This week I asked our panel of experts…

“What tools do you use to backup your business, including your docs, sites, etc.”

I think you'll find the responses interesting.

Rachel Rofe of Work Less to Live More says:

I'm pretty low maintenance.

Ever since my computer got stolen (and didn't get backed up properly!) a few years ago, I've just been putting EVERYTHING onto Dropbox. I can access everything super-easily that way, and I don't worry about what happens if another computer gets stolen. It's all right in there.

Lynette Chandler of Tech Based Marketing says:

For websites that run 100% on WordPress and have nothing else on them, I use the BackupBuddy plugin. I have it save to Amazon S3 so it is off site and can be retrieved even when the server is down.

For mission critical sites where the shopping cart is on, where there are non-WordPress systems like forums or static HTML pages, I use AutoSiteSaver. This is a solution we created that will grab everything there is to grab on a cPanel account.

Most WordPress plugins only get WordPress. While BackupBuddy can get non-WordPress stuff, I run into strange issues with it on occasion. That's when we run AutoSiteSaver. On top of that, AutoSiteSaver also gets your emails. So if you use an email address that runs on your domain and save them there, it grabs them too.

Another thing that is often a pain with plugins, you have to log into each WordPress site to set up and manage your backup. Even with systems like ManageWP you have to install the plugin on each site first. Depending what I'm doing, I often find backing up multiple sites on AutoSiteSaver much easier.

Here's why. If you have a reseller account and above, you will get access to something known as a WHM. In our system, all you need to do is enter the WHM credentials one time and it will grab every single site on that account. From there, I can choose to backup all, or not backup some.

It also saves all your backups to our system so you can access them when your own host is offline as well. That is important to us. Of course, you can also download those backups anytime to store where you want.

When it comes to my computers. I run BackBlaze for continuous offsite backup. As a safety net, I also use Time Machine. Then, there is AeroFS.

Aero is not a backup solution but it can be handy when one computer goes down unexpected. It is more like a personal Dropbox. It doesn't store your files but it will sync between computers. You can get started for free and because there is no data storage involved, you never have to worry about that.

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

I've been a Carbonite subscriber for a couple of years now. It backs up all of the files on my computer every night. What a lovely peace of mind that gives me!

I'm using Backup Buddy on my WordPress sites. I have it configured to send backups to my Amazon hosting account so if my hosting server crashes, I'm not too far from being back up and running.

I still have to do manual back ups of things like my Amember and member forum database – which is surely the most important thing! This reminds me to contact my smart tech partner about how to automate that.

Lynn Terry of Niche Success Blueprints says:

I'm a big fan of off-site backups that are automated. While I use solutions that are not, such as manually backing up source files to Dropbox, or an external hard drive, my primary sources are both automated AND off-site. In a worst case scenario, such as a flood or fire, you'll lose any devices (and files) stored in your home or office. And when it comes to manually backing up files, well… we've all experienced that moment of shock and (oops!) regret, right? Not fun!

I've been using Mozy for years to do automated backups, and it works great. I always say the real test is in the “restore” – and I've had to restore files from Mozy a number of times over the years. It was a total breeze. In a worst case scenario you could grab a new laptop, log in to Mozy, restore all your files and be back in business in short time. Definitely recommended.

That said, I now work across a variety of computers and devices – Macbook, PC, Android phone, iPad tablet, etc. Almost everything I do now is based in Evernote, which is a free “app” that is cross compatible. I have it installed on every computer/device and it automatically syncs between them all and is also always backed up.

I use Evernote to create products, for example. So I can move between devices, editing or adding notes/ideas, or working on the project. I may be sitting at my desk on my PC in the morning, grab my laptop and work from the deck in the afternoon, think of an idea while I'm out & about and add it from my mobile, etc.

Last year when my Macbook hard drive crashed, I was right in the middle of several big projects. Fortunately all of the sources files and notes were in Evernote, so I didn't miss a beat while it was off getting repaired. I simply logged into Evernote and everything was right there where I left it.

It's free, it's cross compatible, it syncs automatically – it's perfect!

I use it for everything from my task list, grocery list, goals & ideas… to writing my info products and webinar outlines.

Tony Shepherd of ‘Inside My Five Figures A Month IM Business‘  says:

Hi Guys,

I'm slightly nutty about backups since losing some sites in a hack attack several years back.

I'd (stupidly) assumed that they would have a backup of my sites.

Nope turns out they didn't

It was MY responsibility to back them up and one of the most important lessons I learned – take responsibility for EVERY aspect of your business.

So my my backup runs like this:

1. Main sites backed up weekly by my PA. She sends one copy to me and keeps another in a secure HD that I bought for her at her house too (not good to back up everything to one place) and another copy to cloud storage too

So that's my main sites and blog, niche sites, membership areas and sites from other businesses.

2. I back up my main content (newsletters, courses etc) once a month in the same way.

3. My lists from all the autoresponders I use are backed up every Monday, again one to me, one to my PA and one to cloud.

4. I do a BIG backup of what I'd call ‘everything I need' twice a year. I do this myself, manually and it takes a full day to complete including the next night too, for everything to download and copy. This 24 hour period usually involves at least one bottle of wine and takeout food being delivered more than once as I lock myself in my work room.

Strangely enough I find this really productive because it gets me back in touch with products, sites and content that maybe I'd neglected of even forgotten about and can re-market AND while I'm waiting for uploads and downlaods I watch all the traiing vids and stuff that I never seem to get around to on a normal week.

The backup from this goes to my HD at home and I store another copy at my mum's house. I can't stress how important it is to store a copy AWAY from where you work. If (God forbid) there was a fire at your home or office you'd lose everything if you stored your backups there too. Think cloud and physical storage AWAY from where you work, at the home or workplace of someone you trust.

I also have a personal folder on these external drives for photographs and videos of family life etc that I need to keep safe too. In terms of Software I don't really use any. I put procedures in place so my PA knows what to download and how.

I don't have much faith in software that puts it's own extensions on my files and then restores them itself. I prefer to grab HTML files and folders that I know how to work with and can just FTP right back into place should I need to

It takes longer and it costs me more in terms of employee hours, but I feel safer and it;s an area of business you really can't afford to scrimp on.

Alice Seba of The 30 Day List Challenge says:

I use SugarSync to back up all my files and my site back ups are handled through a service.

For my file back ups, SugarSync automatically backs up all my files within minutes of my creating them, so I don't have to remember to do anything. If I create a new folder, SugarSync will also back that up…I don't have to tell the software which folders to back up. Files can also be uploaded and synced via email.

What I really love about SugarSync is how easy it makes collaboration. I can give my assistants access to the folders and files they need and when they update them, the changes are automatically saved to my computer. I can also set it to have people view the files only, so they can't make any changes or I can share certain files or folders publicly (with an option password) if I prefer and they don't need a SugarSync account to access it. I have complete control over who can do what.

Much like other services like Dropbox, I can access all my files from my iPhone, iPad and pretty much anywhere I go. That means I can leave the laptop at home and still get stuff done on the go.

I don't just consider SugarSync a back up tool, but a productivity tool as well.

Shannon Cherry of Learn How I Get *Paid* to Attend Events says:

If there is one thing that always surprises me, is when a client says they have no backup plan. After all, if you work online, your assets need be secured… and as current as possible.

Let me give you a recent example why it's so important to backup. Last week, a client's website got infected with BaDoink! a security issue that redirects Apple devices that are viewing your website to a porn site. (We like mobile friendly, but not THAT friendly, right?!?) She contacted me in a panic. Previously, my site was infected but because I have automated backups, it was easy to go back to where the code was not tampered with, then fix the ‘leak' so it would not happen again. When I explained this to her, she began to cry, because she had not ever backed up, and her host didn't do it either. Basically she had to hire a security expert to remove the porn code and then remove the leak. A very costly mistake. However, I've heard of much worse scenarios.

There's a lot you can do to protect yourself when it comes to backing up.

1) Consider a webhost that does automatic backups. Just remember that that is a stop-gap. The best backup plans are the ones you do yourself.

2) Dropbox is my BBF (best backup friend). Everything is on it in the cloud, including all my files from websites, my computers, tablets and iphone. Since it does it automatically, I don't worry have to worry about it!

3) Speaking of websites, if you are using wordpress, I recommend backup buddy. It backs up your site automatically and you have a choice where the backup will be housed (for me Dropbox an on my webhost server). I purposely create this backup 3-4 days after my webhost's weekly backup.

4) Don't forget your lists! Aweber is my email service and I have a backup (essentially a file created by aweber) weekly. Again, this is saved to Dropbox.

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Wow! As usual, I got tons of great information. Thanks everyone.

I definitely agree that you should backup your documents, your pictures (including your family photos), your websites, and every other part of your business in an offsite location.

Having been through floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and lightning strikes in my 40 years, I'm kind of realistic about how stuff can happen when you least expect it.

However, if everything you just read went completely over your head, you may be interested in my 20+ page guide that walks you through the hows and whys and includes printable checklist to put together an Emergency manual for your business, too.

If you'd like more info, check it out here (BUT DON'T BUY IT):

For a better deal, grab a copy of my course BlogCPR
which will help you to make blogging easier
and you'll now get a copy of the “Avoid Disaster” ebook free.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. Please support my friends who contributed their vast knowledge in this post:

• Rachel Rofe can teach you to -> Work Less to Live More
• Lynette Chandler is a whizz at-> Tech Based Marketing
• Kelly McCausey talks to Solopreneurs on her -> Solo Smarts Podcast
• Lynn Terry is a Super Affiliate who knows how to create Niche sites in her sleep. She's revealing her -> Niche Success Blueprints
• Tony Shepherd is a hilarious, smart do-er who takes you -> ‘Inside My Five Figures A Month IM Business‘
• Alice Seba wants to help you with -> The 30 Day List Challenge
• Shannon Cherry loves to -> Get *Paid* to Attend Events

I copied them over here as they are pretty kick butt and I'm friend with both of these guys, so I know they wouldn't mind me giving them a little promo.

If you want to be more productive, I highly suggest you read the tips from these two very very smart marketers.

Terry Dean is first, followed by Tony Shepherd.

Sbj: Start your Day with Operation Moneysuck

What is the FIRST thing you do online each day?

Is it checking your email?

Or reading a popular forum?

Or perhaps it's even logging into Facebook?

If you're doing any of the above, STOP it!

Your first action sets the tone for the rest of your day.

You have to focus on bringing in the cash.

That's priority #1.

If your business doesn't bring in money, you soon won't be in business anymore.

There are a LOT of so-called internet businesses that aren't businesses at all.

They're just little hobbies.

If you want to just have another hobby, that's fine…as long as you understand that's what you're doing.

What is it that brings in the cash in your business?

What is the highest and best use of your time?

Here's how my day begins.

Get out of bed. Take a shower. Grab a water bottle on the way through the kitchen.

Turn on my computer. Take a glance to the left where I have notes about the day ahead.

Yes, I'm old fashioned. There is a physical desk calendar on the left side of my desk that lists all clients I'm going to speak to, any interviews I'm doing, and my product creation schedule for the day.

It also lists what I'm going to write about this morning.

Then I pop open Word and get down to business.

Writing brings in my cash.

It may be an email. It could be sales copy for a new website. It could be a new ebook.

Or it could be my next hot off the presses Monthly Mentor Club issue.

Invest one measly hour in bringing in the cash first.

Then respond to emails, check your stats, or look at today's news.

Sometimes the writing keeps right on going. And throughout the day I may have several more writing sessions. But that first hour starts the day.

I deal with distractions. And yes, I'm guilty of checking my email first at times. But it costs me money just like it does you.

Our incomes are determined by how much time we invest in bringing in the cash.

I remember Gary Halbert and John Carlton always used to call this “Operation MoneySuck.”

John was hired by Gary to help him write ads for his clients. They'd have a scheduled day to knock out the copy. But as soon as the day started, Gary's two secretaries and his girlfriend would each bust in with all kinds of bad news and emergencies.

Gary's response was to get everyone out of the room…and lock the door.

He'd then say it was time to get busy, “Screw all that irrelevant stuff. We're gonna bring in the bucks.”

What brings in your bucks?

Are you putting it first in your priorities or is it getting pushed to the side as you ‘react' to daily emergencies?

If you're not sure what brings in the bucks, you're in desperate need of membership in the Monthly Mentor Club.

This month's issue will be put in the mail tomorrow on May 1st.

It's all about how one of my friends did over $40,000 in business through Linkedin in just 2 months without spending a penny on advertising.

He shares his complete system including how he finds bullseye prospects, contacts them, what to say, and how to follow-up.

Click to check out My Mentor Club

Your Marketing Coach,

Terry Dean

“The Internet Lifestyle Mentor”

Earn More. Work Less. Enjoy Life!

Sbj: The One Success Rule I've Used for YEARS

I was chatting to a marketing mate on Skype last night and I mentioned one of my ‘rules' to him.

Now this bloke isn't a newbie by ANY stretch of the imagination but he thought what I'd shared was quite interesting and said I should email you lot about it.

Two things I should mention:

1. I'm not sure if I've shared this before so apologies if I HAVE…

2. You might think it's a really obvious thing (I'll be honest – I do) so if it bores the crap out of you, I apologise.

So here we go…

This is something – a ‘rule' of mine that I've applied to my IM business (all my businesses actually) pretty much since day one

And it's this…

==============================

Before you do ANYTHING else in your day – do at least ONE thing that brings money into your business.
==============================

For example it's my unshakeable habit to write a promo email and cue it up before I check my email or do anything else each day (if I'm sending a promo that day of course)……because that's where the money comes from.

Another example would be buying 500 clicks from a solo ad seller in the morning BEFORE I continue writing a salespage or working on my latest newsletter…

…because sending traffic to my funnel is where the money comes from.

And another example would be getting in touch with a JV partner and getting him to agree a date to promote my product…

…because that's where the money comes from

When I sit down at my desk in the morning I ALWAYS attend to the money FIRST. I always do the thing that brings it in.

My ‘to do' lists have ONE thing written at the very top, then a line, then rest of it underneath.

Guess what the one thing at the top is?

Yep – the thing that will bring the money in.

I've been doing this for so long it's second nature to me, but my mate was intrigued when I explained it to him yesterday.

(The bugger will probably launch a WSO based around it – he's a clever sod

But that's it:

Attend to the money FIRST by doing at least ONE thing that brings it in every single day.

It won't arrive my osmosis y'know.

Hope you got something out of this.

Have a wonderful Tuesday

Tony Shepherd

You checked out my ‘How To Legally Make Money Out Of Thin Air' WSO yet?

Get more details at the link below:

Make Money out of Thin Air

If you want a proven point-by-point system for taking your business from where it is RIGHT NOW up to $100k a year or more…

…and you've realised that the only difference between you and most successful marketers out there is having a PLAN to follow…

Then get full details by clicking the link below:

Make Money out of Thin Air

Find out how successful marketers do things differently…

Well, there you have it.

Talk to me.

What's the first thing you do every morning to get your day off to an awesome start?

I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Warmly,
Nicole

PS. Be sure to check out how you can learn more from both Terry and Tony.

• Click to learn from Terry
• Click to learn from Tony

This week I asked our panel of experts the same thing I asked last year and the year before …

“What's something cool in your business that is working really
well for you – right now?”

I greatly enjoyed reading the responses. I hope you enjoy them, as well.

Tiffany Dow of Squidoo Quick Commissions Guide says:

In 2013, part of my plan was to get re-involved with Squidoo and tangible affiliate earnings. I had been there since 2006, but sold off all of my profitable lenses and I wanted to get back to what it was all about for me when I first started – sharing.

But like everyone else, I wanted to spend time doing something that would launch some residual earnings. I like things I can set up once and basically never touch again. What Squidoo does for me aside from that is it also lets me break away from my usual topics – it helps prevent boredom.

I’m a flitter online. I like to jump around and do different things. I used to buy domain after domain and waste TONS of money setting up sites to promote a myriad of things (household good, sushi supplies, etc) when there’s no way I wanted to blog about that daily. Lenses help feed my craving for variety – and they’re FREE. (Love that).

So at the end of 2012, I challenged myself to test some new strategies out. I used Erica Stone’s Squid Pro Quo research tactics, but then I FrankenTiffed the lens creation with my own content strategies. I also left out the design tips (pure laziness on my part).

While the original guide had some fantastic methods on how to research products, I knew I wanted to share more personalized information. For instance, if I write about the Kinect video game – I don’t want to just write about technical aspects and price.

I get personal satisfaction sharing my story about it – how I use Dance Central and the kids and I have contests to see who can score better (and would you believe I score better every single time? I’ve got moves apparently).

When I started seeing the lenses start to perform (set up a page, leave it, and let it earn up to $30 a month), it led to me whipping up a little report on how I was doing it called the Squidoo Quick Commission Guide.

I love checking in each day to see which lenses are performing (not all do). Sometimes there’s a surprising niche that I discover. I decided to openly track my 2013 earnings and I know it’ll be slow re-growing all of my content since I was basically starting from scratch.

The earnings are a little topping on my Internet income (for now), but that’s the kind of stuff that makes me smile – the unexpected income that you forget about until a deposit that grows the more you put into it. And because it feeds my personal satisfaction, it has double the benefits.

You can learn more about my Squidoo methods in my course:
Squidoo Quick Commissions Guide

Susanne Myers of  Daily Affiliate Tasks says:

I’ve been publishing Kindle Cookbooks for a while now and came across a neat little trick. One of my hurdles in my niche was to get my readers used to consuming kindle products (and realizing that they don’t necessarily need a kindle device to read them). To get them in the habit of downloading and reading kindle cookbooks, I started sharing a few free downloads each day on my blog. These were usually books that were on a free KDP promotion and would go back to paid versions within a few days.

Susanne Myers as Hillbilly Housewife – Books on Kindle

My readers are downloading these books and are also buying my own kindle books. Something interesting started happening. All of a sudden MY kindle books started showing up in the “Customers who bought this book also bought…” section of quite a few popular kindle cookbooks. Take a look. This is a book that I mentioned on my blog a few days ago (it was a free download at the time).

Four of the first six recommended ebooks are mine. Of course this doesn’t happen all the time and I picked the best example I could find, but having even just one of your kindle books show up in there for a different kindle books each week can generate quite a few sales for you.

Here’s the basic strategy step by step:

1) Write and publish your kindle book.

2) Get your readers to buy it.

3) Share other free related kindle books with them.

4) Rinse and repeat.

There are lots of smart kindle marketers out there who are leveraging KDP to catapult their books to the top of categories on Amazon. Leverage their work by getting Amazon to promote your own book along with theirs.

If you want to download some great cookbooks on the Kindle, be sure to check out:
Susanne Myers as HillBilly Housewife – Books on Kindle

PS. If you want to find free Kindle books to recommend to your list – to use Susanne's methods, click here: Free Kindle Books

Tony Shepherd of Sales Funnel Cheat Sheet says:

Hi Guys,

When Nicole posed the question ‘what's working for you in your business right now' I couldn't resist writing this guest post because at the moment my business is going through possibly the biggest (and most profitable) change it ever has.

To cut the story short, I got hit by the last two Google updates and sites that had been pretty consistent money earners vanished into the depths of page 298 of Google or thereabouts.

Traffic dried up.

Sales did too.

Luckily my business is an Octopus and made up of many parts so it was nowhere as serious as it could have been.

But it really pissed me off nonetheless.

I took a step back and applied some common sense and quite a few bottles of wine to the issue and came to the conclusion that…

…it's bloody DAFT to let a big chunk of your business rely on a third-party site, even if it IS Google.

In fact ESPECIALLY if it's Google because the buggers move the goalposts without warning and your whole traffic flow can vanich down the toilet.

The sad but true news is that Google WILL continue to update their algorithms and if the last update or the one before that didn't hit you, then the next one or the one after that WILL

So I started buying traffic and running it through a funnel system that I devised.

These ‘engines' or optimized sales funnels allow me to buy traffic for free or for pennies on the dollar because they're optimized well enough (via tracking and testing) to pay for pretty much all the traffic I buy in the form of paid solo ads.

They're self-financing if you will, which means I build profits and my list essentially for free.

Once my funnel is optimized all I need to do is keep an eye on it, and buy more solo ads (which are paid for by the upsells in the funnels)

It's working INCREDIBLY well for me and has been for quite a while now.

I'll never put my business – the business I worked hard to build – into the hands of someone who can just switch off my sales without a second thought.

So that's what's working with me.

If you'd like to get a closer look at my sales ‘engines' you can grab a copy of ‘Sales Funnel Cheat Sheet' by clicking the link below.
-> Sales Funnel Cheat Sheet

Cheers

Jeanette S. Cates, PhD of Plan Your Online Business says:

I've just launched a site I've had on the books for over two years. It's a simple Q&A site which is something anyone can add to their business. Since I love to learn and to teach, it's a perfect way for me to keep in touch with what my readers want to know, while expanding my own horizons.

Having a great time with this!

You can check out my new Q&A site to see how I set it up here
->  Ask Jeanette Cates

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

I'm going to say that Curation is working for me as a traffic, content and relationship building strategy. I've fallen in love with curating content and not just from one angle. There are three distinct approaches to taking full advantage of the idea of curating content and I've been devoting some time every week to learning more and experimenting with it.

First, there's curating the best of the best content on your own site. Pulling in snips and linking out to what you believe your market is going to be interested in has been a real traffic booster for me. You can see my curation category on Solo Smarts here: http://www.solosmarts.com/category/solopreneurs-quickies/.

Second, there's doing what you can to encourage others to curate your best content. At a basic level, it's about getting people to click like and share. At a deeper level, it's about giving people lots of ways to republish your content. See how I've shifted my About page to encourage curation: http://www.solosmarts.com/about/. In our world, as information marketers, we welcome them doing so with an affiliate link of course.

(Special Note: If you find that people rarely ‘curate' you by liking your posts and sharing them – maybe you're not nailing great topics for your market. I've got a great little membership program that teaches you how to do just that: identify great topics that speak to your people and win reactions. It's called Topics on Target.)

Third, there's curating our favorite niche content on other sites, like BizSugar.com and InternetBillboards.net. These sites have driven traffic back to me but also helped me to make some fresh new connections, reaching into new neighborhoods in the marketing world. This has brought me some great new guests for my podcasts and invites to guest blog on sites I've never had reach with before.

There are endless opportunities to explore for this kind of curation when you think about all of the different formats you can redistribute your content in via sites like Scribd & Slideshare. Nicole, you've curated via Listly and that's a site I'd like to spend some more time on myself.

Curation takes time and I'll tell you now that you can't focus on all three areas at once and do it well. Choose one and give it your best attention for at least six weeks and measure the results through your stats. Do more of what works and drop what doesn't – then move on to tackle another side of curation

Learn how to identify great topics that speak to your people and win reactions.
Click Here to Learn How.

Lou Bortone of Video in a Day says:

Something that's been working really well lately is posting quotes or “expert tips” on Facebook and Pinterest. However, posting text doesn't really cut it anymore, so I've been using a few handy-dandy web tools to make the text more visual and share-able.

If you put your quotes into visual tools such as Quozio.com or ReciteThis.com, they look great and are much more Facebook-friendly.

I created a bunch of quick marketing tips and turned them into “photos” with Quozio and other tools, and they tend to get shared and re-pinned a lot more than text alone. Give it a try!

(click on the image to see it full size)

Want to learn to create Video? Check out Lou's
Video in a Day course

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Speaking of Sales Funnels (as Tony mentioned) one thing that's working well for me lately has been revamping my existing sales funnels and creating new funnels, as well.

For instance, my friend, Melissa Ingold, and I set up an ongoing free membership site at FreeBusinessPLR.com with an upsell into our cool new Monthly PLR Toolkits program.

It's a super simple page and I know we could totally improve it with just a bit of testing. (As always, right?) Here it is:

Why does it work so well?

The combination of a free ongoing offer with a recurring income is always a great thing in my book.   Plus, our free members WANT to open our emails to get their monthly free PLR content. So that helps, too.

If you want to see how this profit funnel flows, just click on the image above or go to FreeBusinessPLR.com, then sign up.

We are sending traffic to this offer through social media, our own lists, affiliates and solo ads, too. I'm hoping this turns into another nice income generator for us both.

How about you? What's been working really well for you these days?

I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

Warmly,
Nicole