations, and support their planning and strategy.

He presented a webinar about continuity management for internet businesses as part of his internet marketing mentoring program.

He writes about internet marketing on his blog at: http://InternetProfessionalsBlog.com