Building an Emergency Response Plan for Your Business
by Kath Blackwell
PART TWO -
Another scenario - through some nasty Web virus or glitch - all of
your sites and pages are wiped out. The server has lost its hard drive
and doesn't have a back-up safety system in place. Well, hopefully
you're prepared enough to have saved copies of all of your websites
- and have updated them with regularity as well - to disk or to your
hard drive. You can still yell at the Web host because even though
it was probably beyond his personal control, you still have the right
to be angry. But at least you'll know deep down inside that you've
secretly got extra copies in your desk drawer.
Organizational skills are a must and having this data handy and ready
to go will be an excellent time saver as well, when trying to get
your sites back up in case all the data gets lost between the old
host and the new one. Don't forget the second fact that we discussed
- shit happens. Be prepared for it and have your sites ready on disk
- in fact, count on it happening so that you won't be caught off guard.
Then, if by some miracle the switch goes over without a hitch, you'll
be pleasantly surprised instead of angry and upset.
On sort of the same thread, let's address free hosts. Don't trust
them. Again, things DO happen and for some reason it really seems
to happen to free hosts quite often. There was a time when free hosts
started disappearing like some sick magic trick. Overnight, thousands
of free sites just went bye-bye and there was no way to recover them.
If you can't afford hosting - or are just cheap by nature - make sure
that you save COPIES of your free-hosted sites and galleries. Keep
track of all the places that you've built your free sites so that
you'll know to replace them if necessary, and will be able to track
which ones are doing well for you over a span of time. Once again,
being prepared and organized are definitely key ingredients to being
able to respond well to an emergency situation.
Content Providers
Remember this article deals with emergency situations or worst-case
scenarios. Let's say the company that you purchase your site content
for goes out of business due to some sort of bad business dealings.
You ultimately find out that the content you purchased isn't properly
licensed, and you will need to immediately remove it from all of your
sites. If you've got a good-sized license and have used these images
on a variety of different sites, you could very well have a huge mess
on your hands. But, if you've prepared in advance - it's a piece of
cake.
Create an Excel spreadsheet that lists all of the content that you
have purchased from each specific content provider. Then, in the subsequent
columns, list the specific URL where the content was used, including
- if possible - the set title or a short description of the content
that will be found on those sites or pages. Keep organized spreadsheets
in separate folders on your computer for each company with which you
do business. It's also a good idea to back up these files on a disk,
to keep in case you lose your data on your computer.
Having a detailed list of content providers, content purchased and
where the content was used will be helpful in case an emergency removal
is needed. It will also be helpful if you need to verify information
about your purchased content. It's also a good idea to keep a copy
of your license agreement in these folders as well, to keep everything
together in one place.
Again, this organization process will be helpful for other situations,
such as having a detailed listing of contacts for custodians of records
and other 2257 requirements. The more information you have readily
available at your fingertips during an emergency situation, the better.
Site Design and Layout
I'm sure you've heard the old saying, Keep It Simple Stupid (K.I.S.S.)
as applied to business and daily life philosophies. K.I.S.S. is definitely
something to keep in mind when initially designing your sites. Your
sites should be simple, easy to follow - and easy to change and upgrade
on your end as well. We've already covered the use of advertising
management tools for your affiliate program banner ads, but the design
and layout of your site is important too.
For the surfer - layout in the K.I.S.S. mode is essential. Make sure
that your preview content, tour, join page and other key ingredients
are easy to find, understand and utilize. Don't let them get lost
- unless circle jerking is your ultimate goal. Take a test drive through
the layout yourself, trying to look at things through the eyes of
a first-time visitor and see how well you fare. When in doubt, ask
a friend or a spouse to take a peek and give you their thoughts.
For the webmaster - if your site is designed with the webmaster in
mind, make sure that you make all webmaster instructions, tools, linking
information, rules and TOS highly visible. The easier it is to use,
the more people will use it. Be as straightforward and clear as possible,
remembering to keep things easy. Always include contact information
for email and/or ICQ so that webmasters can get in touch with you
if necessary.
For you - yes, it's time to think about your daily workload as well.
Make sure that your sites are easy to edit, simple to construct and
for goodness sake - think about using Cascading Style Scripts (CSS)
and templates wherever possible. Take a moment to think about how
much time is spent designing each new gallery, free site or page and
consider how much time you might save if you use CSS for the basics,
and templates for pages that you create and re-create over and over
again.
Another thing to consider is the use of an HTML editor. How many die-hard
Notepad users do we have out there? A show of hands, please? Up until
about a year or so ago I was the same way. Then I found a simple,
cheap program called Note Tab Pro and it's been just this amazing
time saver. There are others out there like it, so there's probably
something you could find that would be just right for you too. It's
not a WYSIWYG program - which can be considered "forbidden fruit"
to the die-hard set - but it still has a lot of time saving features
available that even the most stick-in-the-mud webmaster would enjoy.
Take the time to explore destinations such as Download.com or the
download area at TechTV.com. There are lots of low-cost, no cost and
professional-style programs out there that can save you time and money
- and help you to prepare for potential obstacles and hazards that
might come your way.
Bottom Line: Be Prepared!
These are just a few simple examples of how you can help to prepare
yourself - and your sites - for potential pitfalls. To find more specific
examples that will help you directly with your website, business and
services, all you have to do is think about what it is you do, and
what changes could affect your bottom line. What is the worst thing
that could happen? And what would you do if it did happen? What are
other things that could go wrong that would cost you to lose time
and/or money? What can you do to stop them before they become big
problems?
Ask yourself a few of these questions and then explore your possible
reactions and solutions. Take some time every week to update your
saved files, licenses, spreadsheets and other tracking programs. Make
sure that you are doing absolutely all that you can to prepare for
emergencies in advance.
The bottom line is simple - if you are prepared and ready, then you
can take whatever life throws you. Taking a few minutes each week
to keep up with your organization could save you hours - or maybe
even days - trying to recover from an emergency that you were ill
prepared for if you aren't ready.
Building an emergency response plan for your business is an important
part of your overall business plan. Create an escape route. Find out
what needs to be boarded up. Have emergency supplies - and most importantly
stick to your plans. Be ready. Your next big curve ball could be just
around the corner.
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